An excellent idea

Yesterday, L and I had our annual shopping trip to the Trafford Centre. We were at school together, and it seems like we’ve known each other for ever. Now we only see each other a few times a year, but its always just as its always been.

We do this every year in January and buy each other our birthday. and Christmas presents and it works really well. We choose what we want, up to our agreed limit, and the other one pays, and when we get back to L’s, we do our ‘present swap’. We did baffle her partner one year, as we both wanted the same book, bought it, and then swapped with each other later* – his face was a picture!

This year I actually had a list (though it was a short one) and got the Amy Winehouse ‘special edition’ cd, and a gold and diamante evening bag, which was considerably reduced. L usually challenges me by getting me to buy her something which I can’t believe anyone would actually want! Last year it was a skin for her iPod. This year, it was a bag for her gym shoes, which entailed going into sports shops, which, as you know, I find to be an alien world.

Of course, it isn’t just presents, as we always plan to go at the ‘tail end’ of the sales, when things have 70-75% off. You do have to be prepared to sift between the size 8’s and 18’s, but if you persevere there are some real bargains to be had. I also found a top and a pair of trousers, both reduced by 70%.

We seem to have got the day down to a fine art now, as it goes, shopping, coffee, shopping, lunch, shopping, tea. This year, we were there for about 9 hours. We then buy food from Selfridges fabulous food hall to take back for tea.

*And to this day, neither of us has finished it. I have now have a ‘no books’ rule, as I also got the book of ‘Wicked’ last year, and never finished that either.