Aftermath

Hello my darlings, I've missed you all! Ok, well, unfortunately, I'm afraid I don't have much good news to share. I got to D.C. on Saturday night at around 2:30 a.m., woke up at 7 a.m., went downtown to see the "We are One" concert and literally slept on a box on the ground near the reflecting pool. We had to stand waiting that day for about four hours to not lose our spot among a nearly million strong crowd. Not to mention, it was cold. I'm Canadian, and I'm telling you, it was COLD in D.C. all week. So the next day we went to get tickets for the Aretha Franklin concert that they were supposed to give out at 4 p.m. After about two hours of waiting in line, we were informed that they had, on a whim, decided to give them out at 5 a.m. that day instead, despite official info to the contrary. Balls. Ok, so then we walk around and go back to the hotel. On the day of the inauguration, we woke up at 4:30 a.m. and took the shuttle to the most packed subway station I've ever seen, at 5 a.m.! We get downtown, walk forever and manage to find a relatively close spot and I am forced to, once again, sleep on the ground on a garbage bag this time. After nearly losing a few little toes in the cold, we make our way back to the hotel for the ball(s) that night. We get all done up, hair, make-up, the works, and take the subway to the Marriot. As we step out in our ballgowns and tuxes, the first thing we see is a sign that read this:

The American Music Inaugural balls have been cancelled.

That's it. The company had decided two hours prior to the event that the ticket sales were too low and cancelled and checked out of the hotel to avoid people arriving. We got a contact number and called and the lady says, "no that's just a rumour", and then "call me back in 15 minutes". Apparently it was so last minute that some of the organizers were unaware. So professional. You can probably imagine, since I had been looking forward to having one of the best nights of my life how disappointed we were. The only thing that they left was the website address, which they basically closed down right away. You can check it out here:

http://www.americanmusicinauguralballs.com/

Maybe if somebody can actually contact the company, they could tell them that cancellation has two ls.

So we ended up being out of over $2000 and shelling out another $800 to not have to go home as we were. I think the saddest thing was seeing a group of older black women climb excitedly out of their rented limo and crying after a hotel staff member told them the bad news. Broke my heart.

In all, I was usually dirty, always cold, sometimes ripped off. And I had the most wonderful time. The crowd, the generousity, the emotion, the patriotism, it was the most lovely experience I've ever had. I made great friends and was able to see people in the best light possible. I met people from Amsterdam, Paris, Alaska, and Hawaii. The crappiness of it will pass but I was fortunate enough to see the first BIRACIAL president sworn in, and isn't that all that matters?

We met these sweet old women who were supposed to attend the same ball as us and after sharing hugs and stories, one of them looked at me and told me, "Please, dear, don't let disappointment ruin the goodness of the day." So true.

I apologize in advance to everyone who was hoping for celebrity gossip or impressive photos, I hope you still enjoy them. Oh, and Canada, please put a Target and a Cheesecake Factory next door to me when you get the chance.



My back up BCBG runway collection dress. The ruffles were so pretty.


My younger brother, me, my mom, and a family friend.


Oh yeah, so bumping.


A moment in history, wish I could've gotten a picture of the Capitol.


Climbing garbage dumps, it's just what I do.


You always had news cameras in your face. In the tunnel at 6ish a.m.


Sunrise in D.C.


The scene at the subway station at 5:30 a.m.


Access Hollywood reporting live from a really long line.


Maria Menounos wears UGGS. I'm disturbed.


Climbing Don's Johns at the We are One concert.


750,000 strong at the We Are One concert.


The calm before the parade.



Hope I gave you asense of the chaos in D.C. I gotta start preparing myself for 2012!!