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Saturday 30 April 2011

Have I bored you enough yet?!!


My last minute garden party ended up in the house! booooh. Bit too windy and not that warm sadly especially since I put out lots of homemade bunting and I'd spent hours tidying up the garden ready for summer BBQ's.
Anyway it was fun. We all dressed in red white & blue and drank champagne & Pimms (not together, that sounds too dangerous!).

We had cupcakes, sausages & cheese on sticks. I never got around to making scones or the Victoria sponge. And for the second weekend running all 50 cocktail sausage rolls were polished off!!

In between the boozey bits we drank countless cups of tea in true British tea party tradition! Yep it was the posh stuff!! Darjeeling, champagne truffle, Earl Grey... all in my v best vintage china ha ha.
The down side is that I shall be eating cupcakes and trifle all weekend!! - anyone fancy a food package?? xx


Yet more about the Royal Wedding!!

Well I'm not the biggest fan of weddings and I thought I would be making rounds of sandwiches & a proper Victoria sponge during the event.... however I watched pretty much all of it! Well as much as you can when your 3 year old niece is demanding attention and apple juice in Babycham champagne glasses - well gotta teach her young eh?!!!

Yes I confess to being very excited that Kate was wearing Alexander McQueen and it was rather Grace Kellyesque with elements of the Queen Mum's veil etc. As much as it would have been amazing to see a more flamboyant Sarah Burton creation, I suppose it just wouldn't have been right to go too far from tradition really. I mean some people have album upon album of wedding photo and possibly cringe at the 80's perm that was soooo fashionable at the time or bad choice of meringue and oversized bow on the bridesmaids dresses. But to think that this dress will be on plates, mugs, biscuit tins - hello?? And all sorts of other tat oh I mean memorabilia for decades.

Anyway all in all it was an enjoyable event to watch (and a good excuse to pop some champagne before lunchtime) & they are clearly very much in love.

And I've never wanted to be a bridesmaid before but seriously (Linda - if you're reading this) I'll be your Maid of Honor if I get to wear (and keep) an Alexander McQueen. I loved Pippa's dress and I would even take on that naff title - seriously Maid of Honor - who thought that one up. Makes you think of Old Maid & what's the honor - ok unless you get a fab dress, you have a potentially fussy bride to deal with, ears bleeding with wedding chit chat for months and endless hen events to organise in your spare time. (I've been reliably informed by a friend who had to deal with (I hate this term) Bridezilla!! That said - Linda I don't mind doing that for you m'darlin' he he bestest buddy of mine!!! You would be nothing but sweetness & light :) - enough creeping??!

Oooh wouldn't mind borrowing Prince Charles Aston Martin DB6 Volante either, not had a spin in one of those - yet!! ha ha
Anyway I hope you all had a lovely Friday whether you watched it or not. x

Thursday 28 April 2011

The Big Wedding and a day off

Well it's finally here and thankfully they are more organised than me. I invited a few people last night & shopped at 9pm in a busy supermarche - not the only disorganized party thrower then.

The sun is out in my little town and I'm going to get the bunting out, vintage china plates cups & saucers.... homemade cakes are on the way. (Last night's sponge was a disaster, clearly I've lost my skills!! But it's now turning into a trifle!!).

Anyway Royal fans or not, it's nice that so many people are getting together with some good old British spirit mmmm G&T for me please!

I was trying to find a photo of myself & my Brother at a street party when Charles & Diana got married. My mummy dressed us as the pair on their wedding day - hilarious. My brother, fittingly called Charles was about 3 and had to stand on a stool to be my height. This had a lable on it with "The Royal Box" on it and gold tassels on the corners!! My dress was a replica made out of curtain material. We won First Prize hurrahhh and had to walk through our village & into the next one. We made the papers too. Oh I wish I could find the photos. Anyway about 20 odd years later my friends & I went to Edinburgh Fringe Festival & bizzary bumped into some people from our old village. They remembered our parents - the parties and Charles (my flame haired brother) and I dressed as Charles & Diana. ha ha My mum was so proud!!!

Anyway I hope you all have a wonderful day, wherever you are, whatever you're doing.

I'm off to tidy the house, buy more eggs & butter, drink more rocket fuel coffee argghhh
then I have to decide what red white & blue I should wear!!!

I hope it's sunny for the lovely couple & all those crazy people lining the streets of London and all the street parties everywhere. None so small, last minute or disorganised as mine!!
xxxx

Tuesday 19 April 2011

Art Deco Decadence

Well yet again I have been a bad blogger!It's been so busy recently and the blog has paled in priority - terrible news.
Anyway I have been doing some nice things too. All work and no play would make Claire a very dull girl indeed!!
Last week we had a fabulous Art Deco party at the boyfriends posh pad. He has the grown up place with antiquities and I have the eclectic vintage meets modern pad.
Lovely Linda & Hooray Henry
My Mummy glamming it up
Tina arrives dressed as an unflappable flapper!
Tina show gal & my Papa

Amazingly nearly everyone turned up in fancy dress & got on like a house on fire. It was a hilarious night and I drank far too many cocktails. Maybe that was why so many of my photos were terrible, I of course blamed my camera for the blur he he.

We made up names for the cocktails like Broadway Boogie, Roaring 20's, Champagne Charlie and Prohibition Punch. However I think it was the Cheeky Charleston - homemade lemon sherbet vodka shots that tipped my photography skills (not that I really possessed any before!!). ha ha
Ravishing Ruthie & Dashing Dave!!

Thankfully my bestest friend Linda saved the day & it's her collage of crazy snaps. It makes me chuckle every time I look at it. And yes, Sean the Sheep did attend!! Marcus doesn't like to go for the obvious - however as he pointed out, they did have sheep in the twenties!!

We have two very talented friends who can dance exceedingly well... and they did a demo of the Charleston and then taught all of us some steps. Well they had a good bash at teaching us anyway. The booze didn't appear to make us any more coordinated!
I love dressing up if you hadn't guessed by now. I have an old pirate style chest that was my Gran's - it's my fancy dress box and boy are there some memories in there!!
Yes I did have a hangover the next day too - serves me right!!