having a wicket good time at croquet

Ha ha - get it? Wicket? Wick.....okay maybe you don't - trust me I still don't completely understand the rules of croquet, but I want to be up front and honest, yesterday was definitely in my top five favorite days ever. Ever. I guess maybe I should step back for a minute and rewind a bit...

It's been nearly a year since I made the big move to DC - can you believe it? And it's been nearly that long that I've been looking forward to this weekend in Annapolis. Once a year, the historic Maryland capital turns into possibly the most amazing place in the world and puts on a display that every historian junkie (like myself) falls in love with from the word go.

What is this phenomenon you ask? Croquet. Wait for it...between St. John's College and the Naval Academy. Yes - those hunky Middies don white sweaters with gold Ns and beat some balls around with a mallet. It is as amazing as it sounds. 

I've taken such an absence from this blog that I thought there couldn't possibly be a better way to get back to it than showing off the photos from yesterday. 

I think I've been on cloud 9 from the moment I stepped onto the grounds yesterday. It was the perfect example of my ideal Saturday that I never even thought was an actual possibility. Growing up, I was one of those children that loved Big Band music from the 40s - looking up vintage dresses that the likes of Lucille Ball wore in the 50s and drinking my cream tea while watching anything British that I could get my hands on. I was a gonner the moment we walked up the path and heard the raspy voice of Louis Armstrong and the popping of champagne bottles. The rest was just a smiling memory that I'll carry with me until next year, where inevitably, we'll do it better, like bringing our own picnic basket (finally a reason to buy one!) a nice quilt, and a lace parasol - I didn't even know I wanted one until all the women had them yesterday. Sign me up! 

If you're anywhere in the area next April, I recommend donning your favorite sun dress or flapper head band and joining the fun.