"You're girls in London, what else would you go do?"

The past few days have gone by way to fast and it is already been a week in London! With only a few more days to go I figured I should keep updating you guys on what is happenin.(Oh and that quote as my title is by our doorman Michael from Australia, he's a hoot and a half!)

Over the weekend besides going to Tate Modern and Westminster Abby for a church service on Saturday, Sunday was my first day off of class related things. And what does a girl do when she gets a day off… shopping of course! And no it wasn’t intense or anything but a few people and I went to Covenant Square. Shopping in London is different than the U.S. in that there aren’t malls like we have, where a bunch of shops are located all in one spot. The shops are all close but you walk to each one and things are more intimate and original than the malls we have. Malls are very convenient but shopping here is an experience that you can make a day out of just because of how things are set up. You can watch a magician on the road, stop in a coffee shop while exploring different stores along the streets!

Another place I went to on Tuesday was Camden Town for some shopping. I want to go there again because of how interesting the shops are there and at the market you can find original things that you can barter to get a lower price on. I found a coat that was, “sixty dollars, but for you I’ll give you a special price,” and I got it for 40pounds. Tried for 30-35 but no success, “it’s even lined for the winter,” was his excuse.

The last shopping experience I have had was today, Thursday. We were trying to find out way to National Gallery, taking our time, stopping along the way on Regent Street at some shops. Mostly just looking around at what they have. At one of the more department stores/Pharmacy like places we stopped at I wanted to compare prices on fragrances, make-up, and hair products. And the pound is more expensive regardless but the only huge significant difference I saw in these prices was with the fragrances. Some of the more expensive ones at home were only for 13-15 pounds! Otherwise I need to look more closely at make-up and hair things. Only salons sell the salon products which is good, unlike Target that sells Bedhead and isn’t exactly suppose to; so I haven’t stopped in one of those yet. They have certain chains of shops just like at home, and a little too close together sometimes but each store does have its own style which I really enjoy. The have brand name stores where you can spend hundreds of pounds and dollars at or other little stores than aren’t so bad. H&M has been my personal favorite having things from 1 pound and up but nothing really above 60 pounds than I looked at. One thing I’m been searching for is boots. They are THE thing to wear here. They seem to make or break outfits that women wear. Coats, scarves, and shoes are the things they seem to really accentuate here. Their cloths are awesome as well but being that it is still winter they have great accessories and shoes to help still look fashionable. So having big feet is one issue but finding a store with semi-decent prices is another. In one of these counties I will find some :). I have to say London and probably Europe in general will turn out to be MUCH more fashion forward than the U.S. My boss Shawna mentioned a few days before I left for Europe that they are ahead of the United States by 7 years in things like fashion and hair styles; I believe her. Things here are much more people friendly in that I think more than one body type, size, taste can wear their cloths. The styles at home are you have style or you don’t; if it is a brand name or not. Here, it doesn’t matter if its brand name. They put together outfits to look good no matter if they find it at the market on the street or in an expensive store in Soho. I really like the cloths here if you couldn’t tell.

So concluding this blog that seemed to be mainly on shopping another place I want to try and get to is Herrods. It is a huge shopping mall, one of the biggest in the world, and I hope to get there to see what it is like before I leave London on Sunday. I’m pictures Ikea like but apparently they sell like yachts and other very large items also so it sounds exciting! I also stopped in a 5 story toy store today! They had probably any toy or game you could think of! Plus a sort of build-a-bear place! A brief thing on their grocery stores and coffee shops now… Waitrose seems to be the place to go to for any kind of food or drink that you could want. They have “Food and Wine” shops all over the place also that sells just random assortments of food items and, obviously, wine and other alcohol. The cafés and coffee shops are the best! You can go in, get something, and stay there all day or just sit and enjoy your coffee tea or food! It is so relaxing and time doesn’t seem to matter a whole lot which I like also. Anyway enough about shopping if you even read this far, Good Job! Haha. I’m sure I lost some but that’s okay. My other blogs will be more about other things than just this but it is just interesting to me :)