earlier in the week i mentioned a small jaunt down memory lane that i took recently. not my own memory lane, to be fair, but a memory lane i wish could have been mine, had i had the chance to live ~through the 70s, and not just be born a couple of years shy of them. there's something about lace dresses and crochet bags and flowers in the hair that really resonates (weird, i know) with me, and that's even before we stop to consider some of my favourite bands of all time had some of their greatest hits in the 70s (hello, fleetwood mac anyone).
so naturally, when i was kindly (semi) invited by marie curie to take a trip with them all in the name of a retro dinner with a difference, well, let's just say i'm not sure i've ever squealed quite so much in public before. the invite did come by way of the most distracted charlie one could ever hope to know, so many many kudos are owed to her by both katy and i, who somehow managed to both bag ourselves +1 invites to be by her side. something you should know about us girls: we know how to wrangle an invite when we want one.
i rocked up at current home of disappearing dining club "back in five minutes" drenched and slightly lost (it's in the back of a weird shop, see), and was promptly shown to the bar (that's me at the bar, see) - a bar that was quite clearly serving nothing but shirley temples with ~actual marachino cherries, because 70s. cocktail in hand, it was time to admire the attention to detail in the makeshift restaurant where it was already obvious that so much thought and attention had gone into creating this wonderful little retro dining club, designed to make that trip down memory lane happen so much more naturally (the lack of internet and signal would soon see to that anyway).
after a spot of mingling with the ladies behind the charity, it was time to take our seats for the first of many dated dishes (in a good way, of course) in our journey back in time, as well as some deeelicious and well-paired drinks to wash away the memories.
we're talking prawn cocktails. waldorf salad with crispy pork belly. duck l'orange. key lime freaken pie cheesecake for christssake. this menu could not have been any better dreamt up if it were ~actually being served ~in the 70s! all that was missing was a cheese hedgehog and a slice of vienetta. the lambrini, blue nun and - wait for it - mai tais for dessert were an ~absolute blast, and as we sat there laughing in great hysteria about how much this dinner party reminded us (oldies, not youths like little miss) of dinner parties thrown by our parents when we were small, sneaking glimpses of the festivities through cracks in the door while we were supposed to be in bed.
which i suppose meant that the event achieved the desired effect; starting a conversation about retro dinner parties, and encouraging people - young and old - to host a retro dinner party of their own and be part of the terminal illness charity's latest fundraising campaign: "dinner down memory lane". i can't imagine a better excuse to get some friends together for a good cause, can you?
a massive thank you to marie curie for hosting such a wonderful dinner party for us, to raise awareness about their great campaign, and again to get us talking about ways to help out their amazing nurses continue to do their much needed, and often tireless work. now, i will stop saying the words "dinner party" if you agree to consider hosting your own d****r p***y this november, and help raise money for this incredible charity... deal?
