Stupid no-shipping-to-Ireland internet shops...

To horribly maim a classic quote: It is the best of things, it is the worst of things. I generally love Internet shopping - the convenience! The choice! The cheap prices if you don't get caught by the Customs lads! - but there is nothing guaranteed to cause your heart to sink into your boots quite so quickly as discovering that the online store who is the sole stockist of that *perfect* bed/dog harness/dress/ribbon/button/pair of glasses (I could go on, I've been burnt quite a few times) does not ship outside the contigious United States.

Yeh, yeh, I'm sure it's even worse if you're living in Alaska or Hawaii, whatever...

Yesterday, while having a Google of jacquard headboards, I stumbled across the online store of American company Brocade Home via a post on Apartment Therapy. They stock a bed base that is so close to being exactly what I want for our bedroom that I actually stopped breathing. That's it at the top of this post. When I saw that they offer it in white as well as black, I started to feel faint, which was when it occured to me that I should probably start breathing again. Prepared for a mahoosive price tag, because surely to God this was too good to be true, I involuntarily squeaked with delight when I saw that it was $299.

Excira and delira with my find, I toddled off to see how quickly they could get it to me... Ah. There's the rub. "Nope, sorry Lyndar, we are not shipping this lovely, ideal, you-want-it-so-bad-you-might-actually-cry bed to your country. If you want it that bad, we suggest that you move your ass to a real country like the 48-State America."

B*stards.