prom-19

Recently, my friend Nhan rented out a restaurant for her birthday, and to make the occasion extra special, she added a theme: prom. Well, who wouldn’t like that — aside from Christian on Project Runway? My friends and I happily poured ourselves into the appropriate outfits, which in this case meant tuxes for the gents and ’80s dresses for ladies. Sadly, I had no silly ruffled shirt to accompany my tux; so I had to cheese myself out in a different way: slicked back hair. It was the first time I had endeavored to helmet-ize my hitherto gorgeous locks, and I’m happy to say the effect was perfect.
Once all gussied up, we all strolled out of the apartment looking like 1985’s toast of the town, and as we headed over to the prom, we laughed that we should go somewhere later where we’d be the only ones dressed up in costumes — just to see people’s reactions. Little did we realize that would happen… AT THE PARTY.


Yes, asides from exactly two other people wearing silly tuxes (one of whom was our friend anyway), everyone else at the party was literally dressed up as if they were actually going to a real prom!!! (SoCal style, which means semi-formal, not black tie.) Don’t get me wrong —  all the guests looked very nice. The girls had lovely dresses on, and the guys were in shirt-and-tie, but PEOPLE, it’s a party theme! We’re not actually re-living the prom. HAVE FUN WITH IT.
Nevertheless, even though most everyone punked out on the costume side of things, the party was still great fun. Nhan’s sister catered it and served up a delicious meal (I’m not just saying that. It really was deeee-lish, as they say), and afterwards, there was plenty of jovial dancing and whatnot. Oh, and did I mention the open bar? ‘Twas an evening full of never ending vodka tonics for me, and that always means a good time. And now, photos:

prom-01
Me mugging for the camera, as usual.

prom-02
Two of my fellow prom-goers: Laura and J-Unit. We’re all looking quite dapper, I might add.

prom-17
My new look?

prom-18
Laura severely injures her finger whilst being so unwise as to actually touch my brittle hair.

prom-03
My friend Jenny experiences the tactile pleasures of my lapel while I simply SMOLDER.

prom-05
That’s Nhan, the birthday girl. And to the right is Ivan, an old friend of ours, who, despite claiming to have no political ambitions whatsoever, will probably be the mayor of Los Angeles in about twenty years. I apologize in advance if association with this blog causes mild scandal.

prom-13
Jenny and Laura show off their mighty prom dresses.

prom-14
We then force Nhan and the future mayor of Los Angeles to share a moment under the arch.

prom-15
Awwww. They’re the same size!

prom-09
Nhan’s sister served panna cotta for dessert. Needless to say, I tore right into it. (And yes, it was quite excellent)

prom-12
The crowd. As you can see —  not a lot of tuxes (read: NONE).

prom-04
J-Unit and Laura have a sudden burst of romantic intensity…

prom-06
…which inevitably leads to this.

prom-07
“Wow! I did THAT on camera? And it’s going on the Internet?”

prom-08
“Thanks for making us look like whores, B-Side.”

prom-25
Oh here’s a surprise. Nhan’s elected Prom Queen. Didn’t see THAT coming! I guess this is what it must have felt like going to the Tammany Hall PROM.

prom-10
Seriously, he’s going to be our next mayor. He’s attending Harvard Law, you know…

prom-11
And he has dimples! HOW COULD HE NOT BE ELECTED?

prom-16
“And that’s why we need to improve our schools and give our children a better shot at a healthy tomorrow. If you elect me, I pledge to increase spending on inner-city educational systems and…”

prom-24
Nhan squeals with joy when she realizes that while she may be Prom Queen, she’s standing with THE FUTURE MAYOR OF LOS ANGELES.

prom-20
Drunkenness and whatnot.

prom-23
I don’t know who these people are or how they got on my camera, but they seem to be quite charming.

prom-22
I feel so honored to be standing here.

prom-21
WELL, LOOK WHO’S THE PROM KING.
(Not me. I just stole this off some guy.)