The 3rd & 4th; Christmas shopping trip!
The 3rd of December. I have had many jobs to do today, and have completed most of them. The important ones, anyway.
Once dressed and full of festive coffee, I got two blog posts done (the one I typed yesterday didn't work), then set about writing some promotional blurb for this event I am planning (I promise details next week) and it is harder than you might think! It took me the whole of the rest of the morning. It needed to be under 200 words and I am very bad at being concise.
After lunch, I did some more of my crochet gifts while we skipped through the X Factor final (let's not talk about it), then I painted my nails while we caught up with last week's Howard's End. Wrote some more emails, and now I am about to plan where Mommy and I go tomorrow in London and in what order. Christmas shopping trip!
The 4th of December .
I am on a train and my back hurts. It has been a long day and my left eye has been excruciating for most of it. I have positively flooded it with drops to try to alleviate some of the pain. Occasionally it hurts less and I am taking the opportunities as they come.
I woke up at twenty past five for no good reason and couldn't get back to sleep, so I tossed and turned as I listened to podcasts to kill the time.
Coffee, toast, advent calendar biscuit (I decided I probably wouldn't want to eat it by the time I got back this evening). At New Street for ten o'clock, where I discovered Nationwide were having issues so I couldn't withdraw any money or use my debit card. Not ideal for a day of Christmas shopping. Still, it got resolved while we were on the train, so I got some cash at Euston and breathed a sigh of relief.
Started at Harrods where we spent half an hour getting lost trying to find the café, having to traverse the hell that is the Toy Kingdom before finally finding the place to sit and drink coffee and eat lunch. I had a braffle, which is a brioche-waffle hybrid filled with Welsh rarebit and it was delicious. We were entertained by the very stressed manager telling all the staff that it was imperative that they smile, and when he got angry he started speaking Italian so we couldn't understand. The one thing I hate about Harrods is that no matter when you go, it always seems to be full of children. Why are they not at school? I am very much of the Victorian position that children should be seen and not heard except I don't want to see them either unless I have chosen to spend time with them. All I purchased was a salted caramel brownie. Disappointing this year!
Next stop Fortnum & Mason which was much better. I only bought my festive Buck's Fizz marmalade but Mommy got several things so it was worth it. We only go to the food floor in there because the lifts are ghastly and I cannot be arsed. So then we went to Liberty via Cinnabon (I cannot pass it without buying one, it would be a disservice to Dean) and there I found joy in a felt sausage dog tree ornament and the haberdashery. The wall of wool is my happy place. However, I discovered the one in John Lewis is even better. I know I should have known this, but we hadn't been before so didn't know its true beauty. So much wool. I bought some that I would never normally have purchased but my eye really hurt and I was sad so I made a decision of self-pity.
Last stop Selfridges. I bought an elf gingerbread man. But he was all. I saw some fun wrapping paper but it would be ridiculous to buy that in London and besides, I have not decided on a theme yet and I can't do that until I have got all my gifts. I have bought one present today, only a couple left to go. I am so uninspired this year.
Now on our way home. I am so looking forward to a comfortable chair and taking off my eye make up.
