Lovely Dutch Girl's Quarter Century

Wow.  Now THAT was a party!!

This evening was my friend the Lovely Dutch Girl's 25th birthday party, and unlike when the Tall South African had his earlier this year, she actually planned ahead.  We'd all received invites in the post, there had been numerous reminders, and we were all gearing up for an "Alice in Neverland"-themed party.  And with so many options to choose from for this theme, we were all quite assured that costumes were compulsory.  

The bartenders

I had made plans to meet a friend for tea in the afternoon, and so popped around to her flat at 5 PM to have tea and discuss her plans to potentially move to New York.  Given that I knew I'd have to go straight from hers to the party, I brought the makings of my costume with me, that of a fairy (given that Tinkerbell was a known inhabitant of Neverland).  Mostly because I already had the fairy wings, bought for £1 over a year ago for another party, so I figured if I wore them again I'd be down to 50p a wearing!   

   

As I walked from my friend's place to the party, I saw I had a message from the Irishman, saying, "Going as a "Fairy" eh??? Again I am compelled to ask whether this will be a real fairy, or a "Mean Girls" inspired fairy??? I'm certainly hopeful I see some photos, especially if you go for the latter type of fairy! Either way, I have no doubt you look stunning!!! 

Thank God I didn't encounter any real fairies in the woods, and all that I seemed to encounter was a few more racy thoughts about a certain American, who has a propensity to dress as a fairy, and no doubt a very sexy one.  ;-)"

I'd known that he hadn't written as much this past week because he'd been off in the woods on a family holiday, but it still did make me feel better to hear from him.  It just brightens my day when I do.  

I arrived at the party and was greeted with a glass of champagne from one of the shirtless waiters standing at the entrance, which amazed me.  She'd hired waiters and bouncers?

Oh, but it was about to get even better.  When I made my way into the back garden, the whole place was done up like an enchanted fairy land, with twinkling lights, flickering candles, and little bunnies hidden in the shadows of the garden.  It was absolutely magical, and stunned me with the effort she had obviously gone to for this.  

Neverland

Everyone seemed to have gotten the memo about coming in costume, to the point that many people came up and spoke to me, and it was only upon hearing their voice that I realised who on earth they were.  This of course did lead to the unsettling experience of finding myself talking to people who obviously recognised me, and it taking me a good 10-15 minutes of conversation to figure out who they were and how I knew them.  Of course, at the point I eventually figured it out, I would want to interrupt them and excitedly exclaim that I knew who they were, but turns out you can't actually do that.  

Costumes

After getting stuck in conversation with dull people for a bit, I was delighted when the Young Dutchman and Kellogg Boy arrived, and came and greeted me with such enthusiasm that I knew they were as delighted to see me as I was them.  I had a good time chatting with them and quaffing glasses of champagne spiked with raspberry vodka, although I tried to keep it tame, as I wasn't keen on drinking too much this evening.  I think I've learned enough from these sorts of parties in the past!  

With The Blonde

The Blonde arrived, and although I took a few photos with her, I didn't get much of a chance to catch up with her, as the Tall South African had brought along his girlfriend visiting from Italy, who didn't know anyone, and was obviously somewhat lost.  I was trying my best to look after her, but it was the usual case of a painful introvert dating an extreme extrovert.  Not shy, mind you, but just obviously overwhelmed by the crowds, which the extroverted Tall South African was totally missing.  And it's tough, because with introverts I love and adore like Joel, I have no problem looking after them, but with ones I don't know at all, it's tricky to wonder how much you need to take care of them.  

Birthday cake (and treats!)

My good intentions to try to head home at a reasonable hour proved to be for naught, as suddenly at 1 AM I realised that all of the trains had gone already, so I might as well stay.  The cake had come out, I'd only spilled a little bit of the incredibly staining berries on my all-white outfit (tricky stuff to wear to a party!) and had generally just missed all of the canapés, making me think it had been a bad move to miss dinner.  

The band

Sometime after midnight they made us all retire indoors and the band had to stop playing (yes, there was a band!) and things turned into the usual way these parties go, with very drunk boys hitting on me, as it had reached that point in the evening and they'd had enough alcohol to get up the courage.  One guy in a tiger costume had a go, who when he said hello earlier in the evening, I'd totally forgotten that I'd met him back in June at a dinner party the Lovely Dutch Girl had hosted.  It took me about 20 minutes to place him, where I finally remembered that he'd been funny and charming but had smoked, so that was a no-go.  And now he was drunk and hitting on me, even more of a no-go!

With the Tall South African's Italian girlfriend

Everyone was just generally hanging out trying to decide whether to stay or go, and so I found myself in a bedroom of the house, chatting with Kellogg Boy, the Tall South African, and TSA's Italian girlfriend, who seemed as sweet and lost as ever.  It's funny, because the Tall South African is such a player (cheats on this poor girl all the time), and yet is wonderfully devoted to her whenever she is around.  And yet she is so timid and retiring compared to his bold and outgoing personality, it was a bit of a puzzle.  But who knows what attracts people to each other?  When the chemistry hits, I guess you just go with it.

It was an interesting party

I felt badly about not chatting to the Young Dutchman more, but he seemed to have his hands full trying to hit on two girls at once, and also dealing with the Lovely Dutch Girl, who had disappeared for a while, apparently because she was upset that a guy she'd invited to the party because she liked him had gone home with someone else.  Having met the guy in question, I was surprised that she was giving him a second's thought, but again, I obviously have no idea what attracts people to each other.

Kellogg Boy as the King of Hearts

Finally, I concluded that it was late enough (2:30 AM!) and time to go home.  I made plans with Kellogg Boy, the Tall South African and the Italian girlfriend to meet up for coffee the next day, went and found the Young Dutchman, gave him a kiss and promised him that we'd talk the next day.  And then finally walked out, found a cab, and £15 later was at home in my own bed.  

A hug from Tinkerbell!

A lovely enchanted evening, but now it was time for bed!