sushi’s birthday party

i know a lot of you think i have such a fun and fabulous life filled with dress up parties. well, it’s true! haha no i’m just kidding. the truth is that i am sitting in my oversized tshirt and shorts as i’m typing this in my living room, because i don’t have an air conditioner besides the one in my own bedroom. yes, you heard me. i’m living in an oven.

the other truth is, that my last week was really filled with fun events. it was the independence day weekend here in america, and i also attended sushi’s birthday party (he’s one of my bosses). so of course it was an opportunity for me to dress up and be a little more costume-y than i normally am (as if i don’t already overdress all the time, right? heh heh.)

so i received the above invitation in my inbox. i was so excited. i mean, i haven’t been on any boat or ferry since i got here in new york. and here we were, going to take one to some place called william wall. i had no idea where that was, but i didn’t care. all i could think about was: sailor, nautical, sailor, nautical, i have no costume!!!

i popped down to the shop the day before the party, to pass something to one of my bosses, and they reminded me of the party. i told them i’ll be looking for something to wear, and that i’ll meet them at the shop to go together. because obviously i didn’t want to get lost.

i looked at our own shop first, of course. i mean, it is after all, patricia field! and i know they used to stock sailor-ish items, and my manager wears the sailor cap all the time. but i guess, i was fresh out of luck and they were fresh out of stock. so i walked over to screaming mimi’s at lafayette street and told them i had a costume party to attend. they were sooo nice and gave me 3 options to pick from!

with my costume all set, i had nothing else to worry about. i didn’t know if anyone else was buying sushi a present. i’ve only been working there about 2 months and his party was the first one i attended, so i had no idea what the “office policy” was, and i decided buying one was better than not!! so i got him a bottle of veuve clicquot from the union square wine and spirits shop.

the day of the party, i went and got my make up done by regan at mac in the flatiron building. he’s so cute and such a whiz. obviously. i mean, my make up was perfect. PERFECT.

40’s make up by regan! well, excuse the shitty hair.

on the way to the shop

(pssst!! i’ve just been told that the photo above was featured on bits and bobbins!! i’m so excited!! thank you so much, tricia!)

my roommate, mark, came with me and we arrived at the shop at about 7pm. to my horror, NO ONE was in costume. i was like, “HEY!!! why’s everyone not dressed up!!!” apparently, they all got lazy. what?!! &(*#!@^!(@*#&!(@*$^@$#^!!!!!

(did i forget to warn you guys that this is going to be such a photo fest?)

dai was playing a little game, with folded paper. i have no idea what the game is called but i used to play it when i was younger too. i didn’t know it was such a…. such an international game. hee hee!

photos by julie

so ANYWAY, we finally made our way to get to the boat. holy moly, i never knew such things were possible in new york! or that i could ever afford it! i mean, we only had to pay $10 bucks for a return trip! everyone else there at the piers were all these dressed up investment banker types who turned their noses up at us. i hoped some worm would crawl up their nostrils. we saw all these exciting huge-ass yachts and of course got ourselves all excited! i wanted to get onto the moet boat

then of course, reality bit us in our butts and reminded us that we weren’t so fabulous, when we were ushered by this lady onto a small speed boat. haha. she was from the yacht club and already a little drunk. and wouldn’t stop talking. tony wasn’t very pleased with her because she wouldn’t stop talking. just kidding. i mean he wasn’t annoyed. but she really didn’t stop talking.

floats – my best accessory

the view from the barge

we arrived at william wall, which was actually a barge in the middle of the hudson. it was so beautiful. then the most terrible thing happened. it started to rain the moment we got to the barge. it wasn’t just rain. i mean, it was fucking pouring! like a huge thunderstorm! the sky was black and the wind was howling. people started screaming and the barge was shaking. honestly, i was quite scared. it was like the titanic!! there was hardly any shelter on the deck, and the plastic chairs started flying. it got really crazy when people were actually starting to push each other to get to safety! good grief!

we got drenched and everyone was running to the lower deck. it was terrible! you know those dance steps from madonna’s vogue? yeah i was kinda doing that. to protect my make up from the thunderstorm!!

we were stuck in the lower deck for at least half an hour. then tobell comes up from nowhere, wearing a life vest! AHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAH i tell you, i honestly lost it. and she very nonchalantly said, “i can’t swim.” oh my god pffffft!!!

tobell is accessorising

anyway. the storm cleared up after a long while and we finally got to go back up on the deck. it was really pretty and we could see manhattan’s skyline. we could even see the statue of liberty from where we were. miss liberty was kinda far away and even though we wanted to take her picture, she refused to turn her head towards us. so obnoxious. the sky was still a little foggy, but just being there was fabulous. the sound of the waters, the fresh air… life is beautiful when you take some time to appreciate everything around you. and friends! nothing’s better than that!

the gorgeous people i work with

the birthday boy and me

the city as my backdrop

isn’t tony such a gem?

only half of sushi’s party was there because of the storm. they didn’t let anymore people take the boat over to meet us, so a lot of the people from the shop couldn’t come over to the barge. i think pat was supposed to come too but ahh well, nature wouldn’t have it. a boat came to ferry some of the other people away (there were other strangers on the barge) and told us they’ll be back to pick the rest of us soon.

so we sat around and took pictures and got drinks and had a laugh. it was hilarious. we waited for the boat for another like, hour or two!! wtf! it was getting a little cold and i had only had one drink although i’m pretty sure some of us got quite drunk!

they turned off the lights on us when we got onto the boat, so it was hard to film, but we all started singing sushi a birthday song and it was so darn funny. you can hear me giggling a few times in that video. i think people were too high to realise that they sung sushi a birthday song, twice! hahaha!

two different sailor hats from the costume store
sailor dress (there’s actually the teeniest skirt attached to it!) by screaming mimi’s
white crinoline skirt
black tights
pink watch by toy watch
studded boots by junya watanabe

i love this sailor look. i’ve never tried it before, but now that i have, i can’t stop thinking about it. i love the sailor hat, and the captain’s cap. and my new “want” is a real captain’s cap. not the cheapo one that i bought from the costume shop for $13. but a real one. anyone knows where i can buy one? heh heh. i’ll live with the cheapo one till i find a nicer one. ahh! it’s great. i love it!!

so that tops off my amazing week! i had so much fun but it’s now back to reality. boo.

more reading for the nosey parkers:
how to be a little social butterfly

Tagged as: friends, gilda, life, new york, patricia field, style, today's get-up