Nothin' says the BEST of 80's dance music like...Dolly Parton?

Family,

And a good Sunday morning to you from across the Pond after another GREAT DAY in the Mother Country. I really shouldn't say good morning, as it's 1:30 PM at the moment and Muffin Puffin is still PASSED OUT. However, as I'm now (slowly) come back to life (courtesy of some imported Mountain Dew from East Texas), I thought I'd go ahead and explain why Jenny will probably sleep until 4 PM and Prosecco and colonists don't mix.

So yesterday was GREAT. We got a chance to chat with the Rice clan, and I am happy to confirm that little Sam looks CUTER THAN EVER. Wow - that girl is gonna be a heartbreaker. But Rice - all I can say is that I hope the Yankees don't win another one. GOOOOOOOO RANGERS!!!!

I also got a chance to chat with Dad and Pattie, and that was GREAT (and LONG overdue). It was chilly yesterday, but luckily the weather held long enough for us to chat whilst wandering around Portland Place (since my cell phone doesn't work IN MY APARTMENT - details...).

The featured event of the night was Jenny's final 32nd birthday celebration - dinner and dancing! And let me say it right now - my wife looked SMOKIN' HOT. Hubba, hubba...but I digress...

So the first stop on the tour was Momo (no Miller - not THAT kind of Momo) - a Moroccan joint on Heddon street (near where I hung out with the Bristol Pistol last week). This place was FANTASTIC, complete with a VERY cool interior, attentive staff, and an AWESOME atmosphere. We had THE BEST seats in the house, as we looked over the entire restaurant, so we could see all the decor, candles, and lighting which in total gave the place a true "Moroccan souk" vibe (minus smelly dudes, camel dung, snake charmers, Indiana Jones, and carpet sales me throwing fabric at you, of course).

I started with a wood pigeon pastry, and it was SO GUUUUUUUUUUUUUD (peppy cheekies). Picture spiced meat wrapped in a thin pastry and then covered with sugar, flour, and cinnamon -very unique! Mains were delish as well, with all of us opting for Couscous except Jenny, who rolled with Fish tangine (and it was guuuuuuuuuuuuuud). Throw in some Moroccan wine (Syrah) and 2 crazy Australians (Sam and Yazz), and you have a GREAT START to an evening!

After that, we rolled to the featured event of the night - 80's dancing at Strawberry Moons! Okay, so this place is reknown for bachelorette parties (hen do's as they would say over here), and some folks had warned us that "You don't go to Strawberry Moons unless you want cheap drinks and nothing but 80's music." Since that was EXACTLY what we were looking for, we were QUITE excited.

I'd booked us on the guest list, but the place wasn't at capacity when we arrived (~10ish), so we strolled right in. Well, not quite strolled, as we watched 3 guys get turned away at the door because NO GUY IS ALLOWED IN WITHOUT BEING ACCOMPANIED BY A GIRL. Seriously? A group of 3 dudes were SHOT DOWN, at which point they got PISSED (picture dudes kicking poles, screaming at security, and looking generally like they had kerosene stashed away and weren't afraid to use it). That was our first experience. Luckily it got better.

So simply put, this place was GREAT. Was it cheesy? ABSOLUTELY. Was it everything we wanted? AND THEN SOME. We hadn't been in there FIVE MINUTES when Journey came on, and the dancing began. 5 minutes later Jenny was trying her first bramble, and 10 minutes later we were on the dance floor (which lights up and changes colors, for the record). Oh, but wait, I forgot to mention the stripper...

We really had been there all of 7 minutes when one of the bride-to-be's is put on a separate stage (with a pole, of course...) and asked to take a seat. Then a dude walks up and does a 2 song strip tease and, well, is pretty much TOTALLY NAKED. The entire crowd is watching this, and the bachelorette is LOVING IT, which makes the whole thing funnier. Honestly, if someone ever tried this in the states, they'd be in jail for a year. Here, however, it's just another Saturday night when you're bringin' sexy back...

The music was great, even if we didn't know all the songs (plenty of the 80's mix was UK 80's, which obviously was a bit beyond our scope of knowledge), and we danced the night away, Prosecco in hand (not me - I stuck to Sol - mum, you would have been proud). However, there were a few songs that I simply must question in the playlist. For example, how hype can a crowd really get when Dolly Parton's "9 to 5" starts blaring on the speakers? I mean really? REALLY? That being said, people went CRAZY, and all of them knew the words (better than me, for the record). So maybe that guy's got it all figured out...

Also, the staff were all dressed up in crazy outfits, and at times they even did choreographed dances. There was one gal in particular who was EXTRA AWESOME as she performed a dance routine to Usher.

Jenny had mentioned earlier in the week that she "didn't want it to be too late of a night," and she had suggested leaving around 1:30 or so. Well, considering all the fun we were having, we actually didn't leave until CLOSING TIME, which was 3 AM. By this point, the Prosecco was taking its toll on Yazz, and it made for a GREAT conversation with this Irish dude who kept telling Yazz and Sam that "Australia was their problem." The guy was clearly hammered (because, I mean, let's face it - WHAT DOES THAT SENTENCE EVEN MEAN?), but Yazz zinged him good with "Go back to Ireland and enjoy your checkered flannel shirt." He didn't seem to like that too much (and T-Rowe, for the record, I'm sure I had a shirt EXACTLY LIKE THAT on LoanSolutions). He wasn't the scariest dude, however - it was the Algerian dude asking Sam "when the afterparty drinks at her house started" that was more a reason to run...

We parted ways about 3:40 (they give you 30 minutes after closing to finish drinks, get coats, etc), getting home at 4 AM and settling into a nice, healthy block of organic cheddar. It was then a 5 AM sackout, which probably means today (and tonight) will be ROUGH. But hey - it was worth EVERY SECOND of sleep lost, so no complaints here!

Okay, it's time to have a little coffee, get some fresh air, and enjoy the day. Chat tonight!

Love,

Sam and Jenny