Frankie and Benny's cocktail menu

There is a new cocktail menu at Frankie & Benny's. All the classics are there, including my favourite cocktail: the Cosmopolitan. This is described on the menu as follows:

A ladies favourite! The combination of Eristoff vodka, triple sec, fresh lime juice and cranberry, finished with an orange zest.

So it was with a happy heart that I headed the Nottingham City Centre Frankie & Benny's with a voucher in my handbag for two courses and two cocktails. I met up with 7 other local bloggers who also had the same vouchers and we had a lovely time.

I had two Cosmopolitans and they were delicious. Not too sweet and very refreshing, especially after a hard day at work.

The food was good too. I had the goats cheese and red onion wrap with fries and a mango sorbet for dessert.

Here are some photos of us enjoying ourselves:

Left to right: bloggers from Baby Budgeting, Alexander Residence, Super Lucky and me.

Left to right: bloggers from The Mummy Diary, Love Chic Living, MummyLish and The Ana Mum Diary.

We did have a few suggestions as to how it could have been even nicer:

• turn the music down, so that it is easier to talk without having to raise voices
• make the cocktail menu easier to read, the lettering was tiny and didn't show up clearly against the dark-coloured background
• for the cocktails with ice, more cocktail and less ice would be good.

But even with these minor quibbles, it was a fun evening, and a real treat.

Disclosure: I received vouchers for two food courses and two cocktails (or other drinks), and so did the friends I was with. All reviews on this blog are completely honest.

Thank you to Becky for the photos of people - I only remembered to take photos of the cocktails!

Charity shops on Goose Gate

On Saturday I went into Nottingham to get my hair cut. It is now a proper bob shape after taking months and months to grow out my old pixie crop.

Anyway, I also took the opportunity to check out the charity shops on Goose Gate that present themselves as being 'a cut above' ordinary charity shops. (see what I just did there?)

White Rose 2

The first shop is called White Rose 2 on the corner of Broad Street and Goose Gate, which sells 'handpicked second-hand fashion' in aid of The Aegis Trust. It is a really lovely shop. As well as women's clothing, you can also buy cake plates, buttons, broaches and knitting needles.

My favourite finds from there in the last year have been:

Big mother of pearl buttons

Teal cardigan

The Oxfam Shop on Goose Gate is also worth browsing in, though the prices can sometimes cause a sharp intake of breath!

The Oxfam Shop on Goose Gate

The stock in this Oxfam shop can be pretty eclectic. My favourite ever item from here was this:

Flowery curtain

I didn't find anything I wanted to buy in either shop on Saturday, but that's the thing with charity shops, you have to go in fairly frequently to find the good stuff.

I've added both shops to a Google Map, in case you want to check them out yourself.

Linking up with The Charity Shop Blog Hop at Lulastic and the Hippyshake

Also linking up with Magpie Monday at Me at My Shadow