Monday, February 2, 2009

From Russia With Love

I have good news! I seem to be back to normal, although what qualifies as “normal” is still up for debate! Either that or I’ve accepted the insanity which is my life. Actually, I prefer this explanation more, since I’ve actually been enjoying all the strangeness that has been going on.

One of the strange things that has been happening started a few weeks ago, when I was feeling somewhat depressed and rather pessimistic about life. As such, I decided that I was just going to focus on my academic work this year, and that fun would be optional. I would read Freud on Saturday nights and get 98% for everything and if I didn’t see a single movie or go to any parties, that was just fine! (I think that at this point I should point out that when I decided this, I was having a REALLY bad day. I don’t usually decide to forgo fun with friends because of petty things. I just was feeling very pessimistic). Anyway, no sooner had I decided this, then Duncan sms’ed me to organize going to movies, and so I begrudgingly accepted that life wasn’t really that bad. Things picked up the next week as well though, when I was invited to two 21sts, and ended up going for coffee with a variety of friends. The momentum has continued, and I now have at least one activity/outing/party every weekend for the next month and a half! I’m not complaining though!

One of the 21st’s was on Saturday night. I was invited by Chris, who needed a date/partner/plus-one to his friend, Amy’s party. The theme was “Shipwreck: How did you wash up?”, and as Chris didn’t want to be a pirate (and wanted to wear shoes), he decided that we should go as James Bond and one of the Bond Girls. Our cover story was that James was supposed to assassinate a Russian president (why is it always a Russian president?) on his presidential yacht, but that he had to escape off the yacht – and very nicely took me with him (because he’s such a gentleman and not because of any ulterior motives). I couldn’t complain – I’ve dressed up as a pirate at least twice, and I’d far rather wear a cocktail dress and heels! So, I straightened my hair, put on my little black dress (and added some fake seaweed to my hair and a miniature fake lobster to my dress) and even put on some make-up! And, as part of my “20 Firsts” list, you will be happy to hear that I managed to apply eyeliner, all by myself, for the first time ever! It was actually surprisingly easy, and I’m now in the same league as the emo boys!

Back to the party though! Chris fetched me, in his swanky new car (a Corsa, not an Aston Martin) and we set off to Greenside, navigated by his GPS, Miss Moneypenny (we actually named her last year, way before the party) and wondering whether we would be ridiculously over-dressed by comparison to all the people who would be dressed as pirates! I was suitably impressed with how dapper Chris looked in his James Bond outfit though, and I was feeling rather sexy (I had to – Bond girls don’t feel anything other than sexy all the time). Upon our arrival at the party we were ushered into the marquee that had been set up next to Amy’s lounge, and we were both amazed at the décor – Amy’s dad had covered the floor in building sand, so that it really was like a beach, and the walls were hung with fishing nets and fake fish, as well as fairy lights! There were some pretty impressive costumes too, aside from the usual pirates – Amy herself was wearing a dress which wouldn’t look out of place in Marie Antoinette’s wardrobe, while her boyfriend was dressed as an alien (space-ship wreck) and her older brother was wandering around dressed as SpongeBob!



Chris in James Bond mode
Having found a few other people who Chris knew, we found ourselves a table and proceeded to work our way through the Nik-Naks before the speeches started. Chris and I spent the rest of the evening chatting to the people at our table, pouring sand out of our shoes (not fun in stiletto heels), avoiding the punch (which was a lethal combination of every alcoholic beverage known to man, including peach schnapps) and watching the girls at our table getting progressively more drunk as the evening progressed due to the punch. I too fell victim to this concoction, as Amy decided that since Chris refused to drink because he was driving, I would have to drink Chris’ quota of punch. Luckily, after getting me to drink half a cup of the stuff, she was soon distracted and set off to get a few of her other friends wasted!




Even though I didn’t know anyone else there, the party was a lot of fun – especially with someone as suave as James Bond as my partner! Chris and I were quite amazed that by the time we had eaten dessert and done a fair bit of dancing, it was past 12:30pm – by which time my feet were aching and I had lost my voice. It was at that point that we made our exit – before Amy could ply me with any more punch or before Chris’ mom started to worry.

I’m now seriously considering having a James Bond themed dinner party sometime soon, for no particular reason! But many thanks to Chris for a very enjoyable evening, and for very kindly donating the lobster that he bought me to my kitten, which has spent hours playing with it!


Chris' redecorated tie.

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