The tale of a girly trip!

My two Bham buddies!

The details of when and how I first came to speak to these two beauty's - Maddy and Chloe - are somewhat hazy (when I say I have a dreadful memory - as I have done on a few occasions - I truly do mean it!) but their impact on my little life is clear for all to see; I'm so bloody grateful to have met them, not only across the blogger waves, but also - happily - now in real-actual-100%-true-life!!

Back in February four of us gals - myself, Chloe, Maddy and Paige - decided we would like take a trip to Birmingham for two days of shopping, chatting and cocktailing (all of which we succeeded at accomplishing!), settling on a date in April. Come a few days before the trip, Paige unfortunately had to pull out; her final university deadline was impending, and time away from her work would mean extra stress and strain we didn't want her to put herself through. Understanding the importance of the situation, although disheartened we wouldn't see her, we weren't sure what to do next. However, after having a little chat, and (selfishly!) making it known that I’d appreciate the time away and a chance to meet with the both of them as I wasn't sure when next would be best for me (I had a test the same week, then two essays to hand in, and now I'm in my revision period for my upcoming exams - oh the life of a student!) we made the decision to keep the plans as they were. That doesn't mean to say Paige's absence went unnoticed - I no doubt speak for all of us when I say we certainly missed ourselves a petite, red-headed shopping, chatting, eating and dancing companion, and that we all hope the trip away is something we can recreate in the future with her gorgeous self by our sides! 

After having all met at the train station, we walked the short journey through the Bullring to our hotel, dropped off our stuff, then turned around and made our way back to the shops. Forever 21 was the unanimous choice for our first stop; man, do I have major love for that place. I wish, although I know Birmingham's fairly close, that there was one in Notts, because I could spend many an hour perusing its shelves and rails, beholding and soaking up all it's magical goodness, and spending bucket-loads on.......ok, maybe it's a good thing there isn't one here!

A few shops down the road we decided a break was in order and opted for Starbucks (evidence on Chloe's instagram. Although this isn't the drink she actually ordered. We only found that out the next day when in a different Starbucks!) before making our way back to the hotel to get ready for our night ahead. Cue lots of laughter come photo time; this is my genuine reaction to having a camera pointed at my face (when I've had a drink my reaction is to pout - all-round camera idiot!). We ended up walking to The Mailbox for dins - briefly visiting a dinky pub whilst we waited for a table to become free at Pizza Express - then made our way along the river to Broad Street once we'd filled our bellies suitably-full of pizza (and wine!). Not knowing where to stop first, we finally 'chose' Walkabout (ha!) after being offered a free bottle of bubbly upon entry (more evidence on instagram!). After a wee-while of boogie-ing to bad music, we chose to defy 'advice' given from local lads (who said Walkabout was the place to be on a Tuesday eve!) and make our way across the road to Reflex, where we spent the rest of the evening drinking, dancing (to Busted and 5ive montages, yaaaay!) and having a rather merry-old-time!!

The next morning dawned (and with it a free breakfast due to a ridiculous accident I had with a door-stopper the prior day!) and we decided to dedicate it to Cow (because who doesn't love it in there?!) and The Custard Factory. I had never visited the latter before, so it was lovely for me to finally see it in all it's glory (and to get my hopes up that I might just bump into Emma Case - alas, that did not happen). After wandering through a couple of the vintage stores, we stopped at Greenhouse Cafe for some pick-me-ups (beverages and cakes!) before making our way inside the Factory and stumbling upon The Vintage Salon, where Maddy had a cute little victory roll styled into her hair whilst Chloe and I happily sat back and relaxed, taking in the gorgeous interior.

Afterwards we chose to go to Selfridges and have a good mooch about - hell, we even made a couple of purchases, the crazy-cats that we are (yay for posh-Primark!) - before lunch (anyone for pie?!) and then a laze about (because my darn joints decided to play me up, so sorry for that ladies!). Then, before we knew it, it was time to make our way back to the station and say our goodbyes.

I had an absolutely fantastic time away and truly can't wait to do it again. We are keeping our fingers crossed that next time we will have the pleasure of being joined by a a few more friendly faces !!

In case you thought I may be exaggerating about the whole 'camera reaction' thing!

Me doing 'straight-face!'

Gorgeous gals on the way to our night out - outside The Mailbox, taking an obligatory 'pretty light' piccie!

Blurry capturing of a fantastic night out!

Wednesday morning brought with it a COW trip - here's me having a peek at Chloe through the shoe-shelves!

Plenty of goodies on offer!

Our first glimpse of The Custard Factory!

Outside the cafe we stopped at (doing our best to shield ourselves from the rain!)

My tea, courtesy of Chloe's magical camera (it was waiting for red velvet to join in!)

Décor in Greenhouse Cafe, again thanks to Chloe's photography skills!

The fabulous vintage salon we found!

Another Chloe wonder-shot!

Making a start!

Nearly there!! You can see the result of this lady's fabulous handiwork here!

Vintage-wear on sale!

Cute little extras

Chloe's capturing of that big, shiny Selfridges sign!

Primarni

Sweet-heaven!