Care Package!

One of the most interesting (and most frustrating) things of living abroad is getting used to what you can and cannot find easily in your new home. Things you took for granted at home suddenly become like gold when you can't just walk into a Walgreens or a Target and find entire walls of what you're looking for. Take for example soft-headed toothbrushes. In the states, these are what everyone buys (unless you're cleaning grout) and what dentists give along with awesome small toothpastes and rolls of floss and they are sold cheaply in packs of three for a couple of dollars.

In the UK? Not so much. Everywhere I look I find medium and firm toothbrushes, but I don't want a medium or a firm toothbrush. I want a nice, gum-friendly, enamel-preserving, soft-headed toothbrush. Looking in the Boots becomes a hunt and the only soft-headed toothbrush you can find that they even sell is a very high tech looking one for no less than £5. Seriously, people? Not cool.

Well, here's where the glory of friends come in.

I was (naturally) complaining about the sad state of available toothbrushes in Scotland to my friend Stacey. Who comes knocking on my door this morning but the friendly Royal Mail carriers with a...



Care package!

Seriously, one of the joys of life anywhere is mail -- actual, legitimate, 'I took the time to go out and get a stamp and write with a pen/crayon/pencil/whatever' mail. Postcards, letters (Hi Mom!) and all of that, love it. Makes me so happy to see those come through the mail slot in the door. So to get not just a letter, but a box? Dance of joy and a tossing down of Aquinas' Summa Theologica to tear into it.

Soft toothbrushes! Crystal Light! Dark Chocolate! Philosophy body wash in a yummy fall scent since, grrr, I had to leave my collection at home because of British Airways weight restrictions! Cheesy romance novel set in Scotland! (Yes, I like my literature light & fluffy to counteract the Summa Theologica) And American GQ -- which, why would she send me American GQ?



Matt Bomer in henley! Damn. For those who haven't discovered the smooth hotness that is Matt Bomer, he plays the lead on USA's White Collar. Which... makes me miss American television too. But dang, he pretty.

It's like mini-Christmas from the US Postal Service.

Makes up for the hours of reading and the ridiculous cold wind that was blowing through town today. It's only October, but I'm already bundled up with scarf, hat, winter coat. I guess it's part and parcel of being right on the North Sea, but still. And I'm one of the ones who hasn't been all that cold lately. So if I'm cold, I can only imagine what the Americans from places like Florida are feeling right now.

On the plus side? Cold + rain + wind + sunset = gorgeous fall colors :)