Monday funday

There are 3 important things that you need to know before you read any further. 1. Freedoms are returning and normal life seems to be resuming! Naturally, that means you have to get out and enjoy it as much as possible. 2. Little Katie (one of my best friends) has recently finished her old job and has 2 weeks off before she starts her new one. Naturally, that's cause for celebration and social plans galore. 3. I am now in a job that has an unlimited annual leave policy. Naturally, that means I absolutely have to make the most of it and ensure I take more than I would have with the 25 + bank holidays that I used to have. So, with these 3 important things you now know, you'll understand why we planned ourselves a Jenni + Katie day of fun (say it in the Janice-from-Friends voice if you know). 

We decided to turn it into a bit of a day trip, and headed up north to Sheffield. Sheffield is a city I've loved for a long time with a lot of my friends having gone to uni there, and it was actually the most recent trip away from Nottingham that I went on (me and Ollie visited shortly before lockdown 2). We made sure to start the fun and games early, with makeshift mimosas on the train!

People who say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day are half right; it's actually bottomless brunch. I've tried a load of different ones before but never the Turtle Bay one and the fact that all their cocktails are included and it's a 2 hour time limit instead of 90 minutes was very appealing! I haven't been there for food in a long time and although the brunch dishes were a bit of a random mash-up (I got a roti stack with fried chicken, cream cheese, watermelon, syrup and hot sauce), it was very nice. The cocktails were even better! We made sure to sample as many as we could, although ordering the piña colada was the most satisfying since we then got caught in the rain. But it was fine as we came prepared! 

It was chucking it down again when we arrived at our next activity, but then serendipitously brightened right up for the whole time that we were at the botanical gardens. Somewhere I'd never been before, it was so beautiful and tranquil and we had a really nice time wandering around, admiring the flowers and having a good old catch-up. It was kind of difficult to outfit plan for our day out because we knew it was meant to rain and that we'd be outside all day. I ended up going with my stradivarius ecru jeans (a firm favourite already), black river island top with mesh sleeves, black and white trainers (shein) and black mac coat.

The weather was having serious mood swings all day, best summed up by the chronological way I've ordered the photos in this blog post; blue sky, thunder storms, blue sky again. We hadn't had an alcoholic drink for all of 2 hours by the time we got to Lost & Found so naturally we needed to rectify that. We started off with cocktails on an uncovered table before making a very swift move under the conservatory just in time for the heavens to open. After the commotion of everyone else doing the same, it was time for happy hour! Cue more cocktails and a little tapas-style lunch too (the food was incredible there; would highly recommend).

Then it was time to shop! The obvious place to shop when going to Sheffield is Meadowhall but it's a bit of a trek and I think it's more suitable for when you want to put a serious shift in. I don't like high street shopping very much; I'm definitely an online girl. So we stuck to the city centre and had a wander round, starting with primark (the only place that my love of online shopping has no business). I hadn't been in nearly 6 months so it was a great chance to pick up a load of essentials (knickers, socks, umbrella) as well as some cute new bits. First up, I found this brown pinstripe blazer. It's a really soft fabric and I think it will be perfect for spring. They only had one and it was a size 6; I'm a 10 but thankfully Primark sizes are mostly pulled out of thin air and it fit perfectly. To prove my point, I also got another blazer, this time in a size 8 and I just loved the cute dogtooth print with pink and blue notes. I also picked up some hot pink shorts which I think will be equally nice in summer as they will over black tights, and this time I went for a size 12 and they also fit perfectly (see? Pulled out of thin air). I've been wanting some new flat shoes for a while because I think they're a wardrobe staple so I couldn't resist this pair for only £4! I completed the shop with some new summer sandals; I just love the block wooden heel with gold detailing. And then it was on to Superdrug to stock up on some beauty favourites.

We finished the trip (after what we can all agree was an extensive and exhausting shopping spree) with some more cocktails and some dinner! We went for drinks at Browns and then had planned to go to Ego for dinner (their menu sounded lovely). But apparently they'd decided to shut for the week due to the weather so we ended up at Bella Italia instead. Normally I wouldn't go to chains when visiting somewhere new, especially ones we have in Nottingham, but the outdoor-only rule somewhat restricted our choices. And the food was really nice so I can't/won't complain! We literally had the nicest time and definitely made the most of the day, even in spite of the rain. After all, life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about learning to dance in the rain. Or drink non-stop cocktails in it. Something like that.