Sweet Sixteen

Saturday night was Jane's Sweet Sixteen birthday party at a big hotel in New Orleans. Here , the 16th birthday is considered special for girls, so some celebrate it with a big party at a nice venue. It's mostly for girls, though Jane says she knows a boy who is having one this year. I never had one when I was sixteen, but I never have been sweet. You probably already know that. Sigh.

Anyway, Jane invited about 50 friends and they all showed dressed so nicely (semi formal, but many girls were in formal gowns). Since I am the dad I was a chaperone and had to wear a suit. I choose to look like a Mafia Don because I wore a black suit with light pinstripes and a red shirt with red and white stripped tie. I should join the Mafia because I looked that part.

This party went very well and all the kids are so nice. I am happy Jane has so many good friends of good character who all get along well together. The hotel that was the venue and catered the party is the 'W', a trendy more youth oriented hotel that is very popular and more suitable for a teenage party. This hotel is pretty and adjacent to the French quarter. Because there is an NFL championship game here involving the local NFL team and the team from Minnesota the hotel was jammed with fans making the trip to see the game the next day. That gave even more life to the event.

We hired a tarot card/palm reader (she told me I would have along healthy life of happiness), a photographer to snap pictures randomly during the party, and a DJ to play music for the dance floor. It was lively and those kids had fun. The food for them was excellent and we had huge custom made cake made. After the party Jane and 5 friends stayed at the hotel in a room (Jane's mom got an adjacent room to supervise them).

To see my daughter happy and the center of attention among her friends was something I will cherish always. And I believe Jane will also always remember her Sweet Sixteen birthday night as one of the best nights of her life.