TOGA!

Alex and I were invited to a Toga party last weekend. I just KNEW that everyone would go out and buy fancy shmancy toga fabrics at the el cheapo ErQi Square (pron Archie - where there are a ton of vendors who make clothes, though we bought our coats in Kaifaqu since the people at ErQi whom all the expats go to have started to hike their prices).

Anyway - I told Alex how everyone was going to look like Greek gods and goddesses, and we were just going in bed sheets! But Alex insisted that this was TOGA a la Animal House, and convinced me to wear the bed sheet with cows and pigs on it that Lucia uses for her nap time at school. He had wanted to wear that one, but since it is only a twin sheet size, it didn't fit him. Alex had to settle for the purple print sheet that looks more like wallpaper from our as yet unused Queen sized guest bed upstairs. We completed our ensembles with some clipped foliage off our gifted Advent wreath and some of the out-of-control plants the landlords gave us when we first arrived.

We had such an awesome time! It was true that pretty much everyone went out and bought Toga wear (Ha! I was RIGHT!), but it was also true that no one cared what we looked like. There was beer bonging (yes, that's right - watching people who haven't beer bonged since college going nuts was AWESOME!), dancing on the tables, and lots of food, drink, and fun. I guess I have forgotten what it is like to really party because I told our ayi that we would be home around 10:30, and she said 11 would be okay. When it got to 11 at the party - time FLEW by - we texted the driver to call her and ask if she could stay later... she said fine, and we didn't get home till 1:30. Oh well! We paid her twice what we normally do by the hour, and she seemed happy enough.

Unfortunately for me, the girls still woke up at 5:40 am, and since I had downed a ton of water before going to bed, I was feeling quite a bit better than Alex. So being the extraordinarily sweet wife that I am :-), I let Alex sleep until 10:30 and kept the girls entertained and relatively quiet. Actually, I felt remarkably good considering the previous night, and started whipping up the dessert we made for the Progressive Dinner we had with our friends later that night (subject of another blog!).

Here are some pics to commemorate the event! I won't put on the videos of beer bonging friends, but suffice it to say that I DO have them!!


Andrea and Kristen - she is the one who organizes the Orphanage Volunteers:

From Blog All Three

Here I am with the girls - Bri, Jenny, me, and Meg:

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Alex's foliage looked like Dumbo ears or umbrellas (a fact that got made fun of several times that night!):

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You Go Elva & Alan! Who knew you have three kids in middle school?

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Ahhh Bri... don't let Ella read this blog!

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Needless to say, a good time was had by all!