Memoirian Highlights: Prom!!

If you wondered why I was away for the entire weekend, just look at the title bar.
This weekend was supremely exciting! Exciting and exhausting and semi-sickening… guh. But now, all fun is completed and the work has returned. So, in one last ditch effort to procrastinate, here comes my Memoirian Highlight of prom:

Buyer’s remorse and sweet-smelling soap drenched me the Friday before prom; I had attempted to ready myself for a girly care weekend but, instead, mistakenly bought expensive products with reckless teenage abandon. To make matters worse, a new Sidekick had arrived in the mail, only adding to my horrendous dilettante nature…
As I fell into a deep consumerism-based depression (shedding tears and making promises), I was reassured from all directions that I need only understand that money is to be used and we can clench and move on. So, I breathed in a water-laden sigh and dozed off to sleep with the feeling of worthlessness still pounding into my chest.
***
Showering the next morning reinvigorated my sensibilities – hey, it isn’t the end of the world, I declared. Smelling of warm vanilla rose and aloe vera, I plodded out of the bathroom in a pair of basketball shorts and sleeping shirt, ready to face a hair appointment and every horrifying makeup calamity I could imagine (“no, that’s not burning your eyes, it’s SUPPOSED to do that!”). Phoneless (because we were just learning how to use the Sidekick and my father had to proffer it, like a bewildered child, to the technicians at the T-Mobile store…), I trundled along old Redmond roads to Hairmasters for Raymond’s trim job.
Halfway through the haircut, I decided curls were much better, and I was subsequently turned into the sexy hair beast with a little gel and a blowdryer. Hopping from the chair, I realized that I was quite late and hurried to call Natanya – only then did I find that she didn’t know the time to meet. Calamitous from the get-go, this day would prove to be one of missed appointments and harried souls. Time to saddle up for the ride.
Fortunately, Abby needed about 30 minutes anyway, so when Natanya and I finally barreled into her house, we were completely ready for the makeup. While we were poked and primped, asked for dress colors and jewelry choices, scoured for makeup knowledge and nail polish use, Abby and her mom kindly instructed us on the motion of what average teenage girls apparently know by instinct – I must admit, I was bewildered. My makeup came out silvery and mercifully not too thick (it also came late; we were already running late when we received a phone call from ‘Manda that she was IN SEATTLE and not going to make it to lunch on time – whoopsies) while Natanya’s was a little too much for her liking. After making some more hassled phone calls, I took a deep breath and decided not to be flustered. The day would play out as it would – nothing to worry about. Regardless, I sped home, tossed some things into a bag, and hurriedly plopped into my dress. No time to waste!
Josh, who had been “cooking in his car” outside, came in to pick me up and then (after quick ‘hi’s’ and ‘bye’s’ to my parents) we rushed off to Maggiano’s for a little Italian lunch that no one was completely ready for – eating that early and then preparing to eat again was a challenge. However, when we arrived first, there were few people sitting around, and henceforward we were immediately seated. I munched on bread like a small rat villain until others arrived (Natanya and her date were also late, but not so late as Amanda and Justin – we shake our heads at them). When the food was finally brought, my half-size of fettucine alfredo and creamy potato chicken soup proved to be too much for me, and Josh had to finish off the second half. They were all excellent (and reasonably priced), however!
Through with the lunch and the speaking of attractive upper lips (Justin…) and Epik High (Amanda) and general laughter at the new guest from Liberty (Jacob), we left the restaurant to go our separate ways; Josh and I returned to my house for a pickup of scents and movies, then ventured to gather Kita and Mr. Waymon from the house down the street. They looked sharp; Waymon sporting pinstripes and Kita in his straight black tux. Josh and I looked quite sweet in our matching teal colors, and my silver makeup and nails (now not so bumpy after endless repainting moments) looked less out of place with a teal dress than a yellow t-shirt.
There was no time to lose as we climbed back into Josh’s VW Jetta and sped off to Bree’s house – paparazzi met us both at the door and once the rest of the group showed up. We were casually early, but others came just as the limo pulled up and we were literally steaming in our formal attire. The unusual amount of sun in Washington was promising – at least for the girls in dresses. The guys did not fair so well… All said and done, however, we were ready as the car pulled up to take us and our South American driver opened the door to a new experience. My first limo ride!
For most of the ride, I didn’t even feel as if we were driving. We caroused in the back – Bree, Jacob, Natanya, Andi, Kelsey, Nicole, Josh, Kita, Waymon, and I – and played with the cups and drank the communal water… It was a fun ride down to the Botanical Gardens, where we were to get our pictures done. Once there, however, I must admit that there was some tension in finding the photographers. No one knew how to describe where they were, so, as if we were on an unnecessary manhunt through the jungles of flora, people lost patience and began to whine. Luckily, we found ‘Manda, Justin, Ka-chan and the rest of their group relatively shortly, and the photography ensued! The bright glaring sunlight made our pictures more dramatic but also more squinty… oh well, our shining group was once again photographed from every angle (as well as Josh and I, and finally myself alone). Following this quick meet-and-greet, we barely saw Ka-chan at all for the rest of the night. Our group was lost in their own individualized party, and, as we clambered back into the limosine, we were ready to set the rest of the night ablaze.
The driver, who had been sleeping in the back at the Gardens, promptly took us to Bree’s cousins’ Seattle apartment – and proved he was a ninja in disguise along the way. The tragedy of failed air conditioning on one of the rare days of Washington heat had startled us to the point of asking the driver to fix it. So, without any of us noticing, he pulled into the divider on the freeway, ran back, and fixed the controls! We were completely taken by surprise, a few girls even yelling out that he had abandoned the car. We laughed the rest of the way into Seattle.
Once at the apartment, another frustration turned into peals of laughter. At the door, we were to be buzzed up by Bree’s mysterious cousins. Yet the door, at first, would not open. So, finally, Josh pulled hard on the door, yelling at it to open – and it flung open with a crash! Laughing, we sprawled into the hallway and then into the elevator. Just as we thought we were safe, Bree told us. She didn’t know the condo number. She thought what they had said was 410, so we journeyed to floor 4 to look for said condo. We knocked on the door, even noting that it might already be open. A kind old lady stepped out. Seeing us all in formal attire, she asked us what the occassion was, and we, all a little stunned, asked her whether this was the correct apartment. She informed us that we were perhaps mistaken and that there were no 400 apartments – this was room 10 on floor 4. Someone behind us suggested that maybe it was FLOOR 10, and we all collectively smacked ourselves in the face. Once again, a giggling trolley of teenagers trekked back into the elevator. And then we forgot Waymon. Nicole asked, and yet he did not appear. Yet, once on the 10th floor, we found that he had been there all along! Showing off his opportunistic chaps, he had taken an earlier elevator than the rest of the group. Needless to say, our raucous guffaws must have made quite the impression on Bree’s cousins…
They’re awesome apartment, overlooking the whole of Seattle, was stunning from the onset. We ate amazing chicken (which I mistaked for turkey, as is per my idiocy sometimes) and watched the sun set over the city… When tired, we sprawled out over the couch as Bree snapped photos (and consequently caused that cute picture above – thanks, Bree!) It seemed like the day was done, yet the night was just about to begin. Once again, our group was pictured and prodded, and we finally left the condo to cruise the city for about 20 more minutes before finally heading to the big event: prom.
Prom at the Space Needle was pretty amazing; the views were great, the desserts were delicious, and the circular nature of the dance hall was enigmatic and exciting. Unfortunately, it didn’t feel like a dance.
Half the senior class showed up way later than expected, and by then the groove had been taken out of our little clan. I didn’t even dance with Josh once (though we exchanged snide remarks about it) and we were all looking for people that hadn’t shown up yet. We were interested to see Ms. Corso, O’Byrne in formal attire, Goldstein, and other various teachers, but that really didn’t set the mood for dancing. So, instead, we hung around the observation deck and later mosied on down to Seattle Center for what I consider the best part of prom night – rides!!
I was a little tiffed that we weren’t going to experience our last dance (literally and figuratively) in full, but it definitely wasn’t going the way I had expected anyway. So, as it grew later, we headed down to Seattle Center and part of our group spread out to enjoy the little carnival. I didn’t go on the bumper cars, but then we went down the huge inflatable slide (as we did when we were little kids) and around on the carousel, which got some awesome photographic moments. We also played Tekken (I was beat.. and sad) and tried our luck at getting stuffed animal prizes (what failures we are…) In general, once the limo returned to us, we were all tuckered out and ready to fall into a prom-induced sleep.
The limo ride back was somewhat of a blur… a lot of darkness and playing with the neon lights and etcetera. When we returned to Bree’s house, there were cupcakes and other goodies to keep us awake for a few more hours, but once the movie choices got contentious and Josh had to take most people home, I began to fall asleep. The night ended shortly – and with no booze or drugs.
***
The next morning, we gathered around the last vestiges of what was a great party night. We noshed on the leftover foods (which was maybe not the best idea, in retrospect…) and played around because we had woken up 2 hours earlier than was predicted. Lighters were tripped into 6″ long flames (haha, Jacob), phones were messed with, people were sat upon (once again, Jacob)… overall, the aftermath of a great evening had come and gone, and now we were all in a muddle of glittery makeup and hairspray. Overall, it was a good prom.

So, that very long entry was prom 2009 for us. Yippee! Everything worked out a lot better than when we were stressed out and planning it. Anyway, to continue with my posting tradition, here is the item I am grateful for.

I am grateful for…
Psychology textbooks. In which I can get lost, be a nerd, and actually perhaps understand our cognitive functions a little better in the real world.

Check out some more posts featuring my photography.