A Black Tie Affair

One of the first things I heard about after arriving here in St. Etienne was the black tie party that Amanda, Marryn, and Kathleen were about to throw. This particular party had a twist. A friend of the girls, Tyler, a fellow southerner, who has been really welcoming to me, just turned 25! So this black tie event was really a celebration.  Everyone put on one of their nicer outfits and got together for a tremendous birthday soiree.  

As many of you already know I love a good excuse to spend a little more time in front of the mirror, so this party was highly anticipated by me! By Friday when Marryn and I met around 2:00 to run a few errands, I was already showered and had a bag of potential outfits with me.  Naturally, I didn't think/care about how heavy my bag would be by the end of the day(I now know to think/care about such things). Below is a picture of me walking into the apartment around 6:30.

Fewf!

Please notice my new bag(The big greenish, brown one on the left), I got it from H&M on one of our many, very important errands. This bag proved to be useful immediately.  I forgot to bring a grocery bag (here you have to pay for the plastic ones) so I pulled it out to hold my two bottles of wine and two bottles of Orange juice. 

The future tenants of the bag, and the real reason it was purchased are shown below:

This fountain pen cost me about 2 euros, and hurts my fingers a lot. I use it every chance I get, I will be purchasing a lot more of these before I leave, it's just too cool and easily attained.

The books that I probably should be reading now instead of updating the 'ol blog. 

                  

This is Emily, Kathleen, and Amy striking a pose for me at the party. Unluckily, I caught Kathleen just after she took off her very elegant flannel shirt that she was using as a wrap to keep her warm in the cold apartment (sorry Kathleen). 

Amanda and Kathleen

Amanda and I

Now, for the most amazing part of the night....

As a birthday present to Tyler, Amy decided to go with a quite extraordinary performance. I'm not sure how or where she learned to SWALLOW FIRE, but I'm thinking I might need to learn now.

Incroyable!