I Bought a BIKE! (and other shopping in England)

On Thursday afternoon, my first day here, Fruit Loop and I went shopping! Yes, crazy in a way because I was so jet lagged, but we wanted to keep me awake so my body would start to adjust to the six hour time difference. Off we went to Ikea, home of all of our furniture and FOOD. I was still hungry so we stopped in the cafe where I had a spot of fish and chips! Oh and a lite soda with NO ice. In fact I didn't even see ice ANYWHERE! grrrrrr YUCK, it was disgusting. Best not let Fruit Loop know, hehehehe. Well we zoomed around and picked up bits and pieces for our wardrobe (That is a fake closet in case you didn't know. They don't have closets! strange?!) Then we went to a store like Walgreens called BOOTS. It was very nice, but NO crest toothpaste, hmmm. Honestly, I can't remember if we did anything else because I was about dead!

Then on Friday we did more shopping at.....WALMART!! They call it ASDA here, but it also has Walmart on the sign. We ate a yummy brunch there and then looked around and bought a few things for me to cook for dinner. (Ok, don't faint, yes I cooked dinner for them! I also wash dishes, do laundry... but that is for another blog entry!) NOPE, Walmart in England is not the same. They have just a tiny selection of stuff, but it was nice to be in a familiar place. The grocery department was wonderful with plenty of choices. AND I avoided the clothes section so I wouldn't be tempted!

After Walmart we went to a place called Argos. EVERYONE in England has an Argos catalog, it is real thick and FULL of great stuff at awesome prices. I was all excited and I had picked out something to buy. We walk in and BAM there are NO shelves, just little stands with catalogs and computers! You can only order from the catalog and they will get it from the warehouse in the back or off site! I was SHOCKED. Guess I was expecting how Sears used to be when I was a kid, you could shop AND order from the catalog. :-) I think we went to a few more stores, but my brain was so tired by then I had no idea what was up or down.

Saturday we went shopping again! (But first we cleared out tons of junk from the backyard and took it to the tip, that's the dump. I think we made about 5 trips!!!) This time we went to the giant B & Q which is just like Home Depot, orange too! We went straight to the bathroom section and I got my medicine cabinet I wanted. (The purchase at Argos was for the bathroom as well. Living with two boys, you have to find space for all your girly stuff!) After we strolled around a bit we left for the next shop....the BIKE store!!!! WAIT!!! I am wearing a skirt and flip flops, cute flip flops too!!!! Maybe we should go another day? He looked disappointed so I decided to give it a go.

It was LOVE at first site.... and no I don't mean Bluefish. A classic red bike, three speeds, leather seat/hand grips, ding-ding bell, skinny tires with a white wash, a back rack to carry items, and the cherry-on-top... a wicker basket!!!!! Just what I had been looking for. I was so excited I bought it right away, forgetting that pounds and dollars don't match! YIKES, went a bit over my budget, but when I got on it Monday... It was worth every penny!!!!! Now all I need is a dog to ride in the basket. Bluefish tells me he is going to get me a stuffed one, darn...

Almost forgot, we went to the mall on Saturday too and guess what? It is just like ours! Big, bright, posh, full of stores like GAP, Starbucks, Disney... oh and even McDonald's - where I finally got a diet coke with ICE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Sunday we went on an adventure (I will write about that next!)