ukdesperatehousewifeusa

Desperate English Housewife in Washington, chapter 123

Posted on May 8, 2013 by ukdesperatehousewifeusa

Cock stock

The picture says it all….

🙂

Anyway, enough of this smuttiness – let’s talk USA murder trials, celebrity-style….

Jodi Arias

Today I watched the verdict on the Jodi Arias trial live. There was much banter and discussion on Facebook and Twitter about whether she would get First Degree or Second Degree murder. There was the same emotion, excitement and anticipation as if the nation was waiting for a very, very ‘important’ final of America’s Got Talent or the X Factor or those other shows that are reality TV…Who will win? What will the outcome be? Who cares, I just want to watch….

I was in a friend’s house for the 4.30pm verdict and their 14 year old son was also eager to see it live – ‘It’s like the Casey Anthony trial,’ he said sagely. (The Casey Anthony trial took place two years ago – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Caylee_Anthony.)

We sat round, waiting, holding our breath…..GUILTY! FIRST DEGREE MURDER! LIFE SENTENCE OR EVEN THE DEATH PENALTY!

We gasp, we look at her reaction, say our piece……and then we get on with our normal, regular bits and bobs.

And that was that. The results were in. The trial was over.

See here for info on the case history: http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/jury-deliberating-jodi-arias-murder-case-concludes-for-day-will-resume-wednesday/2013/05/07/60755140-b789-11e2-b568-6917f6ac6d9d_story.html?hpid=z3

What really caught my attention was that for the few days leading up to this trial, and, in fact, for many months before, Jodi Arias had become a celebrity of sorts. Celebrity status for killing your on/off boyfriend. For once having blonde hair and now having dark hair and glasses. For having weird phone sex. For having your trial on TV……

And that seems to be the crux of it. The fact that trials are on TV, put into the scheduling like a mini-series for all to view. ‘Family-friendly’ viewing.

These are just some of the comments to promote programmes about the trial that I heard on TV recently to raise the profile of the case and exploit it even further:

‘Tune in, see the latest in the Jodi Arias trial. From blonde bombshell to brunette babe….’
‘We have our own jury giving their verdict on the Arias trial in the studio tonight, see what they have to say.’
‘Jodi loves being on trial – we find her guilty of loving the attention. We show how much Jodi is enjoying the spotlight.’

Was this real, or reality TV? By creating a media furore, was she getting the attendtion she craved? Who is guilty now…the media, the public? Me? I purposefully sat down to watch it – I wanted to witness it live and see her reaction, to be part of it…..

Jodi awaits her verdict….

Posted in Travel | Tagged accents, America, America's Got Talent, American, Americans, Casey Anthony, celebrity status, Culture, expat, hocoblogs@@@, Jodi Arias, murder trial, reality TV, UK, USA, X factor | 6 Comments

Desperate English Housewife in Washington, chapter 122

Posted on May 7, 2013 by ukdesperatehousewifeusa

Charles Ramsey

The US phenomenon of the three girls being rescued today after ten years in captivity in Cleveland is amazing to follow on the news channels.

But the star of the show….this man, the guy who Amanda Berry ran to when she escaped….

Let’s hear it for Charles Ramsey – legend.

Charles Ramsey, remember that name. The story itself is incredible but Ramsey’s account of the ordeal is simply spectacular. Watch it all, for his final comment 🙂

Harry’s history of the USA

Harry has been dabbling in the history of the USA, and has made his own conclusions about what makes people ‘American’.

Today’s history lesson is about Pilgrims:

‘Mummy, is my teacher a pilgrim?’
‘Um, I don’t know, is she….?’
‘Yes, she is. She calls trousers pants, which definitely makes her a pilgrim.’

The Pilgrims – hoorah!

Posted in Travel | Tagged Amanda Berry, America, American, Americans, Blog, captivity, Charles Ramsey, Cleveland, escape, hocoblogs@@@, pilgrims, USA | 6 Comments

Desperate English Housewife in Washington, chapter 121

Posted on May 7, 2013 by ukdesperatehousewifeusa

American comedy vs British comedy

Summed up to perfection by Stephen Fry 🙂

Posted in Travel | Tagged America, American, American comedy, Americans, British, British comedy, comedy, hocoblogs@@@, Stephen Fry, UK, USA | 1 Comment

Desperate English Housewife in Washington, chapter 120

Posted on May 7, 2013 by ukdesperatehousewifeusa

Honouring HoCoPoPo

The HoCoPoPo is a cute name used for the Howard County Police. Today I saw a convoy of them on Route 29, with flashing lights and new and old police cars, with the traffic stopped. It was quite mesmerising, especially as we’re not used to seeing cop cars around here much.

So I tweeted the local paper to find out what was going on, and when I read the reply I was sad and grateful and shocked all in one go.

The convoy was made up of Howard County police and government officials who were out to honour seven police officers who lost their lives in the line of duty.

Those who were honoured were:

Maryland State Police Trooper Shaft Hunter, who was killed after he attempted to stop a motorcycle on May 21, 2011, when his patrol car ran into a tractor-trailer parked on the shoulder of I-95 south near the Welcome Center by Route 32. A witness told police that a motorcycle passed his vehicle “at a high rate of speed” and it was followed by a marked police car, which, moments later, crashed into the tractor-trailer in the fatal collision.

Cpl. Scott Wheeler, who was struck by a speeding car while conducting “step-outs,” which the Baltimore Sun said was when an officer “steps into the highway and waves over speeding cars so the drivers can be ticketed.”

Recruit Ofc. Roger D. Cassell Jr., who died after collapsing following a training exercise at the HCPD academy in 1994.

Maryland State Police Cpl. Theodore D. Wolf, Sr., who police said was shot in 1990 during a traffic stop of two men smuggling drugs in a stolen vehicle.

Officer Randolph E. Brightwell Sr., who police said was shot in 1961 during a traffic stop of two men who had just robbed and killed a gas station attendant.

Deputy Sheriff Frank J. Miller, who police said died of a heart attack after struggling with a prisoner in 1946.

Constable Charles T. Weber, who died after being dragged alongside a speeding vehicle in 1924.

What I witnessed was a Memorial Ride Tuesday for Police Week. It was quite awesome to see. Sorry I have no pics – I was driving at the time.

Respect.

Thanks for Howard County Police Department and Columbia Patch for the photo.

Thanks to Howard County Police Department and Columbia Patch for the photo.

A funny little sign

It seems signs are catching our eyes at the moment.

My friend, Judy, spotted this one on the campus of Howard County Community College at a crossing.

Brilliant!

Just so the cars get the message!

Posted in Travel | Tagged America, American, Columbia Patch, hocoblogs@@@, Hocopopo, Howard County Community College, Howard County Police Department, Memorial Ride Tuesday, Police Week, UK, USA | Leave a comment

Desperate English Housewife in Washington, chapter 119

Posted on May 7, 2013 by ukdesperatehousewifeusa

Bank Holibobs UK vs National Holibobs USA

This is a condensed version of my various conversations with people back in the UK on Monday May 6th…

Me: Are you having a nice day?

UK peeps: Ooh, yes we are, we’ve been doing lovely things on this Bank Holiday. What did you do?

Me: I went to work and did jobs and stuff.

UK peeps: Where are your two men (hubby and son)?

Me: H is at school and himself is at work.

UK peeps: Why?

Me: Because it’s not a Bank Holiday here.

UK peeps: Do you have Bank Holidays?

Me: Well, sort of…..

And this got me to thinking, again, how similar and yet how different the Bank Holidays in the UK and the National Holidays in the USA are. Here’s a synopsis for you.

USA Holidays and Observances
Jan 1 New Year’s Day
Jan 21 Martin Luther King Day
Feb 18 Presidents’ Day
May 27 Memorial Day
Jul 4 Independence Day
Sep 2 Labor Day
Oct 14 Columbus Day (Most regions)
Nov 11 Veterans Day
Nov 28 Thanksgiving Day
Dec 24 Christmas Eve
Dec 25 Christmas Day
Dec 31 New Year’s Eve

Note that, unlike the UK, Boxing Day is not observed in the USA. This is, in particular, a real bummer for Harry – since it is his birthday. And he has always known it as Boxing Day, not December 26th, so when he is asked when his birthday is and he replies with ‘Boxing Day’, I always have to qualify this with the date, and then explain what Boxing Day is all about in the UK. (For those of you who are interested – and it is really very interesting in terms of British history and custom – see here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boxing_Day).

UK Holiday Days
New Year’s Day January 1
Good Friday March 29
Easter Monday April 1
Early May Bank Holiday May 6
Spring Bank Holiday May 27
Summer Bank Holiday August 26
Christmas Day December 25
Boxing Day December 26

Now, Brits, don’t think for a minute ‘hang on, those Americans are getting loads of free days off‘, because let me tell you that the ‘vacation’ days when you work in the USA suck. I hear lots of my American friends talk about working and their 12 days off a year (this is in addition to the national holidays and can increase after you’ve worked somewhere for, like, 100 years), which really isn’t a lot in comparison to the 20 days most UK workers get if they work full time. I know it’s even more in some public sector areas – I’ve known it to be 37 days off a year in addition to Bank Holidays. Wow.

So, this got me to thinking about the cultural differences in the holidays that are observed nationally.

This is what my friend Rachel, back in the UK, told me that she did on the very warm May Bank Holiday Monday:

‘The weather has been glorious for once! Took caravan near Evesham to a site right on the riverbank. Lush. Regatta at Evesham yesterday and 1940s themed May Day with vintage stalls, old cars and caravans and jazzy singers. Went to a lovely cafe with mismatched chairs, Cath Kidston tablecloths, books to borrow and lovely homegrown food. And all on our doorstep. Who knew?‘

Doesn’t that sound very idyllic and British?!

A delightfully British caravan!

The Wychavon riverbank

From my youth I remember Maypole dances and floats and street fairs with Britishness oozing out of every shop front. Bangers and mash, fish and chips, cider, beer etc (not all in my youth, I hasten to add, though some may contest that…)

So what has Memorial Day got in store for me in the USA? Memorial Day is a day of remembrance for those who have died serving the USA. People come out to honour their veterans and famous Americans by visiting the monuments in Washington and the Memorial Day weekend also marks the beginning of the busy and exciting summer season. Super good news for us is that the pools open! Hooray!

And then, of course, we have 4th July to look forward to with all its fireworks and flags and cheers of independence from the British….oh hang on a minute…….

Woohoo! Party time!

Baby, you’re a firework…..etc

Anyway, there’s always Labor Day (which seems an odd name for a holiday day – were they being amusing?). Labor Day is observed on the first Monday in September and celebrates the economic and social contributions of workers. To take advantage of large numbers of potential customers free to shop, Labor Day has become an important sale weekend for many retailers in the USA, I hear. Some retailers claim it is one of the largest sale dates of the year, second only to the Christmas season’s Black Friday (and I’ve avoided that day once already since being here!).

So, there we go. Things are different again. And things are similar again. Same/different, that’s how it seems every day in this adventure. Always comparing, always contrasting.

Librarians…..

I stole this sign from the Facebook page of my friend, Sir Dave Bittner (he’s not really a Sir – I’ve just kind of given him a substitute knighthood out here in the USA).

Anyway, it’s worth sharing because it is wonderfully American and totally extraordinary.

Just brilliant.

Posted in Travel | Tagged America, American, Americans, Bank Holidays, Black Friday, Blog, Boxing Day, British, caravan, Cath Kidston, Culture, Evesham, expat, hocoblogs@@@, Labor Day, librarian, lifestyle, May Day, Maypole, Memorial Day, schools, Thoughts, Travel, UK, USA, weather | 34 Comments

Desperate English Housewife in Washington, chapter 118

Posted on May 6, 2013 by ukdesperatehousewifeusa

Another beautiful day in the USA!

We can get v v v v v v used to this weather. It’s pretty much perfect at 72 degrees at the weekend. It’s a little bit like being on our holibobs!

Lake Elkhorn

This is a glorious lake – a two mile walk round here in perfect temperatures!

Bumping into people I know!

Apartments over look the lake – it felt a little European

28 turtles sitting on a log!

Look closely – it’s a snake!

Cinquo de Mayo!

I thought I would do my part in celebrating Mexican freedom and have a few margaritas and some quesadillas, seeing as the 5th of May is what it’s all about here in American-land.

It’s all about the costume

What I learned:

Tacos are for eating in the privacy of your own home, because they are very messy buggers.

People really just love having an excuse to eat and drink, whatever nationality.

Re-fried beans need to be followed by Zantac (Gaviscon).

Margaritas are addictive.

Authentic Mexicana!

Us gals!

These jolly chaps played some lovely tunes

Margarita-ta-ta-ta

Fish tacos

Get the indigestion tablets

Disabled vs Handicap

So, in the UK I don’t think we have used the word ‘handicap’ since the 90s, maybe, when referring to someone with disabilities.

So that’s why the USA parking sign below particularly struck me. In the UK you just wouldn’t see the word ‘handicap’ anywhere.

And I guess I’m not sure what the politically correct term is in the USA. I don’t know what’s right and what’s wrong, but I just know that the parking signs for those who are disabled are different in the UK from the USA.

USA sign

UK sign

The Kentucky Derby

This little piece of American-ness passed us by a little.

However, what I was really interested in, as I am back in the UK, is the wholly shallow end of the spectrum……what on earth are people wearing for such events?

So, it’s time for a USA vs UK fashion / style stand off for the most outrageous/awful/incredible outfit of this bunch…….

Admittedly, the Kentucky Derby fashions are donned by celebrities, and the ones from Aintree, UK, are worn by….well, I don’t know who, but it’s worth a look regardless! 🙂

The celebrity Kentucky Derby fashions

The general public fashions at Aintree…..

Posted in Travel | Tagged Aintree, America, American, Americans, Blog, Cinquo de Mayo, Columbia, dsiabled parking, fashion, food, handicapped parking, hocoblogs@@@, Howard County, Kentucky Derby, Lake Elkhorn, margarita, maryland, Mexican food, snake, summer, sunshine, tacos, Travel, turtles, UK, USA, weather, Zantac | 12 Comments

Desperate English Housewife in Washington, chapter 117

Posted on May 4, 2013 by ukdesperatehousewifeusa

Just beautiful!

Simply pics today so I can share this magical weather and country with you 🙂

Spot of fishing!

Sunny sunshine!

Hot feet!

Centennial Park, Columbia

Drive thru post office!

There is drive-thru everything here! (Top marks for spotting the excellent typo!)

Drive-thru postal service (with spelling mistake)

Posted in Travel | Tagged America, Blog, Centennial Park, Columbia, Culture, hocoblogs@@@, Howard County, sunshine, USPS, weather | 11 Comments

Desperate English Housewife in Washington, chapter 116

Posted on May 3, 2013 by ukdesperatehousewifeusa

Baltimore Prison Saga

The current dinner table talk in my neck of the woods is of worthy of an HBO drama series….and it’s all true.

The synopsis of the current ‘can you believe this is happening’ story is this:

The feds say an inmate impregnated four correctional officers and masterminded a criminal empire from behind bars in a Baltimore jail.

The corruption scandal at the Baltimore City Detention Center has captured national attention. Naughty boy Tavon White was a member of the notorious Black Guerilla Family gang and essentially ran the Baltimore City Detention Center as his own kingdom, using cell phones for drug deals and recruiting correctional officers to help.

Oh, it’s all going on behind bars….

To top off this, the kingpin allegedly impregnated four correctional officers! Not just one – FOUR!

One of those correctional officers is currently eight-months pregnant with his baby. Poor, poor baby.

In conversations captured by federal wiretaps, he said he ran the jail and everything had to go through him. This one such wiretap:

“This is my jail,” he said. “You understand that? I’m dead serious…. I make every final call in this jail … and nothing go past me, everything come to me…. Any of my brothers that deal with anybody, it’s gonna come to me. You see what I am saying? Everything come to me. Everything. Before a —– hit a —- in the mouth, guess what they do, they gotta run it through me. I tell them whether it’s a go ahead, and they can do it or whether they hold back. Before a —– stab somebody, they gotta run it through me…. Anything that get done must go through me.”

Investigations say that White even ordered champagne and seafood dinners. Nice if you can get it.

Gun fact

Check this out for a crazy gun fact currently doing the rounds on social media…..food for thought?

http://www.upworthy.com/its-one-of-the-craziest-internet-rumors-about-guns-and-as-it-turns-out-its-true?c=bl3

High fructose saga

My rage against high fructose corn syrup escalates. The bloody stuff is everywhere.

http://phys.org/news/2013-04-high-fructose-corn-syrup-tied-worldwide.html. In this instance researchers find high-fructose corn syrup may be tied to worldwide collapse of bee colonies. Sigh. First teeth, now bees.

As my friend, Tom, commented: ‘It’s like the Bruce Willis of bad things.’

Bye bye bees

Cinco de Mayo!

This weekend I will be celebrating my first Cinco de Mayo. But what is this, I hear my UK chums cry!

Aha, let me share with you what I have discovered: Cinco de Mayo is a celebration held on May 5 – yep, you got it! It is celebrated in the USA and regionally in Mexico, primarily in the state of Puebla, where the holiday is called El Día de la Batalla de Puebla (English: The Day of the Battle of Puebla). It originated with Mexican-American communities in the American West as a way to commemorate the cause of freedom and democracy during the first years of the American Civil War, and today the date is observed in the United States as a celebration of Mexican heritage and pride.

So basically, we get to eat mountains of Mexican food, drink tequilas and have margaritas – hoorah!

Bring on the tequila!

Long live Cinco de Mayo!

Pledge of Allegiance

Today I did the Pledge of Allegiance for the very first time at Harry’s school assembly. Well, to be honest I didn’t actually do it, because I had no idea what to say. Is that terrible of me? Should I have at least learned that since I am living in this country, or do I not need to pledge an allegiance, since I am a Brit and should be honouring my Queen and country….? Confused, I am!

Anyway, I joined in as best I could and performed the hand on heart thing and looked at the stars on the flag, and when I glanced at Harry I realised he was just mumbling a bit as well, so I think I may have to learn this with him.

This is it, just in case you want to have a stab at it too…

USA Pants vs UK Pants

Harry and I attended a most excellent blog event at Greenberries with a new bunch of Americans ladies one evening this week and Harry was enjoying the attention as the only child there.

Harry decided to stand up and tell a short story to the crowd, flitting with ease between his British and American accents.

‘So he can speak in both accents?’ ask the lovely, smart American ladies.
‘Oh yes,’ I say, proudly. ‘Harry, say something in American.’

So Harry points to his trousers and declares in his American accent:
‘These are my pants.’

Then he PULLS DOWN HIS TROUSERS/PANTS, points to his underpants and declares in his best British accent: ‘And these are my pants.’

My most excellent, talented son 🙂

I must say something about Greenberries – it’s a beautiful place, so totally unlike anything I’ve seen in this area so far. It’s not a chain kids’ place, thankfully (I can’t bear ruddy Toys r Us anymore); it’s unique and clever, and dedicated to bringing the community together.

The problem I have with some of the ‘villages’ of Columbia is that the buildings are very unappealing – a bike shop and a bathroom shop are located in the same area as Greenberries and have the same features and architecure – it is just so hard to see beyond the frontage……

But this makes me realise that, as with so many places here, you truly must not judge a book/building by its cover. It’s what’s inside that counts – I guess that can be said for most everything, but I shan’t be going down that philosophical route in this blog!

The same can be said for the Mexican restaurant, El Azteca, that we will be celebrating Cinco de Mayo at – an awful building in 1970s flat roof style – but a gem of a place inside – the best in Howard County I am led to believe!

Hurrah for Howard County!

Posted in Travel | Tagged accents, American, Americans, Baltimore, Baltimore City Detention Center, Baltimore Sun, bees, Black Guerilla, Blog, Cinco de Mayo, Columbia, Culture, El Azteca, expats, Greenberries, guns, high fructose corn syrup, hocoblogs@@@, Howard County, maryland, Mexico, pants, Pledge of Allegiance, prison saga, Tavon White, tequila, trousers, UK, USA, Washington Post | 13 Comments

Desperate English Housewife in Washington, chapter 115

Posted on April 28, 2013 by ukdesperatehousewifeusa

Road signs

When you drive over here (as a Brit), all of a sudden you see signs which make you go ‘ooooh!’ and ‘wow’.

This one did just that.

Good innit?!

Off to New York!
Actually, I was off to Towson.

Brits in Baltimore

This weekend I hooked up with a British blogger and author, Emma Kaufmann, just north of Baltimore (near Towson, in fact, hence the road sign!)

Emma has been in the USA for 13 years and so many of the little things that I find amusing or confusing are now part of the Emma’s life – that’s not to say they don’t still confuse, amuse or sometimes irritate!!

What is revealing is that, like anyone from any culture, as soon as you get together you find common ground, common interests and common anecdotes to natter about.

But above all, it reminded me how different the British and American senses of humour are and how the British sense of humour is some kind of bond between Brits – almost like an unspoken wink and a nod that unites us because we get what each other are (or is that ‘is’?) saying.

How we laughed!

See Emma’s blog at http://mommyhasaheadache.blogspot.com/

Emma and I met at Ryan' Daughter pub, and very nice it was too :)

Emma and I met at Ryan’s Daughter pub, and very nice it was too 🙂

What a gay day!

This weekend I also hung out with some lovely gay chaps from Baltimore and Columbia, who introduced me to all sorts of things I can’t possibly repeat on my blog 😉

Bottoms up!

Above all it confirmed to me that a suburb like Columbia does not have a gay scene as such, and if I’m after the trendy, camp gay scene I need to head to DC.

I’ll be heading here sometime soon…. http://www.ziegfelds.com/

My make up never looks like that

Amazing Annapolis

I adore Annapolis, I think I’ve said it before.

Today there was a pub crawl round the town, and people were obliged to dress up in whatever they fancied and do some kind of treasure hunt, which is just an ace way to go from pub to pub.

I captured as many of these marvellous costumes for your delectation.

That man has a unicorn’s thing on his head, in case you were wondering….

Pirates had to be there

Aussies rocked it

These people are not in costume – they are real Naval officers (tho I did congratulate them on their efforts)

Like it!

Maybe he could get a job at Ziegfelds….

Big Fat Gypsy Wedding gals

Top prize to the Star Wars crew 🙂

Man vs Food!!!

In Annapolis there is an unassuming chicken restaurant called ‘Chick and Ruth’s Delly’ (yes, that is Delly – not deli).

http://www.chickandruths.com/

‘This is a Man vs Food restaurant!’ declared a friend.

‘Ooh, this is exciting’, I thought and took a picture:

The Man vs Food poster

If you are not familiar with Man vs Food, it’s basically a TV programme about a crazy dude who goes to restaurants and eats like buckets of ice-cream or the biggest pizzas ever or the hottest chillis. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_v._Food

So there I am admiring the above image (he had a massive milkshake and colossal sandwich I gather) and out pops Chick from Chick and Ruth’s Delly and declares that MARTIN O’MALLEY is in town (I think that’s what he said – it might be that he had been in town or was simply heading out of town or once came to town). Anyway, upon hearing his name I squealed loudly with girly delight.

If you have been in touch with this blog for a while, you will know that I have the hots for Maryland’s rock star Governor and would totally like to stalk him (FYI, FBI or whoever – that is a joke 🙂 )(https://ukdesperatehousewifeusa.wordpress.com/2013/01/08/desperate-english-housewife-in-washington-chapter-73/):

Oh Martin, you are saucy!

And with that image, I bid you adieu!

Posted in Travel | Tagged America, Americans, Annapolis, Baltimore, blogger, British, Chick and Ruths Delly, Columbia, Culture, DC, drag queen, expats, FBI, food, gay scene, Governor of Maryland, hocoblogs@@@, Man vs Food, Martin O'Malley, maryland, New York, pub crawl, road signs, Star Wars, Towson, UK, USA | 20 Comments

Desperate English Housewife in Washington, chapter 114

Posted on April 26, 2013 by ukdesperatehousewifeusa

A key dilemma

So, I needed to get a key cut today (no, don’t yawn…).

But could I bloody well find anywhere that in my ‘UK’ head might cut keys….? Nope.

I Googled all sorts of key-cutting combinations and I could not find a place in my vicinity.

And so I did a tweet-shout-out to my Columbia MD twitter followers and they came straight back to me with the response ‘a hardware store’ (the one literally at the end of my road, which was a bit annoying since I had driven round half of Columbia by then.)

Of course, what had I been thinking?! I should have been looking for a big store that sells manure, lawnmowers and Cicada spray (Kendalls), not a little high street store like the ones back in the UK that re-heel shoes, sell mis-matched plastic key fobs and those name labels that you can iron into your socks.

In America you go here to get your keys cut

In the UK you go to funny little cobbler shops with weird, freaky mannequins to get your keys cut

What I learned from today’s episode is this:

a) I have to start thinking ‘big’
b) I have to start thinking in American terms
c) I am a bit blonde sometimes
d) Twitter is ace in times of need
e) The local social networking community is also ace

My key is now cut, and no freaky mannequins were encountered 🙂

A cheeky cocktail, if you please

I had a little invite to an opening of a new restaurant in Columbia today http://xitomate.com/, which was a super way to spend an afternoon.

(FYI, the Desperate Housewife would like many more of these invites so she can blog about them… 🙂 )

So I was there in my capacity as an official blogger (I qualify for that now). And I had a good old schmooze with quite a few new bloggers, some of whom I follow and some of whom are new to me. Contrary to popular belief, you see, blogggers are actually a very sociable bunch!

Not one to say no, I had a cheeky cocktail and some sumptuous Mexican food and a good natter. Oh yes, I can get used to this! It is still amusing to me when people tell me they love my accent / the way I talk 🙂

There is much to be said for authentic Mexican food – non-chain USA restaurants do this very well. Xitomate felt very authentic, so much so that for a moment I could have been back on honeymoon in Mexico itself, apart from the fact the other half was nowhere to be seen…..

But all the time during the afternoon I was thinking, ‘Oh dear, this is a bit naughty,’ like I was skiving off work, and then I realised that I was at work! How marvellous!

Time for another cocktail then….!