Busy, busy weekend; but the best so far this year! True to my resolutions, I started off with some slow flow Vinyasa yoga at Studio 206, followed up by a dose of slow knitting at the Needle Lady. Even managed to have some famous Peanut Tofu soup at Rev Soup for lunch. But wait, the best is yet to come…last night I attended the Paramount Theatre’s simulcast showing of the first episode of the 3rd season of, tada, Downton Abbey!
You probably already know I’m addicted. And I’ve never really been addicted to a television show before, well maybe a fling with Grey’s Anatomy? But this is serious: I’ve watched episodes I missed online; sat through the 1st season again (on Netflix) when the Love Bug was born just to ensnare my daughter in its spell; I bought the 2nd season on disc to watch over Christmas with the Bride, fueling her addiction and mine; and I’ve read everything I can get my hands on about the PBS Masterpiece Classic http://www.npr.org/2013/01/03/167528679/downton-abbey-cast-its-more-fun-downstairs.
But last night was a girl’s night out, and some of us dressed to the nines for the occasion! I had a long velvet skirt in my closet, and an old rust colored silk jacket that I topped with a tulle millenary confection!
Felt so very Lady Grantham. Kay Parker is one of my first friends in VA, and she drove our little group of 4 to the Downtown Mall where we met up with my friend Karen and her daughter-in-law Kath. Grown women totally excited to see what will become of Bates and the wedding of Lady Mary and Matthew Crawley. I won’t give anything away, except to say that I adore the Irish chauffeur Tom who stole the youngest Lady Sybil away and we all hissed at the evil valet Thomas. And of course Maggie Smith is sublime!
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/downtonabbey/
Why do we Yankees love it so? Because it has everything, Shakespearian drama mixed at just the right spot in history. We all secretly love the royals and their quirky landed gentry precisely because we waged a war to separate from them. A Turkish diplomat dies and a scandal is averted, but just barely. A generation returns from WWI and suddenly a life of service doesn’t seem all that great. Cars are replacing horses. Fortunes are lost and others are won. The same themes of life and love, and particularly last night, loyalty, ring true today. Sometimes we all need to be reminded whose side we are on. A good story will resonate with us forever, so thank you Julian Fellowes. Thank you for imagining these characters and putting pen to paper.
Here are the 3 “K”s – Kay, Karen and Kath http://www.katheats.com!
MountainMornings 
Love you in the hat and love that you had a ladies night out. That said.. I lasted through the first hour- didn’t realize it would be 2 hours long– and felt a real let down after the first 2 seasons. I couldn’t stand how they treated Tom, felt there was absolutely no chemistry between Mary and Matthew, and frankly what does he see in her anyway? And feel the entire family deserves to lose it all. Not sure I’ll be watching much more of it.. or maybe will just wait until I can get it on Netflix or on demand.
Lisa, I’ve recently learned that this is the way younger people watch TV; it has to be streaming! Tried explaining that to my older sister, that no one waits around for a TV show to start anymore, and not sure I succeeded. Maybe it was the surroundings and the company, but the only odd note I heard was Shirley MacLaine’s comment about being an American, “with a gun.”
Glad you haven’t “unfriended” me bc I didn’t like D.A.! I don’t know how to “stream”– but we order old fashioned dvds… yes, no young person watches a program when it’s aired.
Fun times! Love your hat self portrait!
Thanks Kath, as you can see I always forget to touch the symbol to turn the camera around.