Hello Manchester

So the world is a funny old place. I feel very lucky to be able to meet the most amazing people through going to conventions and the brilliant world of twitter. Due to both of these I am now friends with the coolest gal ever! This gal is Jenny. She is one of the coolest people I know. 

On Tuesday I packed my bag and jumped on a train all the way up to Manchester. I have always wanted to visit but never got the chance until recently! Jenny lives near Manchester, so I thought it was the perfect opportunity to visit, while having Jenny as a tour guide. As soon as I arrived we went straight for lunch at Sugar Junction. We ordered yummy sandwiches and I had this amazing caramel Northern tea blend, which was so good! Sugar Junction was very beautiful, and I loved the decor inside. Brick walls and mix-match teacups will always been a plus. We chatted while we eat lunch, which was so tasty, and planned our next two days ahead.  

After lunch we went to Fred Aldous. After seeing this store on so many people's instagram accounts I had fallen in love with this store, and I have been dying to visit for years! I was very overwhelmed when I walked in! It was basically heaven on earth. I knew I would like this store purely because the tagline of the store is; Make Anything. This makes me smile, and believe me when you walk through the door you realise you really can make anything due to the amount of art supplies they sell.

Another amazing thing about Fred Aldous is that they have two working vintage photo booths! They have a black and white one and also a colour one. As you all know I am a huge fan of a photo booth, and every time I see one I have to jump in. Myself and Jenny jumped into the booth and took a few snaps. I normally choose black and white, but we went for the colour one. Mostly because this is the only public colour analogue photo booth in the whole of Western Europe. So I thought that was pretty cool and a must!

After we got our photos, looked at them and laughed, I then purchased a few bits and pieces. I think I could of brought quite a lot in the store, but I was restrained. Right outside Fred Aldous there is the amazing David Bowie mural by the graffiti artist Akse. I am a huge fan of this piece and I was so happy I actually got to see the piece in real life. We went to wander more around Manchester! More of which I shall talk about soon.

Brighton for the day

Brighton probably is one of my all time favourite places to visit. I was lucky because my parents used to take my sister and I to Brighton all the time when we were kids. I became used to all the quirky shops and people. From visiting Brighton when I was younger I really learnt who I was, mostly because in Brighton to can dress however you like, and be that person you really want to be. I visit quite a lot still, I am fortunate to have friends that live in and near by. 

We went to Brighton recently, and this was one of the things Dillon really wanted to do. I of course couldn't wait! We grabbed Charlotte and went along for the day. First stop was jumping in front of walls again. We found a really cool alley with lots of amazing wall art. We took a few photos while the sun was shinning. 

We wandered down the lanes and then decided it was time to grab a bit to eat. Charlotte had suggested Bills. The last time I went to Bills was probably back in 2009, when I went to visit my friend Claire in Lewes. I visited the actually Bills, before it became a chain. I remember loving it back then, so I was looking forward to seeing if the same charm was in these other stores.

The decor was pretty special, and really did feel rustic. We sat down and I glazed at the walls and walls of products for sale. We ordered drinks and food. The cider I had was simply delicious! It was served with a frozen glass which is my new favourite thing. Our food came and it was perfect. 



After lunch we wandered and found the Photomatic shop where they now have two different machines! You can still go in and visit the booth in Snoopers Paradise, but here it's a little bit more quiet. Plus you can choose from black and white or colour. We snapped some photos, mostly because I love these photos and needed some of my fabulous buddies. 

Later on in the afternoon we met my amazing friend Mandy for tea and cake in Cloud 9, an amazing cake shop which sells the most equally amazing rainbow cake. It's a pretty fancy place, with lots of bright colours and lots of cake. 

We wandered around the rest of Brighton to hidden shops, through cute streets, chatted and then got a cocktail to end the evening. Plus we visited the Pier earlier in the day. The sun was warm and it was perfect. We did a bit of shopping. The shops in Brighton never disappoint me, I always end up going home with a bag of goodies. Another perfect adventure.

Photo AutoMat Amsterdam

I love having photos taken and taking photos. Whether that is of myself or others. There is something about black and white Photo Booth photos I have always loved. I think its because of the film Amelie. I love being able to edit photos and make them perfect, but there is something about these photos. They are so raw and real. You cannot change them. Once the photo has been taken, thats it. It's nice not to have any control of them. What has been snapped, has been snapped. Then of course you just have to wait and see what comes out, and sometimes depending on the machine whether the photos even get printed (I had this while I was in America, and I knew those photos were gonna be cute).

While in Amsterdam I was so happy to find an amazing photo booth in this really quirky store/cafe. The store was called Hutspot, it kinda reminded me of Urban Outfitters due to the gorgeous pieces for sale and the way it was styled. I will be talking about this store in another post very soon. In the front of the store is a Photo AutoMat machine, and it was only 2 euros a strip. I actually think its quite good value, when I was in Paris I think they were 3 or 4 euros a strip. 

I also find Photo Booth and the photos to take quite romantic. The typical couple thing to do is to both climb into the booth and take 4 really cute photos, and normally ending with a kiss shot. I have totally done this, many times I have made David take photos. I hope to one day put them all in a large frame and hang them on the wall in our future home. This was inspired by an amazing couple of friends of mine Shelby and Sam, who make sure whenever they see a booth they take a strip. Of course I loved this idea. However its really difficult to find these old machines. In the UK you can find newer machines in Brighton and London, but there is something about the old machines, the way the ink bleeds and the slight blur of the photos. 

My mum always tells me of this story when she was travelling the world as a child with her brother and her parents. They all climbed into a booth to take photos on a train platform. They waited for the photos to come out, but it was taking a while. They got on the train, and Grandad Stan kept running back off the train to check if they had come out yet. He nearly missed the train, but jumped on quick just before it went. Sadly the photos didn't come out in time, and my Mum always thinks about the photos that would have been left there.

Thankfully this machine didn't take to long for the photos to come out. I was really pleased with them. You know how it is looking at photos of yourself, it is difficult. Then I grabbed Immy and Sarah and we all climbed in and took some funny strips. It really was the perfect souvenir, and I also took another set of myself for David as a gift.