ballin'

the junior league's "chocolate chip ball" was held at the same place as last year's bash - the super duper exclusive valley hunt club, located in the old money part of pasadena (the link there is to wikipedia, because of course, you have to be a member of the schwankness to access the real site).  we have VHC to thank for the existence of that age-old new year's day tradition - the rose parade.

so it's such a private, highfalutin' kinda place that locals have probably driven past a gazillion times and never knew it was there.  there's no signage, no indication to passersby on the busy street of its presence.  hell, i breezed right past it and had to turn around so i could find the entrance to the parking lot.  and from the street, it just looks like another one of the moneyed residences that line orange grove boulevard.

i met up with one of my best JLP buddies as we entered the club together, and were met with quite a flurry of activity.  we were tasked with the important job of fluffing up pink tissue in the swag bags, already sitting at each place setting in the gorgeous ballroom.  yes, we were fluffers.

do you dig my temporary footwear?  my tootsies sure did.

as the other members of my little group arrived, we managed to snag a passing staff member to snap a quick group shot.  after all, we were freshly made up and didn't want to miss out on having proof that we'd looked so fabulous.

in the next room, the plethora of silent auction offerings were already set up.

i was assigned to sell drink tickets for the duration of the evening with one of my besties.

we had six different chocolatiers there who'd donated products and their time, and it was fun sampling their wares.  of course, being chained to the drink table meant that our friends had to sneak sweets back to us, but we managed to get a taste of everything.

this was one of my favorite pieces of chocolate - chick-shaped yummies filled with homemade marshmallow.

there were raffle tickets (for a trip to maui) and leftover "golden tickets" for that shopping spree at a local jeweler, who again brought a lovely display.

look, pretty purse twinsies!

the biggest name of our three celebrity judges - tommy lasorda, longtime manager of our hometown baseball club - the dodgers.

because that $150 ticket price was rather tough to swallow, i'd opted for a vendor meal.  $30 bought me a seat in the back bar and a buffet that consisted of grilled chicken and veggies with pasta, salad, coffee, and cookies.

one of my friends managed to pilfer a soda for me, which should have cost me $3.  i'd been up for hours, with only three hours of sleep, and i desperately needed the caffeine.

we had just enough time to finish our meals before it was time to get back to work.  since the rest of the guests were still enjoying their multi-course dinners, instead of returning to the drink tickets table i assisted in clearing the silent auction rooms and moving the items to the check-out table.

one of the memorabilia items that sold was a basketball signed by our very own kobe bryant.  i know, i know - folks either love him or hate him.  i think you can tell which camp i'm quite firmly in.

the rest of the evening went pretty smoothly - we continued to sell drink tickets as the raffle and golden ticket winners were announced, tommy lasorda took the floor to say a few words, awards were given to the chocolatiers.  it turned out to be quite a successful fundraiser, with every silent auction item being sold (pretty nice, since everything had been donated), tons and tons of drink tickets purchased, and a better-than-anticipated turnout (close to 180).

and for lots of reasons, this is my last JLP hurrah.  i submitted my resignation from the league last month, which is slightly bittersweet.  i formed a really strong bond with a handful of fabulous, wonderful friends that won't disappear along with my JLP membership, and i managed to have a good bit of fun over the last two years.

but i won't be hanging up my pearls.  not by a long shot.  i'll be clutchin' those for years to come!