So, my dad goes into the Apple store. I’ve no idea why, because my parents now have a total of four computers and, well, there’s only two of them. But presumably my dad felt like playing with some different gadgets for a change, so in he goes, but much to his chagrin, all of the shiny Apple gadgets are in use at the time. Yes, every iPhone, iPod and iWhateverelse is already being played with, but my dad has some time to kill, so he hangs around and sure enough, after a few minutes, a computer becomes free, and so he takes his place in front of it and prepares to explore.
My dad has a good look at this computer. He spends a few minutes opening up programmes, closing down other ones, probably rearranging the desktop and going through the documents for all I know. He’s thoroughly enjoying himself, when all of a sudden, he feels a tap on the shoulder and turns around to see an Apple employee standing there.
“Sir?” says the employee. “Sir, that’s our cash register you’re playing with.”
After that, my dad didn’t go into the Apple store no more. He confirms that they have some mighty fine cash registers in there, though…
(Note: no Apple products were harmed in the making of this post)
Hi, I'm Amber. I'm a full-time fashion/shoe blogger from the UK, and this is the story of my clothes, my life and the International Man of Mystery Next Door. You can read more from me at my other blogs, The Fashion Police and Shoeperwoman.
Girl to me at the horse-riding-on-the-beach experience in Florida: So, where are you all from?
Me: Scotland
Her: Wow! How long of a drive is that?!
I felt really bad having to explain that it’s actually on a whole other continent and you can’t drive from it to Florida. I really wish you could, though.
We’ve also had, “Is that in Canada?” and “Is that in Texas?” Ah, the fun of living in one of the more obscure corners of the world! (I should add here that I don’t expect many Scottish people would be able to point out various American places on a map either, so I don’t think it’s an “American” thing, particularly, just a consequence of living in a country not a lot of people know much about.)
Another fun fact about living in a small, obscure country: not many airlines actually fly here, which is why, for our planned winter holiday, we’re either going to have to a) fly to London first, thus making the trip much more expensive and lengthy or b) just go to the freaking Canary Islands again. Because everywhere else we’ve thought about going, it’s a case of “can’t get there from here.” Or “can get there from here, but it’ll be freezing at that time of year.” Gah.
Needless to say, pretty much ALL I’ve thought about since we got back is “where can we go next?” Nope, STILL not over them blues…
Hi, I'm Amber. I'm a full-time fashion/shoe blogger from the UK, and this is the story of my clothes, my life and the International Man of Mystery Next Door. You can read more from me at my other blogs, The Fashion Police and Shoeperwoman.
On the way back to the airport last week, we passed a restaurant that had the tag-line “Nuthin’ mo’ betta’.” No, seriously: it was written just like that. We didn’t stop there, unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately) so I can’t confirm whether there really IS anything “mo’ betta” than Billy’s Shrimp Shack, or whatever the hell it was called, but it kinda sums up the holiday for me – and I should add here that I do not mean to imply anything about Floridian grammar by that statement. (Although, note to Disney: “sweets” does not have an apostrophe. Just FYI.)
For me, there is nothing, er, more better – no, it’s no use, I’m not going to be able to keep writing that, sorry – than being on holiday, and since I’ve been home, I’ve had the worst case of post-holiday blues ever. Ever.
It’s not just the weather. Sure, the weather is part of it, and a pretty big part at that, but just to pre-empt all of the people who will want to tell me that OMG, the weather was just FABULOUS here while I was always (Seriously, why do people do that? Why are they always so keen to tell you how wonderful the weather has been while you’ve been on vacation? Is it to try and make you feel like you shouldn’t have bothered going? Because it doesn’t work, if so. It’s like all those people who go, “Well, you don’t have much of a suntan!” as if they want you to feel like you have somehow FAILED at vacationing or something. But I digress.), the weather isn’t the only thing I miss. It’s all of it. Everything, right down to the sound of the crickets at night and the smell of the mall on my new sweater. Silly things. Inconsequential things. Things you don’t actually travel to see, but miss like hell when you come home.
Oh, and the weather of course. And Sephora.
So I’ve been feeling pretty sad these past few days, and although I always feel sad when I come home, this time the feeling has been much harder to shake than usual. Rubin, however, has been doing his very best to cheer me up. He’s been staying with Terry’s mum while we were gone, and while he was there, he managed to eat three pineapple cakes and a Kit Kat over and above his allotted food and treats. (Yes, I know dogs aren’t supposed to eat chocolate, but he stole it out of Terry’s mum’s handbag and suffered no ill effects, even although he ALSO ate the wrapper. He stole the cakes from her bed, where she’d placed them for a few minutes to keep them out of his reach while she unpacked her shopping. I have no idea how he got onto the bed, because he can’t normally do that. He must’ve REALLY wanted those cakes, is all I can say…) Terry’s mum and Keith, her partner, are absolutely amazed by his capacity to eat, and to keep on eating, even although he must surely to God be full, and can’t possibly be actually TASTING anything, on account of he’s swallowing it whole.It amazes me, too.
Anyway, it’s good to have him home, even if it’s not good to actually BE home. Since we landed on Friday, I have spent more or less every waking moment searching online for holidays to anywhere. Terry, meanwhile, has been making this:
Hi, I'm Amber. I'm a full-time fashion/shoe blogger from the UK, and this is the story of my clothes, my life and the International Man of Mystery Next Door. You can read more from me at my other blogs, The Fashion Police and Shoeperwoman.
Well, we’re headed home tomorrow, assuming our plane doesn’t drop out of the sky – and recent events lead me to believe that this is a strong possibility – and I don’t think it would be possible for me to feel any more depressed about that than I am right now. I am absolutely miserable, which obviously makes me a lot of fun to be around – sorry, Terry! I’ve never been one of those people who goes around saying things like, “It’s good to have a break, but it’s good to come home, too!” or “You know, if the UK just got the weather no-one would ever want to leave!”, so my family will probably have to prise my hands off the door frame tomorrow to get me to leave. Gah.
My case is currently weighing in at just under the 20k luggage allowance our airline gives us, but that’s only with three pairs of shoes stuffed into my carry-on (which was also weighed on the way out here – seriously, who DOES that?), not including the pair I bought today, which…. actually, no, I’m too embarrassed to even speak about that. Let’s just say that the Neiman Marcus sale I mentioned? Was a really good sale. A REALLY good sale. Let us never speak of it again, though. Seriously.
Anyway, I’m off to drink more wine re-weigh my suitcase a few more times, so I will leave you with yet more – more! – of my holiday snaps. GOD.
Hi, I'm Amber. I'm a full-time fashion/shoe blogger from the UK, and this is the story of my clothes, my life and the International Man of Mystery Next Door. You can read more from me at my other blogs, The Fashion Police and Shoeperwoman.
