My new friend Zooey and the Ball

So we went to the ball last night and declined to have our photo taken (just like prom, which is why it is also called the Bechtel prom) and now I'm sad because we were quite dressed up and someday I might want to remember what I looked like when I had my hair done and put on a pretty dress. Eli looked very handsome and even though he will obviously always be smokin' hot, I wouldn't mind having a picture of last night just to remember it. But no picture. (Not sure I'd post it even if we did have one, though.) It was fun sort of. There was a band and somehow made the whole thing feel a bit like Glee (I love that show, obviously).

Actually, telling this story makes me think of and want to tell you about my newfound kinship with Zooey Deschanel (I know that is probably not how her name is spelled but Eli is working on a presentation so I'm on the iPad (not guilt free thanks to Mike Daisey who is a Seattle guy like I though but did not mention in that post)). Emily will feel the same kinship with Zooey when she returns from Samoa and reads this. So I had my nails done yesterday in preparation for the prom,-and I was reading one of the British versions of "People" magazine. And there was an interview with my new friend Zooey who said that one of the two movies she watched over and over again when she was a kid was "Meet Me In St.Louis" and do you know what? That is one of the three films Em and I watched over and over and over. The other two are "The Long Long Trailer" - which I should find and watch again because it's funny but also because I swear to you I have never watched that movie without feeling like my grandpa was sitting next to me on our very ugly and uncomfortable tan sofa. He brought video tapes to us of both of those movies and I guess he knew his audience because Emily and I must have watched both of those movies fifty times each. The other movie we found on our own: The Little Match Girl starring Keshia Knight Pulliam. Truly a breathtaking made-for-television-for-the-holiday-season masterpiece. We watched these movies so much that we could do the dialogue, and often did. I bet my parents thought we were somewhat annoying in the little match girl phase. I remember running around screaming to Em, "Joe's in jaaaaail."

And now back to the ball. We got to sit with good people. I whooped once inappropriately and didn't get drunk until the end of the night (yes, I most definitely regretted that decision (can you call it that when waiters keep filling your wine glass?) at six-thirty when our children awoke having slept far more than four hours and anxious for some parental attention), and then we jumped in a taxi and were home in 15 minutes. I was sad that we didn't win any of the door prizes, well the grand prize which was £3500 for the holiday of a lifetime.

Trial starts on Tuesday now. I worked a lot last week but I haven't had to work this weekend at all (in stark contrast to trial in the US). And how come none of you have emailed me yet to say how grateful you are for the "Downton Abbey" recommendation?? I think Mary has the nicest English accent EVER. Of people I actually know, that distinction goes to my coworker named Sarah Louise Emma Batley. I also love her name which is why I wrote it in full. When I told Sarah that I like her accent she said, "ugh, I think I have a horrible accent. Sort of wanna be posh, but not post at all." Friends. These folks are very touchy about their accents.