I had planned for one day in London to shop. I had already been to London in the past and hit most of the tourist spots and really didn’t feel the need to do it again. Plus, standing in line at tourist hotspots during peak tourist season on a hot day would not make for a happy Rebecca. Trust me.
So I just wanted to shop. And eat. Or Eat Shop London, like this book I found at Anthropologie so nicely summarized.
Saira joined me for the day and we both boarded the Berry’s coach bus which is a quick and cheap way to get into London. I came fully prepared with my signature oatmeal mix. I always travel with a bag of this stuff because you just never know what the food options will be. And you can almost always get a cup of hot water somewhere.
Harrods!
I rather firmly believe that (window) shopping at Harrods is good for the (poor) soul. I love looking at the pretty dresses and clothes and other crazy luxury items.
What was jarring to me was walking into the home goods section (on the way to the loo) and seeing a giant “CLEARANCE” sign. I prefer to think that things like clearance don’t happen at Harrods lol.
What I had not been into during my previous visit to Harrods was the food hall. Rooms and rooms of decadent foods and groceries. I mean, who doesn’t need a $270 platter of chocolate.
Also, amusing to me was that tucked away on shelf out of view of all the luxurious foods was a shelf filled with American cereals like corn pops, coco-puffs, and the like. Since I think some people actually do their regular grocery shopping there, I guess that makes sense?
As you can imagine, I immediately zeroed on the luscious display of cupcakes!
Amazing! I picked out three mini cupcakes: Oreo, Strawberries and Cream, and Coconut.
Since there was sign stating “Please do not eat food purchased here on site,” I had to take them to go. Check out the adorable to-go package. Who need the Tiffany Blue Box when I can have the fuchsia and blue Harrods Cupcake Box?!?!
The cupcakes were completely delicious! And completely sturdy. They were purchased early in the day and survived a trek across the city.
Whole Foods London!
Thanks to my weekend job (er, one day per weekend job) at the Whole Foods here in D.C., I am always fascinated by Whole Foods everywhere. Also, I work at quite possibly the smallest Whole Foods on the planet, so I get overwhelmed the space in the larger ones. And the Whole Foods in London is HUGE. Like three floors huge!
And they have a make your oatmeal (er, muesli) bar! I want one!
And the department that is the equivalent of where I work was amazing! So jealous!
I was perhaps most excited that my employee discount card worked there as well. HA!
Boden
Okay, I love Boden so much! How much? I have a monthly meeting at work about very serious things. But thanks to me mentioning it enough, Boden is now referenced by other with regularity during this meeting. I consider it one of my greatest work accomplishments.
Boden is only available by catalog in the States and it is seriously great. I kind of hope it stays that way. Or else the Boden Effect will be right up there with the Ann Taylor Loft Effect or Banana Republic Effect whereby if one buys something at either of these stores, you can almost guarantee that three other people on your Metro train will be wearing the same thing.
They do, however, have a store in London. So I HAD to go there. The store was seriously in the most bizarre location. Like way way way out in the suburbs (yes, my suburb detection and rejection sense has international capabilities) in a really sort of industrial neighborhood. Not at all where I expected it to be.
But it was such a neat store! 
And I found this adorable cardigan! Love how the preppiness of the polka dot is given a little sass by the mismatched ribbon down the button column.
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