I'm also cherishing these faint hopes that we'll go to the UK in the next year or so.

Noted. And hope they're not too faint. :)

I'm also cherishing these faint hopes that we'll go to the UK in the next year or so.

...Or why not try Thailand?

We even have a teeny tiny M&S around the corner from my workplace!

t /wild optimism

Did they ever restock the pies near you ita?

Yes they did! And you know what? Santa Monica, at least the bit of it I visit, has three British stores. I still end up in King's Head for convenience, but there's a bigger store at 15th and Wilshire which has videos too.

My VS sadness is that I have some really comfy no VPL bikini-style panties that are almost as invisible as advertised. I go into the store, and I can't find them (I admit, I never last long, even when shopping for panties and therefore avoiding the women who tell me I'm not the bra size I say, despite wearing one of their own (okay, this is stored pre-Wacoal trauma, but it cut deep) in that exact size, and it fitting perfectly), and it's impossible for me to tell from the web site if they even sell them anymore.

They're so freaking comfortable! I want all my panties to be them.

I'ma dyin' to see Thailand. I want to spend a couple of weeks at the Elephant Conservation Center.

My sister adored Thailand and suggested we buy my mother a trip there, and that I accompany her. I'm not sure when li'l sis got such grandiose and high faluting thoughts, but it sure is a nice idea.

That won't be happening any time soon.

Yes they did!

And yet, you haven't sent me any.

Or any Blue Mountain Coffee, for that matter.

Go Thailand! Choose Thailand! We have monkeys! (...apparently) And Tigers! And elephants! And Military Coups! And Starbucks!

Ahhh Starbucks. I still can't get over that there was (is) a Starbucks right damned smack in the middle of the Forbidden City.

Fay, did the coup take you by surprise? Scare you at all?

Surprise is something of an understatement.

After going to a pub quiz, returning home and retiring to bed I was woken by the phone at midnight and had this conversation:

"Miss Fay?"

"....yes?"

"No school tomorrow."

"....?"

"No school tomorrow, because of revolution."

"WHAT?"

"Revolution, so no school. Don't go in to school. Stay home."

"REVOLUTION? WHAT?"

"....maybe I have wrong word? R. E. V. O. L. U. T. I. O. N."

"...Revolution?"

"Yes. State of military emergency. Stay home."

".....okay?!?"

But it wasn't particularly dramatic in my bit of town, so that was good. 'Course, now we've got random bombs going off right left and centre at New Year, which makes it all a bit like being in London again, back in the day.

subscribing as I do to the "Look! Boobies!" philosophy of cleavage

I used to have a Calvin Klein bra (and panties, in a set) that fit like a dream and looked amazing. Now they don't seem to carry a damn thing in my size. I shall shun their panties until they make a bra in a size that will fit me. Viva la cleava(ge)!

edit: Upon Google, it seems that at least a couple of their bras are carried in my size. But I am a try before I buy girl so we'll wait til I find something instore.