Here, we have a small selection of photos from a very big night: Julia’s senior prom. It’s a little hard for me to wrap my head around the idea that Julia is old enough to go to a school dance, let alone prom, but here we are. Earlier this week, I posted this photo of Julia looking glamorous in a fancy dress on Facebook and, truth be told, part of me finds it easier to think of her like that rather than as a young woman getting ready to head off to college.

I didn’t attend my senior prom—as I recall, I chose to spend the evening eating microwave pizza and playing computer games instead, since I didn’t have a date—so I didn’t have much to offer with respect to preparing for the big day. Julia and Julie worked through that process over the last couple months, and I did my best to stay out of the way.

Julia first spotted her dress on a trip to the mall with her friends back in March, and she and Julie returned later so she could try it on, along with a few other candidates. Over the next few weeks, they worked through having the dress altered—it just needed a few minor tweaks—picking out shoes, buying a purse, and finding a necklace to go with the ensemble. The day of the prom, Julia spent the afternoon having her nails, hair, and makeup done so she would look her absolute best that evening.

We have some pictures covering various aspects of the run-up to prom, including some professionally shot senior portraits Julia sat for last week, but we’re saving those for another update: this album focuses on the day of the dance itself.

The evening of prom, Julia invited some of her friends over to our place so they could drive over to the dance together. We picked up a few trays of food so that people could nibble a bit as they got ready for the dance, planning for between three and five friends and their parents. Unfortunately, only two girls (and one dad) could make it in the end, so we ended up with a tremendous surfeit of leftovers. Julie was able to give away some of them through the neighborhood Buy Nothing group; two days later, we’re still working on the rest.

Before they left, Julia and Sierra, one of her friends, added a bit of extra elegance to their outfits with vintage mink stoles belonging to Aunt Julie and Grandma Flack, who generously shipped them to California. The girls then headed off to the dance, with Julie serving as chauffeur. They returned, safe and sound, around midnight, having had a great time.

A brief side note from Joe:

(hi this is joe i am adding this to the document please keep this in)

Gallery: Julia’s Senior Prom