(Most of) What Happens at The Irving, STAYS at The Irving

"Hey Mom! Your boobs didn't pop out!"

That will likely be the quote that sticks with me after our night out at the Rocky Horror Picture Show at The Irving Theater. It was roughly 2:45 in the a.m. and I was stumbling in to the house. Ali and Jeff were still cackling about the sights, the sounds, the excess of the evening. I was standing in the kitchen, gratefully taking off my red, spiky toed heels and Ali turned around to survey my torso.

"Nice," she said. "I would have lost that bet."

Rebecca Weir would likely have also lost the bet. She was walking in from a wedding gig and came in to see Ali and me decked out in our RHPS splendor. We invited her to come, but she was tired after transporting wedding guests to and fro. She did loan Ali some dark lipstick, which perfected her look. There was a part of me that wondered if Becca would pack up and leave our crazy house while we were gone, but I think she's still downstairs...

Even though she didn't quite approve of my ensemble, Ali was largely responsible for the precarious assemblage. When it was clear that I had nothing in my closet that would come close to appropriate RHPS attire, she offered up a sheer top she owns. (She wears a full camisole or tank under it.) I paired it with a black demi-bra.

"Why do you even have something like that?" she had asked before quickly pouncing on the baby doll negligee from a long-passed Valentine's Day I tossed her way.

"I can really wear this outside?" she'd asked. I agreed that if the Captain said yes, she could.

She paired it with her own fishnets, volleyball shorts, black boots and leather jacket. The Captain OK'd it as long as she kept on the jacket. She pulled out feather boas for the two of us, as well.

(She lost the jacket a time or two, once in highly dramatic fashion, but that happened inside the theater and as the headline instructs, I've been sworn to secrecy about it.)

This is us outside the theater with our emcee.

Before the show...

If you're unfamiliar with RHPS, first-timers are identified as virgins and given a sort of hazing ceremony. My trepidation of what that would be turned to terror when my lipstick V was placed on my forehead while Jeff and Ali were marked on their cheeks. I was certain I was marked for extra treatment.

Despite the fact that we were likely the only people in the place who were cold-stone sober, we had a great time . We saw some sides of people we hadn't expected -- including some of Ali's friends from school or Young Actors Theater.

Ali and Jeff were on high alert and ready for the silly antics that involve a real-life show going on as the 1975 movie plays. I had downed a Red Bull, but it did not give me wings. It is possible I nodded off a few times. At a point when the audience can go up and do the Time Warp, I will confess that I stayed behind with hopes of stretching out and catching a few Zs. (I didn't but only because a few others stayed behind as well.)

One quote from inside the theater. We were getting settled and Ali had taken off her jacket and boa claiming she was warm. She leaned over and whispered to me,  "Remember back when you wouldn't let me wear leggings if I didn't have on a shirt that covered my butt?"

She giggled. I reflected on my parenting skills.

Anyway, we had a great time. Jeff and Ali were still sharing quotes from the night when we got home. I was lucky to wash the lipstick off my forehead before I crashed into bed. I woke up to find red feathers on my pillow and no doubt they'll be all over the house for weeks to come.

We got up this morning and got Ali off to the airport for her 10-day trip to Berlin, Krakow, Budapest and Prague. Jeff says part of the reason he was OK with being out so late the night before was to give her a great send-off and to also get her to sleep on the plane so she can better deal with jet lag. I think he just wanted to go to the show....

I'm pretty sure I'll be napping later. Here she is at the airport, eager to shed us and get to her adventure. One of her friends going along is Navy, who faithful readers will remember as Ali's savior when she broke her collarbone.

Between our similarly campy movie night Friday, Pride and the Irving, she has plenty of tales for her seat-mates. We'll see who keeps a better secret for what went on inside the building...