Consumerism as entertainment

Today we went to...Harrods! We didn't buy anything, but we figured that since it's all decked out for Christmas, it would be a fun place to visit on a rainy day.

The theme of this year's Christmas at Harrods is "The Emerald City." I'm not sure if this is the theme every year, but they had their Christmas parade on November 7th, so they're pretty gung ho about it. I think that in the absence of Thanksgiving, there is nothing else to celebrate after Guy Fawkes Day but Christmas (really early)! And it's all about bringing in the big bucks!

It IS a pretty awesome department store, and so big that I can't imagine actually seeing the whole thing at once. We focused on the areas that had lots of decorations, impressive looking foods and, of course, the toy section. We also accidentally stumbled through menswear, which wasn't too exciting. Evie was thrilled, craning out of her stroller for maximum viewing, squealing in delight, making everyone around her smile as she hugged the 2009 Christmas bear (no, we did not get it for her). She was also VERY impressed with the cupcakes.


I am drastically cutting back on my coffee consumption and haven't had any since last weekend, so I was thrilled to succomb to some really good coffee at Krispy Kreme in Harrods. Jim also got a doughnut.


Evie was the cutest unknowing Krispy Kreme's spokesbaby. Although I have let her taste a cupcake and various other treats, doughnuts are something that I connect with a childhood stomach virus and not something that we ever have around here. I'm sure that someone, somewhere (probably Jim) will give her a doughnut in due time!


Harrods has an AWESOME toy department. It was fun playing with the giant puppet heads.

Jim and I were wondering what kind of people actually SHOP at Harrods and decided that if we were filthy rich, we would definitely buy a 1000 Pound (GBP not weight) gorilla for Evie. Instead she had to settle for us taking her picture on some giant bears and the excitement of riding on a giant dog.



But her favorites by far, were the bears and monkeys who were part of a scene and a little dog who wandered the store with a balloon attached to him. she couldn't decide whether the dog or the balloon was more exciting.



We bought nothing at Harrods so we rewarded ourselves the end of our excursion with lunch at a fun and pretty inexpensive sushi place. The best part about it was that the people who were running it were Indian. What a fun way to spend a windy and rainy day in London!