When I was a little girl I always dreamt of going to a ball, and as I got older art became a very big part of my life and Halloween my favorite holiday. So it was obvious that a Rothschild Surreal Ball would be my cup of tea and when I heard the Bakersfield Museum of Art would be hosting a party inspired by the event on Oct. 26 I knew I would be attending.

A night of art, surrealist outfits and costumes and makeup galore not to mention the Halloween vibes, which I live for, this party was made for me. I find nothing more pleasant than frantically slaving away on a last minute costume with very little money to my name, my whole outfit by the way head to toe makeup and all was only $10.

I wasn’t too sure what I wanted to do for my costume because I had so many ideas but I knew I didn’t want to wear a dress. I had decided on a tux of some form and ventured out into my vice establishment, the 99 Cents Only Store. I had only been there the day before and meant to purchase a top hat but in my over processed and stressed mind I forgot and they were sold out.

As I was going through each and every aisle trying to feed my denial on the top hats unattainability I stopped dead in my tracks when I noticed a white silky negligee. To my great luck it came with a with a silky pair of pants so I added it to my cart and the gears started turning.

I knew exactly which shoes would match and what black blazer I could pair it with and then I saw them, these white sparkly branches and snowflake shaped flowers. And then I thought what goes best with black and white, red lipstick, but then I figured I needed something red to balance out the color palette and I found it in a Christmas berry and pine branches wreath. I was all set and I finally had an idea of what I was going to wear so I purchased my items and headed straight home.

I began with my makeup and decided to go for an owlish look. I used a lighter shade of foundation and highlighted my face away then I shadowed my eyes and added little feather like strokes around my temples and nose.

I then feathered my eyebrows with a gel and black eyeshadow and lined my eyes with a dark liner and finally finished with a red lip.

After I finished my makeup I started on my hair, which I teased mercilessly to create a nest like tuff and started looping the branches, flowers, and berries into my hair.

I was quite pleased with my finished look but I was also quite anxious about being the only one dressed up.

Luckily when I got there the woman that signed me in had a butterfly lit headpiece and she complimented me on my hair and makeup. The event was held in the BMOA gardens and the regular sculptures were decorated with giant eyeballs and dreamy clouds all highlighted with blue lights in the mostly dark lit area.

I was pleased to see various guests in intricate costumes and creative headpieces and makeup styles all mingling with each other and taking pictures by the sculptures.

Two bars were set up selling surrealist inspired cocktails provided by Tiki Ko and Sandrini’s Public House, I’m not usually a big drinker but I heard there was a drink with edible glitter so I decided to indulge, something I regretted later for multiple reasons.

I chose “The Baroness”, a drink made of Jamaican rum, cream sherry, apricot liqueur, lemon juice, demerara syrup, and angostura bitters topped with edible gold flaked glitter. I’ll admit it I felt cool as heck.

My friend Megan accompanied me and while we were walking around we decided to go inside and take a look at some of the art on display. As we walked along admiring the work I decided to sit as my heels were cutting my circulation and seemed intent on cutting of my toes, when lo and behold, the plastic champagne flute came apart and drenched me and the floor in its glittery glory. To say I was embarrassed was an understatement, not to mention I had no way of cleaning it up because of the branches and flowers in my hair but sweet, kind and patient Megan ran to the restroom grabbed some towels and cleaned it up for me.

After a quick trip to the restroom, we returned to the gardens to watch the band Tigercide perform a couple of songs, viewed a few more sculptures and the live light installation by Alex Sarad and decided to leave.

Megan and I decided to look for some pizza which resulted in a lot of u-turns, off-key singing and rapping and ripping my pants trying to save an old receipt, so we decided to call it a night.

Needless to say, I can finally say I’ve been to a ball, sort of. I still love art and Halloween is still my favorite holiday, but I had more fun snapchatting with my best friend on a bench after the event than at the actual party. So I may not be as refined as I wish I could be but I still had a lot of fun and that’s all the little me ever wanted.