"That's a Kelsey For Ya": Prom 2012: Pic by Pic

Though I’m totally ruining the chronological order of my blog, I just couldn't wait to share about prom. So I will scrapbook past events later, but today I’m giving you the complete prom day recap pic by pic.

On Friday after school, our trio (me, Lindsay, and Ashley) went to TCBY for ice cream and then went to pamper ourselves at the nail salon. French manicures certainly set the tone for the rest of the weekend.

Then on Saturday at 1:30, I went to get my hair all done up. Let's not even mention the amount of hair spray she sprayed on me.

Around 3:30, Brooks arrived to our house. The Amtrak is a truly wonderful thing. And for those of you who are wondering why I had my prom date shipped to me via train, let me explain:

I knew I didn't want to go alone once the number of people with dates was growing. I also knew I needed someone fun, outgoing, and a lil' crazy to shake me loose. There was one person who came to mind. I tried not to act hasty and called Camille to ask her if Brooks coming was ridiculous. And who would've thunk it, Camille gave me the go-ahead. I wasn't expecting a yes, but I facebooked Brooks asking him to come to my junior prom. To my ultimate surprise, he said yes. I will be forever indebted to this boy.

Then at 4, Ashley and Lindsay came over for us to all do our make-up together. I don't think I've worn that much glitter and powder since my last dance recital in Raleigh. Our dresses were all on and zipped right as the cameras started clicking.

Here is where I must stop and thank Camille for allowing me to wear her old prom dress. I went shopping for my own to no avail because every dress wasn't living up to this one. Nana altered it with subconscious intentions of me losing weight (I suppose) and by prom day, this girl (a couple pounds lighter and maybe a few centimeters thinner) fit into that dress. Yah!

Patton, Lindsay's date, met up with us at my house before we headed to the country club for pictures with the entire group. Brooks offered to chauffeur us around for the evening. I cannot even tell you how wonderful it was to have that worry taken away from my hands.

My mother took the reigns at the country club trying to direct our large group of where to look when. These kind of pictures are always complicated, with 30 parents snapping from all different angles and and nobody knowing were to look. She kept pointing and shouting, "Smile here." Yep, that's my mom! All for the sake of a good group pic.

Then we had some more time to play around with friend shots and smaller group pics. Thanks Dad!

My girl Ashley truly strutted her stuff in those sparkly shoes and gorgeous gown. However, I'm even more grateful that she is just as pretty on the inside. :)

The perfect prom date for this never-been-to-a-dance-before girl!

On Mothers' Day weekend of all weekends, my mom devoted her time to me, me, me. What a reminder of the wonderful woman she is and all she has done so that I can have life to the fullest. She is my best friend and I'm just glad this is junior prom (not senior prom) because I still have 15 months left at home with her!!

If her dress just isn't the prettiest one there is, I don't know what would be. Several people have already told me, "Man, Lindsay's dress is so pretty!" Still, I have faith that she would have rocked any dress she wanted to wear.

Kelly & Kelsey! Trying to get funky after all the smile and stand straight pictures. This is definitely one of my favorite pictures of the whole night.

Corsages and manicures. Are we girly enough yet?

Noah and the girls. Thanks to him our prom night plans went on without a hitch.

Patton (or should we call him Charlie) and the angels. I didn't even know what this pose was until I was instructed. Oops.

And of course, Brooks needed a picture with all the girls. Every single one of us owe him for at least a couple laughs that night. :)

From there we headed to South Park for dinner at Brio. They had a special menu for prom groups which made everything very simple. Even our service was phenomenal which surprised me since there was so much going on that night. I got a spicy chicken pasta, which was quite delicious.

Though I couldn’t talk to the people at the other end of the table, our end had a bunch of laughs- thanks to Brooks and Patton. We need to do dinner with friends more often.

Outside of Brio, there was a large fountain. If you know me, this girl cannot pass up the photo opportunity. These are some of my favorites. I’m framing some of them for sure. Thanks to Brooks and Patton for tolerating the “Kelsey Paparazzi.”

Next stop: the light rail station. We decided it would be easier to take the light rail train into uptown so that we didn’t have to fight traffic or parking mayhem. After sitting on the train for 10 minutes waiting for it to depart, I realize I didn't have my ID. Brooks and I sprinted off in such a frenzy my heart is popping out of my chest. We can NOT miss this train. Brooks literally saved the day by running all the way to the van to get it (my debt continues to grow with all I must repay him for some day). We made it back on and let our hearts return to a normal pace as we zoomed into uptown.

The convention center was right where we were let off of the train. All of this production, has led to this.
PROM 2012!

I know I love to dance. And though I’m not particularly groovy, if I can get over the whole “what does everyone else think of me” thing, I really enjoy myself. That’s what Brooks was there for. I don’t think he stopped moving the whole time we were on the dance floor. It’s like he was on auto-pilot dance mode. And Patton had enough goofy moves that I would mimic and then we’d all laugh. My favorite move of the night: the light bulb!!

Seems like everybody was at prom. Several of my teachers were there to give hugs and the "oh my! look how pretty you look" squeal. I even got to see several other friends who weren't in our group.

Laura! My big sister in Charlotte. I can tell her anything and she will always have something wise to help me get through. I'm not even going to pause and think about the fact that you will be at college next year. Love you girl!

And Francesca! My environmental science buddy and amazing friend. We would have loved to have her in our group. Next year, I hope!

Brooks was able to meet up with his friend from Governors' School, Justin. And he knew a couple other faces from visiting him before.

We made it back on the light rail and then Brooks drove us home. Mom and Dad were still up even though it was approaching 1 am. Mommy was making breakfast for us. :) Best mom ever, I told ya!

Belgian waffles, sausage roll, and fruit galore filled our already full stomachs with even more yumminess. Then we all gathered in the family room to watch a movie. We ended up holding our eyelids open trying to see the end of In Time but it hit a point where there was just no more energy left in me to stay awake. This “party crew” hit the hay at about 3am. It would be fair to say that that is the latest I’ve ever stayed up.

Patton headed home but the rest of us fell like zombies into big comfy beds. In the morning, more like the early afternoon, we were all up and debatably rested. Dad had loaded all the pictures from the night onto the Apple TV and we sat around in the living room to view them. With several "aww, that one's cute!" and reminiscing giggles, our prom weekend was officially drawing to a close.

Any event of these sorts requires great friends. I'm just so grateful that I have friends to share these memories with. I guess I've always thought of prom as "what high schoolers do." But even though I'm a high schooler (and a rising Senior at that), I still don't feel like I should be the one walking into a restaurant with all the oohs and ahhs of the onlookers. I used to be the onlooker. Crazy how time flies.

It really is fun to get everyone together and pretty. We couldn't get everyone at the same place, same time even if we tried for months. Prom is the one time of year where we all make the choice to be together.

And just for chuckles, I thought I would include an array of prom pictures. From my parents' to Camille's.

Daddy's Jr Prom