Seeing Spots

I'd chose this dress by Samya in a botanical bird print. The dress is two layers and is on the website for £32 which I think is a really good price for a dress for a special occasion.

We decided to go earlier to have a look around as it's been quite a while since either of us last went to Rochdale.

The town is undergoing major renovation and from what you can see they've worked really hard and it's going to look fantastic.


We were a little early and made the most of the sunshine by stilling in the memorial gardens, looking across to the Town Hall.


Inside its a really beautiful building and I was in awe at how nice it is. My local town hall has been derelict for years and is now being turned into a cinema!




Our afternoon started with tea for two and a decision to be made. Sandwiches or afternoon tea?


I went for the ploughman's sandwich. Lancashire Cheese, roast ham, with salad and apple chutney. This was really tasty. The chutney was delicious and the bread and salad were very fresh and well put together.


My mum went for the steak and onion ciabatta and she really enjoyed it. The coleslaw was also really nice and very well received by both of us.


Although the sandwiches were very filling and we didn't need anything else the call of the cakes won and with a special offer of tea (or coffee) and cake for £3.50 it would have been rude not to.

We went for Lemon Drizzle and St Clements. I honestly can't pick a winner. You're all my favourites!

Someone on FB comments that the cake looked really small, I can assure you it's my dodgy photo skills both pieces were very generous in size and I couldn't finish my portion


Every member of the team were friendly, helpful and polite. While picking my cake I was speaking to who I'm assuming was the manager or duty manager and she was impressed we'd travelled so far (25 mins on the tram - I would travel further for good cake)

I wish them every success and think it's just what Rochdale needs.

For 2 sandwiches, 2 tea's and 2 slices of cake it was £23.50 which I was more than happy to pay and I can't stop telling people about it.

The colour I bought was translucent and I don't feel like this was a true translucent powder it was much more of a light powder and I continuously changed my mind on how I liked it.

My favourite part of this product was the packaging. I loved how the powder swung out and that there was a large mirror on the outside of the cover part of the lid.


I'm not even sure how I broke this one. One day it was fine the next it had cracked (I'm assuming I dropped it) I was going to try and take out the crumbs but some how I tipped it out of the pan. As the product doesn't cost a lot I decided against repressing it. I've just checked and it retails for £2


Over all I did like the texture of the powder and it did set my make up well. I would be tempted to repurchase this again but in a colour more suited to my skin tone.

I was a little early and the weather was nice to I who wasn't drinking got myself a Gin & Tonic. They have special offers on these for £5 and have a few different gins of offer. I went for a Haymans gin but asked for Slimline tonic rather than the one that comes with it (more about that later)

What sold this too me more than anything was the glass. I love these balloon glasses and the lemon peel and blueberry was a nice addition.

For starts I went fro the Tempura Prawns with Pak Choi - I was only expecting the prawns to come in the batter.  Everything was really tasty and we were talking about going back again for this dish alone.


For main course we all went for the skewers, I had Salmon with sweet potato wedges. I was really nice but I made the wrong choice. I really wish I'd gone for the chicken with house fries.




Banyan has a varied menu and a separate vegetarian and vegan menu which I think is a nice touch. What I also noticed was there were lots of plug sockets dotted rounds the seating areas and decent wifi (you do need to register for it but it was fairly quick)

They also have a couple of private dinning rooms on the lower levels and we had a little nosy at these as we went to the loo's they'd be perfect for a baby shower or a start of a hen do.

I was really impressed with Banyan and I would be happy to go back and hope fully will do soon.

My blogging game has gone off the rails recently and I'm slowly trying to get back into regular posting. I've just looked through my drafts and found quite a few posts that have been sat with pictures but no copy. I'm hoping these don't feel too out dates but in the view of openness and honesty I wanted to say these are from a while ago.

A good few weeks ago I went to the opening of Be At One bar, which is in Barton Arcade on Deansgate. Myself and some other bloggers were treated to cocktails and a first look of this incredible new bar (or not so new by the time I press publish) 



I arrived earlier than some of the other I'd arrange to meet and I didn't feel awkward waiting on my own as all the staff were friendly and had time to stop for a chat. The only thing I found awkward was the number of handshakes I gave. All the staff asked my name, gave their name and went in for a handshake. I'm not a handshake kinda gal, but I liked the element of introductions just not the handshake.

My initial reaction when I decide on a cocktail is to head to the Gin or Vodka sections, check the drink doesn't contain cream and  order but Be At One have a cunning plan to negate the element of rick in picking something you will like. As well as a page of the Top Ten Cocktails they have a wheel of choice. There is a selection of drink types, a selection of spirits for each style of drink and on the outside it gives you suggestions.

I tried three different cocktails and the Porn Start Martini was my stand out winner, It's like a grow up solearo.




One more special mention to the bathroom, I'm always fascinated to see how places decorate / layout the loo's and I was very impressed. I may have even oooo'd I know I was impressed as I took pictures! (Yes I know, no one else was in at the time)

If you then fill said brown paper and twine with Salted Caramel Brownies and post them to me for my Birthday I may well love you for ever and ever and ever.

 So while my birthday isn't until tomorrow it would have been rude to have waiting to try them. A huge thank you to my lovely friends Rebs who sent me this amazing birthday surprise.


I was so excited this afternoon and I tweeted and instagrammed everything. Suagr Moon tweeted me almost instantly, which is amazing. I love companies who interact and you can really get a sense of how much they love their product.

I have been looking at other flavours and I quite fancy trying the chocolate orange ones next, then maybe the toasted pecan ok all the flavours.

While I've been writing this post I may have placed an order for a box of the chocolate orange ones for my mums Birthday which is next week.