Great timing: I'm on vacation this week. So I was ready to get up at 4:45 a.m. to catch all of the royal wedding festivities in London. But I wasn't alone. Up to 2 billion people, we're told, tuned in to watch Prince William marry Kate Middleton. My sister and her family are visiting from Chicago. So, as everybody else in the house slept, we cracked open a bottle of champagne and sipped mimosas while taking in every step of the procession, every note of music, every stylish and not-so-stylish hat with oohs and aaahs and a very occasional critique.

With too many things going so badly in the world, it was a relief to spend a few short hours of fun with my sister -- and to do it happily and unapologetically. We agreed that the princess was beautiful, and her dress absolute perfection. I'll confess to hoping her lovely choice sparks a return to the kind of classic wedding-gown elegance that has been sorely lacking in recent years.

Among the other highlights were, of course, a smiling queen donned in yellow; the sweet way the prince looked at his bride; the pageantry and history of it all; the pomp, and yet informality, of the service; and the bride and groom's exist from the castle in a convertible trimmed in balloons and crepe paper. I could go on, but suffice it to say that it was an experience easy on the heart, mind and eyes. A day for the world to celebrate love and hope.

We extended the fun a bit longer by taking in lunch with our mom, sister-in-law (she's not an early riser) and daughters at our area's own Sugarplums & Tea. (If you've deprived yourself of this pleasure, do so no longer.) We enjoyed scones and lemon curd, cream of asparagus soup and English breakfast tea before finally turning our attention to that which we'd put on hold: spackling, laundry, getting volunteers for the spring book fair, grocery shopping, and the devastating headlines coming out of a South ripped apart by tornadoes.

It was a welcome morning respite, and one for which I'm grateful.