First: the fact that I am, at the age of 33, once again attending school dances is both super weird and extremely fun.

For Kendrick's Winter Formal Masquerade I had all these grand plans of floor-length ball gowns (and I do happen to own one - for no apparent reason, as my life does not typically involve outings to places where ball gowns are required) and sculpted waves and…I don't know, I thought I was really going to go over-the-top fancy, because I never get to go over-the-top fancy and that sounded like it'd be fun.

And then I realized that what's missing in my life lately is a little partying. Like, old-school put-on-a-sexy-dress-and-high-heels-and-stay-out-late partying. I don't want to swan around eating canapés; I just wanna dance. And so I decided to dial down the formality and go with a dress that I could move around in, a hairdo that looked messed-up to start with (so a little extra tousling courtesy of a Pitbull song wouldn't be a big deal), and one hell of a mask.