Formal Night

Once a year the grad students have a formal night, with a three course meal and dancing at a lovely hotel downtown. I went last year, and had a great time with a bunch of friends. Last year we met up beforehand at one girl's apartment, and took cabs over together, and then hung out at a lounge after the event was over.

This year I was excited to go again. I don't get a chance to dress up very often, and I even already had a formal dress (that I bought for Iceland, so my school friends haven't seen it) that I planned to wear. The same girl invited me over to her apartment again, so I assumed things were going to be a lovely repeat of last year.

Except that it didn't go that way. I can try to make the best of it and say I had fun, but really, the whole night was just awkward....

It started with the dress. I put it on, and it didn't fit right. I don't know if it looked bad in Iceland, too, if it did nobody told me! Or maybe it was just the day. Or the light. Or the vagaries of women's psychology and fashion perception. But it made my armpits all crease up funny, and the satin creased right over my butt, and the whole thing was shiny satin so it reflected light from all the curvy bits where curves are not supposed to be... Ack.

So then I was running late, so I just threw on an old black dress I've had since my community college days. I tried to fix my hair, but I don't do anything to my hair normally, so I'm out of practice. I sprayed something on it (which was probably expired, I never use hair products...) and ended up with crunchy, flat hair. Bummer. And my hose had a hole in it, so I went bare-legged even though it was cold.

Then I got to my friend's house, and it turns out that instead of being a group of singles this year, we had this:

Yep, I'm the only single.

Then we had trouble getting a cab, so we walked half a mile to somebody's car. Then they didn't know how to get to the hotel, and I was squashed in the back seat. We arrived for dinner half an hour late, so there wasn't a place setting for me.

Then they had ballroom dancing for a LONG time (last year it was only an hour) and the DJ didn't start the dancing music until 11:30. I don't know how to ballroom dance. But when the DJ finally did come on, all the couples danced with each other. Ack! So awkward...

So I went and sat back down at our table and people-watched, which I actually like doing. Some mildly creepy guy then came up and started a conversation, and just wouldn't leave.

Finally when friends were ready to go, it turns out we couldn't get a cab. The city at bar-closing time is NOT an easy place to flag down a taxi. So we ended up walking around outside trying to get a cab for AN HOUR, at which point I was freezing (no coat, I assumed we'd be taking a cab there and back) and could have walked home in that space of time.

Bugger. The whole thing would have been much easier with a date, or a group of singles. Usually I am just fine with the fact I don't have a boyfriend, but this in particular made me feel like this:

Sigh. Win some, lose some.