Catch up - the past 2 weeks in photos

My birthday outfit

All saints button detail off-shoulder top, uniqlo striped culottes, uniqlo heattech grey stirrup leggings, and Marks and Spencer's round toe faux fur cuff boots.




Heavy snowfall outside my office window. After 5 years here, snow is still such a novelty for me!

Student protests against the proposed tuition fees hike. Funny placard quotes included "First Dobby dies, now THIS??" and "Dumbledore is rolling in his grave!". Um, students, we want to be taken seriously yes?

Celebratory dinner at Giraffe with WP. We were celebrating God's goodness and faithfulness as she received good news that her contract as a travel copywriter is being extended. WP is a very good writer.

Farewell party, a send-off to good friends who are returning to South Korea after a stint in Manchester. In the photo I'm squashed between darlings Ju-He (leaving us! boohoo) and Charis, the brilliant owner and chief designer / buyer behind GRAFEA, a boutique of luxury leather goods. Link to her online store on the side bar --> This woman has Vogue magazines dating to before I was born!

Glistening Beijing roast duck for my birthday dinner. Mmmmm... What a blessing! This was seriously yummy.

A birthday gift basket put together by good friends J and WP :) Supersized mugs and marmite. They know me too well.



Thank you Jesus.

Pizza Express, Old Colony House, 6a South King Street, Manchester

So it was the night before my birthday, and the night of the Christmas lights switch-on in Manchester. Here are some fireworks as proof!



WP and I decided to go to Pizza Express at the Old Colony House. Pizza Express is a very well known and ubiquitous franchise in the UK, and they are very hit and miss when it comes to food and service standards. For instance, the worst Pizza Express experience I've had is at the Piccadilly Gardens branch. The service was poor and the food wasn't great. The only thing that was nice was the Sicilian lemonade, and that's because it came out of a bottle.

This Pizza Express at South King Street was miles better, and we really enjoyed our dinner there. WP ordered the Diavolo - hot spicy beef, pepperoni, onions and Tabasco sauce. Lots of green chillies!

I ordered the Pollo Pancetta but substituted the red onions for caramelised onions (which was actually a chutney). This was yummy, the pancetta was perfectly crisp around the edges and there was plenty of cheese.

Check out the size of my pizza. I was undeterred!

The get-up was very standard Pizza Express: clean, no-fuss and efficient. We were up for a no-fuss dinner and this ticked all the right boxes.

This was the beginning of a long weekend of feasting and being non-vegan!