Day1: Shopping Adventures

Hello again!  I am going to label this Day 1 since it was my first full day in London. As I write this I am eating a Curly Wurly bar which is essentially soft caramel covered in chocolate. It tastes amazing, obviously. I slept in quite late today as I didn't have anything that I had to get done today. I also realized that, due to sim card issues, there was no way for me to talk to my roommate Maggie while she was out today(her blog is here). Luckily for her (and me), it started working around 2. I then ventured out with her and some of the other girls who are in our study abroad program. The weather was really nice today (45 to 50 degrees) and the rain cleared up, so walking was very enjoyable. I opted for a thin grey shirt because it was so warm outside compared to the weather in Chicago. Since I didn't bring an umbrella with me, I had to wear my coat with a hood, which happens to be my packable down coat. Therefore I tried to dress lighter underneath. My black jeans and black boots are my go-to all winter long.

I will not caption this ootd. Instead I will caption it"I was trying not to dress super American so I would blend in. I think it worked". 

I had to pull my fringe into a pony tail because I was without a hair dryer. I refer to this as my "Ariana Grande hair-do". Note: the only bad thing about black jeans? they die your light colored phone cases. 

The first stop on our shopping trip today was a store called Tiger.  It was super cute and had loads of adorable knick knacks. Such as a mug shaped like an Elephant for 3 pounds (turns out my keyboard doesn't have the pounds symbol). I was incredibly tempted to buy it and tons of other things. From in front of the store we could see the very top of the London Eye through the buildings.  No, I did not take a picture of this. Yes, I do wish I had. We then went to a Primark that was up the street. I would describe this store as a crossover between Old Navy and Forever 21 but even BETTER. Upon entering the store, I wanted to buy every piece of clothing saw. The quality of their clothes seem to be pretty good as well. They had a few pieces of clothing in from their spring line. The store we were in had three floors. Obviously, we didn't have enough time to go through all three floors, but we were able to glance around a bit.  It was quite overwhelming, but luckily the store wasn't super busy when we went.

I was able to pick up a blanket there for 5 pounds.

I really loved the detailing on it too.

 Maggie and I decided that another set of hand towels were necessary for the kitchen we will be sharing with others. These were 2.50 pounds.
Of course, I couldn't leave without buying a shirt from their spring line. Surprisingly, it is yellow.

I hate the phrase "pop of color" but, I figured I should add some color to my black/grey/white wardrobe (as seen in the picture above). And it was only 8 pounds.
Needless to say my first Primark experience went very well and I will definitely be going back again. Maggie and I then stopped into Boots in search of a hair dryer and hair straightener. Luckily they had a hair dryer I was able to purchase.
On our walk back it was beginning to get a bit chilly and windy, but everything looked so pretty. London at night might be prettier than London during the day (opinion may change).

Store Street Store Fronts. 

The blocks that I was standing on were labeled with a little plaque that said they were vents from the basement. Until a few years ago, people were allowed to smoke indoors. There is now an indoor smoking ban, Which ,I assume, is why they have been closed up now. 

I might try to do a daily blog thing, but so far this has taken about an hour to do. So, at busy times it might be difficult. Hopefully my picture taking skills get better too.

A.