Lady Anna

"You put your left arm in, you put your left arm out, you put your left arm in and you shake it all about. You do the Hokey Pokey and you turn yourself around that's what it's all about."

You know the song. We all know and love the Hokey Pokey. My niece is currently obsessed with this song as a matter of fact, and everytime I skype with her she spends a majority of the time singing it to me, with the dance of course. She's two. My sister, who is thirty two, and has to listen to the Hokey Pokey all day everyday - has different sentiments.

I thought of her yesterday as I was shopping in Debenhems on Oxford Street for some cute things for my room and came across this lovely wall art.

I thought it was a typo. The Hokey Cokey? Don't they mean Pokey?

Now both names are equally ridiculous but one of us is clearly saying it wrong - either the Brits or us, so naturally I had to investigate this matter further.

Turns out - it was invented in the UK and was originally called the Hokey Cokey! Who knew! I always assumed it was American because it makes no sense and is ridiculous - like Pajama Jeans, but turns out the English were hokey cokeying for ten years over here before we even knew it about!

I found the following on Wikipedia.

"The hokey cokey (United Kingdom) or hokey pokey (United States & Ireland), also known as the okey cokey, hokey tokey, or cokey cokey, is a participation dance with a distinctive accompanying tune and lyric structure. It is well known in English-speaking countries. The song and accompanying dance peaked in popularity as a music hallsong and novelty dance in the mid-1940s in Britain and Ireland.

There is a claim of authorship by the British/Irish songwriter Jimmy Kennedy, responsible for the lyrics to popular songs such as the wartime "We're Going to Hang out the Washing on the Siegfried Line."

I also learned that the lyrics are a bit different here across the pond.

You put your [right leg] in,
Your [right leg] out:
In, out, in, out.
You shake it all about.
You do the hokey cokey,
And you turn around.
That's what it's all about!

Here's where things get really nutty:

Whoa, the hokey cokey!,
Whoa, the hokey cokey!,
Whoa, the hokey cokey!,
Knees bent, arms stretched,
Rah! rah! rah!

Not quite what you learned as a kid, right?

It's the last bit that I particularly like - "knees bent arms stretched, rah! rah! rah!

I already knew London had better shopping, cuter streets, better museums, and nicer people than the States, and now it turns out that even the hokey pokey is cooler in the UK.

I passed on the Hokey Cokey sign, but did find a variety of things to spruce up my new place, as I was struggling to carry the mound of cushions I found to the till, I realized something.

This is the first time in my life that my room will not be pink. Holy jam roly poly - I must be maturing.

Instead of going right for the pink, pretty, duvet cover, the beautiful bubblegum curtains or the fuschia fluffy towels - I found myself drawn to another color.

Red.

This is a big step for me.

I think, honestly, it all stemmed from wanting a traditional Union Jack canvas in my flat, and having to match with that. But the fact that I would even consider another color for my surroundings aside from pink is groundbreaking for the girl who's fictional hero is Elle Woods.

I found so many wonderful red, white, and black London themed things that I ended up not having enough hands to carry it all with, so I decided to just order the larger items online. Like this for the wall.

Just in case I would forget where I am!

When I got online to place the order, I started to fill out the bits of required information, starting with name prefix. I clicked on the drop down menu to select "Miss" as I always do, and realized some better options available.

The drop down list read:

Mr.

Mrs.

Miss

Ms.

Doctor

Professor

Sister

Sir

Dame

Lord

Lady

Reverend

So naturally I chose Lady over Miss.

I've decided to start referring to myself as Lady Anna, and I ask you to do the same, please.

It is much more proper sounding than Miss afterall, and it has a nice ring to it, no?

It will just have to suffice until I marry Prince Harry and upgrade to the title of Princess.

Speaking of English royalty, yesterday was Kate's 30th Birthday! Can you even imagine that she got for her birthday from her new mum-in-law, The Queen?

Probably just something small, like a castle or a diamond tiara or two.

She turned up looking gorgeous at the premier of War Horse with two very important accessories to have in London: a Prince and a chic umbrella.

I've got to put some serious effort into finding both of these things.

Unfortunately, you can't order a Prince online.