// “all this unbridled joy has given me quite an appetite.” / Downton Abbey Week //

Hello, dear people! The lovely Naomi at Wonderland Creek is hosting a Downton Abbey-themed week for bloggers, and I’m quite excited for it because as I’m sure you all know by now, Downton Abbey is my favorite show, and will likely carry that title forever. Since I leave for Liberty exactly one week from today (at the time of writing this– so on August 25th), and I already know that the next seven days are going to be downright crazy, I wanted to go ahead and write-and-publish my contribution to Downton Week as soon as possible.

As this is a busy time of preparation-to-fly in my life, this post won’t be anything too fancy or long-winded; it’s just a compilation of some of my favorite things about my favorite show. {I don’t own any of the screencaps or edits used.}

{Post-Compilation Edit: Okay, this is turning out to be rather long. Oops. But it’s solely the fault of the pictures. There are SO MANY because Downton is just aesthetically pleasing okay. So, give yourself a few moments to behold the loveliness.}

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i. Favorite Characters (It’s actually rather hard to narrow it down.)

Lady Sybil Branson, née Crawley

She is my number one favorite Downton character, always. She’s interested, she’s political, she HAS OPINIONS. And she’s also brave and kindhearted, determined and witty, confident and graceful, intuitive and generous. Mrs. Hughes once called her “the sweetest spirit under this roof”, and really, it’s such a beautiful and honorable compliment to receive, especially considering the number of people who live under Downton’s roof.

Anna Bates, née Smith

Oh, dear sweet Anna. She goes through SO MUCH on this show and yet she’s still tenderhearted and compassionate and optimistic and quietly brave. Anna is by far one of the strongest characters of Downton and that is an indisputable fact. I’ve liked her since the very beginning, and even more now that her story’s come to a conclusion.

The Dowager Countess of Grantham, Lady Violet Crawley

Let’s be honest here: the Dowager is everyone’s favorite character. She’s the source of three-fourths of the memorable, sassy, hilarious one-liners on this show, and it’s beautiful. What I like about her is that you never have her completely figured out; she presents herself as a staunch, opinionated traditionalist, but then she’s constantly surprising everyone by stepping up and supporting family (and a select few others, but mostly family) when they make decisions that are anything but traditional for their class. Her friendship (frenemy-ship?) with Isobel Crawley throughout the series is equal parts hilarious and sweet. I love that she low-key supports Sybil and Tom’s marriage, and then later on becomes a friend of sorts to Tom as he matures and becomes a permanent part of the family. Plus, she gives the BEST advice. She never holds back the truth, that’s for sure. You can just tell that the Dowager cares for people more deeply than she will ever admit, and is something of a wild card of epicness, and that makes her character so fascinating. Dowager Countess? More like Queen.

ii. Favorite One-Liners (Goodness, there are so many.)

There are so many more, but I’ll leave you with these gems for now.

iii. Favorite Outfits (It had to be done.)

iv. Favorite Quotes (The profound and the sweet.)

v. Favorite Moments (Again, spoilers.)

vii. And now, just some loveliness.

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Thank you for hosting Downton Week, Naomi– and thank you all for stopping by and reading my little blog! I’m so glad to be given a chance to fangirl a bit over Downton before I head off to this thing called “college” and “adulting” and “real life”. 🙂

I love you all, and if you don’t hear from me in this corner of the Internet for awhile, it’s because I’m at Liberty having more adventures than I know what to do with.

God is doing a new thing, and I’m beyond excited to be a part of it!

{love always, Em}