It’s Royal weekend in Europe...first with the wedding of William and Kate today and then Queensday here in Amsterdam tomorrow...it’ll take Sunday to recover from it all... So, the wedding is over and now all the Royals are taking pictures and partying...not that I’m jealous...not that I find it incredibly unfair that I know people that were invited...ugh and that Chelsy Davy, I really don’t like her and when is she going to learn to put some lipstick on those flesh lips?! Right, off the soap box and on to the wedding.
Let’s get the fashion out of the way, because that’s what we’re really all watching for. The ladies looked fantastic! Can we talk about Victoria Beckham? Amazing! Perfect dress for the occasion and for concealing that minuscule baby bump she’s carrying around and that Phillip Treacy fascinator was too die for!! Carole Middleton, for all the scrutiny she’s been under, nailed it with such an appropriate and understated outfit. Unfortunately not everyone could look as great as VB and Carole...what on earth was going on with Princess Beatrice’s eye makeup? Does she think she’s Lady Gaga? At the wedding? Awful! But Kate’s dress, made by Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen, left me absolutely speechless! She looked radiant! The scalloped lace sleeves were the perfect balance for the v neck corseted bodice, the length of the train was a great length, a very modern twist on a really tradition gown with echos of Grace Kelly’s wedding dress. Not to mention that Kate did her own makeup...because she wanted William to be able to recognise her at the altar...and she did a brilliant job, much better than I would be able to do!
On to the ceremony...I think the E! commentators said it best “the most informal of formal weddings” which I think sums up the couple as whole. The both looked so incredibly comfortable with each other and to look at them you wouldn’t think you were watching this on TV because it seemed such an intimate moment for the two of them. There was a moment during their vows when William promised to take Kate for richer or poorer when Kate let a smirk spread across her face as if to say “poorer?”, too funny! Evidence of the true loving nature of the couple was evidenced in the beautiful prayer they had written where they asked to be generous with their time and energy and for their union to help those who suffer, I think it was such a great sentiment that showed how sweet and generous the two of them really are, and a great compliment to each other. The only scary moment occurred when as William was putting the ring on Kate’s finger it looked for a moment as if it wasn’t going to fit but after a good tug disaster was averted.
Overall I think it was a fantastic wedding...the main thing I took away from it was just how different it was from Charles’ and Diana’s wedding. The looks of nerves and sadness were replaced by smirks and smiles, it truly felt like a family wedding which was what the couple wanted. They originally had dreams of getting married in a small chapel in Anglesey, Wales, which were obviously dashed, and at the end of the ceremony the camera panned to Will’s cousin Zara Phillips and her fiance Mike Tindall sharing a laugh together as if to say “We’re so glad our wedding won’t be such a spectacle!”
I think we can all agree...there’s always that one neighbor who’s just a little off. If you’re lucky they’ll just ignore you and you can stare in bewilderment from a safe distance while they ramble on about whatever it is that’s got their panties in jumble today, to one of your other unfortunate neighbors. I am not so lucky. I am the unfortunate other neighbor.
At first she didn’t like us all that much because she thought we were throwing cigarette butts into the street. We were doing no such thing, and swiftly informed her of this. Then she thought we were spitting near the entrance to the hallway to her flat...again, ridiculous! After letting her know that, neither I nor J had being doing anything that could possibly offend her she finally started to like us. I think it was better when we annoyed her. Her husband got stuck in the elevator yesterday when the power cable to our building got cut. So who does she ask for help? Yep, us. Of course I’m going to try to help someone stuck in an elevator...God knows I’d be having a panic attack if it were me...I went down to the elevator to try help her...not that I would really have been able to do anything unless my little birdie arms suddenly gained super strength...but she wasn’t there, so I went back upstairs and didn’t think too much of it. Two hours later, power still off btw, someone knocks on the door. Up until now our interactions have only been J or I standing at our open window with her on the street. Now she’s figured out where we live...no good. Well, apparently our building has two elevators (thanks for letting us know landlords...) and her hubby was stuck in the one I didn’t know about. Ignorance really is bliss as she was prepared to lay into me when I opened that door but she couldn’t really say much about it if I didn’t know where it was. After listening to her yammer on for a couple of minutes I successfully managed to pawn her off on another neighbor who I convinced her might know something...don’t ask me what because I’m still not exactly clear on what it was she wanted me to do in the first place...then ran back inside and locked the door. Oh, one last little quirk about her...no matter how many times she sees us she forgets that we don’t speak Dutch! It never fails, she spots us...talks for five minutes in Dutch...looks at us like we’re the crazy ones when we don’t respond...we tell her again that we can’t understand her...she says something crazy in English....we try to figure out the fastest way possible to get her to stop talking to us...then she says something in Dutch again! It’s a vicious circle.
Do you have any stories about your crazy neighbors? I’d love to hear them!!
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