Land of the Free and Home of the Shopping

    The U.S. wins one contest hands down: It's by far the best country I know of to go shopping. Is that enough to just call it home forever and end it there?

    Might be actually.     

    We went to an outlet mall near here over the weekend because the boys needed some clothes -- and so did my husband and I. 

    The place was full of brand-name stores selling good quality, affordable clothes. I felt like a kid in a candy store. We bought all kinds of stuff for everyone for about the price of dinner for two (or one, depending on the restaurant) in London. 

     I've bought precisely one thing for myself since we moved to London -- a pair of flat black ballet slippers to replace a pair I had worn out. They were at least twice as much as what I would've paid in the U.S. for a similar pair -- and they were in the cheap rack at the store where I bought them.  

    My one old London friend was with me at the time and she asked the saleslady if there were any cheaper shoes -- or sale shoes or anything. She replied that most people would consider the shoes we were looking at cheap. Uh, okay.   

   If you ask me, the Brits are just getting ripped off left and right. And frankly, I just DO NOT understand how they are making it. I mean, the salaries are low, the taxes are high and everything, I repeat everything, is really expensive. Are they all just secret trust fund babies?

   I've been afraid to even get my hair cut in London. You need to take out a second mortgage to get your hair colored, cut and blow-dried. It's almost three times what I used to pay in the States. (By the way, I really miss you, Dee, my lovely Vietnamese hairdresser of old.) 

   The shops are adorable in London, don't get me wrong. And they have really cute stuff. But when you look at the price tags, everything in an American's body just screams, "no way, Jose!" What, am I funding your second home in Spain with this purchase?  

   But then, I guess that's the reason for all this over-consumption here. You feel like you're an idiot NOT to buy here. You go broke saving money here.    

   Everyone walking around the outlet mall was weighed down with several shopping bags each. You never see people in London walking around with several shopping bags on each arm. They might have to hail a cab then -- and really, who can afford that AND go shopping?  

   I got into a state though. I felt like I had to buy all the clothes I might need for the next several years, so I never have to buy anything at all in London. 

   But it's not that easy to buy a leather jacket when it's almost 100 degrees outside, no matter how high the air-conditioning. But gosh, they were nice -- and just so reasonable. 

    Anyway, I stopped myself. Only bought a few summer things. Besides being already cheap, they were all on sale too.  

    Last night, we went to a restaurant here that was doing Sunday oyster night -- a dozen of the freshest, plumpest oysters for $6.00. 

    Six dollars? For a dozen oysters? That's about the price of a bottle of mineral water in London.

    Anyway, gotta go. Gotta get my hair done today.