All That Jazz

Winter Formal took place about a month ago, but I’m just now getting to it. Lucky for you my memory is superb.


I wasn’t originally planning to go to formal. All of my roommates were going, so I thought it would be nice to enjoy a quiet house and have a date night with myself. I actually had it all planned out; Mexican food, Across the Universe, Dead Poet’s Society and either Shall We Dance or You’ve Got Mail (I couldn’t decide between the last two). --Now that I’m writing about it, I know what a big loser I looked like. Anyway, my friend Daniel asked me to go, so I scratched loner, loser date night and prepared for formal, “All That Jazz.”

If you’re familiar with Portland, the words Crystal Ballroom and McMenamins carry significant meaning. If not, the Crystal Ballroom is a beautiful, vintage ballroom that transforms at night to host multiple concerts. McMenamins: all you need to know is that they have some of the best food in Portland. With that said, winter formal was hosted above the Crystal Ballroom, McMenamins catered, and a live Jazz band provided the music.

We couldn’t find a parking space anywhere downtown, so we wandered for a good bit of time until God himself provided a parking space a mile away. By this time we were about 40 minutes late. Luckily the 4 of us who came together are the coolest people at Cascade, so the party didn’t start until we arrived. This is a little bit of a stretch, but at least the food was still relatively warm!

The night carried on with great music and “dancing.” I only say, “dancing” because if you’re anything like me dancing is absent from your list of talents. Someday however, I will learn how to properly “Cut a rug.”

By the end of then night we were pooped, but it was well worth it. Looking back, I’m ashamed to say that I almost skipped this opportunity for a night of laziness. Thankfully Daniel saved me from the epitome of patheticness. I love Shall We Dance, but Richard Gere would not have been this much fun!