Caution!

This morning started out with a heart-stopping dose of caffeine compliments of Chinese Starbucks. I decided to test my barista's level of English so I asked him what flavors of syrups they had. He looked at me a little confused but his friend helped him out and pointed to what I meant....then he impressively told me that they had caramel, vanilla, and hazelnut. I proceeded to discover that adding caramel to a mocha creates a whole new dimension of coffee indulgence. Bummer: Chinese Starbucks do not have caramel apple cider OR pumpkin spice lattes.....but they do their best - at least they have a crème brûlée latte. I also provided myself with a slight ego boost to start the day.....

Now....China's pets are fairly normal except the dogs are miniature versions of their American counterparts and cats are rather uncommon. I've seen a ferret store once....but all this is something you might see in the states. However, today, Chelsie and I were greatly amused to see this:

I didn't think China could surprise me anymore....but guinea pigs ON LEASHES? You got me again, China.

Also, remember my previous post on how COLD it's getting? Well, those of you who know me, know that I used to wear flip flops in winter in Colorado. AND the past 4 years of my life have been spent in the land of eternal sun, thus requiring nothing more than the occasional moccasin-wearing day. Well, Beijing is already colder than any winter I experienced in Arizona or Colorado (not even exaggerating). I mean, my mom can attest to the fact that I seldom wore a winter coat or anything heavier than a hoodie in the dead of winter. My daily attire here now consists of at least 2 layers under my North Face jacket, occasionally long johns under my jeans, a scarf, and recently gloves and a hat. The only problem is I had no warm shoes. To solve this I decided today was the day to get some boots. Now, everybody knows that markets here don't sell real things so instead of getting Uggs, I got some FUggs (fake uggs....duh). I'm such a proud new fuggs mommy...

One more thing to report from today: Chinese people have fantastic fashion, i.e.:

And also, we LOVE Herby :)