For the second part to my vintage themed birthday do......a karaoke party on Sunday 15th May with my music loving family.....I decided to attempt a popular 1950s to 1960s vintage hairdo.......the Beehive!! Having looked at several Youtube videos on how to do the Beehive, I decided I wanted an up-do with a Beehive crown on the top. So I sectioned the top part of my hair and tied it in a loop on top of my head, whilst I worked on a French twist for the bottom half. Looking a bit like the traditional Japanese samurai than a Beehive.......my mountain man caught a glimpse of me at this point and was so highly amused that he asked excitedly if I was going to my party with 'warrior hair'! When I said 'no', his disappointment was so evident that I could not help but laugh out loud......imagining my one shouldered orange floaty dress with the 'warrior hair'! But instead of the infamous back-combing....which really does confuse and scare me at the same time.....I decided to cheat and utilised my long hair by tucking it under my Beehive to create the puffy height. I was a bit shocked to see myself looking like a puffy egg head in the mirror, so I had to do some taming with lots of bobby pins and hairspray. The end product became a mini Beehive rather than a full Beehive, but I definitely learned something new and so all was not lost!
After that the make-up was just simply done with a Clinique purple (106 Starry Plum) Cream Shaper for Eyes....in my usual thick line and slightly exaggerated wing tip.....and a bit of lipstick and lip gloss to finish. And off we ran to chase after the tube!
We had a booking at China City in London's Chinatown....so here's a little review of the place. I must say that the karaoke system was very good and the songs were very up to date....down to the latest K-Pop and Lady Gaga songs. In terms of food, I think the quality was not bad and most of the dishes were nice, but there was a particular claypot dish of traditional salted fish and aubergine that lacked authenticity. However, for me, the most disappointing was the lack of my favourite Bubble Tea (a popular drink amongst the younger Chinese crowd that has evolved from the traditional hot English tea with milk....to sweet English tea with milk, ice and jelly bubbles)! So we stuck with honey and lemon tea for most of the night....but we had lots of fun singing and dancing!
Towards the end of our dinner and karaoke session I took a trip to the loo and returned to find mountain man waiting for me in the corridor. He said he wanted to take a few photos of me......but when I returned to the room I discovered that he was sent by my family to distract me from my surprise; a birthday cake from Pauls!
So that was the official stamp for my birthday in 2011!! It was a lovely birthday week.....and it continued in other forms, as I spent some time celebrating with my mountain man and the next weekend I celebrated my friend Bee's birthday at a picnic in Alexander Park! The sun was out and we had cupcakes as well as cookies passed around.......Bee was so beautiful in her 1970s inspired look, and for the first time in my life I met another friend of hers who shares the same birthday as me!
So with fun, laughter, surprise, singing, family, friends, love and cake....it was a full and fantastic Birthday week!! Let's hope this is a sign for the year to come....hip hip hooray for Birthdays!!
Until the next time,
May xx
