Last week Mister and I attended the Edwardian Ball in L.A. I can honestly say that day was the first time I’ve ever uttered the words, “Don’t wanna be late for the ball!”
This all came about because I said Yes. My friend Gwendelyn invited us to go and the idea seemed just crazy enough to push me a little sideways. I’m trying to be aware that such moments are opportunities, if I only get out of my way and explore them. Hence the Yes.
Costuming was in order, friends. The universe was dialed up when I looked for a dress, I tell ya, as I found a second-hand, perfect-color, happened-to-fit dress the week before. It was rather nondescript, so I set to jazzing it up. We found some of Mister’s pieces at a costume shop, where I also rented the fabulous head piece shown above. Mister borrowed a hat from our sweet friends over at FlipBookIt and his look was done. We were set.
I knew Gwendelyn would come up with something amazing, but I didn’t have a clue as to what she had planned. When Mister and I saw her getting out of her ride at Hollywood’s Fonda Theatre, we were duly impressed. Her fella – Chad – was none too shabby his own self.
The Ball itself was a spectacular, gorgeous, colorful spectacle of a spectacu-larrrrrr! The sold-out event featured over-the-top and under-the-radar costumes, covering a wide variety of themes. As I understand it, the Edwardian Ball was started by members of Rosin Coven with the idea of putting on an event aligned with Edward Gorey-like styles, as well as re-imagined Edwardian period costumes.
The soiree started in San Francisco, then began popping up in Los Angeles as well. This marked the 7th year in Hollywood. Lucky for us, the Fonda Theatre has a rooftop patio. More than once we found ourselves up there, taking the airs…
There were loads of steampunk aficionados…
And quite a few dapper dans…
There was live music…
And other forms of live entertainment, too…
Now I have to tell you something. I knew that Mister’s borrowed hat would be a hit. But I had no idea he’d be the belle of the ball! That guy posed for more pictures than I could count, and people just kept asking. To his credit, he did hand out our friends’ FlipBookIt bid-ness cards and he smiled and obliged each and every eager photographer. It was a lot of fun to watch, actually. And y’all – he really did look great…
Just as we were calling it a night and readying to leave, we came upon a goblin.
He asked me for a terrible story, in 12 words. Gwendelyn suggested a topic and I said, “I don’t wanna talk about her.” The goblin said, “6 more words.” I was mum. Mister then said, “She’s not a very nice person.” 12 words. At that, the goblin presented me with the currency shown below. He told me I could now place all the bad feelings about the barely-mentioned person in the currency and that they’d stay there. I thought that was pretty cool. I plan to keep it in my desk. I also plan to put any other bad feelings I have into that currency. Hope it works.
I’m so grateful Gwendelyn thought to ask us to join her at the Edwardian Ball. I’m so grateful I said yes. I don’t know if I’ll ever go again, but it sure was fun this time. And hey – the seats even held my initials. I think it was meant to be…
