Coffee and antique books.

An afternoon in Manchester.

When my mum visited, she came armed with a Time Out guide to the city. Me being me, had refused point blank to invest in one, instead relying on word of mouth recommendations and mcr confidential. But I'll give the guide book its dues: it does have some pretty good shouts on its books. On this day, we started off in Federal (my suggestion, get that smirking emoji out), before heading off on the recommendations of some London ponce.

We started off at the John Rylands library, which is slap bang in the middle of town, Spinningfields way. I've gone past it countless times and always thought "I should probably check that out". Of course, me being human, saying something and doing it are quite different things, and I'd never quite managed to make it inside. But, word of advice, make the effort. It is absolutely beautiful in there, and has been perfectly restored and cared for. It houses fragments of the bible which I believe is a people pleaser, but if you want a true insider tip you've gotta check out the toilets in the basement. Now I know why their slang term is throne.

We then had that awkward "it's not quite dinner time, but we sorta can't be bothered to go shopping" period of time, so we headed to another one of Time Out's recommendations: Pot Kettle Black. Now, being a sucker for a good name, I was on side from the off. Add in a good playlist and free chocolates, and I'm pretty sure I've found a new favourite. (And it's owned by two rugby players who are in there loads, if you're that way inclined.)

I don't have any photos, but after we headed to Sam's Chop House, replete with bronze statue of Lowry propping up the bar. The portions here are massive, so definitely don't expect just a tiny bite to eat, but it definitely had some old school charm to it.

I'm slowly starting to get to know Manchester (via my stomach), and I can see why so many people cite it as their favourite city. You've still got a way to go to beat Liverpool, but you're getting there. Do let me know if you've got any must-go places I need to try!

What I'm wearing:

New Look top. Warehouse skirt. Laura Ashley trench coat. Adidas Superstars (via Office).

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I just sort of always feel sick without you, baby.

Marks and Spencer blouse: £29.50 (also in white). High waisted skinny jeans: c/o Matalan. Warehouse lace up flats: £29 (sold out, similar). Lancome Juicy Shaker in "Cherry Symphony".

The windy city, we meet again. I can't vouch for Chicago's status as breezy, but I honestly think Liverpool can give that city a run for its money when it comes to hair blowing in every direction. I have one umbrella left in a bin somewhere in Spinningfields which battled gallantly with the weather, but certainly came off worse. RIP. After a Serious Text Discussion regarding what the weather's like, I settled on my newest pair of jeans and trusty old trench coat (gloriously dumped on the floor for these photos, so glam) to revisit Liverpool on one of the sunniest days of the year so far. Still windy. Still so windy.

As soon as my train pulled into Liverpool Lime Street, I headed straight off to meet Tasha and Soph for coffee at Cow & Co Cafe, a small place sheltered from the river Mersey on Cleveland Square. When it was trusted to me to make a decision on where to go (why guys, why), I had a quick search of Independent Liverpool and settled on this little place after hearing it was a good'un on Sade's recommendation. I went for a bagel with beetroot, feta and raisins (can I have 5?) and latte while the other girls went for a brownie, custard cream chocolate concoction, all of which comes highly recommended from a table of discerning eaters - and the staff didn't even moan at us for taking an unprecedented number of photos. I've never been to Cow&Co before, despite knowing someone who lived a stone's throw away, but I'd definitely give it a visit if you're in town and fancy going somewhere a little off the beaten track.

Afterwards, we headed away from town and wandered around the Liverpool Anglican Cathedral as Soph had never been. I haven't got much more to add from my last post there, but it's a pretty special place. Let's not talk about how much I wanted to go to the Cream event last night and only found out it was happening after it'd sold out. Tiny little tear being shed, right now.

To round up the day, I pulled Sade out of the library and spent a good three hours with her in the Pen Factory, because I haven't gone day drinking for a good while. We didn't manage to cross paths last time I was in Liverpool, so we had a long ol' chat about life and less big topics of conversation; is there any better way to spend a Saturday than with friends a bit of gin?

As I mentioned to pretty much everyone I met up with, it's odd to go back to Liverpool now. When I lived there, I knew it like the back of my hand. Recently it's been going through a little bit of a renaissance and there are new cafes and bars popping up all over the shop, and it's like it's a whole new city every time I step on the train. At first it made me a little sad that "my" Liverpool wasn't the one I knew, but since I've got over it started to trial the new places, I can honestly say the city is going from strength to strength.

Places photographed:

Cow&Co Cafe	Wolstenholme Square	Anglican Cathedral	Suitcases installation
15 Cleveland Square, L1	Right next to Cream, L1	St James Mt, L1	Hope Street, L1

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Moving for work.

Warehouse blouse (now on sale). Marks and Spencer skirt (sold out, similar). Marks and Spencer bag. Adidas Spezial trainers. Rotary watch. Rimmel Kate Moss 30 lipstick.

“But surely that’s going to be a really long commute?”

Rather than commute to Manchester from Essex every day (seriously? Did people really think I’d do that 4h journey twice in one day??), I took the logical option and moved to be closer to my day job. Last Saturday, I moved into my proper flat rather than diverting my paycheck straight into aribnb’s coffers and it got me thinking – dangerous, I know. I personally don’t see it as a big deal, but apparently moving for a job is something a lot of people simply wouldn’t consider. Relocating adds a few extra steps to starting a new job, but it’s definitely got its pros. So, in true millennial style, how better to execute this blog post than with a bloody good list? Bullet points at the ready.

ALL ABOUT NEW

Hey phoenix, time to shake off those ashes. Now’s the perfect time to start afresh and there’s nothing better than having a completely clean slate.

NETFLIX AND CHILL

“Get up to much over the weekend?” begins every Monday ever. If you’ve just moved into a new place then you have a ready made excuse for vegetating in your pyjamas with a Domino’s deal for a couple of days under the guise of “getting settled” – score.

IT MAKES (HOME) SENSE

We all buy homeware for no reason. Now I’ve got a reason. Even if you move your entire life from one place to another, you’re always going to need some new bits.

CARDS FOR HUMANITY

I’m all for sending stuff in the post (but whyyyy so expensive, royal mail?), and this is the perfect time to send a little pick-me-up. I’m currently on the lookout for change of address cards, so if you spy any decent ones send some links my way.

GETTING TO KNOW YA

When you’ve been somewhere a while, you start to see its flaws (same also applicable to boyfriends, but let’s not get into that right now). Moving somewhere new gives you the chance to make a new place home, and a girl’s got to try all the eateries and bars to find the good ones, right?

MOBILE CITIZENS

I am very happy to report that Manchester has got an amazing blogger scene. I’d never really paid that much attention prior to moving here, but I’m glad PRs have got more than London on their radar. I’ve popped a few photos from the MyBag SS16 preview above just to give you a feel for what’s going on oop norf/an excuse to spend your well-earned dollar on pretty things.

SWIPE LEFT

Plenty more tinder nightmares to screenshot and send to your friends.

I’d love to know whether you’d ever move for a job, and if you have whether you think it was as big a deal as everyone makes it out to be. I’ll try and reply, but this flat’s currently lacking in the broadband department, so bear with me…

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Salford Quays, Manchester.

Primark fedora: £7. Marks and Spencer roll neck: £12. Warehouse faux leather skirt: sold out, similar. Urban Outfitters suede bag: £15 (also in tan). Adidas Spezial trainers: £27.

Photos by Clare and Laura

Hallelujah! 

We're not going into some weird niche (even if that's what every bloody #hashtagged chat on twitter tells me to do in order to have a functioning blog, I just like taking nice photos and having a reason to indulge in poached eggs for reasons other than they're dead nice), we're going into the realms of "mini miracles". Not quite sight-giving levels as I'm still shoving little bits of plastic into my eyes on the daily, but more like reassessing what we've got in an overly positive way. I know, this new leaf me is making even myself feel a little bit sick.

GET APPY

As someone who's been religiously pulling down on zoopla and rightmove for the last three weeks ("last 24h" filter a-go-go), these little bad boys have gone a long way to making sure I have a roof over my head right now. And the asos one's got a lot of my wardrobe to answer for too.

NETWORK RAIL

Anyone who's had the misfortune to follow me on twitter during a four hour delay might find this one a little hard to believe, but now I'm not in the South trains are the BEST. Less than £6 for a return to Liverpool? Sure. I've got an hour, let's go to Leeds. You can even get on a train without buying a ticket. This is probably the past rather than the future, but I like it. A lot.

FOOD SHOPPING AFTER WORK

There is no joy greater than seeing a yellow sticker on both some crusty bread rolls and a tub of peri peri hummus. 

CAPSULE WARDROBE

In the last four weeks I have mix and matched six tops, three dresses, two skirts, two pairs of jeans, a playsuit, a jumper and a coat, and haven't got (100%) bored of them yet. I'm not about to get all Marie Kondo on your ass, but maybe it's time to reassess the entire overflowing wardrobe situation.

LESS STRESS

You know that London life was a bit wrong when you move halfway across the country, don't technically have anywhere to live and start a new job in a higher position with loads more accountability and it's less stressful than what you'd got accustomed to. I know I won't be able to resist London's allure forever, but right now this was the best bloody move I could ever have made.

MOMENTS OF CALM

No, not in a "self help" way, in a "we're at Salford Quays, it's exposed, you're not in a coat and wearing a hat that takes off at any opportune moment" way. I headed out for brunch with Clare and Laura last weekend and we somehow managed to take the above photos without contracting pneumonia or get scolded by passers by for swearing about "freezing your fucking tits off" in February. Would you say my first Manchester photos have been a success?

If you've got any daily marvels to share, please leave them in a comment below and I'll read them and nod along attentively. But, right now, brb eating bread.

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