Saturday the 26th November saw me popping on yet another train to London. It was only last week that I has spent the weekend there and yet I was going back again.

This time I was going down to the “I’m dreaming of a TIKI Christmas” party being held at Kanaloa Tiki Bar. Now, I had been to the summer event and had a whale of a time, so couldn’t wait for the winter event.

There were so many of my vintage friends all planning to attend so I knew it would be a cracking event. Add to this, a whole bunch of new people that I had become friendly with and it was bound to be brilliant.

Friday saw me driving up to Stockport to drop off my Plus Size Awards Gown and I decided to kill two birds and pop in to Lucie Luella to get her to do something with my hair, ready for the party the next day.

Channeling my Inner Lucille Ball, she transformed me with a vintage poodle ‘do and I drove home super happy with my look.

Poodled Do, Done!

I set the alarm for 6 o’clock and with a net on my hair, I slept the night away.

Getting up the next day I still had to decide what to wear! Now for those people who know me, I usually plan weeks in advance. The right outfit, accessories, hair flowers, shoes, even down to my knickers. This time around I hadn’t even got the vaguest clue as to what I was going to put on.

I got into the shower and  pondered on what I was going to wear. Now I have so many dresses I could have probably changed every hour and still had spares! I decided to firstly look at my shoes and bags and then co-ordinate from there.

Firstly I chose  my new Irregular Choice Ban Joe shoes in green glitter. I was off to a good start. Adding to it was my new Luxulite brooch and earrings set.

Now to find a suitable dress with a heavy green base. Well of course it had to be my Pin Up Girl Clothing Malibu Tiki Dress in Purple and Green.  All chosen I did my make-up, found a big purple flower and I was off.

Getting to the train station was problematic. I booked my usual taxi company to pick me up 45 minutes before my train left, even though the train station is only 10 minutes away. This is because I hate being late for anything and get very anxious when under time pressure.

The taxi should have been there at 0745am. It hadn’t arrived by 0750 so I called them as they are always on time. I got an apology that they would be there within five minutes. By 0800 I was getting a bit twitchy so I called again. Another apology and the reassurance it would be there in a couple of minutes and my journey would be complimentary.

At 0815 I jumped into my Mini and drove myself to the station. I couldn’t wait any longer and had got very anxious and the taxi was still nowhere to be seen. Managing to get to the station, I hastily got across the platforms in order to get to the train on time.

Thankfully I managed it and soon enough I was sat in first class on my way to St Pancras. I knew I was going to be a lot earlier than many of my pin up girlies, so I went across to Kings Cross to have some breakfast at The Parcel Yard. One Eggs Benedict and a cup of Earl Grey later and I was set for the day.

Eventually I met up with the lovely Carrie-Ann and Nicola and we made our way across to Chancery Lane, before making the five minute walk to the Tiki Bar.

Carrie-Ann, Nicola and I

Arriving at Kanaloa we were greeted with colourful flower lei’s before heading straight for the bar. I chose a Zombie, a drink that is served in a yellow tiki monster ceramic glass. It is billed as a “monster drink includes 7 different rums, splashes of absinthe, Wray & Nephew, spiced liqueurs, maraschino cherry liqueur, pomegranate, passion and grapefruits” and it topped with half a lime filled with Wray & Nephew and set alight. Powerful stuff indeed!

Zombie Time

More of the lovely pin-up ladies arrived, and we sat chatting drinking and generally socialising. A recently friend (and idol) Miss Victory Violet arrived with some other of my vintage idols and I was in awe.

With Nicola and Carrie-Ann

Everyone had made a real effort with their outfits and hair and I think I spent the first couple of hours telling people I liked their dresses, hats, shoes and hair!

The Beautiful Sandy

A real treat of the afternoon was the amazing Georgia Harrup singing a number of vintage tracks. She had the most amazing voice and got everyone up on the dance floor.

Amazing Vocals from Georgia

Several cocktails later and my old mate Phil arrived. He loves a bit of vintage and is also a fantastic photographer. We had a bit of a chat before he started snapped away with his camera. He certainly had some stunning ladies to shoot and we all love a good pose in front of the camera!

Vintage Vixens

A lovely lady I had met at Twinwood, Leanda had come and for some reason we ended up doing several different strolls on the dance floor. This coupled with cocktails and regional variations of the dance made for a lot of hilarity, especially when people were trying to learn from us!

I STILL do not know what we were laughing about?!?!

I had a chat with one of the amazing barmen about Wray & Nephew and he promised to make me an amazing cocktail with it. I duly bought one, and he was right, it was out of this World.

Much Silliness was had

Offering to get one for Miss Victory Violet, I re-ordered two and we hit the dance floor again. It really was a wonderful fun afternoon with lots of laughter and  silliness. Exactly what the doctor ordered.

Leanda introduced me to the wonderful Rhina, a petite Venezuelan Lady who was just marvellous! Fluent in six languages, two PHD’s and a Botanist at Kew Gardens, she was a real ray of Sunshine. I don’t think I have ever met someone I wanted to take home more!

Leanda and Rhina

Eventually it was time to leave the bar, and as we were all rather drunk and hungry, followed Rhina towards Camden where she knew of an amazing Vietnamese restaurant. Well, I was up for that so off we went.

Posing on the Escalators

We arrived at the restaurant and it was Closed! Thankfully we only had around 10 minutes to wait and we were soon seated. There were eight of us and we all made our orders pretty quickly, due to being very tipsy and full of the munchies.

I ordered beef with noodles and we sat chatting and having the best time. It was lovely to chat to new people and learn things about strangers that I am sure will become lifelong friends!

Finally being serious……

Eventually it was time to call it a night and we all had to head for our separate train stations. Rhina and Amelia were heading for Kings Cross, which of course is next to my station. We travelled across by tube and miraculously both Rhina and Amelia suddenly became very thirsty and decided to join me for one drink……

Several Rhubarb Vodkas later, Amelia was growling at the waitress for some bread! One bread basket later and everyone was happy.

Two hours passed really quickly and I eventually left them still in the pub whilst I ran for the train!

On the train home….. Rose wine to finish off the day

Finally sinking into my first class seat reflecting on the whole day, I was so pleased I had gone down to the event, and that I had connected with so many of my friends, but made even more new ones!

I literally cannot wait for the next one – Roll on the Summer.

*****Some photographs courtesy of Catherine Beck, Leanda Phillips, Rhina Duque and @darktechsupport.*****