Trip to Europe - London Part 5

Yes, time for more holiday snaps. Today we went to the Tower of London and Buckingham Palace.

Me outside the Tower of London. It was such a fascinating place to go. Growing up you hear about the Tower of London and always kind of envision it as being a tower, but in reality it's more of a walled castle. There's so much history here - it was originally built by William the Conqueror in 1078! The castle has been used as a prison since at least 1100, although that was not its primary purpose. A grand palace early in its history, it served as a royal residence.

Laura with two of the Palace Guards (Beefeaters), who live in the residences in the background.

 A guard outside the Waterloo Barracks, where the Crown Jewels are stored.

 The Tower Bridge, which is a much nicer bridge than London Bridge.

 Laura on the Tower Bridge

 The procession of the guards outside Buckingham Palace. I really wished they would sing "Oh Ei Oh" like in the Wizard of Oz.

 Palace guards... on horses.

 Horse!

Laura and I outside Buckingham Palace. Unfortunately we didn't end up having afternoon tea with the Queen; we had to decline her invitation as we had too much to see and do.

Until next time :)

The Review - Le Chef

Bex and I watched this short, yet endearing film the other night: Le Chef (Comme un Chef is its French title). 

At only 90 minutes, it's a quick yet delightful romp into the artistic world of French cuisine. The story is about Jacky, a wannabe chef who has devoted himself to famous chef Alexandre Lagarde's cooking style and technique. He finds his devotion and passion for cooking is not appreciated in the roadside diners. By a lucky coincidence he finds himself working for his hero. However, all is not well with the great Alexandre, who is in danger of losing a rating star from a restaurant group who want to buy his business out from beneath him.

Le Chef is refreshing and lighthearted. The script is quintessentially French and very clever, with much cause for amusement. There are plenty of smart dialogues and hilarious moments. It's definitely worth a watch if you like French movies and food. :)

Preview!

The Celebration - My Wizard of Oz Birthday Party

Sorry for the delay in posting, but I hope you'll agree it was worth it. This promises to be my most epic and longest post ever, because last weekend we celebrated my 25th birthday by having a Wizard of Oz themed party! As you might already know, the Wizard of Oz is my my favourite childhood movie. Having a party in that theme and having people dress up as the characters made for a truly magical day, as you can see from the photos below.

Luke and I, or should I say Dorothy and the Scarecrow. Love, love, love this photo.

But let's start off with the decorations, shall we?

I made rainbow bunting out of coloured paper, double-sided sticky tape and string, which I think worked out pretty well. Nothing says the Wizard of Oz quite like rainbow colours.

Our dining room became our drinks area. Since the right-hand wall is painted red (you can't see this in the photo) I decided to make this the "Poppy" room and created red flowers to decorate the walls. I made the tablecloth with the help of a friend.

I also changed most of the pictures in our photo frames to images from the Wizard of Oz. This is a really cheap and easy way to theme a party and make it look classy.

Also a fun decoration, and a good test to see how well people know the movie. :)

Gotta love the legs sticking out from under the house, although the kids thought it was kind of scary. :)

More bunting!

And a yellow brick road! This was an absolute hit with the neighbourhood kids.

Party bags! What every party over for people over the age of 12 is missing. :)

I've had this Wizard of Oz poster for years. A hand-made blue and white gingham tablecloth and more bunting!

Can you also spy the yellow brick road made out of cheese biscuits?

Now for the food!

Icecream cupcakes. Yes, you bake the cupcake mixture inside the cones. And on top? Icing, lots of icing!

What is this I spy - Wizard of Oz themed cupcakes? These were made by my very talented sister-in-law Bex and my friend Anna. Aren't they the cutest? Look at those cute little shoes!

And look! The Wicked Witch of the East squashed by a cupcake!

Not to mention the beyond awesome cake. So cute, love the poppies! And it was so yummy!

And now what you've been waiting for... the costumes. I will do an outfit post on mine later, but here are some of the characters we had attending.

Glinda the Good Witch of the North

Two Tin Men!

The sign from the forest where the Wicked Witch of the West lives. So creative!

An Emerald City Guard and the Wizard.

The house! Complete with Wicked Witch of the East underneath. I have to say Carla definitely wins the prize for most creative costume. Apparently she was up until 2:00 AM the night before finishing the house.

The Wicked Witch of the West and a Munchkin from the Lullaby League.

The Cowardly Lion, who seems to have somehow become a marsupial...?

Two Dorothys. :) Doesn't Alys look just like Judy Garland?

The scarecrow. Bex and I made Luke's outfit. I think he looks great! :)

This photo is a dream come true for me. :)

And here is everyone! Oh, I forgot to mention our party got gatecrashed by some neighbourhood 10-year-olds. :)

Love this photo. :)

But this is the photo that makes me smile the most. :)

A very magical birthday indeed.

Until next time :)