shop 'til you drop

This weekend we undertook a manic shopping expedition as we realised that Woz was in desperate need of clothes. Our usual haunt is Oxford Street in central London which has anything and everything you could possibly want but is jam packed with Christmas shoppers this time of year. The thought of navigating a buggy through the crowds was unbearable so we decided to head out to Bluewater, a shopping centre in Kent which gives Chadstone a run for its money. In size it would most probably be comparable, but unlike Chadstone, Bluewater boasts a chaplaincy service and a place for peace and quiet which consists of a listening space and a space for reflection. Quite frankly, I think Chadstone is seriously lacking in these services. I know I have been almost inconsolable at times after discovering I had bought an item at full price only to find it on sale at another shop on the other side of Chadstone. If only I had have had a chaplain to console me I may have had the strength to resist the double choc, choc chip muffin I immediately consumed upon my findings in an effort to stifle my grief.

Anyway, although busy, it was nothing on Oxford Street and we navigated the buggy around with ease, managing to find loads of clothes for Woz. One our pursuits was a new suit. As I was waiting outside the change room of a clothing store while Woz tried on a suit we were told to evacuate the shop immedately as there was bomb scare. We were told to leave everything, so Woz came running out of the changeroom in a suit and bare feet with his shoes and clothes in hand. We scooped Nate up and made our way out to another part of the shopping centre which was deemed safe with all the other shoppers. We wandered around for a while (with tags hanging out of Woz's trousers and jacket!) wondering if we'd be let back in to return the suit and for Woz to change his clothes. After clearance from the bomb squad an hour or so later they re-opened the area (turns out it was a bag of post which hadn't been picked up!) and Woz marched back in with his suit. In all the rush we could easily have gone home with the suit and to be honest didn't think the staff would have even been aware that he had been there as he'd taken his own clothing out of the store. Of course we didn't entertain the idea of not paying for it but when Woz returned the staff were very impressed to see him and had been placing bets as to whether he'd come back!