Scones, Cakes & Happiness

Scones, Cakes & Happiness

My Nanna was turning another year older... we decided to celebrate by eating ALL of the scones, cakes and sweet things.

I do miss Manchester - ever time I go home, a new restaurant / bar / awesome thing has popped up to welcome me home and make me miss it that bit more. The 'Rosylee Tearooms' is a recent addition to the ever expanding Northern Quarter so I booked us in to sample the goods. As you walk through the doors you are greeted with delicious smells, flowers draped from the ceilings and vintage looking crockery.

We opted for the cream tea, which is basically an afternoon tea minus the selection of sandwiches. The scones were delicious - the raisins had been sneakily replaced with chocolate, which in a warm scone, just equals perfection. I think I may need to opt for the champagne counterpart next time.

Due to the vintage feel of the tearooms I felt it was necessary to don a vintage dress (a new favourite, Manchester do vintage WELL). The high waistline made cake eating all the more pleasant... on that note, the cake selection was immense - after eating all of the cakes, we came to the conclusion that the 'Rosylee Tearooms' is just a generally tasty establishment.

Eating our body weight in sweet treats felt well deserved, we left feeling full and happy. The trip into Primark that followed however...

If you reside in the North, I suggest you go and get your fill - Rosylee Tearooms

The Key Three - Vintage, Design & Cake

The Key Three - Vintage, Design & Cake

Going back to Manchester for the weekend always means three things - shopping, gossiping, food... I managed to fit the key three into a Sunday, the day of rest.

I wanted to visit the new 'Nadinoo' store that has recently opened in the Manchester Craft & Design Centre, so I donned my beautiful, lace vintage coat and did exactly that! I managed to photograph (loads...) and film a little in store, which is something you will hopefully see very soon.

Going to a craft centre with home made cakes and not eating one is ridiculous, and I am no fool... we got the biggest slice, an iced coffee and placed ourselves at the most opportune angle to people watch.. After the sugar rush had subsided slightly, we went straight from design into vintage, where we stayed and found ALL the stuff.

Anyway, until next time Manchester... until I hop the train back, where have you found to be the BEST places to shop vintage / second hand? Tell all!

Top & Jeans - Topshop, Cardigan, brooch & Coat - Vintage, Boots - Dune

Look at Manchester showing off..

Charity shop / second hand / vintage shopping in Manchester is the best. If you are nosy enough to want to know what I bought... I filmed a full video, handy eh? Have a look here - YouTube

Suburbia

Coat - H&M, Scarf, Shoes & Blouse - Vintage, Skirt - River Island

Surburbia

The long hair is still kicking around, we are almost back on track lads.

When the days are cold and the streets are littered with puddles, taking a trip to suburbia feels rather necessary. We exchanged a day of culture (we were meant to be gallerying it, the rain destroyed motivation for city life) for a day of eating.

I like the feeling of waking up to an adventure - it always makes me want to dress up, plus this pleather skirt really was looking for someone nice to show off. I never particularly follow trends in the typical sense but I have always had a huge soft spot for tartan 'plaid', theres some Scottish in me somewhere that craves that 'Braveheart' feeling.... finding tartan in a charity shop is even more exciting - thrifting & tartan all in one lovely bundle.

We schlepped down to East Dulwich to devour coffee and cake, in a coffee shop that served 'babyccinos'. Not sure I understand the logic of spending £1.50 on a minute cup of foam but you know, these toddlers do need there hit of coffee shop magic. As soon as I step over the East Dulwich threshold get hit by a sudden urge to buy overpriced vegetables and a dog, this feeling is always a welcome one. As always a trip to the toy museum in East Dulwich was firmly on the cards, we arrived with the excitement of three year olds at the thought of turning a handle, making the toys come to life - that was until the realisation that it was gone hit us. Such a hard blow, one we couldn't recover from. We left a two hour gap before feeling it was acceptable to head to the next eatery on the list, swapping coffee for pints. Walking home seemed to justify the day.

By the time you receive this blogpost, I will be 27 - please leave your condolences below....

Cactus Hunting at Columbia Road.

Cacti!

Cactus Hunting at Columbia Road.

Columbia Road flower market is one of the best Sunday morning activities. I always have the best intentions to get up early and go, which is usually stunted by sleeping in or being hungover. Not this Sunday! We were up and out in time for breakfast!

I am not the best flower person, I kill pretty much every living thing that comes into my care which is why I think I am so drawn to cacti. Even I can't surely destroy something that is used to living with nothing in the desert.. can I? We shall soon see.. Amongst the rabble of people and flowers, Columbia Road has good few other uses including coffee consumption and dog spotting. We spotted the coolest dog surrounded by his folk band entourage.

As most bloggers I seem to be annoyingly snap happy - everywhere and anywhere. I like that I can send them out into the world knowing that someone, somewhere will appreciate a well timed brownie snap...

Dog spotting is an integral part of Columbia Road flower market, this guy wins.

Coffee cup waste land.

Afternoon Tea.

Afternoon Tea.

The ultimate blogger cliche - but who doesn't love miniature sandwiches, coffee and cake? The afternoon tea was in the depths of an antiques village in Manchester, which meant we had to trawl through a whole variety of vintage artefacts before reaching the cake. I had to physically stop myself from buying a very expensive box of vintage Babysham glasses, vintage makes expense seem worth it.

The antiques village was quiet, which always makes me sad. I can't imagine it will be able to survive too much longer with such a small amount of business.

The ol'bowler hat attracted some attention, I was declared 'the coolest person' by  one of the old men who looked after the village....

Creepiest.

We are the reckless, we are the wild youth.

We are the reckless, we are the wild youth.

No point to the title other than my manic listening to this very song. I gave this outfit a second outing (after the private view shenanigans) around East Dulwich. We harassed post men, ate cake and pranced around mechanical toy museums.

I seem to be gathering hats at a landslide rate - my newest addition is this badass 1950's bow hat. I found this whilst hunting around an antiques centre, places like that always store the funnest old ladies. This particular old lady had every hat on my head, imparting valuable hat wearing etiquette and forcing the prices down on my behalf. Dude.

Hat - Vintage 1950's, Dress - Topshop.

Always fun to interrupt a post mans day. Hiya.

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