Illumina Holiday Party 2010

Alright, this post is a week overdue so the details will be sparse. I've got very short term memory...

That Sat, Badge came back from band practice around 5pm and off we went to Hard Rock Hotel for a night of revelry. Upon arriving, we were shown to the VIP check in area (swanky). Our room turned out to be on the 5th floor and unfortunately by the elevators (foreshadowing of events to come). Badge considered changing rooms but I hushed him, thinking nothing of it.

The room was very nice. We won a raffle for a free upgrade so we had a king suite. The bed was comfy and the shower had an overhead and side spout. I approved. Interestingly, the bathroom was in between the living room and the bedroom. Had never seen that before.



Once dressed, we went downstairs only to stand in line for what seemed like forever. After a while, we got in and made a mad dash for the food stations. The first room we entered was serving sushi so we loaded up on that. With drink in tow, we were a bit anti-social as we shoveled food into our faces but I'm sure no one noticed. It was so crowded at the event already, it was hard to even recognize people.

Still hungry we walked around the main hallway which was beautifully decorated with red lanterns (the decor everywhere was very well done). We walked up to a table of poke and potsticker dumplings only to realize there was a woman in the middle of the table serving us. Literally. There was a hole cut out in the middle and she was standing in it. Every now and then, you'd see her pick up her table and shuffle to a new position. Hilarious.

After standing in many more long lines for food and drinks, we finally made our way to the dance area. Badge struck up a conversation about soccer with my coworker while his wife and I went to the dance floor to cut a rug. I danced like no one's business for a while before wandering back to Badge. The rest of the night is a blur but the highlight was the last song when they played Empire State of Mind. Badge and I relieved our NY days by dancing furiously to this song. Then it was over.

Back in our room, we got comfy and turned off the lights to go to bed. Unfortunately, about 30 people decided to park it in the hallway outside our room. They were pretty much screaming and yelling the entire night. There was even a FIGHT outside our room. Seriously. We heard yells and "No"s, then just crashing and thumping. Called security about 10 times to complain. Finally, the commotion died out and we were able to fall asleep. Will have to rethink staying at the Hard Rock again.

All in all, it was a fun time. Maybe not as fun as last year since Badge was sick and I wasn't very drunk hehe. But still a great time. Till next year!