When I lived in London I spent a lot of time at the Museum of Natural History. Just park myself in one display or another and draw for hours. I roll my eyes at the resources I've ignored since then (the V&A was nice, clothes are pretty, but DINOSAURS).

Ginger, I vote Team Stubborn. In fact, I'd wear the shirt.

Also vote for stubbornness to beat the banks, but life is never that simple...

I love London. I spent two weeks there both years of my grad school programs. I museumed the hell out of that city.

runs to check V&A website

YES! The David Bowie exhibit will still be open when we're there in July! So between that and the fashion section, do you think I need more than one day?

YES! The David Bowie exhibit will still be open when we're there in July! So between that and the fashion section, do you think I need more than one day?

It depends. Just those two exhibits, probably not, but I would plan on spending most of the day there. If you want to explore more of the museum, probably. If you need a break in between exhibit, the food court there had been completely redone from the last time I was there, and it was very nice.

The David Bowie exhibit

meep!!!

whimper

One of those lucky happenstances: when I went to see St. Paul's Cathedral, the choir was in there practicing. It was glorious to walk around and hear them singing at the same time.

Strawberry-blonde sounds fun, erika.

I haven't been to the UK yet. It's near the top of the list, but things keep coming up. It'll definitely be a combo of museums and tourist stuff, with a number of pubs in the evening when I do go. Maybe a football game, too, depending on timing.

Jilli, when in July are you in the UK?

I have a hivemind Mirena question. I'm going in tomorrow morning and want to know what to expect. Like pain during insertion and/or if there is lingering discomfort after. I think I'm just overthinking things, but thought I'd ask.

Suzi, I have a low pain threshold. I'm pretty much of a wimp. It hurt when it was actually put into place (like, not when it was going up the vagina, but when it was being pushed past the cervix). It was a really sharp pain, but quick. I'm trying to think of what to compare it to -- sort of like the speculum for a pap smear, but much sharper (also, again, fairly quick).

For some kind of Teppy-is-a-wimp scale, I would say the speculum is maybe a 4 on a scale of 1-10, where 1 is no big deal and 10 is I WILL KILL YOU NOW WHY DID YOU DO THAT TO ME. And comparatively, the insertion of the Mirena was, for me, about a 7 1/2.

I was crampy and sore afterwards, intermittently, for a couple of days. But ibuprofen took care of it. I would recommend taking 4 ibuprofen about an hour before you go.

All that said, I know women for whom it was seriously no big deal. It was, like, a pinch-y feeling, and done. So it can depend.

Can I ask, are you on your period, or just done? Because that makes a difference in terms of pain.

Jilli, this was nearly 20 years ago, but when I was at the V&A, I found out about the Prints & Drawings Room, where you can sit at a desk and have the librarian bring you a big box of drawings to look through.

Including the original Winnie the Pooh sketches.

I spent a quality few hours with those, all cozy-like.