We’ve spent the day out and about in the city and have returned to our hotel to relax a while before going to the Symphony tonight.  We’ve covered a fair amount of ground in a few short hours and we are pooped!

The day began with one of those peculiarly American sights (with apologies to our American friends here) – we shared the lift with a young woman wearing her pyjamas.  Now, my pyjamas are no less respectable than hers but there is no way I would dream of wearing them in a public place!  But, there she was, going out of the hotel into the shopping mall, most probably to Starbucks to buy coffee.  Pale pink velour at this time of the morning, complete with “bedhead” hair?  No thanks.

 

 

We didn’t make it that far before succumbing to a little breakfast ourselves – I’ll confess to this plate of “Cobblestone” (a variation on a Chelsea Bun with a mincemeat flavour….delicious!) and a Peppermint Mocha to drink.  The Corned Beef Hash fan made do with a breakfast panini and declared it a success too, though he was a little spooked when the guy over the other side of the shop, making the drinks, called over to ask, “Mark, do you want your drinks in mugs or paper cups?”  Had we met him before?  Did we know him?  Well, no, but of course here it’s often the practice to ask for a name when placing a hot drink order and the technology had done the rest.

 

 

We made our way as far as Macy’s, where the “Womens’ Intimate Apparel” department was our goal (Sorry, M&S, you just don’t make things like you used to!)  I stopped and smiled at this claim on some packaging – for sure I’d appreciate a whittled waist and smoothed thighs…but do I want extra swagger?!

 

 

Moving right along, then, to Paper Source, who are “Gnome for the Holidays” this year.

 

 

To Brattles Books too, where we browsed a little in Boston’s answer to Hay on Wye.

 

 

We took the Newbury Street route back, taking a look in the new location of Anthropologie where these spools of recycled fabric were tempting…though none of the colour combinations really spoke to me enough to find a way home.

 

 

I did, however, rather take to these shaggy trees which I thought had a kind of Addams Family twist to them!

 

 

I also fell for these little deer who would surely have found a place in my bag had they not cost nearly $80 – so much cosier than their Swedish cousins who appeared to be based on the same framework but made of paper rather than textile and as a result, were a little hard.

Soft or no, sadly, they had to stay there.

 

Throughout the day, we’ve been relieved to return to the fresh air after the stifling heat in the shops.  The topic of conversation everywhere is the weather and judging from the huge discounts being offered on Winter clothing here, the shops are feeling the pinch as a result of the unseasonably high temperatures.  Having come prepared for chillier weather than this, we haven’t got a great deal of choice when it comes to choosing what to wear for the best.

Perhaps we should go native and wear pyjamas?