Joan Littlewood: Oh! What a Lovely War

I know, I know. I've been away for far too long and you've missed me and my witty musings terribly. I've been overwhelmingly busy with work and class, and just barely squeezing in the things I write about on the weekends, let alone actually writing about them. I'm sorry I left you with nothing to read, but I promise I'll never make you worry like that again. To make up for it, I'm gonna bang out a bunch of posts, so just prepare yourself for that.

This post is dedicated to those two brutally opposing forces, war and civility. Fitting title, eh? I know, I am that good. Back in March, Londontown was blessed with a guest appearance by the one and only Katie Boland, so of course we had to go a wee bit crazy. On the night she arrived, we decided to take some of her London-y advice and go to one of her favorite clubs, Mahiki. It was Polynesian themed, and the one thing that stands out more than anything about it: how good it smelled. Random, but very true. Here are some highlights from that evening:

-Katie Boland got into a dance off. There was some booty popping.

That's really the only highlight, but it made my night.

The next day, Megan, Allie, and I decided to mozy on over the Churchill War Rooms. We decided we needed a little testosterone in the mix and brought with us the one and only Craig Strauss. When we finally got there, after getting only very briefly lost (it's OK Megan, we forgive you), we went into the museum. It completely blew my mind. Definitely one of my favorite museums. Everything is left exactly how it was when the war ended and everyone just got up and went home. We saw everything from Churchill's private telephone to the sugar stash in one of the drawers. Here are some photos:

The structure of the bunker

The different thumbtacks used to mark movement

The bed Churchill used to nap in

That night we met back up with Katie, who brought us to her posh Notting Hill flat, where we dined on Thai food and snuggled on a sofa watching The Departed. It was during this evening that we all realized how much we missed being in a REAL HOUSE with furniture that isn't on wheels.

The next day we decided it was time for a real, official, high tea. It was an absolutely gorgeous day, so we strolled over to Hyde Park and met up with Katie at The Orangery at Kensington Palace. The light through the windows basically made the whole room glow and the tea and sandwiches we had were scrumptious. It was just a completely lovely afternoon, although we all felt like superdorks taking so many pictures of what we were eating. Here’s a smattering of those:

Sadly, after that splendid weekend, Katie had to return to the states, and we had to carry on with our normal lives, going to work four days a week, class once a week. Not a terribly exciting weekend, but definitely a wonderfully pleasant one.