I found the grocery store!

I discovered Sainsbury's yesterday. I knew it was somewhere around a: because Aneta had mentioned it and b: because I keep seeing people walking around with orange shopping bags from the store. But I hadn't found it yet and was beginning to get worried about my food situation. But it's all good now!

I bought a chicken. I then devoured half of it (I was maybe a bit hungry.) Also, some carrots. I am totally fascinated by British carrots. Did you know they are different? They are a much brighter orange and thicker and stubbier. I also got a stir-fry kit because Mommy had been so excited about those. The one I got has peanut sprouts in it and I purchased it purely because it was the prettiest. I also got a mini-treacle pie since I have never been quite sure what treacle is. Turns out it is the sticky bit in pecan pies. I felt like the pie needed some more nuts. Specifically pecans. I'm sure I got some other things, but obviously they were not as noteworthy since I'm spacing out on them right now. But seriously guys, the carrots are weird.

Today was my first day without something scheduled, so I slept until noon and then went to the V&A. You know that fashion exhibit that I was so excited about that I have been wanting to see since it was being set up back in 2004? Yeah, it was totally closed for refurbishments. So instead I went to the surrealist exhibit. (I'll go back for the fashion exhibit next week, I think.) The Mae West lips couch is really quite dirty and dingy- is there not some easy way of cleaning satin? You know, for a big important exhibit that is being advertised all over the city with pictures of said couch? Wouldn't you want it to be clean? By the end of the exhibit I found myself staring at objects/paintings/whatever and thinking to myself: "There is such subtle symbolism here. I wonder what they could possibly be alluding to..." I feel like the entire exhibit is summed up nicely by this quote from a panel describing a lobster-telephone that Dali designed:

"for him, the lobster symbolised the fusion between the edible and the erotic."

Isn't it possible for something to be surreal in a playful way? Instead of in a really heavy handed allusion to sex (but sex is bad!) sort of way? That being said: I still really like Man Ray's work. My two favorite things from the exhibit were a wardrobe that was painted to look like it was open, with a view of green hills and a lightly clouded sky; and a design for a small art gallery on wheels that looked like an artichoke. Sections of the leaves were hinged in order to open up to reveal windows.

At that point I had a slow-walking-in-museums back ache, so I decided to wander around the neighborhood and discovered Harrods. I wandered through Luxury Room No. 1, Luxury Room No. 2, and almost went in to Luxury Room No. 3 but fortunately noticed that the food halls were the other direction. Oh, the food halls. Such ridiculous things for sale, but much more reasonable prices than I had been expecting. Did you know that they have custom (bespoke, whatever) chocolate Easter eggs? There was a fellow in the middle of the cheese section (okay, that part I don't get. Probably not enough room in the chocolate room?) who was set up in a booth surrounded by giant chocolate eggs with a work space in the middle where there was melting chocolate that he then used to write on the eggs with and make little bunny and chick faces with. Corny, but in an "ooo, chocolate!" sort of way.

Then I went to the souvenir section. Want to find Americans? Go to the souvenir section of Harrods. I quickly escaped and continued to wander down the road. Which brings me to my next question: is it a bad idea to spend £25 ($50) on a pair of shoes that are are incredibly hip in London right now, but are also incredibly silly? Like, blue and white striped silly? Or even better, bright yellow polka-dotted silly?

At that point, I hopped on the nearest tube stop (can I just say how very much in love I am with the tube system? So, so, so wonderful.) and went back to Swiss Cottage. I then got stuck at a bookstore, and am just now headed home to make dinner. I'm thinking something with my peanut sprouts kit.