Double denim and all the frills.

Asos petite denim top: £25. Oasis Isabella jeans: £27. Adidas Spezial: £27.

Hands up if you're an old time reader round these parts? If you can remember back to my old "shove a point and shoot camera somewhere and hope for the best" time, then massive clicks to you for sticking about so long. Looking back at these photos and Manchester's intricate canal network reminds me of about three years ago during my second year at uni, when I used to wander around Liverpool and discovered the start of the Liverpool to Leeds canal route. If you'd ever told me back then that I'd end up living a little further along the route I would've raised an (untamed, forgive me) eyebrow and told you to jog on - funny how life has its little quirks, eh?

Back onto less just-had-a-coffee-and-this-is-life-now existential chat (yep, still heading to Costa to write every single blog post), hope you're all post-Easter egg coma survivor and thus eying up another. I'm heading home next week for food a TLSP gig and hospital appointment, so keep an eye on insta to check all the cute country places I'm off to, a right contrast to this super Manchester outfit (if I do say so myself). I don't feel homesick at all as I've felt like an adopted northerner ever since I got accustomed to Liverpool, but it'll be nice to head back for plenty of catch ups and a temperature a couple degrees higher than the crap we've got up here. So, see you soon London, and, in the meantime, send scarves.

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Aviation in the evening.

Frock and Frill dress (c/o). Public Desire Julia heels.

Dark days are here chums: I don't have internet. It's bordering on Medieval ages, and I don't know whether to just get an Austen approved regency dress, take up cross stitching and be done with it all. In the meantime, I'm rinsing Starbucks' wifi in At Ann's Square and having my (raspberry) cake and eating it too. As they say, I didn't choose the thug life...

In other less dramatic news (perhaps), I headed off to Leeds yesterday to play poker for the first time in years with Ladbrokes and a load of bloggers who's links I'll leave below - sorry if I miss anyone out! I know, I know, it's normally all chintz armchairs and country escapes up in here, but anyone who knows me in real life knows that I'm slightly rougher around the edges (gotta big yourself up and all, most people I know would probably say I spend too much money on absinthe for my own good, but I get to pick the words here, so we're going with that). I haven't really played poker for a long ol' time, but I found myself getting back into the swing of things pretty quickly, and even ended up on the final table against all the odds (only betting joke in this entire post, I promise). I got almost no photos of the event cos a 50mm lens and red lighting do not a good blog post make, but I had a load of fun playing at pretend hangover in the bright Manchester sunshine this morning to take a few lifestyle-y shots. Yet to tidy up the playing cards that I legitimately did drop all over the floor, so you can tell these are proper authentic.

A massive shout out to Frock and Frill who hooked a sister up with this absolutely gorgeous dress that I couldn't stop bloody looking at before putting it on. I'll get some "proper" photos at a later date, but for now feast your eyes on the moonlit balcony shot above, and this lil insta. Also, food snaps are from Friends of Ham which is just across the road from Leeds train station - good luck getting a table cos this place is popular, but the meats are top quality, and it'd be an amazing place to while away an afternoon with a friend and a bottle of wine.

You can see Ladbokes' blog post here.

Anyway, I'm off to catch up on the last week of online delights, but please do click through and check out some of the other Leeds bloggers if you're on the lookout for some new reads!

Ellie | Caroline | Keil | Alex | Bryony | Carolanne | Karl | Matt | Lucinda | Lauren | Carrieanne | Carl | Jessica | Lucy | Georgina | Ellie | Katie | Tina | Sarah

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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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