Prom!

A lot of the times that I post on here, I post things that people can talk about, or relate to, even if I sometimes write so much about some things that it gets very, very boring for readers (like, I assume nobody read my entire NFL Free Agency post- it was fun to write, but very tedious to research, and I’m sure it was very tedious for everyone to try and get through). This is one of the few exceptions, because it’s something that I’m super, duper excited about: I got to go to prom!

I was unable to go to my own high school’s prom last year- those of you that know me know why, and for those of you that don’t, I’ll just send you here. After all the crap that went down last year, I never anticipated that I would get a chance to have the once-in-a-lifetime experience that prom is. But God works in mysterious ways, I suppose- I began dating a lovely girl named Ariana, who is currently a senior in high school, and her prom, which was on May 14^th, happened to fall after my college finals were over (for perspective, my high school’s prom was the weekend before my finals, and the other school in our district had it the week before that), so I would be able to go! I was unbelievably overjoyed, and really, I still kind of am now, so I, uh, ramble a little bit in this post.

Of course, there was a lot of stress in the lead-up to the event- I first had to accept the fact that we weren’t going to my prom, but my girlfriend’s, so my excitement, and desire to do this and that, had to take a backseat to whatever she wanted. There was drama over my girlfriend’s dress- we had made an agreement prior to her going dress shopping that I wouldn’t be able to see the dress until prom, but I was really anxious to see how amazing she would look, so our friends and family made a concerted effort to keep photos of it from me. There was a minor seating fiasco- I wanted to be closer to the food, but Ariana wanted to be closer to the drinks, so we debated over that for a bit (she won, of course). There was also the matter of dressing up- as someone that thinks wearing jeans is going fancy, I had to build up some major mental resolve to get into “prom” mode. Of course, prior to this whole thing, I had never worn a tuxedo, and I was worried that my tendency to sweat, like, a lot, no matter the temperature, would make wearing a tux beyond miserable (for anyone that cares: it wasn’t all that bad). I also had to settle some of my girlfriend’s fears- that she wouldn’t look pretty, that the whole thing would be a dud, things like that.

Of course, we got through all of the “trials and tribulation,” and the big day came. I got into my tux and felt neither suffocated nor sweaty as hell. I went over to her house to take pictures with my girlfriend and her family, finally getting to see her dress for the first time (with her in it, of course). And boy, let me tell you- she was an absolute knockout. She told me prior to prom, countless times, that she thought the dress made her look like a real princess, but I thought that the line was just cliché. It definitely wasn’t- she was… beyond dreamy. I was way out of her league (I still am, but was especially so on that night).

Anyway.

After some glam shots of the two of us, and another brief photo session at her best friend’s house, her mom brought us to her school to await departure to the dance. Waiting there was just a little bit awkward for me- since I didn’t go to the same high school Ariana did (Hinsdale Central for life!), I knew exactly one person there besides the small group of four that we came with, and that was only because he was from Central. For a quiet person such as myself, having to go around and be introduced to so many people, meaning that I actually had to talk to them, wasn’t all that enjoyable. Thankfully, we didn’t stay at the school long, and soon enough, we were off.

The event was held at the Navy Pier Crystal Garden; while there was nothing in the room that, in my opinion, remotely resembled anything crystal, it sure was a nice place- there were lots of majestic plants, some cool water features, and the setup was really nice, allowing everybody to get to the important things, like the food, drinks, photo booths, and dance floor with relative ease. The food that the staff prepared for us was also pretty good, considering that it was mass produced at a facility that isn’t exactly known for its food.

The dance itself was a bit awkward for me- considering that I’m super quiet and have the dance moves of a wooden board (I’m stiff and don’t move much), that makes some sense- but it was an absolute blast. My girlfriend got me out onto the dance floor for a couple of the more pop-y songs, as well as for both of the slow songs, showing me a dance move or two. We got to take some really funny photos in the photo booth with her and her friends. We went outside to the porch of the Garden and spent some time enjoying the city skyline (while trying not to freeze our butts off in the high 40’s weather while wearing thin dress clothes). We talked about really random things in really loud voices, straining to hear each other above the noise of the music. Best of all, we got to really revel in each other’s company, enjoying a truly once-in-a-lifetime experience with the person that we would most want to experience it with.

We finished the night relaxing next to a bonfire in my backyard, reliving the funny moments of the night while chowing down on s’mores, pizza, and cinnamon sticks, happy to be out of our very-fancy-yet-very-constricting clothes and into sweatpants and sweatshirts. The night didn’t last very long- from the time that I put on my tuxedo to the time that I went to bed, it was maybe 9 hours, tops- but it was a night that I am beyond grateful I got to spend with the best girlfriend in the world, and a night that I will remember for the rest of my life.

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Oh, and here are some pictures, in case you want to see how goofy I look in a tux and how gorgeous my girlfriend looked. Enjoy:

Hand pose!