Things I bought in America

For the Trek America trip we had quite a long list of things we had to take, such as a sleeping bag, inflatable sleeping mattress (which we actually didn’t need in the end), waterproof jacket, towel and all sorts of other things that you need when camping – which didn’t leave much room in my bag once I’d packed all of my clothes in too.  My big concern was that I really wanted to fill my bag up with sweets, Nike trainers, Bath and Body Works candles and Quest bars and I didn’t have a single iota of space to do so … but in the end I just had to accept that it wasn’t really a shopping trip and there’d be lots more amazing things to do than raid Walmart for Peanut Butter M&Ms.

On the last day we gave our pillows to our tour leader to donate, and I threw away a disgusting pair of Flossy’s pumps, so I had a teeny bit of room to sandwich in some things I’d already bought, and have a little splurge in Target.

beauty products

Orla Kiely for Target make-up case – $9.99 / £6.25

I didn’t know until I found these in Target that Orla Kiely had created a range of make-up bags and cases for Target – I couldn’t resist buying one – they were also cute and rather bargainous!

Covergirl Lashblast Fusion Mascara – $6.99 / £4.30

I haven’t tried this yet but I thought my mascara would run out whilst I was out there so I bought this as a backup.

Uncle Harry’s Leave in Conditioner and Detangler – $8 / £5

When we were in Mission District we went into several apothecaries selling lots of organic haircare and beauty products and holistic therapy products and supplements.  I bought this leave in conditioner as it sounded so lovely.

Zum Bar Goat’s Milk Soap – Lavender and Mint

Tom bought me this as a little present from the apothecary – it smells amazing and made all of the things in my bag smell lovely too!

Covergirl Lipslicks Smoochies Lip Balm – $4.99 / £3.15

These are a bit like the Maybelline Baby Lips lip balms, a balm with a colour – I absolutely love this colour and will definitely be trying to find a way to re-purchase this in future!

Elf All Over Color Stick  – $1 /62p

I got a bit excited when I saw that they sold Elf products in Target as I’ve never seen them in the shops before.  I got Pink Lemonade which is a pink-y highlighter you can use on cheeks, lips, brow bones etc.

bag and card

San Francisco tote from Aldea Home

I think this was about $25 – I bought this in Mission District in San Francisco from this gorgeous home shop where I wanted to buy everything! We bought a few little souvenirs and gifts from shops in Mission District which meant I just had to buy this bag so I could carry them all back to the hotel!

Badger card from Paxton Gate


Paxton Gate was another really cool shop in Mission District, that had taxidermy, a little garden centre, tons of cool books and all manner of oddities and curiosities.  I love badgers so I couldn’t resist this rather odd looking card.

stationery

K&Company Smash Journal – $9.99 / £6.25

I gathered lots of bits throughout the Trek America, like our baseball tickets, cable car stubs and other bits, so I thought I’d buy a Smash Journal to stick them all in as a fun project!

Unplug Every Day – $13 / £8.10 {£8 on Amazon UK}

I saw this in the Paxton Gate childrens’ shop and fell in love with it – it has a different prompt every day to help you unplug and enjoy life, and a space for you to write about each task.

I Can’t Sleep – $6 / £3.75


I picked this up in Target as it looked quite fun – it’s a journal for when you wake up in the middle of the night (as I often do) – I thought it would be fun to start recording my weird dreams or to just do a bit of a brain dump when I’m overthinking and can’t sleep.

K&Company Smash Field Journal – $2.99 / £1.85

Just a cute little notebook for slipping in my bag and scribbling in when creativity strikes!

quest bars etc

After spending crazy amounts of money buying Quest Bars and other protein bars in the UK (I usually pay about £2.50 each plus postage), I was excited to see that most supermarkets in California had whole sections of protein bars and health foods.  I bought the Quest bars in Castro in San Francisco for $2/£1.25 each and they had a couple of flavours I hadn’t tried yet.  I actually bought loads more bars (some really yummy OhYeah! bars) but I bought them before we went to Death Valley and needless to say they all melted and had to be binned or munched there and then!  I’m looking forward to trying all of these, I munched a few already before I took this photo…. oops!

I also bought a jar of Peanut Butter & Co Cinnamon Raisin Swirl and a big bag of Peanut Butter M&Ms (rapidly disappearing) and that was all I could cram in  my bag (I might have put a few things in Tom’s bag too…).  I definitely wished I had a little more suitcase room for more American candy/chocolate but after putting on 4lbs in three weeks it’s probably for the best that I didn’t!

What are your favourite things to buy when you visit America?

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