A Preview: My Royal Wedding Watch Party

I don't know about you, but my vacation request for April 29th has been approved for weeks.


Yes, I am taking time off work to watch The Wedding. You aren't?

I got a little pushback on this, initially, from Dan. Then I quickly reminded him of all the times he has scheduled leave for: a latenight at the Ravens game, opening day for the O's, or (as you'd find him today) for watching March Madness with friends. Now he gets it.

In my world, The Wedding is equally important.


Yes, there will be a party, co-hosted by my friend Her Lady Mary D of The Kentlands. I think you can guess the inspiriation for our invitation....


Celebrating will begin on the eve of the nupts so that those who are most interested can gather together for a rehearsal dinner of English treats and a formal viewing (via VHS - something old!!) of Princess Diana's wedding followed by Bridget Jones' Diary...unless the fancy foods leave us feeling quite proper, then instead we'll likely opt Pride and Prejudice. Afer, we'll grab a quick nap before rising to watch Wills + Catherine in real time. Maybe wearing Union Jack pajamas...


I have questioned, many times, my excitement for this. It seems a tad silly, I know, seeing as I'm a grown woman who has had her own wedding and isn't even British, but I'm firmly putting those doubts behind me as Mary + I formalize this wedding watch party.

Knowing I'm not alone has helped. I've already declined one invite to another watch party, and learned that a fellow Tennesseean I don't even know in D.C. sent out invites not unlike ours. The Donald is in on this action, as is The Ritz.


Now that I've embraced my sophomoric ways, it goes without sayig that napkins have been ordered. They may be tacky, with hearts intertwined and William and Catherine printed in metallic gold. And the date. YES!!!!

There might be a drinking game - for the pre-wedding coverage only. The ceremony is far too official and sacred to mar with silly mockery, but a mimosa sip for every time someone says "future princess", the slamming of one's Pimms should Kate's mom be chewing gum pre-wedding, why....that will make getting up before the sun all the more tolerable. 

The menu has not been finalized, though there will be mini Beef Willingtons and probably also some Tea Cakes Kates...perhaps shipped from my favorite Knoxville bakery and adorned with crowns. Over-the-top, yes, but how many times do grown women have slumber parties on a Thursday night?

Finally, I'm envisioning strands of faux jeweled necklackes in bowls for guests to grab for pajama adornment....


...like Mardi Gras, only more regal.


I am looking still for Royal Wedding printables, but so far, haven't found much on the webs. If you see anything, please let me know. Also, I'd love to hear some of your plans to make an occasision out of this Occassion....

Never Gets Old...

I was told years ago that when the view of the Capitol no longer excited me or the sound of the sirens on a motorcade didn't turn my head, I'd know it was time to leave town....

I just pressed my nose to the glass of my office window for a peak of the Presidential motorcade. 

No matter who is inside, it never gets old.

Up Close and Personal

Remember the movie Up Close and Personal? Michelle Pfieffer as the TV reporter? Robert Redford and the fateful boots?  Celine Dion's Because You Love Me?

Remember the scene at the end with the awards show? The lights and the music and the industry folks all gathered together? Well, that happens in real life, and it happened last week in D.C. Only with network and cable reporters, and naturally, without Celine et al....

CNN's Wolf Blitzer and CBS news anchor Russ Mitchell

Despite my having dropped out of the television business a decade ago, I still wound up in a ballroom with a great view of Wolf Blitzer and other famous-for-DC and famous-to-news junkie types at the RTNDA First Amendment Awards dinner.

Patrick, CNN's Candy Crowley and Shannon

Shannon, because she is hip to what goes down in the Disctrict, invited my co-worker, Patrick (another TV has-been) and me to join her.

I had a great evening...and not just because I saw Chris Hansen from Dateline getting his shoes shined, and not just because I got to spend a random Thursday dining at the Ritz with two of my best friends...

Several radio + TV journalists were honored for the work they did nearly 10 years ago on 9/11.  Each spoke briefly about their experiences as they accepted their awards, and the remarks were amazing: eloquent, well-written, purposeful, efficient.

NBC's Rehema Ellis

I thought to myself, if only Oscar winners could hear how well-spoken these people are...or if only they'd hire them to write their acceptance speeches! I could have listened for hours, really, as September 11 -only the second day that I'd lived in Washington - was remembered by the storytellers who shared their own up close and personal experiences that day with the world.

I fell into a cab that night, heading back towards Capitol Hill (only to head back towards the 'burbs) regretting for a while that I cut short my stint as a journalist. I loved the writing, the deadlines, the front row experiences to the news-of-the-day.  What I did not love was asking people for pictures of their dead children, following grim murder trials or working on Christmas. Even though there is a very unglamourous side to journalism, it's still exciting, important work, and I do miss it. Sometimes. I spent days after that dinner wondering if I stopped short of finding my place in that field. 

Last night I had a dream I was back at work as a reporter, chasing stories for my old station. Even in my dreams I felt the stress of that job. Today, I was happy, again, to be rolling into my office job. Although the days are often the same and the creativity is limited at best, I'm rarely stressed because of work, always home on the weekends and once...I even saw Robert Redford roaming the halls of Congress.

Southern Bloggers

Just yesterday my friend Mary emailed me. A google search of Taste of the South had landed her on the  The DC Ladies blog.


"Who runs DC Ladies," she asked. "I was googling TOTS and an article from there came up featuring a picture of you and Dan and Shannon and Seb in red dresses. Writing was vivid enough to have been plagiarized from you. Just curious."


I nearly fell out of my chair laughing, seeing as how I did write the article. I love that my friend can so clearly recognize my "voice"  (though she's obviously not a regular read of this blog or she'd know that I moonlight over at the DC Ladies - tisk, tisk).


Funny, isn't it, how the blog world makes it such a small world?? This is especially true for us Southern Bloggers, and that's what I'm writing about today over at DC Ladies.....

Not Always a Bridesmaid.......

I need to clarify something after Tuesday's post where I shared I'd been in 20 weddings.  I wasn't a bridesmaids in ALL 20 weddings...just 16. While not 27 Dresses, I think it's still a pretty respectable number.

I made my wedding debut when I was about 4 years old, as a flower girl for my aunt.  A few years later, I did it again for my uncle....

I've also been a reader at weddings. Oddly, no one has ever asked me to sing...

The number of times I've wedding partied is indeed high, but I've been doing it for the better part of 30 years. Keep in mind, also, that my divorced parents are both remarried, so they had to have me in their weddings.

I'm happy to report that of the 16 dresses I've donned, I have worn two of them after the weddings (nice work, Kim + Andrea) and I wore one bridesmaid dress before the wedding. Yes, before...

I was a big fan of the dress Cassie chose, and wore it to a black-tie event in D.C. a few weeks before I wore it again in her wedding. She never even knew...til someone told her at my rehearsal dinner. Five years had passed since then, so she took it pretty well, and that's good, since she was set to be my Maitron of Honor the next day! If that bit of triva had gotten out, I bet a lot less people would have asked me to be in their weddings....

Some dresses I kept for sentimental reasons, and others have been donated. There's also one LBD I wore in Aaron + Becky's wedding that I hope will one day fit me again as it was that rare bridsesmaid frock one actually wants to wear again.

Yes, it is time-consuming and very expensive to be part of someone's wedding, and I am guilty for having a few times both begrudged and mocked my role as a professional bridesmaid. Still, as I was doing the formal count on all the people who've included  me in their day, I really did feel flattered.

The list spans a lifetime of relationships: cousins, high school + college friends, and adult friendships I've formed in my D.C. years. If I'm lucky, I will add a few more names to that list before I retire from the wedding circuit, and I just might make it to 27 Dresses!

Movies in May!

It's no secret that when it comes to cliched, chick-flick romantic comedies, I buy my tickets well in advance, and show up to the theather on opening night, usually with a gaggle of my best friends.


I know it's barely March, but in the last week or two, I've seen trailors for two movies, opening in May, that are topping my Must See list:


Bridesmaids

Not counting my own, I've been in 20 weddings. That's right, TWENTY.  Something tells me I will relate to this movie!  The trailor looks hysterical and taps in, allbeit a tad dramatically, on the honor (and D-rama!) of being in someone's bridal party. How could this movie not be good - cast members from SNL, The Office...and a shirtless Jon Hamm???







If I theme a girls' night around this movie it will involve a "shower" and require guests to wear their favorite bridesmaid dress to the theater. And don't think I won't do it....




Something Borrowed

In not one of the weddings where I served as a bridesmaid did I ever steal the groom. Rachel, the lead character in Something Borrowed, can't say the same...







Even if you haven't yet read Emily Giffin's book Something Borrowed, the story of a friend, er, stealing back borrowing her best friend's fiance, the trailor promises for a fun movie, if for nothing more than to look at the fashion porn Kate Hudson's character, Darcy, flaunts.

 Are you excited about any Spring/Summer movies?

Party Animals

This is what a Saturday night watching House Hunters gets you...

...living the wild life out in the 'burbs.

Fascinating Skin Care Article

I have a birthday quick approaching....and with that, I admit, comes my heightened interest in skin care (read: reversing the aging process). That, and my obsession with how in the world Jennifer Lopez's skin looks so plump + glowy!


This article from this month's Marie Claire was really intersting to me.


Though I can't afford to have them as often as I'd like, I swear by a good facial to give my skin a refresher. I fall in and out of good skin habits. I'm great with wearing sunscreen daily, but horrible about washing my face each night.


What's your skin care secret? I'm in the market for new moisturizer and face wash....

New York Weekend

Over Presidents' Day weekend, I blew into New York - literally - after my Bolt bus ride from Baltimore; the wind was WILD all weekend, snowy + cold.

I met up with my cousins, Kim + her daughter Mary-Kate, who flew in from Atlanta to celebrate MK's 10th birthady. I was lucky they invited me to tag along for a fun girls' weekend!

We stayed at the Waldorf....

After my economy travels on the bus, nothing was more delightful than having the doorman at the hotel take my bag from the taxi, hand me a check slip and tell me he'd take care of my luggage 'til I was checked in and could send for it.


I loved this hotel. The service was impeccable. My favorite thing about it??  In the bathroom, the shower knobs are located on the opposite end of the shower head in the tub. That means you don't have to risk getting your hair wet while adjusting your water temp, and for someone who isn't a daily hairwasher like me, it's the greatest. If I ever build a house, I will surely replicate!


Save for a little room service....

...we didn't spend lots of time in our room.

Because it was MK's first trip to NY, Kim had planned a serious agenda before our arrival that included, among other things, the Empire State building, a Broadway show (we saw The Lion King - tickets to Wicked were wicked - like $325!! - expensive!) a boat tour that inlcuded the Statue of Liberty, and dining at Jekyll + Hyde Club. Kim was rigid to her agenda...

Our first stop was Times Square, where we popped in a boutique for a quick ear-piercing for the birthday girl.

Now if you were 10, wouldn't you think it the neatest thing to get to go to New York to get your ears peirced? I sure would!


We also took tea at the American Girl Place.  Confession - I loved it.

I loved the very sweet finger foods....

I loved the conversation box with questions to spark the most intellectual girl talk.

I loved the napkin holder/ponytail holder/party favor.

I want to open a tea room in some tiny town and welcome mothers and daughters and lovely ladies who lunch to tea. Dreams are born in New York, and this is now mine.

Did I mention it was COLD during our trip?? It was.

Still, we soldiered on like good tourists, taking a carriage ride through Central Park....

..and a boat ride along the Hudson to see Lady Liberty.

 

On our last day, we popped over to Serendipity, but the wait was nearly two hours. I had to Bolt back home, catching a mid-afternoon bus, but Kim and MK had a later flight so they stuck around....

long enough to be seated at THE table from THE movie, and of course, get some frozen hot chocolate...

Before this visit, I hadn't been to Manhattan in years. Now, I can't wait to go back again...when it's warm!
 

Best Friend Fly-In

In D.C. speak, a Fly-In is when a group hits the Congress for a day on a mission to meet with Members and talk about things that are important to their cause. As in, Hide your cheeseburgers, PETA's doing a Fly-In today!


In I Do Declare speak, a BFFly-In is when Cassie has diaper duty (she works for a company that sells diapers)  out in my 'burbs for the day, and opts to stay over for the night to visit me! As in, Dan, steam the carpets, company's coming!
Though we just had a few hours together - time enough to eat dinner, gab and watch E!'s Oscar Fashion Police (a total treat to do with a friend whom I never get to share every day pleasures!) before heading to bed - it was SO much fun. I wish all my friends had jobs that had them flying in for the day!