Le Diner en Blanc

Have y'all heard of Diner en Blanc?  It's a hoity toity event where people get dressed up their fanciest all white attire and gather together by the thousands for an evening of food and drink.

They had me at 'drink' (and hoity toity of course). 

Martin was not looking forward to this event.  I don't know why he was such a sour puss about it.  It's not every day of the year you get to see a dude wearing white tights in public:

For the most part everyone was dressed nicely, or at the very least appropriately.  But that dude was wearing a ship captain's jacket on top and a goddamn pair of tights on the bottom.  That outfit provided infinite LOL's. 

Diner en Blanc is a picnic, so you need to bring everything you'll need for the evening, table and chairs included.  The event started a few decades ago in Paris (adding much to the hoity toity factor) so most people brought French food.  We weren't really feeling French food (Martin went so far as to declare his hatred for quiche, which is the first I had heard of this) so I prepared a picnic feast of Greek food instead. 

We brought souvlaki in pita bread, dolmades (vine leaves stuffed with rice), Greek dips and baklava.  It was delish!

You can decorate your table, if you so choose, so I did a little handi-crafting for the evening.  Check out what I can do with $5 worth of stick-on pearls and scrapbooking letters:

I got mad skillz, yo.

Diner en Blanc is held in many cities throughout the world.  The location changes every year, and it's a secret until the very moment you get there by bus.  This is only the second year it's been held in Brisbane.  Last year it was held in South Bank, with a beautiful skyline view of the city and this for decoration:

Look at that ambiance!!

But this year it was held at a construction site.

Directly under the flight path of the airport.  With a crane and crappy banner advertising as our "view".  The difference is staggering.

It's meant to be held at a scenic, iconic city location.  That was the case last year, but this year it was one step above a landfill.  The location was awful!  Just awful.  

When the event Facebook page announced that new condos were available for purchase in this very location - absolutely irrelevant information - it was clear what was going on.  The developers paid off Diner en Blanc to hold it there in an attempt to schill their property.  It was a disgrace and an embarrassment to the Diner en Blanc organization.  A 100% shit house location!  (I love the Aussie adjective 'shit house', I had to fit it in there somewhere).

That said, I still had a super great time.  The planning and preparation is so much fun!  You don't realize how little white stuff you have until you have to deck two people out from head to toe in white.

Do we not look fab?    

While this is meant to be a super posh, fancy event I will point out that nearly everything Martin wore that night came from a thrift store.  For under $10....total.  So fancy! 

There was a hanky wave:

And then everyone got sparklers:

It's crazy cool to see 2,000+ people, all in white, waving a napkin or sparkler at the same time.  I am a sucker for anything choreographed.

Last year there was only 1,000 people and this year it was more than doubled in size.  That might have something to do with the inadequate location; if you have more people you need more space.  Personally I'd rather see it cut back down in size so it can be held in a great location.  If they make it any bigger it might really be held in a landfill next year because no place else is big enough!

The highlight of my evening was Instagram stalking, followed by actual stalking, some pseudo-celebrities:

Photo taken from The Good Guide

This is Jake and Elle, who were on an Australian cooking show called My Kitchen Rules.  They were really good, got runner-up, but what's so impressive is how young they are.  When they were on the show last year they were 20 and 22!  How do kids barely out of their teens know how to cook like that?!  It was fun to meet Australian TV personalities, and I unsurprisingly acted like a jackass when meeting them.

Finally, I would like to proclaim my love for my fascinator.  I effing love that head decoration!  I love the concept of fascinators in general and I think mine is unique and super versatile.  This is the first fancy event where I've had the opportunity to wear it, so I need to find more places to get dressed up and go to!