I ♥ MCR

Manchester is the closest 'proper' city to me, where I'm currently based. It's about 90 minutes away on a good day and is the nearest place for full scale shopping, the opportunity to have an overnight stay, and feel like you're somewhere else completely without needing to spend a day traveling.

The Guy and I have our birthdays about 2 weeks apart, and as a joint (but mostly for The Guy) birthday present, my parents bought us an overnight stay in an apartment hotel and a Greek Meze meal in Manchester. We decided we'd book it for later into the summer as something to look forward to, and as it happens, I'm glad we had this at a time when there's so much going on, as it gave us a chance to spend some time together, away from everything else that's going on in our lives. Oh.... and I accidentally booked it and realised that it was our first "anniversary" (we think, anyway). I'm not a big believer in celebrating anniversaries unless you're married, but it was nice to reflect on how much things have changed in the last 12 months.

Anyway... onto the good bits.

Apartment in Manchester City Centre

The apartment is right in the city centre- for anybody vaguely familiar with Manchester, it's bang opposite the Printworks (the side with all the coloured lights). It was a one bedroom affair in a great location, the only thing we felt spoiled the place was the attention to detail- missing or blown lightbulbs, dirty crockery in the cupboards, busted extraction in the bathroom, stained rugs etc.

We weren't sure what to expect from Bouzouki by Night, the Greek restaurant we had our meal booked at, what we found on arrival was a simply furnished restaurant that was busy and lively and smelled pretty damn good. Our dinner was a 15 course Mezze some of which was brilliant...

Cold dishes from "round 1"
Centre- Tomatoe, Aubergine and veggie dip
Clockwise from top
Chickpea Salad
Stuffed Vine Leaves
Yoghurt Dip
Hummous

The deep fried Haloumi cheese and the aubergine slices were also divine, but I didn't take many pictures of the food (sorry folks) as I was enjoying having a bit of a night off and enjoying conversation.

A couple of snaps from our wander home, I'm a bit fascinated by photographing lights at the moment...

Princess St, Manchester

The Printworks Dantzic St Exit, Manchester

One of the things The Guy and I really noticed whilst in Manchester this week, is the strong police presence couple with the I ♥ MCR campaign. After the social unrest recently, it's good to see Greater Manchester Police taking things seriously (they're also on Twitter and have been doing lots of naming and shaming. Check them out @gmpolice) but even better to see people standing together to show that they're not prepared to have their city wrecked by thugs. The I ♥ MCR campaign seems to have all sorts happening around the city, such as a "Love Wall" in th Arndale Centre and lots of posters and t-shirts about.

I did do a little shopping whilst in the city- it's a rare chance to get near a Primark for me, so I grabbed it with both hands. They seemed to have some very nice bits and pieces in for Autumn and I really loved the neutral/oatmeal/rust type autmnal colour pallettes. But more on my goodies next week.

As well as a few new additions to the wardrobe, I've been having a bit of a clear out. In fact both my mother and I have been clearing things out, the consequences of which, are a few bits we're selling. I've set a new SALE page, where you can see the first few bits that are up. I'm gutted that I have bigger feet than my mother, because it pains me to sell a beautiful pair of shoes, exactly what I'm looking for, never worn, but a size to small for me.

A sneeky peek for you....

 Pretty shoes...

 

...VERY Pretty Shoes



                                                                                    New Wardrobe?