finding neverland... in ballston

So, for the last year there's been one party I've heard about non-stop - Jungle Bash. It was touted to be quite the big bash. It almost reached the point where I wondered if it could be anything other than a disappointment, as things tend to be when they've been extensively hyped up - especially over a time period of this length.

Nonetheless, the Fashionista, Sassy (formerly SW), KM, and her friend B put on our finest in animal print attire and willingly made the trip out to Ballston. I loved the Fashionista's comment of "um, I've never actually been out to Ballston?". We'd raided Forever 21 to dress super high class in the best animal print that Pentagon City had to offer. I mean, seriously - when else can you wear shimmery, glittery cheetah print and look so fabulous? Okay, other than Halloween? Yeah, so we decided to own it.

As we walked into the party, it was truly like stepping back in time. I had to tell myself I was not at a themed frat party in undergrad (and if any of the hosts happen to be reading this, that's not a bad thing... I just can't remember the last time I went to a themed party so elaborately themed!). The wallpaper glows under black lights. And it's left up - year round. There were people wearing tiger/cheetah ears, tails... one guy was dressed as Juan Valdez, with bananas around his neck. Sadly, there was no one dressed head-to-toe as a tiger. I guess that guest from last year didn't make a repeat appearance, or perhaps toned it down a bit for this year.

My personal favorite out of the decor hands down was the bean dip llama. I'd heard about this, again, for quite some time. It truly did not disappoint, and it is such a work of art, I absolutely had to include it in here.



The party was actually more of a joint venture, involving the neighboring townhouse as well. They were interconnected via an outdoor tent -- fully covered to keep everyone as shielded from the cold as possible. I must admit I didn't spend too much time in that part of the festivities.

The music was great... not 100% jungle themed, but we were enjoying it. There was not too much dancing going on, but the Fashionista, Sassy, and myself didn't let that keep us from making our own dance floor, with the host joining us as well.

I met all sorts of interesting people. Perhaps it was the liberation of dressing in theme or maybe it was the magic (or sugar) of the jungle juice. I ended up in the kitchen with a group speaking Spanish at one point. The Fashionista and I took numerous pics with this mechanical monkey (hey, he was funny).

I ended up talking a lot of the evening with a guy we'll call Ian, due to his resemblance to Ian Ziering... although I'll also say something maybe also reminded me a smidge of Paul Bettany? Anyhow, I made the mistake of guessing his age at 34. Ooops. I guess I learned that guys can take equal offense to over-shooting the age thing, although he was just joking about that - especially once I explained that is a good thing... anything slightly on either side of the "30 fence". He learned pretty early on that I could dish right back whatever he sent my way. Any guy looking for a doormat should know upfront I'm not the one. I'm pretty good at dishing it these days... as I am at remembering conversations post-party. And he thought I'd forget details.

I did finally have to check out of the bash though, as I noticed Sassy'd begun to fade. I believe my segue to exit may have unintentionally come across as abrupt. I felt guilty though... Sassy'd waited on me post-NYE bash (unsuccessfully since I went MIA) and now again as I was chatting. I hope the next bash, the tables will have turned.

Thankfully, at that point in the evening, the cabs had come out from hiding and were plentiful. Although, we were beginning to doubt our cab driver was going to be able to take us home since he seemed to not understand where our address. We told him the name of our street and he said "oh, that ends at the Capitol", to which we said "um, no, it does not". I liked Sassy's comment about having once had to switch cabs because the cab driver didn't know where he was going. I'm sure he loved us. With a little guidance from yours truly (and I'm sure he quite possibly wanted me to shut up, but whatever), we made it back to our home safe and sound.

And so today, it's bye-bye Neverland. Sigh. Time to go back to reality. I've been paying bills ... doing laundry ... all that boring sorts of stuff. But last night, we definitely got a hiatus from that. My hats are off to the hosts though... when you guys do a theme party, you do it right!