Disclaimer: I don't own these characters, and I make no money from this work of fiction!
Me, Lilly-Livered?
As usual, when I have something to say in an essay "What I did over the summer", I no longer have to write one! Maybe I should start agitating to have graduate students at Berserkley (Berkeley to the rest of the world) required to hand in a ten-page dissertation on just that topic! Would it perhaps be a little ... cowardly? ... to not bring this up with my English prof? Here I am, on my way home from Genovia -- on the royal jet, no less! -- from what might possibly have been the best summer I will EVER have, and am I thinking of the world-shaking events that transpired? Am I remembering the parties I attended? Are my terrific friends on my mind as I wonder just when I'll see them all again? No. The person consuming my mind is one who had the nerve to call me -- ME, Lilly Moscovitz, "outspoken American activist" extraordinaire -- lily-livered! I have never been called cowardly in my life before, and I can almost guarantee I never will be again. So I'll tell you the story, and YOU can decide whether or not I should put this annoying pest out of my mind!
It all started with Charlotte phoning EARLY the day after Mia left San Francisco. At first I thought she had forgotten the time change, but, being Charlotte, of course she hadn't! Charlotte is Queen Clarisse's indispensable, irreplaceable "do-all". I never figured out if she's called an aide, a secretary, a personal assistant or what, but I don't think the queen can budge more than ten yards from home without Charlotte's help! Not that Queen Clarisse is incompetent, or anything, but Charlotte's ... well ... Charlotte. I really like her. She's like the older sister I never had. Fortunately. An older brother was bad enough! I had gone with Mia and Joe to the airport the morning before, and Joe had very kindly arranged to have the limo drop me off at home afterwards. It was NICE to be home after three years on campus! You'd think I'd have been thrilled with my freedom ... but instead, I was already in the throes of planning my next two years as a graduate student at Berkeley, and intending to start with the summer session!
ANYWAY, as I was saying, Charlotte phoned, on Queen Clarisse's behalf -- I told you, she does EVERYTHING for the queen! -- to beg me to come to Genovia to be with Mia for the summer. Now I ask you, why would Mia need me so desperately now when she said nothing before she left? I mean, she knew I was planning to start my studies right away! But when I asked what was going on, Charlotte wouldn't say. She just told me that Mia would fill me in when I saw her, and the sooner I could get there, the better. The jet was already at the airport waiting for me, Charlotte said, and it would leave whenever I was ready. Then she added, "Please come, Miss Lilly -- she needs a friend!" Hmph. Like she had no friends in Genovia? Anyone with Joe and Charlotte on her side isn't exactly friendless!
Joe's incredible! He was Mia's chauffeur five years ago, but his real job was as Queen Clarisse's Head of Security. Like Charlotte, he is sort of a jack-of-all-trades. He can and does do anything that is required. He always seems to know what is going on all over the entire country. The guy is totally amazing. He STILL reminds me of Shaft, with his black leather jacket, sunglasses and that sexy bald head. Anyway, I asked him on the way to the palace from the airport the afternoon I arrived if he had ever been married, or if he WAS married. He just said no and left it at that. I figured some poor woman got ripped off -- the one who should have married him. It made me wonder what he had against marriage. I could come up with a ton of possible wives or even girlfriends for him, maybe even ME! I thought maybe sometime I'd check with Charlotte to see if he was now or ever had been "involved" with someone. I forgot about it, though. Too much was going on.
Actually, if you had asked ME at the beginning of the summer, I'd have told you I was sure Joe had a thing for the queen, and that I suspected she would return it if she weren't so inhibited by having to behave like a queen! I'd seen those looks Queen Clarisse and Joe gave each other when they thought no one else was looking over the last five years, and I can't believe no one had ever suspected anything! Mia thought I was insane when I mentioned it a few days after I arrived. She said, "They're just friends!" Duh. Well, personally, I think everyone could use a "friend" like Joe. Charlotte looked diplomatically blank when I tried pumping her about Joe and the queen. Wonder if she took lessons from Joe? If I'd had the nerve, and if I hadn't already been wondering about the two of them, I'd have asked the queen about his personal life since she'd known him the longest! He was her Head of Security ever since the day of her wedding. Hmm, if I'd had the nerve? No, I am NOT a coward! I just thought it would be better to get Mia to ask, since Queen Clarisse IS her grandmother! But Mia had other troubles, as I very quickly discovered!
I know it sounds a little strange for me to be saying this, since generally speaking I am not an advocate of THEM -- you know, the ones who control 98 percent of the world's wealth -- but, well, for a queen, I've got to say that Mia's grandmother is way more awesome than I ever thought a queen would be. Not even just for a queen, but she's more with it than I ever thought she would be as a grandmother, after ignoring Mia for the first fifteen years of Mia's life. Imagine sending the royal jet over to San Francisco just for ME! And without even asking Mia! Then persuading me ... ME ... to hide in Mia's closet! Whoaa! Mia's CLOSET is practically bigger than our apartment!
So I jumped out of Mia's closet on her third day in Genovia and scared a few years off her life (hey, what else are best friends for?) ... and what does she tell me? She's getting married! In a month! Naturally I had to ask WHO was the groom-to-be ... and she got this funny look on her face, then admitted, "I don't know." THAT'S when I knew why the queen had had Charlotte phone and get me to come to Genovia!
Mia's grandmother left us to continue our visit, and I heard all about the parliament meeting Mia had secretly watched, where Queen Clarisse had said "Shut up!" to the evil Mabrey-guy. I had to laugh ... first of all, she used old slang, and secondly in such a place! Still, it was a lot more refined than what I would have blurted out! Mia went on to tell me how, when bemoaning the fact that she had to have an arranged marriage, she had said something about the sort of people who agree to such a thing, then had realized that her grandparents' marriage had been arranged as well. Whoa! I had never known that! When Mia said her grandmother had never really mentioned love, but had said she and her husband had been best friends and had grown very fond of each other, that's when I REALLY started to think that there probably had been or still was or even would be something between Joe and the Queen. I mean, he's been with her forever! No normal person would be able to spend years with someone so terrific as Joe, or even Queen Clarisse, as far as that goes, without having SOME romantic feelings! But I don't want to get sappy ... especially when I know the ending of THAT particular scenario. I've gotta try to get this down in order. I'll be back in San Francisco before I'm finished at this rate!
I roared with laughter when I heard Mia's account of stomping on the throne usurper's foot that very morning. Wish I'd seen it, rather than being spirited into the palace via the back way and up into Mia's closet! I was just dying to meet this guy after hearing Mia admit that the worst of the whole thing was that she had flirted with him at her birthday party and he hadn't told her his full name! She said he was easily the best dancer of all the eligible bachelors ... and the best looking as well! She was still a little miffed that her grandmother hadn't seriously considered Joe's terrific suggestion of hanging the creep by his toes in the courtyard!
Anyway, that very night, the five of us got a private viewing of the husband possibilities. You know, the IMPORTANT five! Mia, her grandmother, Joe, Charlotte, and yours truly ... Mia's best friend! Charlotte had gathered the pictures and information from somewhere (a Matchmaker's Handbook and Guide?) and made the Genovian speciality -- pear-flavoured popcorn! Generally speaking, I'm into the traditional theatre hot and buttered popcorn myself, not the flavoured stuff (yeah, me -- Queen of the non-traditional!) but this Genovian pear popcorn grows on you, you know? Mia and I had front row seats, Charlotte and the queen were in chairs behind us, and Joe was standing up behind THEM working the machine.
The second picture up there was Prince William. Whew! No wonder Mia yelled immediately, "I TOTALLY accept!" Joe sounded a little, well, almost jealous when Queen Clarisse agreed with Charlotte that Will had been included because they just like to look at him. After we'd seen a few more rejects, I noticed that Queen Clarisse, after coming to say something to Mia, went back and, instead of sitting down, went to stand beside Joe. I peeked around once and they were holding hands and nudging each other! When they saw me looking, they moved apart quickly, of course, but you can't keep ME in the dark very long!
So, Andrew Jacoby was a ... second, you might say, to Prince William. Not a close second, but he wasn't bad, for an earl dangling for a royal wife. Charlotte phoned to Britain, and he and his parents were on the plane and in Genovia the next day! Personally, I think Andrew's kinda blah. Nice enough, I guess, but I always think the word 'nice' is the kiss of death. I'm dedicated to making sure that NO ONE will ever be able to call me NICE! Mia laughs whenever I say that, and assures me they won't. As far as I am concerned, Lady Elyssa's welcome to Andrew! They make a good pair! Oh, but I'm getting ahead of myself again! Andrew proposed after three days, and Mia accepted him, so great plans were immediately afoot for the wedding of the year.
I finally met the 'pretender', Nicholas, when Mia had to review the Royal Guard. Mia obviously really liked him from the stories I'd heard -- something about a closet, I believe! -- but she kicked me ... KICKED me! ... when I said that to her. Fortunately, she didn't use the infamous wooden leg. I believe that has been relegated to the back of the queen's closet again. Mia never wants to see it again, she was so humiliated. Joe was mortified himself, poor man! It wasn't his fault, it was Nicholas' uncle's idea to spook the horse. THAT man is enough to spook anyone on his own account. His nephew is to die for, though ... as I discovered AFTER telling him that first morning that I didn't like him. Nicholas is not just the great- great- great- great- grandson of a king, he's a great- great etc. lord. Oh, Lord, he's a lord! I have to admit, it was rather fun watching him watching Mia who was trying to learn to ignore Nicholas while striving to love Andrew ... life was not dull in Genovia that week!
Early on, of course, I also met Mia's lady's maids. Imagine having lady's maids! But Mia's two ... where did they find them? Brigitte and Brigitta? Gimme a break. So I try out different names when I'm talking to them. I've called them Lenny and Squiggy (I watched the re-runs of that TV show, Laverne and Shirley! This palace doesn't even have televisions that I've seen ... unless you count the spy cameras Joe and Shades and Lionel sit beside!) and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern (Shakespeare, anyone? It just seemed appropriate, being in a castle. So it isn't a Danish castle ... Mia isn't Hamlet, either!), but mostly I found myself pushing past them, telling them I could do things myself, like announce when I was in Mia's room!
The queen hosted a garden fete and I have to say it was the most boring party I'd ever been at ... in the beginning. After the so-called entertainment was over, and we were allowed to mingle, Mia laughed when I commented to her that all this food was just too rich or too sweet or too ... too something! I told her I could sure go for a corn dog, and asked if she thought her grandmother would consider having some couriered over! She didn't think so. I had one more gooey pastry as I stretched out on the bench, but blech! Mia and Nicholas took off to go swimming unexpectedly ... and she was in her grandmother's bad books again! I still thought Nifty Nicky was more Mia's type than Awkward Andy, but she was determined to go through with the arranged marriage. For her father's sake, and her grandmother's, as well as her own, I think, because she really wanted to be Queen of Genovia. Since I thought she'd rock at it, I was willing to help her. Not to the detriment of her own LIFE, of course! I never believed in all that hoopla about devoting yourself to your duty and your country and ignoring your own needs and wants and desires totally. It seems that's what Queen Clarisse did, and personally, I think it sucked. I wonder if she does, too, NOW?
At the Independence Day parade, I was going to be driving Mia's mustang. She had to sit with her grandmother in the open carriage, of course, so I got the 'stang. That's when I first had a chance to actually talk to Captain Kip Kelly. He's the Captain of the Royal Guard. That guy's voice fascinated me and every time he was hollering, I kept wondering if he was going to squeak. No, not if, WHEN! I wonder how old he is? I swear he sounds like he's about fourteen and still going through puberty and his voice change! And what kind of name is KIP, anyway? It reminds me of a dog. Or maybe a fish. But he IS kinda cute, and that day of the parade, he said that I was the prettiest girl...
When I could tear my mind off the Captain, I started trying to figure out this whole Genovian Independence Day thing. I knew WHY they celebrated it, of course, since I'm not a complete idiot. But why was the Independence Day ball two weeks BEFORE Mia's sixteenth birthday, and this parade was about two weeks AFTER her twenty-first birthday? I know her birth date sure didn't change! Hmmm, maybe their Independence Day is a bit like Passover and it varies from year to year, depending on the moon or something? Or did they just hold the ball early in America five years ago because the Queen had to get back to Genovia for the real thing? That was something else I meant to ask all summer, but I kept forgetting.
The parade started off with everyone singing Genovia's national anthem, written by Prime Minister Motaz himself! Cool. You know, I found out that that Lionel, who trailed around after Joe trying to learn "security" for the summer, is Motaz' nephew. HE sure doesn't live up to his name. There's not much lion in him. He acts more like an expectant puppy hoping to receive a bone! And he wanted it from the Queen, which bugged the heck out of Joe, and just made me snicker! Anyway, Lionel is a staunch supporter of his queen and his country, so I really shouldn't laugh at him. MOST people in Genovia are very patriotic. "Jenovia" I had to learn to say it right. You know, starting with a soft French "j" sound instead of an English one. Makes sense, I suppose, since Genovia seems half French! Charlotte said later that when she was handing out flags, Mirthless Mabrey refused to take one until a true Genovian KING sat on the throne -- King Nicholas! Wonder what he'll be doing next summer for Independence Day?
Once Mia was engaged, she asked me, of course, to be her Maid of Honour. Now, one of the Maid of Honour's jobs or duties is to host a bridal shower. Can you imagine me doing something tame? It was MY idea to have a pyjama party! And when Joe mentioned the mattress surfing that the old king and Mia's father and uncle used to do, we just couldn't resist. But I didn't really think Queen Clarisse would take part in it ... THAT was a shocker! She surfed down in a very queenly manner, of course! We also got her talked into singing to end the little show put on. Yup, Queen Clarisse is cool, all right, even if she does act so stuffy a lot of the time, and is elegance personified. I wish MY grandmother was a little more like her and a little less someone urging me to marry a nice little Jewish boy and have 50 kids, more or less. Wait a minute ... Queen Clarisse WAS urging Mia to marry a nice little "puppy" ... someone to trail 2 steps behind her everywhere she went. Well, maybe it wasn't the queen exactly -- it was the Parliament's idea not to wait until Mia met someone on her own, just in case he wasn't the RIGHT someone. What a thought, on your 21st birthday to have to dance with every eligible bachelor in the place! I can only dream.
Just a couple of days before her wedding, Mia was still frantically trying to learn to shoot the flaming arrow somewhere NEAR if not THROUGH the coronation ring. I was the one to suggest that Tweedledee and Tweedledum wear hard hats at Mia's archery practices. I've seen her in action in sports at school, and trust me, you want to stay a long way away and wear protective clothing! Adoring Andrew was more worried about the scorch mark on his jacket than what would happen if Mia missed the ring and maybe set fire to the parliament buildings or the palace itself. I was debating having a quiet word with Captain Kip Kelly (great alliteration, there!) about making sure his troops were ready that night with a bucket brigade or something. Anyway, the great whistler came by, and Mia really wanted to speak with him alone for one last time ... so I dragged Andy off, ostensibly to meet his parents. Why is it that people who think they are so aristocratic and are so snobby you can hardly see the top of their heads because they hold them so high have so little clue about what real life is all about? May the saints preserve me from EVER being an aristocrat!
Well, that very night, I had to burst into Mia's room because Slick Nick was throwing pebbles at MY window instead of Mia's! Hey, I didn't say he was BRILLIANT, just GORGEOUS! Mia was writing in her diary. That's another puzzle I forgot to solve this summer! Mia's Dad gave her a diary for her sixteenth birthday, which opened with the locket that supposedly was her grandmother's when she was a girl. Now, just HOW is that possible? Did her Dad take both the book and the locket to a locksmith to get the lock specially made? Do all diaries in Genovia open with the same kind of key? Hmm, now that I think of it, they do in America, I'm sure! Those little keys all look the same. Maybe here they're all made to have an opened locket put on them to unlock their secrets. Well, yet another unimportant and unsolved mystery. In spite of, or maybe even because of that RIDICULOUS rhyme Nicky used, Mia decided she wanted to stroll in the moonlight with her almost Prince Charming for one last time before being stuck forever with boring Andrew. Way to go, Mia! She had my encouragement, of course, and I covered for her by taking her place in her bed when she was late -- VERY late! -- getting back.
Then all hell broke loose, to put it bluntly, early the next morning. And I mean EARLY! Just at the crack of dawn! Queen Clarisse discovered it was ME in Mia's bed, then Mia ran in, then CHARLOTTE came in. It felt like Grand Central Station, and I was just waking up! Anyway, Charlotte turned on the television Mia had demanded for her room (at my behest, I might add) and her innocent night out under the stars with Nicholas was broadcast to the entire country. If given half the chance, I'd have loved to tell that Elsie the Egglady what she could do!
Then, of course, Mia had to speak with Andrew. Now, I must admit I felt kinda sorry for him. I didn't like him half as much as I liked Nicholas, the Great Pretender, but it was hard lines on him. Andrew was storming out of the castle, but very politely, if you know what I mean. Mia ran after him, then had to talk with him on the stairs while everyone else was parading up and down, pretending not to notice them. I stood right by the window, where she could see me if she looked, but I don't think she did. All right, I confess that I spied on Mia and Andrew. Charlotte came up behind me saying "the queen would not approve of spying." Duh! Then she stood there, spying with me. How ELSE will we find out anything? Andrew kissed Mia, sort of as an experiment, it looked like to me. And he didn't stomp away, after. When we heard Mia complain that there was no privacy, we very graciously left them alone. Turns out Andrew was very ... NICE about the whole scandal, and said he would still marry Mia. And why not? HE knew which side of the bread was buttered!
That night, the night before Mia's wedding, Joe did not put in an appearance. In fact, I couldn't remember seeing him at all since the previous morning! He was nowhere in sight while the heat was on at the palace over Mia's 'naughtiness', as Elsie Eggs termed it. I guess I assumed he was out after Naughty Nick's blood. When Mia asked where he was, Queen Clarisse was very evasive and not very talkative, especially for someone who was getting her way and Mia was going to be married the next day! The queen's eyes never met anyone's, and when they did, they looked so sad! I admit I was sure it was because she knew that Mia didn't love Andrew, and never WOULD love him. When I asked Charlotte if SHE had seen Joe, she flushed a little. After that, Queen Clarisse excused herself, saying she'd talk with Mia a little later, after she ... when ... a little later. THAT was very suspicious too, so Mia and I both turned to Charlotte and told her to spill the beans -- obviously SHE knew where he was! I mean, Charlotte knows almost as much as the maids! Probably more.
"Not really," she admitted, but she told us what she had overheard the day before when she had come upon them in the ballroom.
"I thought you told me the queen didn't approve of spying!" I said, even though I was stunned at the news that the queen had seemingly blown off Joe. I remember thinking I couldn't figure out how she could possibly have done that since he's such a terrific guy! No wonder she was acting so depressed that night, and it was certainly no wonder Joe hadn't appeared!
Well, you can't keep ME down long -- no wonder I'm called "irrepressible"! I proceeded to heckle Mia about my dress for the wedding. Can you believe it? SOMEONE (not Mia, she claims, and I should HOPE not!) had chosen PINK. Now, Mia knows, as does EVERYONE who knows me, that I wear black every chance I get. I always thought pink was abominable. I still do. Especially when I later heard that I was called "The outspoken American activist, Lilly Moscovitz ... a vision in pink" BLECH.
I think the whole world knows what happened that day at the cathedral. It was history in the making, and I was there! Andrew was beaming, he was so pleased to have been thrown over! And Joe and the queen took everyone but me by surprise when they took Mia's suggestion and got married since a wedding was all planned already! I was ALSO there that night when Mia actually managed to get the flaming arrow through the coronation hoop perfectly, her first time. Whoohoo! I wonder if the majordomo has forgiven me yet for banging his stick up and down for him ... and accidently hitting his toe?
Well, a couple of days after Joe and Queen Clarisse's wedding, when they emerged briefly from their rooms to make plans for Mia's coronation, we somehow ended up talking about this precocious little monster whose name is Prince Jacques. Mia told us about the first time they met at her twenty-first birthday party, and this pint-sized Romeo said, "Can I blow in your ear?" Needless to say, we all howled when she told us her response had been, "Can you reach it?" and he had grimaced, realizing he was much too short. Maybe when he's thirteen and reaches puberty he'll grow into his speech!
I told them how he had asked me to dance at the wedding reception a couple of nights before ... and how he had propositioned me! Since I'm a nobody, he asked if he could PRACTICE on me! Charlotte looked a little uncomfortable when I said that, so I teased her about it, and asked if he had been bothering her as well. She wouldn't say, but I think her red face and dancing eyes told the truth.
Queen Clarisse just sighed dolefully, then said he hadn't ever propositioned HER, but he HAD proposed to her at Mia's party. Joe looked fierce at that, but she just chuckled as she patted his knee, and added that she had even received a type of proposal while greeting the guests at the cathedral for Mia's almost wedding. "An aficionado of the three Stooges ALSO said he wished he were marrying me ... he was one of the invitees to the wedding. He startled me with his gorilla imitation. At least, I assume that's what he was trying to imitate!"
Joe nodded then, and said right away that that would be the Lady Tania's uncle. How does he do it? I would NEVER be able to keep people straight the way he can, and to know so much about them! Guess it's just as well I'm not training to be in the security business! Even the queen was a little surprised that he knew, and she asked him how he knew.
At that, I couldn't resist, and I said quickly and airily that Joe was part maid, because everyone knew that the maids know everything! Joe is so laid back now that he has won the woman of his dreams that he didn't even growl at me! He DID throw some popcorn, however.
There was great excitement the morning of Mia's coronation ... she came racing into my room and shook me awake to tell me that Nicholas loved her! I could have told her that, and she wouldn't have needed to wake me up so early! They had decided to get married in another month, because she STILL wanted me to be her maid of honour, and I couldn't hang around forever! Her Mom and Mr. O'Connell (I still can't believe her mother married our teacher!) went home the day after the coronation, then came back for the wedding.
Mia's coronation, and the whole ceremony with Queen Clarisse turning over the throne to Queen Mia was really something. I noticed Andrew was standing with Lady Elyssa, and figured they were going to be a couple from now on. Then I promptly and forever forgot about them. I found myself standing beside Captain Kelly ... I think he purposefully came over to be near me, actually. Anyway, he said he had heard that I was going to be returning to school in California, and asked if he could call me there. I couldn't resist saying that I could probably hear him WITHOUT a phone, but then I relented and tucked my card under his shoulder decoration. Doesn't everyone carry a card with their name, address and phone number on it to a coronation, just in case it might be needed!
After the coronation, there was a reception, of course. MORE of the yucky Genovian fancy food. I was just DYING for a corn dog! However, I managed to take my mind off my stomach for a few hours and flirted with Kippy, teasing him unmercifully. He really is a great guy, in spite of his questionable voice! At one point, he was asking whether or not I had protested against anything and gotten arrested, so I told him about seeing the re-run of some show from the early seventies when some protesters were arrested. As they were being pushed into the police van, one woman had cried out that women everywhere were being held in bondage, and it was time to revolt. The next woman pushed into the van yelled "We're revolting women!" I loved that, and so did Kippy!
Two days after Mia's coronation, Parliament met again. Mia stowed me in the room with the peephole to watch as she put forth a motion about having women in Parliament -- MY idea, I might add. The motion passed ... mostly because Mia was standing there staring them down, much the way she did when she got them to change the marriage requirement for queens. She presented a list of women who are to be asked to sit in Parliament from now on. Of course, Charlotte's at the top of EVERYONE'S list for an excellent parliamentarian. She's an excellent everything. Sorta makes me sick. Wonder if I'll be as efficient when I'm her age? Naaah. She doesn't seem to have much of a life. Mia and I spent some time this summer working on that, though.
That next month went by really fast. I had fun with Kippy, and acted as chaperone for Mia and Nicholas while Charlotte planned THEIR wedding, which happened yesterday! At the reception, I again was stuck dancing with Jolly Prince Jacques ... Charlotte had told me I wasn't allowed to turn down the invitation to dance if extended by a royal, and he snuck up on me. He's a royal pain, that kid. He was the one who had the nerve to call me lily-livered because I wouldn't agree to his proposition, and have an affair with him to teach him what to do and say to get girls to like him. I told him we preferred to be called women, and he looked blank. I said I didn't plan to have an affair with anyone, that I was going to hold out for marriage. He retorted that because I was only a commoner, I couldn't expect marriage, but he could put me through school if I insisted. I declined. He called me lily-livered, and I walked away and left the little jerk standing there, his mouth open in shock. I guess you aren't supposed to walk away from a royal in the middle of a dance, either. Too bad.
Otherwise, the reception was a lot of fun! Queen Clarisse PERSONALLY ushered me over to the buffet table and pointed out little disks with toothpicks stuck in them. Cut up CORN DOGS! She had had some sent over! I had to laugh, and believe me, I had enough of the corn dog disks to make it worthwhile. I noticed even Queen Clarisse had some, so I guess Mia was right, she HAD liked them five years ago. I thought it was cute when I saw her sitting close to Joe (well, they said they were still on their honeymoon!) and feeding him a corn dog disk, then opening her mouth so that he could return the favour and feed HER one.
All in all, Mia and Nicholas had a great wedding and reception. THIS time I wasn't wearing pink, as you probably guessed! I made my views QUITE well known, I think, on that topic. Kippy told me he was sorry I wasn't wearing my lovely pale pink gown, but that I actually looked very aristocratic in my slinky black sheath, at which comment I promptly tipped my plate, full of creamy, gooey Genovian delicacies, onto his fancy blue uniform. Aristocratic, indeed! What would Prince Jacques have said THEN had he heard?
So there you have it. My summer. And just in time, too ... I can see San Francisco out the window! I wonder when Kippy will phone?