An Evening in Paris

Paris seems to have this magically and enchanted aroma with its name. Apparently a place filled with romanticism, beautiful sights and a foreign language I've learned to love. The Eiffel Tower is a stable in society, shaping people's minds in order for them to recognize that that tower only belongs in Paris. It may often be replicated to add glamour or an affect on people's perception, and for a day - it did exactly that. Being a high school senior, graduation is the pinnacle and utmost climax of any event in the past five years. I knew it was supposed to be a time of excitement and glitz, but little did I know the immensity of it all. Things apparently never seem to seize in in my mind, until the due date or the day of - and grad was no exception. I had the dress, the party bus, the hair appointment, the make-up artist, the brand new shoes and my camera ready. But it never sank in until I was all done up, my hair in an up-do, my dress corseted on, my gold shoes placed on each foot and my jewelery in place. Walking down the staircase from my room to the foyer, simply was a moment that made me think twice about what I was about to embark on. The party bus waiting outside with the infamous "Waikiki" phrase slowly easing my worries. This was it.



Arriving in Queen Elizabeth Park with certainly one goal on everyone's mind - simply to take pictures capturing these glamourous moments on film because they surely were 'kodak moments'=) Walking through the park, bumping into friends, realizing that everyone looked like they belonged on the red carpet. Smiles filled everyone's faces because there was nothing to be upset or mad or concerned about. It was all about living and being in the moment - absolutely nothing horrible could've entered this realm of happiness.




After the photos were taken, we entered the party bus with sounds of "this is how we do it" which was simply a cherry on top to this Friday night. Singing at the top of our lungs to old classics like "wannabe" and "it's gonna be me" elevated the moment making it a highlight in my books. Toasting to everyone and yelling grad '08 were the implementations of my mind to take a snapshot of this once in a lifetime moment. Dinner at the Renaissance with the parentals was pretty fun. The pictures continued after dinner, and some danced the night away to a live band.




Dry Grad was up next - sadly back at Holy Cross, but to everyone's amazement it was spectacular. A red carpet lined out with white lights spelling out Paris. The long walk down the hallway, anticipating what-to-come only brought wonder to my mind. An Eiffel Tower, right in the middle of the gym floor with park benches surrounding it was simply breathtaking. A relaxed time of caricatures, blackjack, polaroids and chocolate fondue.



After the dry grad was the after party (and after the party is the hotel lobby haha), some hit the beach O.C. style while others went back to chill at my place. Simply a morning I'll surely never forget consisting of constant laughter, random talks and weird moments. But nevertheless, the whole twenty-fours or more of not sleeping was actually worth every bit of it. We were all running on adrenaline, excitement and joy, somehow keeping us sane. So to my friends and grad '08 - here's to making graduation a spectacular evening in Paris and a memorable day in Vancouver! This one definitely goes down in the books!