Weekend Roundup: I Love the Nightlife

This was a strange, fun weekend! On Friday night, I helped throw a party at work to celebrate anniversaries on my team. I’ll share more details soon, but it was a lot of fun. I looked like this at 6:30pm…

…and caught a ride home soon after. So, the rest of the night rainy night was pretty quiet after that.

On Saturday morning, I left early for a long overdue hair appointment in Dogpatch. I hadn’t been since before Japan. Great time catching up with my hairdresser and the latest fashion magazines. A couple errands while I had the car out and then home for lunch. Pretty soon, it was time to get ready for the Edwardian Ball.

Margaret invited us to this famous local event. It’s not the kind of Edwardian you’re thinking of. The ball is inspired by Edward Gorey, with a mix of Victorian, French court fashion, flapper, steampunk and – well – all sorts of styles. Very San Francisco. Rob and I fortunately had enough materials on hand to create our outfits. I wore a floor-length gray ball gown skirt with hidden pockets that I’ve had forever, with a black button up shirt, wide belt and gloves. Lots of jewelry, makeup and accessories to complete the look:

Bus across town to have dinner with Margaret and Sean before the party. Delicious sushi at Wasabi & Ginger, and not too many strange looks at our attire. From there, we walked to the Regency Ballroom. I had never been to this 100 year old venue before and just loved it! It’s so easy to imagine elegant galas at the space so long ago, although it’s mostly used for rock concerts these days:

Different musical and acrobatic acts were appearing on the main stage. Downstairs, there was a vendor fair with all sorts of hats and elaborate costumes for sale. Upstairs, a “museum” of curiosities was on display including a man who played a shovel, an elaborate machine made of wood and a faux stuffed bear staged for photos:

For all the extensive detail going in to the event, the planners didn’t seem to spend much time finding ways to make it fun. Much of the entertainment was intentionally morose-themed and extras, like the photobooth, all seemed to come with steep extra costs. Other balls such as the Academy of Sciences Big Bang have all sorts of little hidden freebies that make the night special. To be fair, this wasn’t exactly my scene, so maybe my perspective was skewed. It was certainly impressive seeing everyone so dressed up, though!

Rob and I watched the performance of an Edward Gorey tale on stage and danced a final waltz before catching a cab home at 12:30.

Lazy morning on Sunday. The rain returned overnight and we had a quiet breakfast with the paper. I spent a good amount of time cleaning house and we walked downtown briefly to pick up my cell phone at work and visit a couple shops. We braved the cold rain in the evening for dinner at Fondue Cowboy with Joel and Alison! A fantastic meal with two different cheese fondues and a chili chocolate for dessert: