12. "Can you even dye my eyes to match my gown?...Jolly good town!"

September 27, 2009
11:07pm

I adore The Wizard of OZ- with all my heart. It's hands down my favorite movie, and if I ever say it isn't it will only be because I'm "self-protecting" from melancholy feelings resulting from obsessing over the wonderful memories I have from doing the show twice- and how much I miss it!

I had a sleepover with my au pair friends, Lieke and Josefina, last night. We stayed at Lieke's house because it is almost as big and beautiful as a castle- built roughly 100yrs. ago and designed to look even older that that! I would LOVE to live in this house, have children and an au pair of my own... but at over 5,000 pounds/month, it's not looking likely in my near future. Wow.

Lieke and I met up at 7pm. She made a traditional Dutch dinner for me- which was delicious! "Hete bliksem" (translated to "Hot Lightning" in English!) is one of the many Dutch meals where all 3 dishes are smashed into one. This particular dish contains apples, potatos and minced meat- a combination which may or may not sound appealing to you, but trust me... it's phenomenal! It doesn't need anything more than a little pepper (cooked into it), it's cheap and easy to make... it serves several... and I must learn how to make it. For dessert, which was even better, we had ultra thin dutch pancakes (v. like crepes!)

.... Eventually, it was time to get into our pjs and walk to meet Josefina half way- since she lives about a 20min walk from Lieke, and at 11pm it's very dark and a little scary (still safe, just those old English houses can really creep you out!) Lieke and I looked ridiculous in our pajamas (mine are red and white pinstripes and satin!) and sweatshirts (with hoods!) and boots. We couldnt help but giggle at ourselves almost the entire time. Of all crazy things, we ran into 2 young guys heading to town for a drink, and... it must have been REEEAAALLY dark!!!... they asked us for directions... and then for our phone numbers! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!? We looked ridiculous, and this made us laugh even harder for the rest of our walk!

We watched a scary movie when we got back, and then we were up til 3am chatting (as girly sleepovers can go!). The next morning was phenomenal. We watched The Wizard of OZ while we ate breakfast. In addition to it being one of my favorite movies and a lovely thing for an enjoyable, lazy Sunday afternoon, Josefina had never seen it! Watching it for the first time with someone who has no idea what it's about (or even that Somewhere Over the Rainbow is from this movie!) is magical. She was like a child- completely wide eyed and awestruck by it's magic. She audibly gasped at the Wicked Witch and cried when Dorothy leaves OZ... laughed at the lion... it was SO enjoyable watching her take it all in. I have a special love for it to begin with, so I ended up crying along with her (and more than she was crying!) at the end. Beautiful film.

We spent the rest of Sunday journeying along the river Thames to Daptunes Wharf- where we had full cream ice cream (stem ginger is divine!) and enjoying the sunshine. We also happened to discover an area called "Woodbridge Meadows" on the way back- where there are intricate wood carvings of animals and faces carved into trees. We had fun exploring it and took several pictures!

I'm off. I have so much to prepare for school! My aplogies for the abrupt ending to this entry.

With Love,
Juliana