Student In The City

So I thought i'd do a little post on a few of the things I got for my birthday. Its not that I like these things in particular more than others, it's just I wanted to pick a few different things to show you guys. If any friends or family are reading this I just want to say a huge thank you for your birthday wishes and presents!

& Other Stories Turtle Neck Jumper

Harry Potter Illustrated books 1 and 2

Topshop Rose Gold Watch

Set of 3 Notebooks  

Kinnerton Just Dark Chocolate Mints

Alpine Lily Scented Soy Candle

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi (It was secretly signed by the author!!!)

Thanks again to everyone who made my birthday special!

Jess

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So during the day Dale was a football so I spent the early afternoon with my Mum. There was a couple of things I wanted to get from my local town so we headed out for a nice cup of tea and a spot of shopping. Mum kindly took an outfit photo for me... Thanks Mum!

What I'm Wearing:

& Other Stories Turtle Neck Jumper - £69 (Birthday Present off Dale)

Primark MOM Jeans - £13

Mango Bomber Jacker - £29.99

TU Clothing by Sainsbury Boots - (Old)

Lloyd Baker London Bag - (Old)

Later on in the evening me and Dale went out for a meal in Manchester and I had been craving a Vegan Ramen from Wagamama's since Dublin, so Birthday Ramen it was!

This is what I wore for the evening. Unfortunately I didn't get a photo of the dress underneath as it was a cold night so I didn't take the jumper off. But it has a black slip dress attached underneath with a mesh frill smock dress on top (Hopefully I'll feature it properly on here again soon!)

What I'm Wearing:

Primark Black Mesh Smock Dress - £13

H&M Roll Neck Jumper - £34.99

TU Clothing by Sainsbury Boots - (Old)

Mango Bomber Jacker - £29.99

Primark Bag - (Old)

We then headed over to Night & Day Café in the Northern Quarter a see a band we've followed since High School called King Kartel. The gig was great and I had a bit of a secret boogie (I'm a shy dancer, ha!).

And that's how I spent my birthday!

I'll be back soon with a post on some of the things I got for my birthday!

Jess

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The Striped Top cost £25, it is so pretty and instantly caught my eye when I walked in. The quality and feel is lovely as it's 100% cotton. It fits really well and looks great on. Its a perfect top to wear with jeans but I also think pairing this with a high waisted skirt would look just as good! Honestly can't say one bad thing about it.

So I do have some not so great things to say about the bracelet. Although it looks pretty and fits ok. With only over a week wearing this, the quality is already deteriorating. It doesn't look as shiny and is starting to scruff a bit. It cost £12 and yes that's not much for some people, but it's still a shame about the quality.

Also another thing to mention with the rest of their jewellery, especially the rings, is that the sizes they offer aren't ideal. They only seem to do small/medium/large in the rings and unfortunately for people with tinier hands and fingers the small just isn't small enough! so that was a shame because there wear so many rings I would have got!

Hope you enjoyed this little Review/Haul of my first & Other Stories purchase! I'll be back soon with another post!

Striped Top - £25

Bracelet - £12

Jess

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Valentines Day. It's safe to say I'm not a huge fan of the day. Not because I don't like the idea of showing someone you love them and appreciate them, but shouldn't that be without question everyday? and in a way that's not with giving gifts and extravagant presents but with all the little human things, like talking, listening, laughing, just being there for someone and knowing that that person is there for you. (However Dale did kindly bring home some flowers for me... who can say no to pretty flowers?)

Anyway. Moving on! Even though that's the way I feel about it, I decided this year to embrace the love and the red themes, by going for cute valentines outfit and a winged eyeliner make up look.

I picked up this red jumper from Stradivarius when I was in Dublin, it was about 30 Euros so I suspect it will be around the £25 mark. It's a really nice ruby red colour with embroidered lettering and cartoons on the front, being very 'love' and 'romance' related. The jumper is a slightly cropped and has boxy/oversized fit. I wore a New Look black Roll Neck top underneath for extra warmth (as it was a cold wintery day!) but I actually think having the roll neck showing through makes the look more interesting.

 I tucked it into my Primark 'MOM' Jeans. I only got these a couple of days ago for £13 which I'm 100% in love with and amazed that I managed to find these. They fit amazingly! They're high waisted and fitted around the bum, but then they have a looser/straight leg that runs to just below the ankle.

Here I rolled them up just so the black boots are emphasized a bit more. I love love love these jeans and will be buying the other pair that's in a darker blue wash!

I had a morning class at Uni that day, so I was up early and like I said it was a cold day so I wore my Miss Selfridge navy Coat which kept me nice and warm and my trusty grey Primark scarf.

 (China Town - Manchester)

(W Café - Waterstones Arndale)

I ended up having a really nice day, I went to one of my favourite cafés which is in Waterstones in the Arndale. It's a great place to have a quiet cup of tea and do some reading or Uni work! Then I headed home and had nice home cooked meal with Dale whilst we watched the new Walking Dead episode...

Nothing says love like blood, guts and zombies!

Speak to you soon!

Jess

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It was around Lunch time when we had to be at the airport so I picked myself up a Boots Meal Deal.  I have to say Boots were pretty good for vegan options, and this rainbow salad caught my eye with all its pretty colours, so I had to try it!

We got to Dublin around 5.30pm and checked into our hotel. We stayed at The Gibson Hotel, which we've stayed at once before and fell in love with it. After we unpacked we decided to head out for some food. We went to good old Nando's, its a great restaurant if out with people that aren't vegan and you don't want to be that awkward person that has to order something specially made. I ordered the Veggie Pitta with no mayo and a side salad, it was delicious! I didn't manage to grab a photo but here's a photo of what I usually get from Nando's.

Day 2

Breakfast at The Gibson Hotel was great. Everything was clearly labelled with allergens so it made it very easy for me to know what I could and couldn't have. I ended up having two bowls of Weetabix and soy milk, topped with fresh and dried fruit, pumpkin seeds and strawberry jam.

Day 3

So considering I was still pretty stuffed from the ramen from the night before, I only had one bowl of cereal and a banana for breakfast and a green tea. It was the same as the day before and tasted just as good!

We checked out of the hotel around 12pm, but unfortunately on this day the weather was shocking! It was gale force winds and the rain was coming down on us. So after a bit of wondering in and out of museums/galleries/shops and looking rather windswept we headed to a Café Nero (one of my favourite chain cafes) and I got a green tea and tucked in to some fruit I got from the hotel.

It was soon time to head to the airport for our flight, we sat in a bar/restaurant and Dale ordered food from there whilst I went a grabbed a takeaway salad from this amazing healthy food shop called Chopped. I ordered a salad with mixed lettuce leaves, tomatoes, chickpeas, sweetcorn and quinoa with a squeeze of lemon. Again it was the size of my head and I had to stop halfway through eating it and have a break. at this point we were both really tired and we were nearly falling asleep on each other!

For the plane I picked up an Apple bag and Trek Cacao Chaos bar and happily had that whilst I was having an emotional breakdown from the book I was reading, 'The Nightingale' by Kristin Hannah. I managed to finish the book on the plane but wow I was emotional!

And that's what I ate on our weekend away in Dublin! Hope this helps some people and shows you that being Plant based/Vegan is NOT restricting whatsoever and more and more restaurants are catering for vegans now!

Speak to you soon!

Jess

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