Hope DOES Rock!

Here's a riddle: I have a temporary tattoo on my hand, a pile of crazy colorful costume jewelry on my floor, giant blisters on my feet, and a purse full colored hair extensions. What did I do last night?

Did you guess hanging out with Snooki? WRONG. Going back in time to a late 90's rave? NOPE. Did I join some sort of weird, hyper-colorful roving gang of miscreants set on glitter bombing unsuspecting fun haters? As cool as that would be, NO. Fine, I'll tell you. I went to Hope Rocks which is this super fun, hugely fun and crazy fundraising event for Faith's Lodge. See, anytime I can combine charity with sequins and rock bands is fine by me!

So okay, it was a really fun night. We were in downtown Minneapolis on a G.O.R.G.E.O.U.S. night, and were at this swanky night club that had a red carpet, tuxedo'd bartenders, and local celebrities. The theme of the event was "rocker chic" and I went all out (you know how mama loves a good theme party). I had skinny jeans. Stilettos. The aforementioned candy-colored hair extensions. Sequined shirt. Leather bomber jacket. I definitely looked the part. It started out kind of rocky, though (no pun intented). Here's who went: my mom and dad, my sisters and their husbands, and my brothers and their wives. And me. So before we left for the night, we took pics. My brother-in-law suggested getting Couple Pictures, and I shirked off to the corner. I took a picture with everyone, and then one by myself. So totally NOT rocker chic. Then we get to the club downtown, and voila! ANOTHER photo session! Everyone got their couple pictures again from a professional photographer, and my brother Perek and his wife Leah mercifully let me get in on their photograph. Awkward.

So everyone got some drink tickets. I managed to work a few extras from my sympathetic family members because I played the "my boyfriend is in Alabama, and I am a just a sad, lonely, single girl" part very well. That was a good part. The extra free drinks, I mean. They provided the necessary social lubricant I needed to relax. During one part of the event, they showed a list of people who had made some donations throughout the night, and every contributor one was a COUPLE. Then came one lady's name, and I actually CHEERED for her. I was all "I love Patrica A. Random Woman because she doesn't need to come with a man AND she's got some nice money to spend so I loved her". She might be scared of the random girl across the lobby cheering for her, though.

Fancy charity events are basically made for couples, I think. One of you drinks, the other drives. One of you mingles while the other one holds your table. One person irresponsibly bids on a signed Percy Harvin jersey, the other writes a check and carries your prize home. Luckily for me, the bands were rockers, and there were no awkward slow dance moments. Because there is nothing I'm worse at than standing on the side of a dance floor alone.

Eventually, though, enough people had used all their drink tickets and started to socialize outside of their partners. It got all mixed up and fun and I met some really fun people, held a local Emmy award (don't tell the news anchor who won it. We didn't exactly "ask permission" before opening the box we found on a cushy couch and taking pictures with it), and after I got one of the band's t-shirts, the band members all signed it for me. The band was Lynhurst (who rock) and I liked them the best because not only were they good, they consisted of a girl and her two brothers. Not a "couple" in the bunch!

Towards the end of the night, people were taking pictures with their new friends, so I got to be in a lot more than I was in at the beginning of the night. And when everyone went home, I stayed out with my brother Perek and his wife, and a couple of our new friends. I had no one's schedule to follow but my own. And even though I spent the night on my brother's couch, I would consider the night a smashing success. Not only did they raise a lot of money (by the way, you can still go ahead and donate some of your own - or your spouses, if that's the case - money to this incredible organization at faithslodge.org), but I got to listen to some great music, have tons of fun with my family, and even try duck confit (Note to Self: I do not like duck confit).

All in all, I was so excited that I got to go to this super fun event. I got a bunch of awesome swag, a signed t-shirt, 2 huge blisters, and an abundance of glow bracelets that will certainly come in handy right around Halloween time. Giving has never felt so good (FINE. I guess I should mention that my parents got me a ticket to the event, I only used Free Drink tickets, and I couldn't place a bid on anything in the auction, so I guess I should say being AROUND OTHER PEOPLE who were giving has never felt so good.)

Thanks to everyone in my family for such an awesome time, and I can't wait to do it again next year!