Masquerade...with pictures! So you'll love it.

It happened. It was wonderful. What, you ask? The amazing Masquerade Ball I fretted over for so long. I ended up painting my mask and forgot to get a picture. *Le Sigh* Oh well. Not that you were overly curious anyway. Since my dress was coppery-gold, I painted half my mask copper and the other half gold, bordered the eyes and edges with silver, and accented by gluing black sequins and red gems along the top. Wow. I really wish I did get a picture. Oh well. I wasn't in the car with the iPhone and that's that. Sarah had the iPhone this time and managed to get a couple pictures of her get-up. I painted "Fanny Dorrit" lips on her (a.k.a. "The Red Queen" lips) and when combined with her black dress and a little top-hat-head-band gave her a singular look. Very playing-card-ish. I liked it. :)

She made her mask out of fabric, then stiffened it and added lace and accents with fabric paint.

Daniel and Abigail went as "Zorro" and his Senorita.

You may ignore the fact that his mask was far too tight for his head. 

 I think she looked like a Spanish rose. :) 

Casey and I were consulting as to how much she looked like a mysterious, alluring, runaway bride when she was dancing The Triumph. (I'll elaborate on that favorite dance later.) Hee-hee, Abigail. Bet you didn't see that one coming, did you? Which, by the way, I was so glad to see you, Casey! :) For the rest of you who wouldn't know, I emailed Casey very late in the game...like two days before the dance...and she ended up being able to get things together and come! And a lovely thing she was too!

Oh dear. I really do wish I'd got a picture of myself. 

But it probably wouldn't have turned out anyhow. 

Pictures of me seldom do. I'm just that way.

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UPDATE

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A dear person I know heard that I hadn't got any pictures and sent me pictures her mum had taken as I danced with her brother. Now you can see my mask. :)

Dancing with Wyatt Fairlead...

However, a friend of mine did get some pictures. (don't you love Facebook? It's like digital highway robbery.) Thanks, Stacey! I'll use some of those photos to fill you in... We got there late--an hour late--but the dancing hadn't begun. Hallelujah! Immediately upon our entry though, they did begin....and didn't end till nearly 11 p.m. YEAH! So. Much. Fun. More than I anticipated! Oh. And for the record, I love dancing indoors in November versus outdoors in July. It's just better for a harem of reasons.

Our callers were a brother-sister team: Stacey and Daniel Bradshaw.

Two of the hostess' gorgeous sisters and their dashing brother...

Michelle...

The gorgeous hostess, Miss Joanna T.

Pretty much the highlight of the evening was getting to meet my best friend's new fella: David. I came home from my SAT to find that she'd done gone and got a guy since I'd last seen her. 

Furthermore, a guy I'd hardly heard of, let alone met!

 I had to inspect him, of course. And he passed muster with flying colors. It helped that he was one of the best dancers there...

Maryanna and her darlin' at the front of the line as we begin the Grand March

The Virginia Reel. I love how color-coordinated this photo is. Purple was definitely "in". That's Anna right there on the left in her beautiful gown. She had her 13th b-day party Saturday as well! Oh yeah. And check out the mask--I painted that on her and you can hardly see she has glasses. I loved how it came out.

The Triumph. Such a hilarious dance. The girl ignores her partner and goes to the next fellow down and sashays with him, and her partner has to chase after her....

..

...and she dances saucily back up the line with the both of them before reeling down with her proper partner. This may very well be my favorite of the reels we dance. :)

Our own dear Tim was rather startling as The Phantom...

Another reel...

As if her first ball with her chap wasn't enough, Maryanna's evening was made by winning the "best female costume award" alongside this inventive fellow we fondly termed "two-face." :) Isn't she gorgeous? And isn't he hilarious?

Further questioned about his outfit, he admitted to having gone to several thrift-stores to find enough black and white pieces, and sewing them together himself. Two-piece shirt, tie, jacket, pants, and shoes. I'm glad he won. Such tenacity in a guy in the category of tailoring deserves an award. I know one lady took a lot of video of the dances, so if she ends up sending it to me, would you like me to post it? :) I was so pleased that the Bradshaw's freshened our classic dance-set with some new dances like "The Postie's Jig" (I know it now, Julia!!) "Oh Johnny, Oh" and "The Ship's Cook." I got to help teach the latter, and it actually worked out really well! I would recommend next time, however, not calling it. It's one of those dances that you just need to learn and then dance silently. :)

Like I said, we didn't finish with the last dance--the exhausting, wonderful, giddy "Snowball" reel--till close to 11. Then we stood about and talked for an hour at least before wandering home with Abigail, the Alexander boys, and ourselves. I wrenched my ankle in the last dance but wouldn't stop to molly-coddle it because I wanted to finish the last dance. It was a little sore upon coming home, but nothing too terrible. I iced it and all's well now. :) ....I was sore the next morning though, and my arms haven't recovered! :D Ahhhh me....I was so ready to dance! I hadn't had a good dose since early February! WAY too long, I say. It will go down as being one of the best dances I've been to. There was almost an even split of guys to girls. I got asked to dance every swingin' dance. With a guy. Which is a new record. So all in all I'd say it was a glorious time. Nothing like some good fun with amazing people!