I was going to go to a meet with my
comm – but when I realised that this would mean not seeing my boyfriend for
another whole month (if not longer), I cancelled on that and called up a plan
us two have forged earlier: spending a day out in Manchester. Which, of course,
called for dressing up!
 |
| Song and Temple Fairytale Library skirt | Axes Femme
blouse | Innocent World Millefeuille bolero | Putomayo
Celestial Light OTKs | Innocent World Art Nouveau
headbow | Fantastic Grim Jewellery necklace | offbrand
beret and shoes (New Look) | |
This is actually what I would’ve
worn to the comm meet as well. The Fairytale
Library skirt is my new favourite because of how easily you can dress it up
or down. In fact, I’ve been wearing it to work for a whole week before that
weekend and got plenty of compliments on what are some simple outfits by Lolita
standards. So it also ended up feeling quite cathartic to finally do a proper
Lolita outfit with it. Also: big shout out to the Putomayo socks as they stayed
up almost all day without sock glue. Now I want more Putomayo socks, but I’m
waiting for them to do some new designs.
Our day in Manchester consisted of
visiting the Manchester Museum, going out for ramen (which is what started the
whole thing) and a little bit of shopping. Despite it being a pretty gloomy day
all day, we managed to avoid most of the rain and stay relatively dry, but
unfortunately (and very surprisingly!) I was a little bit ill on that day which
affected my spirits a bit. (Context: last time I was ill, and that was quite
seriously ill, was 2014.)
The Manchester Museum is actually a
part of the University of Manchester and while I knew that they had several
different exhibits on, it still confused me a little bit. Rather than being a
museum specialised in one specific thing it felt more like a museum of
everything anyone affiliated with Manchester Uni ever laid their hands on. So
one moment we were looking at a typical archaeological exhibition focused on
Ancient Egypt and Ancient Roman artefacts found around Manchester – and then
suddenly we’re in a natural history part… from which we ended up in a little
aquarium of lizards and amphibians? This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but a
better marking of what’s where or at least a map suggesting visit routes would’ve
mitigated the confusion a little bit. But hey, the museum staff appreciated my
book skirt, so I can’t really
complain and I did enjoy the visit.
From there we made the walk to the
city centre, which was a lot quicker than what Google Maps told us (25mins
according to them, more like 15-20mins at my low-energy pace). We went to
Shoryu Ramen, which is actually a London-based chain that managed to open up a
Northern branch. I’ve tried them before when I went to London once, so I knew
that I was getting what I was craving, but I’m glad that I also converted my
boyfriend a little bit too (this was his first time trying ramen). Bonus – the ramen
made me feel a bit better, proper comfort food, but also soups are amazing when
you’re poorly. It’s in Piccadilly Garden, so right in the middle of the city
and hard to miss.
What I didn’t realise has also come
up North from London was some of the shopping that we did after we refuelled.
After eating we had about an hour before shops would close and I don’t miss a
chance to go to Lush, ever. On our way there, however, I spotted a familiar
tattooed face on the Debenhams window. Yes, the Kat von D line, which has been
available through Debenhams in the UK since like last November, has finally
become available not just online and in London, but in other branch(es?) too. I
can’t exactly say that I’m obsessed with her makeup line, but I wanted to try
the Everlasting Liquid Lipsticks for a while and selecting colours online makes
me uncomfortable. And rightly so, because the colours that I would’ve bought
online I did not like at all in real life. Since I couldn’t decide, I bought
two and went straight to the till before I dropped any more money, and then we
proceeded to Lush where I dropped more money. The lady in Lush told me that
Debenhams has launched the Kat von D line in Manchester only the day before, so
that was such incredibly lucky timing as well! But whilst in that Lush I
realised that even “my” Leeds brand, which I thought was so great and well
stocked, was poor in comparison – the Manchester one had things which up until
then I’ve only seen online, like the iridescent eyeshadows. Again, deciding was
hard, but in the end I only got one which I plan on doubling up as a
highlighter – as well as one bath bomb and a small bottle of shower gel.
Because I was ill and deserved to spoil myself a little!
 |
| This is kind of silvery lavender sheen in real life |
On our way back to the car I also
fulfilled a promise I made to my boyfriend in that I’d treat him to something
nice and he decided that this “something nice” would be a milkshake. We spotted
two branches of this milkshake (and burger) place called Archie’s and it turned
out to be absolutely delicious! I was too worried about a cold drink making me
worse, though I didn’t refuse when offered to try my boyfriend’s Oreolicious –
it was absolutely gorgeous! Pretty large for a regular size as well, but
totally worth it!
So in the end, even though I felt a
little weak and not really myself, I enjoyed spending a day out in Manchester.
It’s a place that I feel I should know better, but somehow never make my way there
– but every time I’ve been there recently I’ve been nothing but pleasantly
surprised and genuinely enjoyed my stay. So I guess it’s time to attend more
meets with the comm there, isn’t it?
