Livin in the 80s and formal dinner parties

so here is what i was up to the last bit of when i was in England. i was sooo busy trying to make the most of every minute i had left in the UK that i didnt bother trying to get on here to update everyone. im really sorry.....

so basically Alex had nearly the entire last week i was in England off of work. we were very busy trying to get everything all ready for his cousins 21st 80s themed birthday party in a pub down the road. getting ready for it was a blast! we searched for weeks online and in shops for all of the bits and pieces to our costumes. i went as a cupcake doll and Alex as scrooge mcduck. i wore a bridesmaids dress with some sparkle fabric over the top and painted an umbrella hat then glued sparkle sprinkles on top of it. Alex had a duck beak that we glued glasses on, a top hat, i made him duck feet, and he found a blue overcoat. it was way fun! turns out that Alex, Anna, and i were one of the only people to show up in Fancy dress. and there wasnt many people there total.....but it was fun to get all dressed up and to see all of his family at the pub.

the next day we had to wait up to 3 am in order to ensure that his parents were awake to leave for their flight to turkey. they had to drive a ways to get to the correct airport so they left the house at 430. poor Alex wasnt feeling the best so he napped a bit while we waited up. Anna had left earlier in the day to stay with friends of the family for a week until she joins her parents a bunch of family friends in turkey. how nice that must be!

after that Alex and i had the house to ourselves for the rest of the time i was there....granted it was only a few days, but it was still very nice to get some privacy and nobody to bug us. unfortunately, Alex was really sick that first day (this past Sunday) so he took lots of naps and lots of breaks between our cleaning and cooking for the formal dinner party. we were invited that night to have dinner at his grandmas house with his aunt and uncle. luckily the spicy homemade soup cured him! it made him sweat like no other but he was feeling so much better after that meal.

the entire next day we cooked all of the food for the formal dinner party we were hosting. pictures are on facebook courtesy of Sarah. attendants ended up being graham, Sarah, Luke, Jo, Gordan, and Grant. it was so super fun! we cleaned hardcore and downloaded classical music, decorated with candles and place settings and flowers. the menu consisted of a mushroom starter with garlic cream sauce over homemade melbatoast, bourbon chicken accompanied by lemon wedge potatoes, veggie paella for those that dont eat meat, and beautiful fresh orange cream parfaits with double orange delight as an alternative. it all ended up very yummy and everyone seemed to enjoy it. the rest of the night was full of drinking and chatting and card games and music. it was a wonderful way to end my trip! 4 of them made me a british dressed build-a-bear with a voicebox recording of them saying hello and telling me the bears name (Bartholomew). people brought wine and flowers and chocolate, and a couple people made toasts to me - saying they would miss me and that they felt i was part of their group. it was sooo very sweet of them.

tuesday was my last day in England so Alex and i didnt bother to clean everything up, just some of it. i packed my things once everyone from the dinner party that stayed had left and we just kinda hung out and enjoyed the time we had left. lots of cuddling and tv watching, some wii sports thrown in there....a delicious tortellini lunch, and pizza for dinner. then some Big Bang Theory (my new favorite show) and bed. it was a great ending.....even tho there was quite a bit of crying.