I can’t believe I turned 22 last week! Where does time go?! Life seems to be on the fast forward button at the moment, the weeks are whizzing by and I’m struggling to come to terms with the fact I am another year older! I took the week off for some much needed ‘me‘ time. To sleep a little longer, eat and just focus on myself a little before the hectic run up to Christmas. I’ve done a lot of exercising and have enjoyed just lying in bed for an extra hour or two in the morning.
Wednesday 9th – the day of my actual birthday wasn’t too exciting, I ended up going in to work to treat myself to a new matching underwear set by Rosie for Autograph, which I absolutely love! My Gran treated me to a lovely lunch at the Station Inn which was delicious and we went home and enjoyed a bottle of wine in front of the tele before we both nodded off.
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Josh told me that we were going away on the weekend and asked me to have my bags packed ready. I have love hate feeling towards surprises and all week long I pestered him, asking him what we were doing and where we were going but he didn’t let it slip, at all. After what seemed like forever, Saturday arrived and I waited rather impatiently for him to finish playing football. He then told me we were off to Manchester for the night, my favourite city for the German markets! It was so nice just spending some real quality time together as it feels like forever since we went to Barcelona back in August.
We checked in to the Britannia – which was a bit of a disappointment and we both felt was not worth what was paid for the night, don’t stay here unless you wanna be kept up all night long by thudding music! However, after a few strong cocktails I was passed out for the night which didn’t bother me but I don’t think Josh was too pleased.
We did however dine out at Chaophraya, a Thai restaurant we went to when we first started seeing each other back in 2013, aww. The food was top notch, I couldn’t fault it at all and the service was spot on. I’ll run you through what we had to eat… For starter I had the steamed dumplings and Josh tried the prawn tom yum which was served in a cute little glass teapot. Both dishes were really yummy but I think if I were to go again, I would go for the mushroom tom kha, similar to the prawn tom yum just less hot.
Moving on to mains, Josh went for the crispy pork belly with Thai basil which I was first off going to get but then I decided to go for the sirloin steak with penang sauce, although when my meal came it seems as though they got a little bit muddled up as I actually got the chamber aged sirloin steak which was lovely but penang is my favourite and I would’ve loved to have tried it – despite this, I did get to cook my steak on a himalayan rock salt block which was pretty cool and I noticed some tables around taking a sly look out of the corner of their eyes.
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After polishing off a very tasty dinner, we thought it would be rude not to have a quick glance at the dessert menu and although we were both bursting at the seams we decided to share the chocolate bombe dessert – a melting chocolate bomb with Thai whiskey ice cream and honey and toasted sesame popcorn centre with hot caramel sauce. Need I even tell you that it was just scrumptious?! Well, it really was but if you don’t like whiskey then don’t try this dessert because it is sooo strong tasting of whiskey!
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After our tummy’s were well and truly satisfied, we headed off to the Alchemist at the Spinningfields, which I would say is definitely my favourite part of Manchester to drink/eat. Everything is so clean and glam and the Christmas lights made everything that bit more magical.
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We spent all of Sunday wondering around the German markets, sampling everything that they had to offer. I went back several times for slices of pizza which was the best pizza I have ever tasted. We shared a spicy German sausage and even managed to squeeze in a portion of mini pancakes each, smothered in Nutella. And of course, I found my way to Zara and treated myself to a few bits there but I’ve also found a new favourite store – &Other Stories, where I managed to pick up a snuggly, oversized, roll neck knit, perfect for the cold winter nights that lie ahead of us!
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We got to meet up with some friends too and we went to Harvey Nichols to enjoy the best cocktails I have ever tasted! Don’t they just look so yummy though? I was actually supposed to vlog my Manchester trip but only managed to get a few bits of film here and there. I never realised how difficult it would be! I promise to vlog my next trip – whatever that may be! To Manchester, I plan on seeing you next year for more mulled wine and German sausages.
