I Finally Cycled to the Mall

Last week, in a fit of being proactive and organised and despite there not really being room in the budget this month, I decided to buy LB's school shoes for September online, as I had managed to find some she liked on the Topshop website.

Two days later they arrived, but unfortunately, they were quite a narrow fit and felt a bit tight on her, so I promised LB that we would try to take them back to our local Topshop at a nearby mall.

On Thursday, after I'd finished my two days at the CS, we had the time to make the journey to the mall and exchange the shoes.  

For once, we went on our bikes.  I'd been wanting to do this for a while, but every time I needed to go, it was to pick up a parcel that would be too big to get in a pannier bag, so I'd never managed it.

This time around I did and we headed off on the same route we'd taken to the Olympic Park on Sunday.  

It only took 15 minutes to get there, it cost nothing to travel or park, we didn't have to wait for a bus there or back and we got some exercise into the bargain.  We will definitely be doing it again the next time we need to go, possibly later in the summer holidays, to get any remaining uniform items needed for school.

We did manage to exchange the shoes too, which was a relief, as the size up were a much better fit.  

The only drawback, was that I did get a bit tempted in Topshop and bought this water resistant poncho from the menswear section.  

I know it's a little roomy, but I'm hoping it will be perfect if we get any showers in Wales on our upcoming camper van trip.  Even if we don't, it will always be perfect as a dog walking coat in the winter with plenty of room for a thick jumper underneath.

I'm getting quite excited about our holiday now and am starting to think about the packing and what I/we need to take.

Even though we're not going to some long haul destination, I am going to enjoy just being on holiday and not having to do anything but live from day to day in the van and visit nice places that I've never been to before.

What more can you ask for really, especially when it will cost us substantially less, we can take the dog with us and it is much more environmentally friendly, all of which are very important bonuses, not to be sniffed at.