Who Would Keep a Queen Waiting? ~ A New England Adventure

So there I was.
Minding my own business on a high stool in a fancy schmancy bar waiting on my dates for the evening. All I wanted to do was snap a picture of The Duchess of Thames and The Celebrity Journalist Princess from Parts Unknown.

And wouldn't you know it? They were late.

Don't they know I'm a Queen??!!

I waited and I waited. I called the man in the red Cadillac who was also waiting patiently for me back at the vacation chateau. "They stood you up?" he asked.

"Pour some Godiva, please. I'll be back sooner than I thought. I have a few dungeon citations to write. These bloggers are toast." Did I faintly hear the UCONN resurrection game in the background? It was Easter after all. Miracles can happen.... "Are you listening to me, sweet guy?"

"Toast. Got it. You want toast with your Godiva."

Sigh.
Men!

We'd been planning this caper for a week. Sneak into a dive, make a secret blogger's plan and go back to our respective internet abodes. It was simple! It was only the second time in my life I'd met actual bloggers. I was so excited!

Patti, the sweet mild-mannered journalist who writes Late Bloomer Boomer and Linda who writes Are We There Yet? were coming to meet me while I vacationed in New England this week. What would they look like? Would we recognize each other? Would they be able to recognize me with a whole face?


And then the moment arrived. In walked Linda, right off the blog page, into the bar where I impatiently sat writing blog punishments and Patti not far behind. After appropriate hugs and smiles, we found a comfortable booth. We laughed, we chatted, we snapped pictures continuously. At one point we were all three taking photographs of our food! Our waiter thought we were certifiable.

"We're bloggers," I said. "We need the pictures of the chicken for our blogs."

Silence.



"I'm a Queen!"

We tipped him well to keep his mouth shut.

And then I tried to make a video. Well...sort of. See? I'd had a little too much iced tea and the pictures are shaky. But don't we look like we're having fun?
(click to play video

Linda and I talked to Patti's husband Ralph, on the phone. This Connecticut gentleman pens the blog Airhead 55, writing often of his "beautiful Patti".....now I see what he means. What a genuine spirit she is with a warm smile and infectious laugh. Ralph and Patti are an awesome couple. I enjoyed talking to him. Linda and I thanked him for his impeccable directions to the restaurant.

(click to play video)

And then a surprise. Patti took two gifts from her purse for Linda and I.
Behold.

I was so touched by her obvious respect for the dignity of my pencil skirt that I anointed her "Princess Patti Keeper of the Royal Meme Apologies." If you have an excuse for not completing a meme, just send your written excuses directly to her. She'll take care of it!

That Patti is a hoot. And all this time we thought she was just a mild-mannered reporter from Connecticut. By the way, did you know she is a published writer of 30 thirty years for one of New England's most famous newspapers? It's true. I actually thought I should be bowing to her.

Well...for just a minute. And then I snapped out of it.

But all was not chocolate and chuckles. This is where the trouble part comes in.

I tried to be inconspicuous. Really I did. But my crown kept drawing attention. I took it off. Don't people in these parts appreciate royalty? Maybe a Southern Queen is just too much.



We realized we didn't have any pictures of the three of us. So they lured me outside onto the balcony near the dark parking lot to get some shots. "Mimi!" said Patti the Princess, "hide behind the flowers! You're wearing blue. You'll look patriotic."

And I listened to this?

So, I click-clacked down down down the ramp into the parking lot and tried to look queen-like in the plastic bloomers....I mean blooms. And everything would have been fine had I not decided to remove them from the cement pot and act like a Senorita. Boy, I thought, am I glad handsome guy isn't here to see this.

"Hide behind the pole, Mimi," chimed in Linda -The -Law-Enforcement-Lady, "you're good at peeking out from behind trees."

And I listened to this?

I climbed up on the ledge. But forgot I needed to get down. And that I was afraid of heights.
So there I was.
With a restaurant full of diners peering out the window at a woman in a crown-less head posing for picture after picture in the drizzling Connecticut rain and a bouquet of vandalized and stolen fleurs - risking my life for a blog post.

Oh the scandal.
Oh the broken heel.
Cameras flashed. Bloggers giggled. Batteries died.

I tried not to look down.
Or mess my lipstick.

But never fear. Linda to the rescue. She was so determined to get just the right shot to please her Queen that I annointed her Linda Duchess the Windsor Thames - and a get-out-of-the-dungeon-free pass for the foreseeable future
And by the way, she is as intelligent and bright in person as her prolific and interesting posts portray her to be. No wonder she has such an audience. She's one smart lady. And fun!
Don't we look silly? You cannot imagine the weird looks we got from passersby.

We planned another caper in the near future when we can bring our significant others to the party, but decided we'd better not go back to this restaurant....if you know what I mean.

In all seriousness, we had a wonderful time. They've written their own versions of our meeting on their blogs. I'm sure our tales will be "interestingly different." These ladies are just as lovely, warm and personable in the flesh as they are on the blog page. I am proud to call them my friends.


Even if they did try to get me arrested.

Friends.
Blogging is a beautiful thing.