It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas……………………and I love Christmas! However, I do not like shopping. I don’t like shopping for Christmas, shopping for clothes, shopping for anything really……… I’m not your stereotypical girl. I’d rather be adventuring and playing out in the countryside and consider shopping a bit of a waste of time. I’m always thinking what else I could have been doing while I’m trudging around the shops.
However, sometimes you have to go shopping and last Sunday was one of those days. I so desperately needed a lie in as I had been out on Saturday with my lovely friend Julia, to the theatre, to see ‘The Commitments’ musical. It was fantastic but after all the singing and dancing in my seat and a late evening I was tired. Anyway, I managed to get up early, plied myself with caffeine, and decided to go to Leeds. Leeds is the nearest big shopping city to me, only 30 minutes down the motorway, and it is actually a lovely city to have a wander around so I thought if I went there it wouldn’t be all about shopping, I could have a look at other things too.
It was a lovely sunny Sunday, blue sky and sunshine, but crisp and cold. I love the old Victorian buildings in Leeds and I parked up on the North side of the City so I could have a good walk into the City and wander down past the Civic Hall and City Hall. The City Hall was completed in 1858, designed by architect Cuthbert Brodrick and built of local Rawden Hill millstone grit. It’s such a wonderful building from the outside. Around 10 years ago I sang Verdi’s Requiem in there and although I did not get the chance to go inside today, if you ever get the chance to listen to a concert in there I recommend it, it’s beautiful and the acoustics are fantastic, it has lots of happy singing memories for me. The Civic Hall is equally as beautiful. Although newer, being built in the 20th century, you can’t fail to notice its gold owls and clock and its imposing white façade.
Anyway, less of the architecture, this post is an example of why I shouldn’t be allowed out shopping on my own, I’m dangerous, and is the perfect example of those times when I just can’t focus on what I’m doing and go shooting of in a completely different direction.
The Christmas market was just setting up. The Victorian Merry Go Round Carousel was in place and everything was starting to look really Christmassy.
What had I gone for. Really quite boring stuff really……………. a new table cloth, some towels, a battery for a watch, some Christmas crackers and other mundane domesticated things.
All the beautiful decorations were up in the Victoria Arcade and the Victoria Centre and the Christmas window was looking all sparkly and inviting in Harvey Nichols.
By this time I’m starting to feel really Christmassy and have lost sight of what I actually came for. Did I have a lovely day? Yes I did, and I felt all warm, fuzzy and Christmassy at the end of it. Did I get what I wanted? No!!!!! Not a table cloth or towel in sight but one pair of boots, two jumpers and a coat later I returned home duly pleased with my purchases.
This is not the first time this has happened, I just can’t help myself, I’m a nightmare when it comes to shopping, that’s why I don’t go often. I’m sure I’m not the only one this happens to. I even go with a written list to try and keep me focused on what I’ve gone for but still manage to end up in Zara, John Lewis and anywhere else that catches my eye and come back with items I’ve not gone for. I can’t describe what exactly happens but I just can’t focus on shopping, I hate it. I get distracted, I see something I like better than tables cloths and towels and go off on a tangent. Anyway, I’ve got my excuse all prepared, I’ve read somewhere that when you get over 50 hormonal changes mean it’s common to experience lapses in memory and concentration. I don’t think for one moment that the absence of towels and table cloths has anything to do with an hormonal imbalance but I’m using that as my excuse!
