A Truly MAD Tea Party!

Last week I received an invitation to an amazing Alice after party from my friend and hot high priestess Rhonda!  After fretting all night over what I would wear, I came up with the perfect idea: The Cheshire Cat!  Friday morning I dressed in black and white striped tights, a geometric silk dress, cat ears, and black shoes.  I drew on whiskers and a nose with black eyeliner.  I proceeded to pick up an ounce of Puckerooms and packed a picnic basket with bows, a fairy teapot, rabbit ears, books, blankets, makeup, a tiny plate, coloring books, posters, and a ton of random goodies to bring to the party. 

Jesse and I wandered into an enchanted book shop and read the Wizardology Course Book, I want that book so badly!  We crawled down a few hedges into a rabbit hole, and emerged on the other side to the theater!  We caught the 2:05 showing just in time.  Inside, I saw stopped by security to search my bag.  Luckily I stashed the puckerooms in my tights before I came in... *gulp* I opened the basket and started pulling out each item... "Oh, this teacup because I'm attending a mad tea party after the show, sir!", "Had to bring my copy of Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland.", "The wind-up white rabbit!"  When we got into the hall where Wonderland would be playing, there was a sort of tea party going on...

Behind the door there was an enchanted blacklit forest in the screening room.  I was impressed.  We got a seat in the front, my favorite place to sit... I forgot my glasses, so I brought along a pair of theatre binoculars to zoom in on the Mad Hatter's crazy eyes.  The movie itself was pure madness, a wonderful 3D ride down the rabbit hole and very stylish.  I felt the film preached a strong message of animal rights, which was unexpected!  I can't wait to see it again...

At the Mad Tea Party in a cute cottage on Happy Hill, all kinds of delectable treats enticed me.  There were biscuits, Cheshire cupcakes, tea, fruits, berries, miniature cupcakes, the house specialty, mushrooms, almonds, candy.  They say when you're in the realm of the fairies, you shouldn't eat anything, or you might get stuck there forever.  I ate a mushroom and a few cakes and got lost in a book about fairies.  The words glittered purple and green and teased me with their meanings.  I turned the page and saw the Woman of the Woods, wild from the forest and felt the paper pages from the trees, suddenly pining for my true home.  I looked outside where wood nymphs danced in the trees, calling me deeper, into the forest... The Hookah Smoking Caterpillar sat next to me in the blue room and asked "How are YOU?" I told him I was quite good...

He told me to see the world from his perspective and handed me his kaleidoscope glasses.  Much too disorienting for me!  The hookah smoke tasted sweet, delicious thick & fruity.  In a haze I wandered about until I found a deck of tarot cards and took Jesse down the hall to the room we were staying in for a reading.  Strength, The Six of Cups, The Queen of Hearts...  We also invented a new card game, Go Ask Alice.  The rules are simple, just like Go Fish, except if you get the Queen of Swords you lose everything!

The Mad Hatter let me borrow Cheshire armwarmers, legwarmers and glasses that completed my outfit purrfectly!  I sat down at the tea table and read out loud from Through the Looking Glass: "One thing was certain, that the white kitten had had nothing to do with it - it was the black kitten's fault entirely..."

And it was.  I can be quite mischievous at times.  Just as mischievous as the pixies who played pranks on me all night, such as hiding a pill with a giant E on it in Jesse's bag. I met many crazy characters at the party, from The White Rabbit... (She lectured me on the importance of not being late.  Luckily, I was there early, so I had nothing to worry about.  Mastering the art of time is something I hope to accomplish this year...)

to the Magician!  Rhonda pulled surprised out of her hat all night! 

Jesse was my mysterious guest.  You know you're at a mad tea party when a guest declares that they are going to die at the dinner table!  It turns out Jesse was just joking, he was simply tired!  I tucked him in to bed, then we all sat down for tea at 2 O'Clock in the morning...

It was a truly MAD night when we stayed at Wonderland Hotel!