hey baby - what's your sign?

Saturday it was up and out to meet up with the Fashionista and crew to prepare for the benefit event. The theme was all things mystical... so the task was to transform the room from barren generic white-walled party room into party-ready. F's been prepping for this for quite some time and had painted all sorts of fabulous canvas sheets to decorate the room. Educational too... according to her poster o' love compatibility, I was most compatible with Taurus and then Capricorn. Metallic stars soon were hanging from the ceiling, fortune cookies and glow sticks were strewn across each table, and even an electric disco ball was hanging over the dance floor for the evening.

The event was a blast. Seriously, how often do you get to dress up in sequins with long gloves? (This question is clearly for the ladies...) And, as promised, here you'll see my attire for the evening. Subtle, for sure. The entertainment started to show up as well, including the palm reader/hand writing analyst. Hands down fascinating. After the Fashionista gave us our assignments/timetable of activities (which didn't quite end up being followed, but nice to have an idea of a framework anyhow), I made a beeline back to the analyst. He said that I can hold my own in an argument - I could be effective as either the prosecutor or public defender. I'm very loyal and trusting of my friends, which he said probably got me in trouble when I was younger (remember that very well in preschool!). One thing I thought was really interesting was what he said about my ambition... he said that I am very ambitious and push myself, but that I'm capable of even more. Definitely struck me, as I've really been feeling that way as of late at work. He did tell me he thought I'd be a fun date - hah - but then he was quite a flirt with all the ladies throughout the course of the evening.

The photographer for the event, Margaret Allen, was great. Always nice to have the opportunity to meet other photographers in the area. The event was the first time I've really had my photos on display as well (they were included as a part of the raffle). Other entertainment included a magician, a bellydancer, and of course the DJ.

As things started to wind down a bit, we decided to head over to 4P's before heading home. Clearly (once again) dressed for an Irish bar. It wasn't too long before Sassy and I opted to close out for the evening and head home.

8AM yesterday came early... way too early. But as promised, I threw on my pants and comfy Dogfishead tee and tromped to the metro. I met a really nice girl who's here working as an intern at the White House. I rarely meet chatty folks on the metro. Sadly, wrong day to try to be conversational with me. I tried... I really tried. Finally she apologized from keeping me from my Washingtonian. After exiting the metro and one latte later, I was en route back to the scene of the crime to clean up. Slowly, streamers came down, stars were scattered across the floor, and the astrological-themed decor was piled neatly by the couch.

The repeated question of the morning:

Us: "F, do you want this ______?"
F: "No, when am I going to need this many stars and metallic decorations? And if I need them, what the heck am I going to do with them all in the meantime?"

Good point. Only 2.5 hours later of cleaning and over half a bottle of goo-be-gone, we all were heading out. What a beautiful day it was. Shame we were all too wiped out to care about life beyond our bed. Last night, it was ear plugs, eye mask, and Benadryl for me. More sleep to catch up today, but at least I closed the gap there a bit - even if only a bit.