Snow + Day out shopping.

This was the view near my house this morning. Awesome or what?

Here in London we've been having some unusually cold weather lately, which was topped off last night with a light dusting of snow. Personally, I don't think it was a lot of snow, especially as there's been heavier snowfalls in recent years, but since snow isn't  a very regular occurrence here, people tend to get overly panicked and things generally stop to a halt or run really really slowly. For the older generation, it's probably a bit more of a nuisance, but as it's a weekend and snow is generally loads of fun, I've noticed a lot more adults getting into the swing of things and enjoying themselves for a change! :) 

Snowman time.... \(*^_^*)/

It wouldn't really be a proper snowfall unless we built a snowman, so I build this rather slim looking fella with some of my family. 

Obligatory snow pic~

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Okay, so say you have some cash for shopping purposes, what would you buy? Do you know the first thing that came to mind the other day when I went out to shop?....

Yes..BOOKS!

Gah, it's been a while since I brought books, and I have to say it was a rather interesting trip.

After spending what seemed like infinity looking for some books for me to read, and then heading to the cutesy section with cupcake decorated notebooks, I decided to get some books for my younger brother as well. I thought to myself, "Why not?"- I mean that way, we both benefit!

So off I went...

I finally got to the teenage section, which seemed rather alien to me as it has been a while since I browsed through those sections. After only a matter of seconds I instantly noticed 2 things...

1) Over 70% of that section was laced with romance themed books for teenage girls, most of which had cute covers and..

2) Of that 70%, almost all of the books there were vampire themed.

Upon seeing this, I just thought to myself- wow! I mean, has creativity completely dissolved? It looked to me as though almost all of the book there were descendants of that Twilight saga... which seriously made me sympathise with the younger generation (and yes once upon a time, to my shame, I read all 4 of the Twilight books.. *bows head in shame  >.< harhar)

Anyways...

Seeing as there were very few "boys" books for me to choose from, I ended up going over and over certain ones as I couldn't choose. I generally felt very helpless haha. I mean, since when did I get so old? I felt as though I could no longer distinguish between a good, "cool" book that my brother would like to read, and an average book that I might as well not have brought.

But.. as luck would have it, I only needed to loiter there for a few minutes- my pleas were heard and in walked in a teenage boy that could easily pass as Justin Bieber's twin. Hair-flick and all.

At that moment I thought, should I ask him for any recommendations? But then I heard myself and decided not to- though this obviously didn't stop me from keeping an eye on what he was picking out. After a short pause, he picked up 2 books,  which led me to follow suit and "casually" pick up the same ones. I mean, the section was so small that we were practically standing side by side anyway. Ha! Even I'm face-palming myself as I'm typing this.

So obviously, the boy saw me picking up the same books and decided to strike up a conversation. It's very rare nowadays for a teen, especially a boy, to initiate a conversation- particularly when stranger are involved. But he was so incredibly respectful, that it made me feel a great sense of hope for the younger generation.

He said to me, "Those books are really good! I've been waiting for this one to come out for ages, it only came out today! Definitely get it!"

I then replied, "Ah really? Is it really good?" adding, "I want to get some books for my younger brother, but I'm a little stuck," so that he knew the reason for me standing in the teen boys section. Haha.

He then proceeded to give me several recommendations and told me how much he loved reading, pointing out his favourite authors. He was very articulate and the fact that he loved to read "All the time" made me say to him, "You know, it's refreshing to see someone your age so passionate about reading, it's not often you see that these days".

Apparently, they have no T.V. at home as his parents don't like it, so instead him and his sister read to entertain themselves. I have to say, I was really impressed. It's obviously making a positive impact on their child's life, so kudos to them!

After thanking him and walking to the Cake-themed aisle, I came across this adorable recipe organiser:

I do a lot of cooking and love to cook, so I felt that this would be a great thing to have. My aunt in particular has taught me a few specialties over the years and as I don't make them often, I sometimes find myself calling her and asking, "self raising flour or plain flour? What else do I have to put in it?!" This should hopefully bring and end to that, and keep everything in one place. Wheee!

Anyhows I have a few more things I want to post but will leave it for another day.

Until then, toodles! ~