Party Time

So last night, I went to a big party. One of at least five evites I'd received in the past couple weeks, I wrote down the day and time in my calendar, then moved on with life. Not sure if it was going to be a dressy affair or a casual night, I settled on wearing an understated black outfit with a pair of heels that are cute but not too uncomfortable--basically, my equivalent of what Sue Grafton fans will recognize as Kinsey's all-purpose black dress.

Before I even made it inside the building, I realized I should have read the evite more carefully. Event staff were busy inflating a bouncy-house-like cushion around a mechanical bull at the edge of the parking lot. The sidewalk leading the the front entrance was strewn with hay. A small army of barrel-shaped barbecues rimmed the buffet line, which was stacked with paper plates. And then I went inside.

Although in the presence of a totally warm and welcoming crowd, I no longer felt comfy in my all-purpose party outfit. The only one not wearing a cowboy hat and boots, I lamented the fact that I didn't even have a bandanna to wrap stage-coach-robber-style around my neck.

I wasn't the only one who didn't dress to the theme, however. Out of the approximately three hundred people at the party, I counted at least four others (hey, Gina! Steven! Mark! Chris!) who wore normal clothes. And the food was delicious! Next time, though, I'll scroll all the way down, taking time to read the whole evite.

Update: Found some video footage of the party.