The Gala

My mother is the Executive Director of the Anne Arundel County Chamber of Commerce. It's the perfect job for her, since it mainly seems to require schmoozing. Every year they have the 'Chamber Gala', and this year The Fran requested our presence. Because it was a black-tie event, the first order of business was figuring out what dress to wear. I didn't want to waste money on a new dress, so I went with another approach. My sister and I handed down all of our prom/homecoming dresses from high school on to our younger cousin, so we called to get them back. It was a blast trying on all those sparkly and fancy dresses, and surprisingly they all fit (for the most part). Leo enjoyed the parade of dresses and helped me pick out the winner, my sister's senior prom dress, a blue sequined gown with slits up the sides. Since it was backless I couldn't wear a bra, but the dress was so heavy it was pushing the girls down. I went out and bought the adhesive tape cups that are supposed to hold your boobs up. It was hilarious trying to put them on, first of all the ones I bought were way too big, so I had to trim them a little. Then half-way through the night they started falling off... not so adhesive after all, but they got me through the night ok. I just had to keep running to the ladies room to press them back on and into place. Sexy huh?

My sister and I spent the day of the Gala at the Fila Academy, which is a Paul Mitchell cosmotology school. We had our hair and make-up done, which took FOREVER but was fun. When we were finished and looked in the mirror, we were horrified to see this super fancy hair and tons of eye make-up, but realized it was really the fact that it was paired with t-shirts and sweatpants that made us look so ridiculous. Once I got home and put on the dress and shoes, I was happy with the overall look. Leo looked very handsome in his dark gray suit and newly shaved face.
As we arrived, they had a red carpet set up, and a photographer taking pictures of each incoming couple. We got there a little late (surprise) and my mother was already in full Fran mode, running around talking to everyone, introducing people... so Leo just made sure she always had a drink in her hand. She had a freakin blast. We had dinner, there were some boring awards, and then the band (Oracle) started. The band was really good, but they were funny. It was a very ethnically diverse band, but the music they played was completely American. An Asian violinist rocking out Charlie Daniels Band... very fun. There were gaming tables set up, and we were given fake money to gamble with, at the end you would take your winnings and buy raffle tickets. Everyone wanted to win the Southwest Airline tickets, or the basket filled with restaurant gift certificates... but it didn't work out that way. Leo won an Avon basket filled with lavender bath and beauty products and I won car wax... from my father's auto parts store.

By the end of the night I was a little tipsy, my feet were killing me, and getting out the door was taking entirely too long. Leo and I went home, took off our fancy clothes, and enjoyed the rest of our evening.

WTMD Party Woo-Hoo

WTMD is a superb radio station. Unless you like to listen to the same Top 40 shit day in and day out. Local musicians, unsigned artists, stuff that won't get played anywhere else. Lots of weird folk music too, but that keeps it interesting. Anyway, they just celebrated their 5th anniversary, and we (Angela, Leo, Krystin, Michele) attended the festivities.

The party was held at the Baltimore Museum of Industry, which none of us native Baltimorons (not counting the Colombian) had ever visited. It was a really cool place, with that awesome old building smell and a kind of warehousey feel. There were lots of cool antiques and a lot of creepy old stuff too. I'd recommend a visit.

We paid $25 per ticket, so we really weren't expecting anything fancy, but they had an open bar (wine and beer) which was a lovely surprise. They also had heavy appetizers which were DELICIOUS. Crab dip, assorted cheeses, meatballs, sandwiches, you get the idea. Problem was, they had several food stations open, but at no point did any kind of coherent line form. Normally when people see a buffet they tend to move in either a clockwise or counterclockwise fashion. Not here. People would just push their way up to the front... and stand there. Looking helplessly around them at the other boneheads who were standing there. It was ridiculous.

There were two highlights of the evening for me, one being Charm City Cakes! The whole gang from CCC was there, with the Ace of Cakes film crew tagging along behind. Duff is not only my hero, but a very short, wee little man. Like a furry little lepruchan. Seriously, he was like my height. He and his friends/fellow bakers stuck together all night, but we couldn't resist being annoying and asking for a picture. He politely oblidged, but you could tell they weren't into mingling with anyone other than themselves. Oh well. Can't blame them. WTMD had made a huge deal about the cake, about how they didn't know what it was going to look like and it would be a big unveiling. I'll admit I was a little disappointed when I saw it. Green, several tiers, some cutesy flowers... it just wasn't really anything SPECIAL. It wasn't what I was expecting from Charm City. It was tasty though, once you got past the fondant and dug into the good stuff. Very tasty.

Eva Costello was the opening act, and she is adorable. She's this tiny little black chick with long hair and bare feet.. who is backed by a band made up entirely of nerdy white guys... who were rocking out. It was hilarious. She was great, and hung out the rest of the night mingling with everyone. Luckily when I ran into her later than night in the bathroom, she had shoes on. Some random chick played the middle set but we were busy harrassing the bakers and didn't really listen to her. Then.. what we had been waiting for: Ryan Shaw. He was awesome. Poofy dreadlocked ponytail paired with a vest and tie. He put on an amazing show. Highlights included a cover of Marley's Redemption Song, and of course my favorite Nobody.

As we were leaving we ran into an old friend from back in the day, which was just the perfect ending to a great evening out. Can't wait to do it next year.