Imagining a glamorous evening, I picked out a nice cocktail dress and heels for the event. Then, at the beginning of this week, I talked to my friend Kathee about what I'd be wearing and she looked at me in horror and said, "Oh, no. No, no, no. You can't go in that. You have to get your disco on." I was skeptical. It said nowhere on the invitation that it was a costume party. And then there's the fact that Toby and I just don't do costume halfway. Anyone who saw us as Spiderman (me) or Miss Piggy (Toby) in college, or really anyone who has gotten our Christmas cards in the past few years, knows that we love a good costume party. But I pictured myself walking in and having an Elle moment from Legally Blonde. It took Kathee actually emailing me photos from last year's 80's event before I was convinced that we needed a run to the vintage store.
A little something about the vintage stores in L.A.: They kick ass. Seriously. You don't get better vintage than this. The one Toby went to in Hollywood is three stories high and is more likely to serve up clothing for a 70's era movie than a costume party. He came home in polyester bellbottoms and a tight polyester shirt. I opted for sequins in a silver dress with disco ball earings. I was feeling like my outfit didn't quite measure up to Toby's, when my friend Jane pulled out her thigh-high, shiny, pink platform boots. In a size 6. They were too good to be true. I knew that even though I might kill myself, I had to wear them.
(Can we take a moment here to just appreciate the beauty of those boots? Pretty much everyone did. I had at least 50 people come up to me in awe of the boots. They were totally speechless when I then told them that not only are they my friend's for-real-not-costume boots, but that she wears them while dancing around a pole for her S-factor classes. And she has never broken her ankle.)
So anyway, back to the party. Toby and I walked over to the CBS studios to find ourselves in a studio full of people dressed in 70's attire (phew), eating sushi, drinking margaritas, and shopping around the silent auction. The silent auction was an impressive display of hundreds of items, ranging from a rental house in France to a tour of Jay Leno's car collection (which went for 3x the price of the house in France. There's no accounting for taste.) to gift certificates for local restaurants. I wandered around considering bids when suddenly I saw a bidding sheet for the camp Evie has been begging to go to for the last month. It's a two-week long theater camp that ends with a the campers putting on a play. It sounded wonderful, but with a price tag of $575 for two weeks, we had told Evie no way. And there it was, an empty sheet, starting at less than $100. Suddenly I became a dead serious silent auctioner. I strategized with friends on the best plan and then stayed put for the last half hour of the bidding, trying to look intimidating towards anyone who came near, which is actually a lot easier to do when you're five inches taller than usual. It paid off. Evie will now be going to theater camp, for a total price of $175, and the money actually doesn't even go to the camp but is a direct donation to the school. It was so much fun to tell her about it the next morning.
After the auction, we headed out to the dinner buffet and tables, which were situated in what looked like a mid-western neighborhood street. How appropriate that we'd be having a dance party in the That 70's Show neighborhood. And in another reminder that we live in the heart of the film industry, throughout dinner, we watched the expertly-made, hilarious film shorts on the parent volunteers who had contributed to the events. The film clips were impressive, but even more impressive was the amount of work that the parents had put into the event to raise money for a school that's about to face California's budgeting axe. Los Angeles itself isn't laid out in the ideal way to form strong communities, but I couldn't help thinking last night that there are certainly people here working really hard to make this school community as strong as possible.
At the end of the evening, I pulled off my boots and we hit the dance floor, where DJ Richard Blade played some great '70s tunes. It was so much fun to be out dancing with friends on a beautiful spring evening. And for a good cause to boot. (Sorry, pun intended.)
3 comments:
What a cool story - and those BOOTS! Amazing. I am in awe that you could walk in them. Toby's getup reminds me of Elvis at the Halloween party lo those many years ago. You guys really know how to do costumes! : ) meg
Wow! Hahahahahahah. You really should have feathered your hair, but I guess everyone was busy staring at your feet anway. Toby looks gorgeous too. Sound like a very fun time!
...and I might add that your Christmas card is by far the best one I've ever received. One perk about LA are all the silent auctions and the amazing swag you can get for such a great price and a good cause. They are my new hobby. If that sounds shallow, just remember most auction items are donated, so the money goes directly to the school/cause (and it's tax deductible).
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