Marine Corps Ball

We celebrated the U.S. Marine Corps 233rd birthday on Saturday in style at the beautiful Sofitel Hotel on the Manila Bay. This was the first ball Justin and I have been to so we went all out and in typical expat fashion had our ensembles custom made. Justin had a tuxedo made and it was the first time I've seen him in a tux since even our wedding didn't require tuxedos. He looked gorgeous all dressed up to the nines. I had my gown made here with Frankie de Leon who is an amazing couture dress maker. Over the last month he's worked with me on the style, fitting, etc. It turned out perfect. The yellow had the effect I was looking for. More than one person made comments on how daring the choice of yellow was since I was the only one in yellow. Everyone said I pulled it off and it's my favorite color so there you go.

Enough about the clothes. Justin and I had a thoroughly adult time. He drank, I ate, we both danced and shared some Marine Corps birthday cake. The birthday ceremony was patriotic and Ambassador Kinney's speech was moving and appropriate. It was wonderful to be reminded that our military isn't an entity, it's actually made up of ordinary people who make extraordinary sacrifices for the safety of Americans at home and abroad. All in all the evening was a fantastic celebration.

Justin and I were proud that we made it to midnight at the party but then seriously regretted it the next day. Poor Addie had two pooped parents on Sunday. We made up for it last night with a good 10 hours of sleep but realized that we are just too old now to stay up that late more than special occasions.