Formal Wear

I love Downton Abbey.  I think I've said that before.  I could watch it all day and not get tired of it, and even my husband and my dad like it.  My dad extra likes it because it's supposed to take place in Yorkshire, near where his dad was born and raised.  I extra like it because of the clothes.

I find the whole "white tie" for family dinner every evening completely fascinating.  I find it fascinating mainly because, while I like to get dressed up like any other girl, I absolutely can't stand to wear dressy clothes in my own home.  In fact, in my own home, jeans fall under the category of "dressy."  As a general rule, I insist on looking like a homeless bag lady in my own home, even when entertaining guests.  The moment I walk through my front door I am overcome with an intense feeling of almost claustrophobia, brought on by anything I happen to be wearing that isn't sweatpants/yoga pants/sweatshirts/super soft t-shirts/my hideous chenille oversized sweater.

We had friends over (and up, if you count our friends who are currently living in our basement while their house gets finished being built!) to watch the season finale of Downton the other night.  I served crackers and caviar tortilla chips and salsa and I wore a floor-length beaded gown and gloves sweatpants and my hideous sweater and no make up.  So classy!

My sweater is just so warm and cozy.  My husband has to talk me through removing it to wash it the way I have to talk Sweet Pea through taking her blanket to wash it.  It involves much trepidation and trust.

So I guess I shouldn't have been so surprised last night by what Sweet Pea chose as her "princess" outfit for dinner.  I made Princess Soup for dinner, also known as my version of borscht (really just hamburger soup with beets) and aptly named Princess Soup because the broth becomes a lovely pinky-purple from the delicious beets.

Sweet Pea loves Princess Soup.  I told her she should pick out a princess outfit to wear to dinner from her dress-up trunk since we were having Princess Soup and this is what she chose:

 

Actually, there were red plastic nerd glasses, too.  Those didn't make it as far at the picture.  If only I'd taken a picture of my bag lady outfit!  My back was actually covered in heart-shaped Post-It notes because I let her play with a pack of them while I worked on some photos and she chose to cover me in them.  We made a classy pair!

Those Downton girls would have been so jealous.

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