Downton Abbey: Season 3 Premiere Tea Party

Too Old For Dress Up?
I think not. Last night's 3rd season premiere of Downton Abbey really put me in a festive mood. As this highly-anticipated event drew near, I began to brainstorm ideas for a memorable celebration worth of a Crawley-esque caliber. Somehow I roped my insanely fun family to join in my gleeful silliness by dressing up and having a tea party. Yes, you read that sentence right. We are adults and we play dress up. I bet you wish you had this much fun watching public television.

On the Menu
In the short span of an hour(ish), we whipped together some delicious tea party treats (oddly enough, we didn't actually have any tea.) We made cucumber sandwiches, baked brie and chocolate scones. We cheated a bit with Publix-bought petit fours, but these are literally one of my all-time favorite desserts, so the indulgence seemed reasonable. I also splashed around in the kitchen and came up with a rum-cranberry-tonic endeavor, which ended up being a crowd-pleaser (though perhaps not entirely era-appropriate.)

Guest List + Style Hounds
My sister, cousin, mom, dad and faithful husband joined me for pre-show appetizers and cocktails. The men weren't too keen on dressing up until they decided to don current-era Raybans and drink scotch. Suddenly the tea party really came alive for them. I found an old prom dress and raided my sister's ridiculously fashionable closet for headgear and jewels. Her closet never disappoints, and our little game of dress up made the celebration all the more fun. 20's-era tunes crooned in the background. Mom's crystal trinkets displayed the delectable treats. And we did our best to keep straight faces and adopt Downton's dramatic flair (my mom and dad tied; both were ridiculously true-to-form.)

Are you sensing the resemblance. PBS should call us in as understudies.

 Call me silly, but I think there is always a reason to celebrate. Why not engage in a healthy dose of silliness when you have the opportunity? I've come to find that life is far to short to take anything too seriously. This season's opener pleasantly surprised me with a marvelous 2-hour special. I won't give away secrets (to the 4 of you who missed it), but did you tune in? What did you think of Downton's 3rd season premiere? Cheers to a spring season of drama-filled Sunday evenings!