Category Archives: Royals

For Good Reason

Posted on 01.22.2012 | 7 Comments

This morning I woke up to a raging sore throat that felt not entirely unlike what I hypothesize swallowing sandpaper might be like.  No, not the stuff with the really fine grit.  The stuff with the really coarse grit.

Apparently sometimes you don’t know how much you were using your Outdoor Voice until you’re not anymore.

Croaking = Not My Cutest Moment.  Though Marcus seemed to get a bit of a kick out of it.

As we all know, The Show Must Go On.  Even though, in this case that meant leaving the house with a wet head to drive in freezing rain.

Y’all know I don’t ever want you to forget that I was a blonde in a past life.

But it was for good reason – Emily, Ann and I made plans weeks ago to gather at Falafel King so we could workshop a summer plan of ours that is (finally) starting to come together in a coherent way.

I mean, come on kittens, I wouldn’t leave the house on a day like today for just anyone.

So we workshopped away over plates of wonderful Middle Eastern food.  Hummus, Spinach Pie, Falafel and Salad were just what the doctor ordered.

Once we adjourned and I made it (safely) back to The Nest, I curled up in bed with a marathon of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills that I promptly fell asleep to.

It’s extremely rare that I actually have a three-hour chunk of time on the weekend where I can enjoy that sort of thing without the fear of Getting Everything Else Done hanging over my head.

And to be totally honest, I usually can’t justify spending that much time in front of the television set.  I mean, come on.  There’s always life that needs living.

So just call it coincidence.  Or The Universe at work.  Because there was definitely a point where I thought that the best I was going to be able to do was Guy Fieri.  No one is strong enough to take that for 30 minutes, much less three hours.

Once I emerged from my fleece-cocoon, I took it upon myself to research The Official Date of The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.  Because really, it’s never too soon to start making plans to watch The River Pageant and throw a “street party” of our own.

For the record, The Big Day is June 3rd.

How this actually fits in with anything else I’ve just told you, I’m not entirely sure.   It likely has to do with the fact that beyond doing three loads of laundry and windex-ing every flat surface in our house, I’m counting it as My Major Accomplishment of the day.

What’s your definition of a perfect lazy afternoon?

p.s. Mads is hosting a giveaway on her blog that includes everything from slippers to dark chocolate with sea salt.  You know you want it!

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Posted in Royals, TV, Zen

Potpourri!

Posted on 06.07.2011 | 19 Comments

Everything is on my mind and yet little bits and pieces here-and-there do not a good blog post make.  It’s been months kittens.  So let’s get down with our bad selves and embrace the spirit of Potpourri!.

1. Prince William and Princess Catherine are finally on the hunt for some good servants. When I was reading about how it was stressful for Prince William, having to ride at the Trooping of the Colours, and then having to toss on a tuxedo to head over straight away to the Epsom Derby, I was all like I KNOW.

Life would be so much easier if there was someone to fetch your outfit and make sure it’s in proper shape instead of having to use the Eco-Friendly Grocery Bag Full Of Clothes In The Back Seat Of Your Car-method.

2. Speaking of which, even though we all know I’m an 11/10 fan of the Princess, this outfit?

Was SO disappointing.  I don’t want to say that it was a dud, because she didn’t look…bad.  It was kind of as if she was attempting to wear three different outfits (hat, jacket, skirt/dress) and NONE of them really “fit” together.  Like someone who doesn’t make a practice of looking in the mirror before they leave the house.

On the bright side, I have a somewhat similar white jacket-arrangement that I snagged at Banana Republic’s Albertville Outlet location during their Black Friday Sale last year.

3. I’m somewhat relieved to know that “Honoring Your Hunger” continues to be a mystery to the majority of the group.  Obviously if I end up learning anything sage from this endeavor (which is to say that cryptic things on scales of one to anything are OUT), I’ll share.  Until that magical moment, I’m just going to keep on waiting for hunger to strike and eating accordingly.  I think that sounds reasonable, no?

4. Since we’re kind of operating on a screwy-schedule this week, on Sunday I made the executive decision to commit to early morning running (~4:45 AM) M-W.  I realized that if the thought of coming home, having to run, trying to eat ANYTHING and then jetting off to meet with someone was stressful, then it would probably be far-more anxiety-inducing in practice.

Usually it’s hell on earth, but this week my body has been on-board.  And since the weather for the past few days has been hovering around ~100 degrees (yes, seriously), I would have ended up on the treadmill anyway.

5. Two Words: Pavement Failure.  Trisha blogged about her experience with it yesterday, and then today I got to witness it first-hand on my commute home.  Long story short, Minnesota roads are designed to expand and contract depending on what the temperature is.  How logical.  Obviously the range is huge because it could be -20 degrees in the winter or 80 degrees in the summer.

Apparently, the range isn’t quite 100 degrees, because whole sections of road on some of our busier highways/freeways have erupted from their proper place and epically crumbled, blocking off entire lanes of traffic.  It is Quite The Thrill when you accidentally drive over/into it or find yourself in a horrifying traffic jam.

What are your thoughts on the Princess’ outfit?

Have you experienced Pavement Failure?

How early would you be willing to roll out of bed to work out?

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Posted in Living The Skinny, Royals, WORK IT, Workshopping

So much better than words.

Posted on 04.29.2011 | 10 Comments

It seems bizarre to post a food round-up without editorializing on today’s events, so let’s put that one on hold for now, yes?

Holing up in the basement with Sue and Mom (Marcus, true to form stayed in bed) for some girl time was an absolutely wonderful way to enjoy the royal wedding.  For the total lack of planning that we put into the affair, it turned out to be just lovely (how can you go wrong with champagne, cheese, cakes and croissants?).  It was the kind of perfect morning that everyone deserves to have.

That being said, I ended up not wearing the fascinator (though I was true to the rest of my super-sweet uniform).  At 2 AM when I pressed the brew button on the coffee pot, I couldn’t think of anything that held less appeal.

So, here are thoughts in pictures (and no, I didn’t take any of them myself)…

The trees? Were a wonderful idea (and I'm an 11/10 fan of the fact that the Duchess is a flowers-minimalist comme moi). But seriously? It kind of kills me that they'll be planting this grove of trees somewhere on an estate as a wedding day keepsake. I mean, I thought I was living on the edge wanting a sturdy pair of shoes for crying out loud.

Absolutely beautiful.

Pippa may not be the new Duchess of Cambridge, but her dress? Is the one that all of the dressmakers will copy. Homegirl knocked it out of the park in that dress.

This is probably one of the nicest arrangements I've ever seen Chelsy Davy in. She made some great choices for the wedding and I'm thinking that the press feedback will be extraordinarily positive. THIS is the kind of clobber that another future Princess of England would wear.

Fail-fail-fail-fail-fail. In what world do you wake up in the morning, think to yourself, "My cousin is getting married in front of 2 billion people and I will be sitting in the front row behind my grandmother, the Queen." and then proceed to put THAT on? Like, there's bad, "worst dressed" and all of that. But this? Was outright horrifying. YOU CAN'T UN-SEE THAT.

Oh God, the parade with the carriages and the horses and the sun bursting forth from the clouds? Straight up fairytale. Watching the footage, beyond the flashbulbs in the crowd, this parade looked just timeless.

What were Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie thinking?!

Do you think that Catherine’s dress or Pippa’s dress will catch on more quickly with dress makers?

I’ll be honest, when I saw Catherine get out of the car (so we could see her dress in full-view) I thought it was absolutely GORGEOUS (and am quite pleased I’m not the only one who was thinking Queen Elizabeth-Grace Kelly).  But Pippa’s dress?  That’s a dress I can see people actually wearing.

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Posted in Royals

Twas the night before…

Posted on 04.28.2011 | 12 Comments

I know, I know.  For being an 11/10 fan of The Royal Family, I’ve kept awfully mum about the Royal Wedding.

But let’s get serious kittens, I have absolutely nothing to add to the conversation right now and quite honestly, it’s really been nice enough to just hang on for the ride.

On Sunday, I watched Lifetime’s William & Kate, which was simultaneously extremely bad and sort of endearing, all at once.  I take solace in the fact that Kirsten shamelessly embraced it as well.

I wouldn’t say it’s one you should race to the DVR for, but on the sliding scale of best/worst Lifetime movies I’ve ever seen, it’s definitely on the more positive side of things.

And today?  Has basically been all Night Before Christmas-y.  I’ve been on a wicked news jag (it might have been wilder than Election night…seriously) and when I got home, I set to getting the house arranged, cleaned and in-order for tomorrow.

What we’ll be up to tomorrow (or in approximately four hours)…

Mom will come over at 2 AM.  Sue will come over at 3 AM.  We will descend to the man cave where we’ll watch the festivities take place on BBC.  Originally I was having a CNN-NBC debate, but once I discovered that BBC was a part of our cracked-out cable package, it was a no-brainer.

I know I really shouldn’t be surprised about this anymore but, really I’m completely clueless as far as the TV is concerned. 

Last night I pulled out the real-sized coffee maker we got at the last bridal shower (yes that means I finally tossed the dirty little two-cupper I’ve had since Freshman year of college) and we’ll brew prolific amounts of coffee.  If at any point we are so inclined to switch to tea, fear not.  There’s always a giant crock of that too.

Mom will bring strawberries and croissants along with a number of other culinary delights found in a proper German breakfast.  Sue will have sourced a bottle of champagne (she is always One Step Ahead of me), and I actioned some Olive Oil Cakes with Lemon and Thyme.  Yes, I’ll tell you all about them during the food round-up.

What all of this really means?

Expect Marmalade.

Insofar as apparel is concerned, I plan on wearing a pair of leggings and some sort of top involving a crew neck.  But if I’m feeling especially kicky, I might add a fascinator-type arrangement.  It was my grandmother’s  and it has been sitting on my side of the vanity in the bathroom probably since Thanksgiving.  If there was ever a time to make it happen, it is now.

Yes, this is the part of the show where you’re meant to be closing your eyes and trying to imagine me kitted out in my finest Go To Hell clothes with a shitty pony, last night’s makeup and a fascinator.

Oh, and maybe a cocktail ring.

More is more.

And if there’s a particularly dull moment in the commentary (we do, after all have three hours to kill before the ceremony even begins), I plan on addressing my mitts and paws.  It will be Soothing and it needs to be done prior to my next bridal shower on Saturday morning anyway.

That, is multi-tasking at its finest.

Will you get up to watch the royal wedding?  What are your plans?  More importantly, what will YOU wear?

p.s. Kittens who blog via Blogger, right now I’m getting an error message from everyone’s blogs when I’m trying to comment.  I’m not sure what that’s all about, but just know that I was checking in on you today :)

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Posted in Royals, Seriously important stuff.

So Many Different Choices

Posted on 03.20.2011 | 15 Comments

Ah, Sunday.  The most ambiguous day of the week.  I love you and I dread you at the same time.

What to share?

There are just so many different choices.

I mean, we got to celebrate the first day of spring in a misty-haze, the top came off of le jardin (when the light is better, I’ll show you the madness that are our tomato sprouts…they’re kind of epic), I performed some serious e-mail admin and had the most productive yoga sesh of my life.

I don’t want to say that Downward Dog is my favorite pose.

But Downward Dog is my favorite pose.

There…I said it.

Speaking of yoga, I was in the middle of a wardrobe-purge this morning and discovered that I have four pairs of yoga pants.  And here I was, thinking that I only had two!  Who knew?

Did I mention that on the “high” setting, my heated blanket basically turns into a full-body hot pack?  Because there’s that too.  Consider that the discovery of the century.  I only wish that I would have known this in July.

Yes, I realize this means I will be the only Minnesotan (the only North American, really) using a heated blanket in the middle of the summer.  It’s definitely a case of function over fashion.

Back to the point.

What really did it for me today, was when I was paying for my groceries at ALDI, and the cashier informed me that she thought I looked like Kate Middleton to the point where she did a double take when I walked in the store.

Yes, I think we’re style-soulmates and I would like all of the clothes in her closet, but I’ve never really felt that we could pass for sisters.

OR THE SAME PERSON.

Hello, reality.

Regardless, that one is definitely going in the Lifetime Achievement column.

So, what I didn’t tell you all over the past few days, is that Marcus has been in Vegas since Wednesday morning.  Safety first and all that.

Translation: My life has been one colossal ladies’ night.  In action?

  • I had sushi with Galina.
  • Went to a wine and homemade pizza-fueled sleepover that Tiffany organized (her husband was with Marcus).
  • Brunched with Eli.
  • Had a major beat-down catch-up with Jillian.
  • Went to Santorini’s in Eden Prairie for a lovely blogger brunch meet-up with Stephanie, Anne (and sister!) and Jen.  LOVED it.

I spent an AMAZING weekend with some fabulous women.

And now I feel like I need a weekend to recover from the weekend.  It’s the only way to live, really.

Do you have a celebrity doppelganger?

Are you a yoga devotee?

Going to a studio/group-practice isn’t really my scene, but I love that I can roll out a mat, flip on some ExerciseTV via Comcast On Demand and make things happen.

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Posted in love life, Royals

Potpourri!

Posted on 02.24.2011 | 10 Comments

It’s past 9 PM, the “A” key on my netbook is acting up, my cuticles have decided that Now Is The Time To Declare War and I’m not even able to conjure a fraction of the effort required to think in a straight line.

Potpourri!, how we’ve missed you so.

I realize that I had Monday off.  But am I the only one who feels like this is just the longest week ever?

I’ve been sleeping like a rock, running like I just had four days off (oh wait…I did), and cooking up a storm.

But in all seriousness, today was long to the point where it was painful.

I did not love that.

I did love that The Pink Pelican (purveyors of my Engagement Party/Rehearsal Dinner dress and Wedding Reception dress) sent me a copy of the most recent Lilly Pulitzer catalog.

I mean, if 40 pages of brightly-patterned frocks don’t raise your spirits, I don’t know what can, honestly.

In the meantime, Marcus has kindly informed me that we now have four hours of joint-custody DVR action to watch.  The downward spiral starts here.

Capturing the spirit of some bandits actioning a hold-up, I ended up forking over $6.90 in fines to the Hennepin County Library.

Some people like to think of it as “charity.”  I like to think of it as I Wasn’t Really Planning On Stealing Them But Thanks Anyway.

I’d like to say that my out-of-control behavior on the reading materials-front ends there.  But I still haven’t even been able to THINK about picking up the February issues of ELLE and Vogue.

Reassuringly or not, I already have the March issues of…Everything.

I take it all back.  The DVR isn’t the downward spiral, my piles of magazines are.

I absolutely can’t get over the arrangement that Kate Middleton wore to the Lifeboat launch today.  I can’t be the only person who feels like The Royal Wedding and a lifetime of public appearances to follow is basically the equivalent of the Sloaney/Preppy fashion gods promising that manna will fall from the sky.

FOREVER.

Give thanks, kittens.

And I’m obsessing a little bit over the New York Times Magazine piece on Heather Armstrong AKA Dooce.  The way I see her, she’s not so much of an idol as that cool aunt who is almost young enough to be your cousin.  But ohmigod, she does it so well.

Speaking of The New York Times, can I just take a moment to say how thankful I am that they kept Mark Bittman on as an opinion columnist?  When he announced that The Minimalist was ending, my heart just about broke.

We are saved.

Longest Week Ever: True or False?

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Posted in NYT Food, Royals, Workshopping

A Bit of Admin

Posted on 02.07.2011 | 20 Comments

Despite the fact that the Dust Bunnies are basically building their own version of Fort Knox on the living room floor, for some reason I feel the need to do a bit of admin on this side to get things in order.

1. I’m moving all of my cooking chat to Fridays.  I love cooking.  I love sharing what’s going on in our kitchen with y’all.  But I don’t want to turn this into a food blog (any more than I want to turn it into a healthy living or a style blog…I think we can all agree that my area of expertise is Living Life) and lately, I seem to be slapping WAY too many pictures of this dinner or that up.

Since Marcus and I rarely (if ever) cook on Fridays, that seems like the perfect time to do a run-down of the week’s kitchen-capades.  Obviously if we’re going to a festively-themed potluck or something of that nature, it might warrant an entirely separate post.  But we’ll see how that goes.

On the other side of the coin, is there anything you want to see more of?

2. In the next few weeks (it could be sooner, it could be later), expect a post on how Marcus and I do our grocery budgeting/shopping.  I’ve gotten more than a few questions and comments section about that and I’m more than happy to share.  Please take note, we do not buy in bulk, and besides the fact that the stores we do the majority of our shopping at don’t “do” coupons, I lack the energy, patience OR organization to engage in Couponing.

So please accept my apologies, but I will NOT be able to educate you in those Dark Arts.

3. I think I reached my I ate Oatmeal for breakfast INSERT PICTURE OF BOWL HERE – saturation point today.  Skinny Runner’s post perfectly encapsulates my feelings on why I’m not a food blogger and Tina’s  latest post on Carrots ‘n Cake (while I appreciate her belated honesty) illustrates why I believe that healthy living blogging can be, for some, an extremely dangerous dance.  When someone chooses to share 90% of what they’re eating or embracing for a fitness routine, it’s FAR too easy to believe that it’s the entire picture (or play fill-in-the-blanks with the last 10%), regardless of what disclaimers you slap on it.

Or, to put it bluntly, I don’t read your blog to read about someone that you aren’t.

Through my comments and my clicks, I will continue to support healthy living bloggers who I believe are being true to themselves and their readers.  The wonderful part about both of these communities is that there are so many women who are working every day to make healthy, lasting, real lifestyle changes.  A few PERFECT examples as of late would be Ann’s letter to herself last week and Tina’s unapologetic post about the reality of her post-partum exercise routine.  They were both so immediate and so honest.  I was just floored, really

Given that my stance is as such and today is apparently one giant Honesty Box (thank you Facebook for so many applications that we really NEVER needed), my disclaimer of the day is that you should really avoid shopping for a smaller pair of work pants the day before That Time Of Month.  You’re only setting yourself up for failure.  And I will not be diving into that bag on the floor of my closet until next week.

4. Superbowl XLV.  I’m still recovering.  The Black-Eyed Peas halftime show falls into the category of things you can’t just un-see even though as Jason pointed out, now we know where some of the costumes from the Beijing 2008 opening cermonies went.  Some people were chuffed about Xtina botching the lyrics to the National Anthem,some people were fixated on her weight, I was so distracted trying to figure out whether her hair was real or not that I missed ALL OF THE ABOVE.

5. There was a moment this weekend in which I had a total FACEPALM moment.  Ems (one of my bridesmaids) and I were doing the wine tasting-thing and she was talking with another girl about the semester she spent abroad in Scotland at St. Andrews.  And then I experienced a moment that was kind of straight-out of A Beautiful Mind where I realized she had been at the University at the same time as William and Kate.  At which point she informed me that she actually had run into Prince William at the Tesco.  How she could have overlooked a detail SO critical to the very foundation of our friendship was beyond both of us.  There was lots of shrieking involved.

What’s your perspective on accountability in the healthy living community?

I’ll be the first to tell you that blogging is based off of a few snapshots in one person’s life on any given day.

But I do believe that when you’re posting more than once a day with explicit details about your meals and workouts, you do have a certain amount of obligation to your readers as a role model.  That’s how we as a community are able to establish what things like real, normal and predictable outcomes are.

Have you ever had a Why didn’t you tell me this sooner?-moment with one of your friends?

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Posted in Admin, nesting, Rants, Royals

Finally Home

Posted on 11.23.2010 | 8 Comments

Friends, last night I had a TON of stuff to get done, and sometimes it just gets overwhelming.  On the bright side, it was extremely interesting (and lovely!) to read about what brings you back to reality.  I kind of think that knowing who or what you can turn to is just as important as actually doing it.

Not-so-magically, everything fell into place like it needed to, and here we are now.

Most important order of business du jour: Lindsey is finally home!

For some reason, we look like we've broken into someone's cosmetics kit in this picture. Most assuredly (given that girl spent the day on a plane and I had been on the treadmill) we were attempting to be makeup minimalists.

After hugging twice and inspecting her hair (girl has probably the most incredible mane I’ve ever seen), it was exactly as if she’d never left.

And because she is the best friend in the world, she brought a Georgetown Cupcake home for me :)

It may have been a squished Red Velvet cupcake, but it was also the best Red Velvet cupcake I've ever had.

Which I then proceeded to inhale at McCoy’s, since I had yet to eat a proper dinner.

I did end up eating a proper dinner shortly thereafter, involving tacos and a glass of tempranillo, but we all know that I have priorities.

Some people might abstain in the days leading up to Thanksgiving, but I think it’s deadly apparent from my behavior over the past few days that I will have none of that.

Separately, it should come as zero surprise that William and Kate announced their wedding date today.  While I was disappointed for .5 seconds that we wouldn’t be sharing the same wedding weekend, I was also deeply thankful that their wedding wouldn’t wreak havoc on any of our honeymoon plans.

Selfishness happens.

Here in the good old U.S.A., we may not get a bank holiday, but I definitely took April 29th off so I can indulge in a day of Royal Wedding Madness.  I couldn’t help myself, really.  It’s only happening once and I’ve been waiting too long.  Watch-party planning starts now.  Champagne shall be our staple.

Vanity Question: What do you love about your hair?

My hair is naturally straight (and straight only…curling is a joke) and sleek, which I absolutely love.  BUT (and this is a huge “but,”), it lacks any sort of thickness or volume, so it pretty much stays flat.

Informal Poll: Do you try to avoid crap-food in the days leading up to Thanksgiving?  Non-Thanksgiving celebrants, hypothetically speaking, what would you do?

I think in theory, I like to believe that I can lay off the junk foods before the big day, but in practice, I pretty much just try not to over-do it at the actual Thanksgiving feast.

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Posted in Faves, Royals

A Flock

Posted on 11.20.2010 | 11 Comments

Yesterday I cheated y’all because I told you all about my flock-to-be and then didn’t give you anything to go  off of.

Behold.

In the mix: Kaleidoscope, Lady Gaga, Engagement Ring, Mime and Traditional turkeys.

Fantastic, no?

Speaking of engagement rings…

Behold.

Naturally, I’m sure you’re wondering, Kat, how did you mobilize so quickly to get a faux-Kate Middleton engagement ring? Isn’t that a little bit overboard?

The answer is yes, that sort of thing would be totally overboard, even for me.  And really, I’m not into the idea of purchasing a replica of someone else’s engagement ring.

But lest you think that Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde have overtaken me, you have to realize that as per My dead grandmother is cooler than yours., it’s a replica of Diana’s engagement ring.

Tricky.

And more authentic, really.

So, after 30 years, all I needed to do was to direct Mom as to its locale in the house, and voila.  On my finger.

I’m off to enjoy my Friend-Thanksgiving dinner!  Happy Saturday, lovelies!

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Posted in Entertaining, My Dead Grandmother Is Cooler Than Yours, Royals

A Royal Engagement

Posted on 11.16.2010 | 9 Comments

Naturally, she wore Issa. I know that everyone's all over the place about having a British designer for her wedding dress, but since Kate's such an A+ fan, I wouldn't be surprised if she walks down the aisle in Issa as well.

I think it’s safe to say that we all know how MY day was.

It was marvelous stuff when I checked my phone at 6:07 AM and Linds had e-mailed me an article from People.com about William and Kate’s engagement.  She’s always one step ahead of me.

But what Linds’ message really ended up being was the kick-off to a nine-hour media binge.  The Telegraph, The Mirror, the BBC…you name it, I’ve been there.

Twice.

We all know that for the last year, I’ve maybe been dying a little bit inside waiting for William and Kate to get on with it already.

And I think I usually do a good job of keeping my royal ramblings under control.

But today, I REALLY can’t help myself.

It’s official.  We’re going to be brides together!

And yes, I really did just subject you to that.

Bri and I are using her as our justification to bring back hats.

What I wouldn’t give to be in the UK today with their full-day of network coverage of the event.  As well as those snappy documentaries they’re so good at whipping out, like Kate & Wills: A 21st Century Love Story and William & Kate, a Royal Engagement.

I’ve already set my DVR to record something or other that’s meant to be on NBC’s Dateline tomorrow night.

Election day coverage?  Looks like the JV squad compared to this sort of thing.

In case you were concerned, I’ve already informed Mom that she would be dropping Robert and Julia a line to get their hands on some commemorative mugs for Christmas.

I love bizarre coffee mugs, and I love the royals. 

It’s like the perfect storm.

Time to show yourselves, kittens.  Are you a royal watcher?  How do you feel about the Prince using Diana’s engagement ring?  Overseas readers, what is it like to be in the middle of it all?

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Posted in Royals