So: Mardi Gras Party rocked my socks. And thats the only way I can think of to describe it. ALL the weeks and weeks of anticipation, preparation, shopping, emailing and such ALL PAID OFF. It was BRILLIANT. It was my FIRST and I loved it. (I truly am trying to think of something more fabulous to say. Truly. And I promise I'll tone down the capitals after this first paragraph. I swear) I know a lot of people have been 100% pissy about the whole thing i.e. seperate weekends, calibre of performances (and yes, I totally agree, Guetta sucked), the 'secrecy' policy etc. And yes, I'll be honest, a few of those things did irk me slightly. But I've always felt that if you take away everything about party, strip it back to it's absolute bare bones, it's about the people. And the people, they were wonderful.

I was volunteering at the front of the members area - and let it be known, when I was told that intially my duties would involve 'mingling' and making sure everyone was 'having a good time' - I was absolutely shitting myself. I'm a social butterfly by nature, but meeting new people and just marching up, indulging in conversation with strangers has never been my aboslute strong point. But after an adventure of the set up this year and rousing game of 'LET'S FIND THE TOILETS IN EACH VENUE JUST INCASE SOMEONE ASKS' (as much awesome fun as it sounds ladies and gents....I saw the toilets at the start of the night! In all their clean and shiny glory!), I was feeling a lot better.

This burst of enthusiasm only increased as people started to arrive. Volunteer reshuffling meant I was now at the 'door' (it's really more of a gap thing) of the members area with my friend Ronald and another lovely volunteer, David. It was fairly straightforward. If you have a wrist band - go straight in. If not and your on the list - stick around, I've got something for you ;) If you had a wristbandless plus one, then the members tent was where you had to be. Toilets were here, here, here annnnnd here. ATMs could be found there and there and yeah, no, I'm still not a hundred percent sure about the cigarette thing. Fail (Yeah, seriously, sorry to anyone who asked me ;_; )

Things got really busy as the night went on. My shift ended at 1AM and that final hour was probably the most crazy. We had a lot of 'head down' walkers who thought if they couldn't see us, then we wouldn't be able to see them. And their lack of wristband. Ahem. I felt a little harsh, having to chase after people and be all like 'Sorry guys! Wristbands only!' and I had a few people who weren't overly impressed, but, thems the rules and I was all up for enforcing them. Then there were the flirty guys and girls who thought they could convince you, through pure charm, to let them in. Put bluntly: I don't do charm. Charm has got me into A LOT of trouble in the past. NOT GONNA HAPPEN AGAIN. Not that I said that, though. No. I was totally thinking it. That said, everyone going in and out of the place was totally sweet and I'm so glad I got the chance to meet and have a brief chat with some of you!

The people were what made my night. And whilst I dashed off at the end of my shift to change into the 'girls' (Italian leather. Knee High. Lace Up. You get the picture) and make 'girls' where the were none before...(I had something called a 'super' push up bra. No joke. More padding than boob, but for the look, it was TOTALLY worth it) and the other bits and pieces (I was wearing, and yes, I'm going to describe it, because I loved my outfit and still do, a vest, with a lace back. This gorgeous leather look belt around the bottom of said vest and my middle, that laced up at the front. And cute black and white leggings. I kind of looked like a zebra. Cept it was a rose pattern, not the stripes) So, getting changed was probably another highlight of my night. As was getting changed in front of two of the nice volunteer boys at the cloak marquee. Merry Christmas guys. I tried, so, so hard not to flash random people, but no, that was never going to happen. And it was first time being tits mcgee, so I was a bit nervy, but not, realistically thinking straight (not that you'd want to be. Kind of defeats the purpose, you know?). Fail Mary. Fail. But I have to be honest and say that I got a really big kick out of my v0lunteer shift and there is no doubt in my mind that I'll be doing it again. It was fun and relaxed and sometimes electrically charged - there was such an intense energy running through party guests and you can't NOT get caught up in that.

I managed to knock off in time to get changed and DASH into the RHI on a friends shoulders for Georges performance. And for anyone that witnessed what came after - Yes. I cried. Like a girl. Which is fine. Because I am one. Very much so. I get regularly emotional over a few things, but I sure as shit didn't expect it to happen at the party. But it did. And thats ok (A big shout out to anyone that saw my teary - SORRY you had to witness that).

I didn't catch more than the tail end of the other performances. I was in the Horden for Carl Cox's set though and it was fucking wicked. That man is a genius, an absolute God, and when you hear his naselly british cords screaming out 'YEAH MARDI GRAS, YEAH', you know it's going to be one hell of a musical experience. It was a lot more earthy, pounding basslines, that kind of thing than next door in the RHI. Which was kind of a relief. With a latin dancing background, I find it hard to dance to anything that doesn't have a good beat a long with it, but this was music you could MOVE to. With just enough dramatic pauses for you to catch your breath, but everything in it's right place, nothing sounded weird or wrong - seriously that man is the BOMB. I fully agree with a lot of people however - David Guetta should do his own songs and nothing else. I didn't hear as much as some, but I heard enough to be of the opinion that he can't mix on the spot. Everything has to be prepared beforehand. Ok. Thats fine. Why couldn't they have done that for the Party? I had pre-mixed drinks all night, I wasn't going to give a damn if my music came the same way - so long as it was good. But it wasn't, it really wasn't and given the hype, people had obviously come to expect a fairly high calibre of performance from him. Guetta didn't deliver. Sad for some, but given my brief experience with his stuff, I wasn't too fussed about it.

I'd like to give a shoutout in this blog to Rachel, who looked after all of us volunteer chicks during our shift. THANKYOU. It was nice to know we had somewhere and someone to run to if shit went down, lol, not that it did! And to Michael, who was supervising us over at the Members Area, you're fantastic! You'll probably never read this, but I don't think we would have had a hope in hell without your help at the start of the night. And thankyou for my fan! ^.^ To ALL my fellow volunteers: You guys are the BEST. It was so great to meet all of you and hopefully we'll catch up next year! Or at Sleaze! *fingers crossed*