Why is it so difficult to find the stuff you want in only one shop? Today we set out to pick up a few things my husband needed to complete his Valentine’s Day gift for me (we’re super cheesy — I get it!) and we ended up looking in three different shops before we finally found what we were looking for: a wide red ribbon.

If there’s one thing that really bugs me about living in England, it’s got to be the shopping. You see, I’m the type of gal who attacks her shopping list with a strategic plan. I like to be as efficient as possible so that I can get in and get out with everything that I need in the least amount of time. Accomplishing this was not a problem while I was living America, however I find that my shopping trips in England end up taking entire afternoons or even entire days to complete! And there have also been far too many times when I’ve come away empty-handed from a day of shopping because all of the shops near me specialize in everything except what I need.

It’s made me really value and appreciate the availability of things when I went back to America over the holidays and I just wish England would advance a little bit quicker. The English seem to be progressive in a few areas — recycling, for instance — and extremely stubborn in others!

Nit-picky things aside, I don’t think I’ve managed to check everything off my to-do list today so I think I ought to spend a little bit of time this evening tidying up the flat instead. Tomorrow we’ve got a quite a full day, which I think we’re both really looking forward to, so I better get my stuff finished up tonight.