The Philippine Star Ball

Last week Justin called me from work asking me if I'd be interested in going to a ball on Saturday night. Sure thing, I responded mentally checking that I'd have something to wear. Yaya agreed to come babysit that night allowing Justin and I to enjoy an impromptu date night. What a date night it was. The Philippine Star Ball is the third annual open international ballroom dance championship in Manila. It was held at the Makati Shangri-la hotel and chaired by Michaela "Pinky" Puno (wife of Dept of Interior Sec Ronald Puno). The championships spanned the entire day while the televised gala events included both professional and amateur Latin and Standard ballroom dancing. We were lucky enough to score tickets through Justin's office to attend the gala events. This included a wonderful four course meal. The televised portion of the events included the parade of nations, a show dance from Pinky Puno herself (awesome at 60 years old), and introductions from host and judges for the competition. There were at least 50 professional ballroom dance couples. At least that number for the amateur dance (which looked pretty darn professional). They started with the professional Latin dance quarter final recalls and my head almost couldn't process what was occurring on the dance floor. The couples were a blur of beautiful motion. Ballroom dance has made it's way into most American living rooms thanks to shows like "Dancing with the Stars". Seeing it on TV is nothing like experiencing it in person. In person the dancers make it look effortless and beautiful but it's also painfully obvious just how difficult this kind of dance is. My God it's hard work and these people are amazing at it. Our favorite dances were the Latin Rumba and Jive as well as the Standard Viennese Waltz. All the gowns were amazing. The Latin dancers sexy and sultry while the Standard ballroom dancers were graceful and gorgeous. It was such a fun experience to see this kind of dance in person. The entire night (HA! we left at 10:30 utterly exhausted-the after party where you can meet the dancers and dance yourselves didn't start until midnight) Justin and I kept thinking about how much Adelaide would have loved to see the dancing and the dresses. It was like a real like princess ball!

Here we are as a family of four you might recall this moment in 2008. No paparazzi, just my personal cameraJustin and I with Pinky Puno. Her dress was just as gorgeous as she is. I can't believe she's 60.