P is for Party, Peer Pressure and Paris (the Person and the Place)

This past Australia Day Week(end) has been a blast, absolutely fantastic. My good friend Miss K who lives not far from me had a surprise 18th birthday party organised for her by her mother and boyfriend, which I was invited to, along with a couple of our mutual friends from boarding school.

It was a dress up party; the theme was P. I was originally going to dress in polka dot, because I have a cute little black and white polka dot dress I bought for $20 in Melbourne, but decided to be more imaginative (and glamorous) and so dressed as a Parisian (bonjour) in a simple indigo v-neck singlet, long bright pink skirt, a pink beret and those gorgeous heels (all of which I own.) The heels were surprisingly comfortable for their height; I stood and danced in them all night long (from 6pm til 3am), without getting sore feet or blisters, even the day after.

At least I was the only Parisian there. There were many pirates (both male and female, including Gemini), a handful of policewomen (and man), as well as prisoners, and, among others:

Playmate
Popeye
Post-medieval samurai
Porn star
PJs
Punk(s)
Pharaoh
Pocahontas(es)
Pumpkin
Paris Hilton
Poofter(s) – blokes, that is
Puma turned pussy cat
Pink Ladies (from Grease)
Pakistani cricketer
P plater (I toyed with this idea, but decided against it)
Pacifist
(a) Prince (the boyfriend)
Pimp

…but no prostitutes. The party girl herself was psyched up for another party, and returned to her own house to “prepare,” only to have the door opened by three friends – myself, Gemini, and Miss G – who we hadn’t seen for one, two and three years respectively. Despite another friend mistakenly calling K to tell her that she was sorry she couldn’t make the party, she was completely surprised – and somewhat shocked – to open the door to see us, and some 40 other friends, mostly local school friends but some coming from as far as Sydney. Sara was to come, but was unfortunately struck down by laryngitis.

We dressed her playing pass the parcel (an apt game for a p-themed party, no?) – every layer revealed an article of clothing, accessory or makeup that someone had to dress her in, which included gumboots, a beautiful red dress (she was a princess of sorts), a tiara, a purple shawl, a pink birthday girl sash, lipstick (messily and playfully applied all around her lips by a boy), eye shadow, nail polish (hurriedly applied by “Paris Hilton”), a poodle handbag, and a blue feather boa.

It was a bit awkward in the beginning, because we didn’t know anyone, but K’s boyfriend introduced us, and we got along pretty well with her friends from Sydney, and as the night grew late, we met more and more people. K’s friend D was really cute, and so nice to me – made me get up and dance (which I thoroughly enjoyed, and he knew it, though I wouldn’t admit it), and introduced me to strangers; wish I had as much self-confidence. Charming guy – at least he respected my decision not to drink (alcohol), unlike his sister, who was a wonderful outgoing girl and kept trying to get me to have a drink (but nicely.) I was one of two sober people – the other was Miss G, who doesn’t like to – but I didn’t feel like I was missing out; I think I probably had a better time without it. U (from Sydney) was also pretty considerate about my decision – we got on really well, and according to everyone (no kidding, everyone) he really liked me, which was sweet, but when everyone was urging me to hook up with him it felt a bit weird and uncomfortable; too much like peer pressure and not enough like something I wanted to do. It didn’t help that K’s younger brother A was trying to set me up with one of his friends throughout the night. At one stage, most people coupled up and wandered off into the darkness and I was the only girl left dancing with a couple of boys (T – the p plater – was a great dancer; very entertaining.) At some stage, the Eagles was put on the stereo, and we all started to sing along.

Early in the morning, people starting moving inside with the intention of playing poker, which never eventuated because of the lack of a set. People started playing the piano (some of them well, others not so), and in K’s room people were laid out on the floor, someone was playing the guitar and at some stage we all started singing along to whatever songs struck our fancy.

Someone threw up in the lounge room – wasn’t there to see it – and after that we started to head off to bed, but not to sleep. K, Gemini and I stayed up talking in her room, which is something we haven’t done for ages. Around 4 o’clock, Gemini and I drifted off to sleep – G had to catch a bus early in the morning – while K mucked around with some of her other friends, and got about an hour of sleep at 6am.

I stayed the next night, along with K’s brother’s friend T (the p plater.) Everybody left before lunchtime, so K, her bf, two other friends and I went to McDonalds for lunch, because we are oh so healthy. In the afternoon we napped, none of us having more than a few hours’ sleep. That night we went out for dinner, driving to four restaurants (three of them closed and one of them booked out) before settling on a lovely little café that served great food. We rented a DVD for us girls to watch – Amazing Grace, because Knocked Up was all rented out – which is a really great film that eventually only I stayed up to watch, because K’s mother realised she had already seen it, and K was beyond tired. It’s a film about slavery in 17th century Britain, and the efforts to abolish slavery. Really sad, but has a very uplifting ending.

Speaking of enjoyable films – I saw Juno on Saturday, before the party, which I absolutely loved, and 27 Dresses with K on Monday, which was a great feel good chick flick; funny, bitchy (they totally should have made more of the hardware shop scene between the sisters, but I loved the slideshow), and sweet. Katherine Heigl is both gorgeous and fantastic and co-star James Marsden is equally wonderful and so good looking. I really have to see Enchanted now (I mean, James Marsden and McDreamy? What’s not to love?)

I am such a hopeless romantic.

Juno is a terrific film, which I highly recommend. The trailer really doesn’t make it as intriguing as it should. Ellen Page is fantastic as Juno, a sixteen year old with an alternative taste in music beyond her years who doesn’t give a shit about what other people think and falls pregnant to best friend Paul (Michael Cera), who genuinely cares for her. She goes through the process of finding adoptive parents, after being unable to go through with an abortion, but someone gets cold feet, and along the way Juno tries to figure out what love really is. It’s funny, moving and upbeat, carried more by the weight of the performance of the leads than the story itself. The soundtrack, too, is one of the best I have heard in a while, because it goes with the film; the songs are quirky tales of friendship, romance and life, with amusing lyrics and cheerful tunes.

The best thing I can say about the party – or about the whole weekend – is that I don’t regret anything I did or didn’t do. I had the most terrific time, and it was wonderful to see my friends again and meet K’s friends, all of whom are great people.

x
Just a girl