And it was onto our main highlight of Anime Expo - Masquerade Ball. It's our personal favorite event at Anime Expo. While some may go for once in a lifetime concents, meeting their favorite guests, shopping like there's no tomorrow, or perfoming in the country's top cosplay contest, the Masquerade Ball does it for us. Thank you Miko and Laura for hosting another wonderful event this year.

Masquerade Ball started off with ballroom lessons at 3PM. Candice was present once again to instruct young fanboys and fangirls in the art of waltz and swing. Traveling Valentine and another couple assisted in the teaching. The other couple did a west coast swing demo to "The Way I Are" by Timbaland.

**Tom took a majority of the photos in the ballroom portion of the Anime Expo 2007 convention report.

After lessons, Tom and I decided to have dinner at the Renaissance Hotel. We ended up liking the food better than the Hyatt food. We were getting more for our money. We also ran into several of our friends while having dinner. Matt, Dan, Dave, and a few others stopped by to say hi prior to the ballroom dance. We also found that there was a Starbucks at the Renaissance Hotel. We had our fill before hitting the dance floor.

At 7PM, Miko played "Masquerade" from Phantom of the Opera and opened the doors to the Anime Expo attendees. They rushed in for the first waltz of the night. "Evening at Lafayette's" followed afterwards. Several tango, several swings, several waltzes, and even the Electric Slide made an appearance - twice! I made a special request prior to Anime Expo to Tom and I, Rick Astley's "Together Forever." It was a dedication to Traveling Valentine's four year anniversary. Another highlight for us was playing "Steal the Kiki Kitty." Be very, very quiet, we're taking a giant Kiki Kitty home!

The ballroom dance started to degenerate as conga lines were forming, people complaining about the music, etc. We enjoyed it for what it was but could see that the dance could use improvements.

After the dance, it was time for a real after party! Well, there was the rum party going on outside by the pirates with no rum. We ran into several of our friends. As far as late night madness, we ran into Brilliant Moon Cosplay in their Bleach-y goodness. Finally, we sat with Lynn, Jarod, Andy, and Nate. Tom and I decided to have our usual anniversary pina colada. The end result made me sing like Jennifer Holiday as seen in this episode of Fresh Prince of Bel Air.

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