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| Dressed up ready for Ascot |
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| Front seats for going to see the Queen |
Royal Ascot is a famous week in the English calendar when race goers come together to enjoy an occasion of dressing up frightfully posh and getting to the racecourse to eat, drink and be merry. Something you might not know about me is there was a time when I worked (very hard) in the hospitality management scene. While I loved my job, it was tough going and after falling pregnant with the twins, I was only able to run around the racecourses and football clubs up until ten weeks of pregnancy. I simply didn't have the energy. Prior to this though, I would travel far and wide around the country helping to manage such events as the FA cup Final, The Grand National, The world cup at Twickenham rugby and other such posh events like being based full time at Newmarket Racecourse. Over on my linkedin is a very nice testimonial from my previous boss. More about my career another time but suffice to say I was incredibly blessed to have had this 'big job' before being re-set with my priorities of becoming a mother. No regrets of course but it wasn't really in my plans to give up the career. That's a whole other story that I'm writing - it has its own Facebook page - and as it turned out I am really glad how things happened. For me, I feel I would have definitely missed out terribly had I carried on working so hard.
Anyhow, back to todays story and seeing the Queen.
My friends (who packed the most totally awesome picnic with tables, chairs, condiments and even sugar bowls etc) suggested to book our tickets for the Windsor Enclosure as this is the area you can enjoy a picnic. The other enclosures see us enjoying the hospitality provided by the caters. (Upon looking on Google, I'm not sure Letheby and Christopher have the contract anymore, oh how things change over the course of 18 years!)
We all dressed with appropriate hat gear and to be honest, one of the very best parts of the day was people watching. Everyone in amazing clothes and walking their very best in high heels on grass, all cocooned by a wonderful atmosphere. Even funnier later as the alcohol kicked in. A DJ played in the bar area while a live band (whom I didn't discover until much later on) played in another part. They sounded incredible! Those who had been drinking began to enjoy singing along loudly, fascinators firmly attached, shoes often off to "All the single ladies" and performed brilliantly for my video:
The queen wore powder blue and I kind of wish I'd placed a bet on that. As we entered the racecourse there were those guys who take your bet (what's the word?) asking what colour would the queens hat be. We went on the Wednesday which is a typically quieter day. It was nice for it to be quieter. The previous day the newlyweds Megan and Harry accompanied the Queen and Prince Charles and Camilla alongside a couple of other royals who's names escape me.
A real royalist, I love that about England. We get so much wrong. Often the weather, very often our morals can embarrass us but when we do things well, we do things well.
More than a splendid day, I am keen to go again next year. Maybe it would be good to organise a group of people to go and split the cost of a marquee. You know, those little ones. They always used to have an air of calm about them as I remember from working at Newmarket. Generally you would have an allocated staff member for the day and generally these were always those who were tipped the best at the end. Sometimes, older ladies used to like doing this job. They loved the chat and the schmooz. They were wiser; knew how to work for those tips. Such happy memories. I loved my job!
Would I return to Ascot again? Definitely yes! I am so keen to travel to so many places and see so many events. Feeling very blessed that my social calendar is filling up once again and life is really worth living. We are currently enjoying some amazing sunny weather in the UK right now and locally we have some beautiful beaches. Instagram will see me sharing some of these beautiful golden sands photos within the next few days I am very sure! What's next? You'll have to make sure you subscribe to this blog on the little form thing on the right hand side of the screen to follow such adventures. There is also some pretty massive news coming which will follow right after that trip to the beach! And I mean MASSIVE.
Love as always, Louise xoxo
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