A Saturday Shopping Trip

Saturday was a busy day this weekend, but not in the usual sense.  It started off in relatively relaxed manner.   The morning I spent catching up with household jobs and a bit of blog reading and for a changed I treated myself to a Saturday broadsheet, which I took pleasure in reading in it's entirety.
 
In the afternoon I had arranged to take Little Bird back to school stationery shopping with one of her soon to be classmates and her mum, who also happens to be a friend of ours. Normally, I avoid the mall on a Saturday like the plague, as it is usually rammed with people, but for Little Bird's sake I was happy to make an exception.

We let the girls go off shopping on their own on this occasion, as it was something they had really looked forward to and we agreed a meet time a bit later.  As both of us adults had things we needed to go off and do, we both went our separate ways too and met up later.

For my part I had a voucher to replace my iron, which was beyond repair whilst still under warranty, so I headed off with that purpose in mind.  I had to use the voucher at a specific shop which meant leaving the mall completely.  I took a while to choose the replacement, but got a really good deal and a higher specification iron for less than I paid for the original, as it was on a special offer.  This was a great bonus.  With some of the leftover money, I indulged in a storage solution for the kitchen to help minimise visual clutter, plus a new clothes airer which I use constantly in the winter months, to dry the washing.  There was still £30 left on the voucher inspite of this, so when I decide what to spend it on, I will be taking myself back to said store and spending it.  A good result for me.

After struggling back across town with the boxes and putting them in the car, I picked up my watch which I left at the watch repairers as the strap had virtually disintegrated after four years of constant wear.  For £10 I managed to get a new leather strap fitted and they replaced the cheap plastic buckle on the new strap with my own Swatch watch metal buckle, which was far stronger.  It now feels like I have a brand new watch which is great. 

We all met up again and then headed home for coffee and a chat.  The girls had really enjoyed their solo shopping trip and were pleased with their purchases.  I'm sure it won't be long before they'll be making their way own way to the mall too.