Fresh from the success of securing a new job, I decided to celebrate with my wife’s blessing, by heading for a rendevouz with Karen and my girlfriends in Manchester mid week.
Having no car, I travelled up to Manchester by train, with bags and changing (trains that is!) twice at Nuneaton and Stoke before arriving at Piccadilly just after 1pm.
I made my way to my usual accommodation – The New Union Hotel in Canal Street, to get ready and meet up with Karen for some shopping.
I wore my new stripey pullover from Primark and teamed it with my jeggings and knee high boots with my trusty red woollen ¾ length coat over the top.
A quick beer at the bar and we were away up to The Arndale centre. By now, the snow was falling quite heavily making the going underfoot quite treacherous especially so in stiletto heeled boots with no tread!
Our first port of call was a jewellers, opposite from Primark where I tried on a few watches before purchasing a nice one from Sekonda to replace my watch which I had mislaid.
From there we made our way into the Centre and ending up in Debenhams, I picked up a couple of pairs of glossy black stockings for later. On leaving the other side of the Centre, we stumbled upon the Mac franchise at Selfridges and on spec I went in and asked one of the girls for a colour match foundation. Sitting down in front of the shop window surrounded by women having their make up done was quite an experience, even after having removed all of mine prior to working on me.
Luckily, Jen, the girl who did my make over, had a slot for me before her 5pm appointment and so she was able to check out a shade that worked for my complexion and show me how to work with the Mac makeup including a quick lesson on how to do smokey eyes. £76 lighter, we left the store and made our way back to the village.
The snow was coming down thick and fast and together with my knee hurting, Karen went ahead to get ready whilst I followed up. As my face didn’t need re-doing, I decided to take a break at Taurus and indulged in a bottle of Pinot Grigio at happy hour prices. Sitting on a stool at the bar chatting with Jason and people watching, I felt good both with my looks and my inner self. Could it get any better?
Before leaving to get changed, I rather cheekily asked the manager if I could buy two bottles of wine now for later during our meal. No problem was his response and he put two bottles to one side in the fridge for later.
Back at the New Union, before retiring to my room, I had a quick drink at the bar exchanging good humour banter with a couple of guys, one of whom was kind enough to take my photo.
For the evening meal at Taurus, I chose a black pencil skirt with animal print down the front paired with a silk top. With glossy black stockings and my black evening shoes, I felt a million dollars walking up Canal Street to Taurus protected from the Arctic conditions by my red coat.
The meal and company was great, service smashing. After paying the bill we split up with some going directly to Napoleon’s and myself joining Tina, Mandy and Dianna at Paddy’s Goose for a night cap as Mandy and Tina were driving home later, having work the following day.
Leaving my good friends to make their way home, I joined up with the others in Napoleons downstairs chatting and drinking well into the next morning. Getting back to my room just after 3am, I had arranged to meet up with Karen to have a wander around downtown Manchester the next day before heading back to the train station for 2pm.
The following morning, I got dressed, this time in a nice dress from Debenhams, paired with a pair of kitten heels and my red coat and booking out of my room, deposited my bag at Karen’s hotel as she was staying another day, before we made our way into town.
Working our way into Manchester we went via Chinatown and then explored King Street, stopping at a café for a bacon roll and a coffee before moving on to The Shambles and then took a ride on the Manchester Eye.
We finished off our walk around with another coffee in The Arndale Centre where I purchased 3 pairs of clip on earrings before sampling the joys of the toilets in the Centre. They must rank as some of the largest cubicles known to women and the well illuminated mirrors made touching up the face the easiest of tasks.
Back at Karen’s I hurriedly changed back for my return trip and Karen accompanied me back to Piccadilly where I managed to miss my train by one minute. No problem, we sat down and had a drink before the next train was ready for departure.
With 30 minutes to spare before my connection, I stopped in the bar at Birmingham New Street and enjoyed a glass of Stella, reflecting on the past 24 hours. Life is good.
Ordinary
11 years ago
