What do Mary Poppins, Harry Potter, and Tea all have in common?

Answer: They were all celebrated at the annual London, England dinner party hosted by Kim and Kev. Why weren't you invited? It's not because we are rude...... it's not even because we just mostly keep to ourselves... it is because we are afraid of your germs. Ok... I'm completely just kidding... about the germs part not about the dinner party. Yes, we (I) love to host themed dinner parties - and really Kev loves them too except for that if you asked him about it on the street - he would deny ever having eaten.

I grew up in "pretend you are eating somewhere else" land. I probably rolled my eyes a couple of times, threw my plate across the kitchen ( oh.. actually that was my Dad - he really did that once)and told everyone that my parents were crazy... but look at me now. Secretly, I loved it! And you can just add this to the "things that make me just like my parents whether I want them to or not and that I said I would never do" list. We would have Mexican food and my Mom would "set the scene" of us being searched at the border, afraid to drink the water, and smuggling "things" back in to the states - OUCH!. ( Well that wasn't my best example of a themed dinner that we had... but you get the idea) Ok.. here's a better one.. we would pretend that we were cavemen and we would capture neighborhood pets and roast them over an open fire. Still doesn't sound fun? I guess I'm not really doing that great of a job getting my point across that we had TONS of fun at mealtime - and by TONS I mean FANTASTIC MEMORIES.

In later years, my parents would just "pretend" amongst themselves.... WITH FOOD... I mean with eating food and having themed eating parties. I'm trying not to get/give a visual that you do not want. :-) Anyway, sometimes if you are very quiet and nosy..... you can sneak up on their front porch and look in to the window. You will probably just see them sitting on the floor in the den on a blanket eating a sandwich.... and think nothing of it. But if you are brave enough to call them on the phone... ask them what they are doing. They will probably tell you that they are having a picnic at the Eiffel Tower, or eating a picnic lunch at Dollywood ( Ummm.... my parents actually have an annual pass to Dollywood - is that really necessary?) or eating picnic food while standing in the gorilla cage at the zoo. OK - so all you can really " pretend" while eating a sandwich is that you are on a picnic... but see where I am going with this.... An imagination and some creativity make for excellent adventures.

We ( me and Kev) do dinner parties quite often. Kev goes along with whatever I plan... he is such a good sport. Sometimes it might be an afternoon brunch... where he has to drink from champagne glasses and eat lady food. Or it could be the season premiere or finale of LOST ( our FAVORITE dramatic show... I say that because The Office is actually our FAVORITE show). For a LOST party... I would just make things that you would eat if you were stranded on an island. Now on LOST... they do have more food than you would imagine... because of a lot of other stuff that happened... yadda yadda yadda... but we assume that they don't and therefore eat fish, pineapple, and coconut ( and maybe some rice... it could have washed up on shore)... but on with my story....

So, last night was our London celebration. My sister Bethany ( Beelzebub as I like to call her- for reasons I will not mention in this post) taught in London for a summer. She had such an amazing experience that should be documented for all to read - but isn't. So, when I went to visit her last September - in Disney World not London (yes, she now works in Magic Kingdom/Epcot... I know, I know... she lives the life) we celebrated her trip to London and she was able to give me some experiences that she had had even though I was in Florida. First of all, we went to TEA at the Grand Floridian. Now let me just tell you that this was SO much fun... for two reasons. #1 I LOVE LOVE LOVE tea. I like it unsweet and as strong as you can make it. I don't even think you understand what I mean by strong. I could literally chew on a tea bag and not get enough in my system. Every morning, I make a pot of tea with FOUR family size tea bags and three cups of water. Kev calls it my "mud tea"... it looks like mud, tastes like mud, smells like mud. Maybe I am a pig and I don't realize it. This tea is so strong that I have to eat a piece of toast before I can drink it or else I will get sick. But... boy does it make me light up like a Christmas tree. I will go from Monster to Monkey in a matter of seconds. If you are ever with me in the morning - please make sure I get my tea..... #2 I got to act ladylike! Now, those of you who know me KNOW that I am NOT ladylike. Even my Dad will tell you he cringes every time I open my mouth. I can't help it. I got to be dainty, polite, and treated like a princess. It was delightful and highly recommended. We drank tea from real (breakable) tea pots and ate tiny sandwiches and treats. My pics are on facebook... if you don't believe me.

Second of all, we went to a pub in London ( or Great Britain as they call it in Epcot). I have always wanted to try "fish and chips" - my whole life. I'll go ahead and let you know that "chips" are really fries. There was this song that we used to sing when I was little ( last year) called "Fish and chips and vinegar"..... maybe you have heard of it or maybe you haven't - but it is a good song. Anyway, I dreamed of it the whole trip... and screamed out my order to the waiter the minute he approached our table (his name was David - Beth had a crush on him... not because that is her brother's name but because he was cute and not only because he was cute but because he had a cool accent. I know we are from Alabama - but come on) Well, it was freakin delicious! I dipped my fries aka chips in vinegar, dipped my fish in tartar sauce ( that I have never had my whole entire life and I am not lying.... it is now my new favorite dip by the way) and smiled like the cheshire cat.

Trip over... back home... and all I can talk about is this meal and how next time Kev goes with me to Disney we are going to eat there. Then one day it hit me.... I realized that I can cook... and I love to cook... and I'm pretty good at it... so, why can I not make this at home. So I did... and it was a HUGE hit. HUGE enough that it made Kev's "I hope we have this again real soon" list.

And now to the point of my post.... I planned a whole evening out of our "fish and chip and vinegar" meal... and I have the pics to prove it.....

Well, I have a pic of the food... my plate is the one with less food on it :-) and sorry for the clutter on the island... I gave my cleaning lady (Kev) the day off .... not that I force Kev to clean by any means... I just don't have those skills.. so he kinda has to. What would I ever do without him?

We dressed as Mary Poppins and Harry Potter.... two incredible book series and movies. Sorry, I can't seem to find the pics of our costumes.... but believe me - we were looking good. You would be amazed how a couple of wigs, a wand, an umbrella and an English accent transform you into your favorite characters. We called each other "chaps" ( not pants that I wear to ride motorcycles - but a friend), told each other how "brilliant" the dinner party was, discussed how happy we are that our house is not infested with "lady birds" ( that is lady bugs in London speak - Bethie taught me that) and then played "London Bridges" until we were too exhausted to continue the party. Next we threw everything away in the "rubbish bin". Next time, Kev wants to be Jack Sparrow... besides being from England ... pirates are AWESOME! That probably means we would have to also drink rum and eat with metal hooks for hands. Sounds like fun!

Kev would like to end this post with a pirate joke: A pirate walked in to a bar. He was wearing his ship's steering wheel around his waist. When asked why he had a steering wheel around his waist.. he replied: "AAARGH! It's driving me nuts!"