Wednesday 30 May 2007

A Few of My Favourite Things

Took the kids shopping in town today with my good friend R. It would have been better without the Young Ones of course. Over a bottle of wine, R. and I reminisced about some of our nights out in town. We remembered the last time we went to the Tapas Bar. It was a SingalongaABBA night. We'd dressed up. R. just pulled something out of her Mary Poppins-like wardrobe. I had rented a gorgeous purple outfit and flowing magenta wig so I could look like the red-head. Of the rest of the group, only my Scottish Friend had the cajones to dress up, like the blonde one.

Now I was not an ABBA-phile in my younger days. In fact I was a major ABBA-phobe. I would quickly switch the radio station should they come on and banned their music in my presence. So how ironic and funny that I should end up at this ABBA fest. We got some very odd looks at the tapas place. But I didn't care because who was going to recognise me in the magenta wig? At the theatre, which was full of women of a certain age and gay men, we didn't feel so out of place. They invited people on stage and my Scottish friend and I, well-oiled by this stage, joined the others. We all had to sing Dancing Queen, and the audience would clap loudest for their favourite. Well, I thought I'd be a shoo-in. I had the wig on after all. But no. This being Liverpool, they went for the underdog: the old lady in the wheel chair who miraculously regained the ability to walk at just the right moment. I mean, she didn't even know the words (and why do I?)!

Then there was the time we took the kids to a SingalongaSoundofMusic night (we're big on those as you might have gathered). All the mums dressed as nuns (with fishnet tights), the girls had matching skirts and headscarfs, and the boys went as Hitler. Our costumes were quite tame compared to others. I saw Dog Bites, Bee Stings, Brown Paper Packages Tied Up With String, Edelweiss, more Nazi uniforms than have been seen since WWII. But not exactly a child-friendly evening.

And of course how could I forget (or remember) the Lost Afternoon, when my Scottish Friend (SF from now on), another friend, and I drank five bottles of wine at the Tapas Bar, went to Ann Summers to check out the latest in S&M wear (where a co-worker accosted my other friend) and somehow ended up in the Vodka Bar. I don't remember how I got home.

Ah, those were the days.

7 comments:

lady macleod said...

Funny stuff. Q and I saw Mama Mia in London. It was brilliant.

I would pay real money to see you and your group sing.

DJ Kirkby said...

Lol! You may not remember how you got home but I am willing to bet the memory of the ensuing hangover is forever embedded in your memory! Or is it just me that happened to?

wakeupandsmellthecoffee said...

Lady M., I recommend you drink heavily before hearing us sing. You might even join us. DJ, I could write a book, "Hangovers I Have Had." You'd think I'd learn, but I never do.

debio said...

Has all your carousing involved dressing up? I ask, only because I tend to shy away from events which require me to take on a different persona.
Good for you - maybe I should live a little....

wakeupandsmellthecoffee said...

Debio, dressing up allows you to be someone else, which can be quite freeing. However, I've been known to be quite the carouser just as I am. I wonder when I'll grow up.

Stay at home dad said...

After 5 bottles it takes a pretty strong coffee to wake you up; but by 3pm the next day you might just about be ready to watch Lost in Translation again!

wakeupandsmellthecoffee said...

More like Lost Weekend. Welcome, SAHD.