Royal Knees Up Time

I spent the Wedding Eve with two of my favorite people, my son Jason and his wife, Cristen, who also live in London. We headed out early to do our "homework" to find where we might want to position ourselves for the Wedding Day.

Security questions still abound, but everyone entering any part of the parade routes will have to pass through one of the many security gates to get in.

We had a good chuckle at the bets being taken by several betting agencies in town.  Will the Prince fall asleep, will Prince Harry drop the ring and who will be the first to cry--the queen, Kate, Elton John or David Beckham?

You could also place a bet on the colour of the queen's hat,

as well as will Kate be late, early or on time? And when will they have their first child, and what is its sex?

New cameras appeared overnight at Buckingham Palace Gates.

Even more campers perched across from Westminster Abbey,

making themselves comfortable for the final countdown, and becoming celebrities as reporters from around the world interviewed them.

We encountered quite a few characters people as we wandered about today.

A cheesehead from Wisconsin,

a senior citizen with a passion for the royalty,

a guard keeping his cool,

a tourist showing off her Kate Middleton doll,

avid fans, and

royalty camping along The Mall leading up to Buckingham Palace.

We bumped into friends who were sporting a very familiar engagement ring,

spotted a flashy driver,

wondered about this knight clinking across the street,

got a kick out of London bobbies who were using iPhones to give directions to tourists,

waited in suspense as this gentleman proposed to his lady in front of the Westminster Abbey,

and then breathed a sigh of relief when she said "yes."

The day wound down meeting Will and Kate for drinks at The Antelope pub where all the American gals hang out on Thursday nights.

Cristen and I then rushed over to Westminster Abbey where we did a live interview for the ABC Houston affiliate. Unfortunately, their technology failed us, so only a few moments of the interview were aired before they cut to the local reporters. Technology is great when it works, isn't it?

Now as the sun has gone down, Kate and her family are all snuggled in at the posh Goring Hotel nearby, where they have completely reserved all 71 rooms for family and friends, and Will is spending the night with his dad and brother at Clarence House.

Tomorrow it's rise and shine early, as friends and I head out for the long anticipated adventure. We're looking forward to a "royal knees up" and crossing our fingers for a good weather day.

If you'd like to print out your own copy of the Wedding program to follow along, you can find it here.

It's A Royal Circus!

Well, this spur of the moment trip to London has started out in an exciting way. Monday afternoon, in a weak moment, I let my husband talk me into getting on a plane the next day and flying back to London to enjoy the festivities. When I got to the airport, my adventure began when I was interviewed by Dominique Sachse, the Houston NBC anchorwoman, and then we flew side by side to London. The interview aired on the 4 PM show in Houston on Tuesday, so many of my friends were kind enough to write and say that they caught it on the air.

After being greeted by some beautiful weather, I ventured out to explore. First stop: Buckingham Palace, where as you might imagine the media circus was all abuzz. A multi level construction has been erected there to accommodate the major network studios.

On the bottom level are a myriad of make-up artists and hair dressers to keep the reporters looking their best. I learned one tip from an anchor today--use your cameraman's sunglasses as a mirror to check that your hair is in place.

The first reporter I came across was a correspondent for NBC's Today show pointing down the Mall and imagining the parade route on its way back to the Palace.

This is a photo of the Americans they "coerced" into cheering for ABC's "Good Morning America" crowd,

and this is the view on the other side of the camera, being filmed along with all those "crazy Americans," after I decided to join them. Did you see me?

I heard a couple of photographers asking this boy's father is they could take his picture--do you really think he would have dressed him up like this and paraded him on his shoulder if he didn't want his picture taken? He was a cutie!

I ran into Becky Anderson, CNN's London correspondent, who was reporting that there are more than 9.000 journalists from 60 different countries reporting here on the regal event.

Piers Morgan was chatting with  Katie Nicholl, a royal correspondent who is being tapped by several networks for her inside scoops.

Sharon Osbourne and Kevin Frazier were feeding reports to "The Insider."

I moved on to Trafalgar Square, where MSNBC has set up a viewing platform and mini studio.

Terri Seymour, Simon Cowell's former girlfriend, was chatting by video to Mario Lopez, her co-host on "Extra."

And one of my favorite's, Meredith Viera, of the "Today" show with NBC, gave us a shout-out when we called her name.

My final stop of the day was at Westminster Abbey, where a viewing stand has been in construction for weeks, and every inch of rooftop space around is taken up with camera crews. Very valuable real estate! Reporters from around the world were interviewing the early "campers" who had already claimed their spot for the Friday show.

So I'll close off today's report with this picture taken today of the very regal Westminster Abbey, all polished and shining, waiting for another most historical occasion to begin in just a day away now.

We are crossing our fingers praying for a nice weather day like this one, but all bets are off on that one. Rain is on its way by Friday, they predict, but they say that only brings good luck on a wedding day.

Jelly Beans and A Surprise

Time for some more Royal Wedding fun. I fell in love with this portrait that is featured in the Peter Jones department store on Sloane Square, all made of jelly beans.

Forgive the harsh store lights please--impossible to get a shot without glare, but isn't this fun, and I'm  amazed at how accurate it is!

It took artist Malcolm West 5 weeks to complete,

and he used over 11,000 Jelly Belly beans to make their images come alive. Only 15 of their 50 flavors were used--do you think your favorite is there?

And now for the surprise. 

Since the Little Prince arrived 11 days early (pictures coming soon,) and my husband is so persuasive, and I have a bad case of the Royal Wedding bug, I have just decided to hop on a plane and head to London for a long, celebratory weekend. Hope to share with you soon some of the joy!

Rise Up-Dance Your Shoes Off

One of my secret ambitions is to be in a flash mob someday. The celebrations I've observed as joy spills forth in unexpected song are thrilling. Recently, the Second Baptist Church here in Houston put together a fabulous Easter flash mob celebration with 2000 of their own church members. Singing and dancing to a song commissioned by their church and sung by Lauren Carney, they burst into joy with the song "Rise Up." 

Hope you'll enjoy watching this video all the way to its stirring ending. Click twice to see full screen and then come right back to see a few more thoughts I have for you.

One of the reasons this video resonated so much with me is that it reminded me of a very dear friend who recently passed from the earth. 

Pat was a dear friend, wife, mother and grandmother who lived life fully and sparkled with enthusiasm. Her unexpected death a few weeks ago left a big hole in the hearts of all who loved her. We miss her laugh and her compassion terribly. The last couple of years Pat had struggled with her feet--one problem after another, requiring her to wear tennis shoes exclusively for a period of time, and then more recently a padded boot. Oh, how she dreamed of being able to wear a normal shoe.

Because we "... claim the victory, He won on Calvary..." we rejoice now that Pat is dancing with new freedom, with new joy, no longer shackled by the physical limitations of this world.  Because of our Risen Savior, we know we too can rise up to heavenly realms.  

Psalm 30:11 You have turned my mourning into dancing....

He's alive, he's alive inside us

We will rise up.

We claim the victory,

He won on Calvary.

Celebrate the King of Glory

So Rise Up 

People of the Lord.

Royal Pizza

Fancy a one-of-a-kind pizza just in time for the Royal Wedding parties ahead?

Papa John's has commissioned this royal portrait from a UK food artist, and now if you're living in the UK, you can enter their contest to have one delivered to your door.

Kate's veil is made from mushrooms and her dress is of cheese, while William's morning suit is made of salamis and peppers.

For the opportunity to purchase this particular pizza, you can email weddingpizza@papajohns.co.uk and cross your fingers that it's your lucky day!

Royal Souvenirs

One of the big dilemmas of this Royal Wedding year was to determine what was the "perfect" souvenir I could buy that would be cherished and passed down through the generations for years to come.

I would vacillate back and forth between buying something nice, or opting not to buy another "sit-about" just to sit around to collect dust.

So after much deliberation, I decided I should buy some sort of a keepsake, so I started in slowly. Surprised to find a Poundland store when we were visiting York where "everything's a pound," I grabbed onto one of these mugs for a mere 1£.

You have to understand, you can't buy hardly anything for a mere pound, so I couldn't leave it behind. I would have bought one for all of you too, at that price, if it hadn't been for the fact that I had to carry it back on a train with me to London!

Then there was this whimsical, not so expensive, Hudson and Middleton mug of bone china

made at the Potteries at Stoke on Trent in Britain. At this point, I still had only invested a small pittance for two treasures.

Then there was the Cath Kidston tea towel. Absolutely too fun to leave behind on the store shelf, and besides they were selling like hot cakes and were in big demand. So I bought two--just to be sure I wouldn't have any regrets.

The more I thought about it, I realized this chance of living in London at such an auspicious time in history warranted a really nice commemorative souvenir, 

so I bought the official Royal Collection mug at the Buckingham Palace store. So sweet, and don't you just love the love birds just inside the rim? There were rumors that Catherine's initial "C" was placed about William's "W" to avoid any WC or potty humor!

And then I fell in love!

Wouldn't you know the absolutely perfect gift was waiting for me all the way in York, England at the Mulberry Hall shop where the Royal Crown Derby china company had exclusively produced a limited design of this loving cup just for them? Only 500 were made.

The Loving Cup is hand painted with British wildflowers which will be in bloom at the time of the wedding: Bluebell, Celandine, Forget-me-Knot, Meadowsweet and Pasque flowers.

Trimmed inside and out with 22 carat gold, the cup celebrates the Royal Wedding Day.

Note to my children: Do not put this in a garage sale when I leave this earth!

Having heard Alison Weir speak a few weeks back, she told us that she, along with 3 other historical biographers wrote this history of Royal Weddings between 1066 and now, just to be released at the beginning of April.

I can't wait to dig into it and read all the details and pore over all the photos of royal weddings,

beautiful gowns,

historical nuptials,

family portraits,

and details of poignant fairy tale weddings that weren't so long ago.

And now I've saved one of the best for the last.

I was in "happyland" when I found this little souvenir that I bought for me my granddaughter.

Aren't we going to have fun re-creating the Royal wedding again and again?

The Queen, with her pearls and crown, the Prince, and even their Corgi dog

are all cheering for the lucky couple.

And so am I! 

Hip, hip hooray!

Won't be long now!

You're Invited

You're invited to a sneak preview of the Royal Wedding thanks to TMobile who has given us such great flash mob scenes in their Life's For Sharing series, all available on You Tube. I think this is great fun, and you're going to see quite a few familiar people in this royal wedding party. 

Enjoy!

Click twice to view full screen.