Saturday night, I got to cross something off my “30 for 30 List” that I’ve wanted to do for years: I attended Playhouse Square’s Jump Back Ball! The dresses, the costumes, the music, the food, the theaters, the friends…it was a wonderful whirlwind of an evening.

We started at the VIP reception, catered by AMP 150. Everything for the evening centered around the “Through the Looking Glass” theme. I even got a picture with the Mad Hatter and White Rabbit themselves!

The food was set in mini stations around both levels of the stunning Palace Theater lobby. I never cease to be amazed at how beautiful our Playhouse Square theaters are and how lucky we are to have them in our cultural landscape.

We nibbled on beef carpaccio, seared tuna and edamame, AMP 150’s famous mushroom soup, pork belly, salad with goat cheese, and cheesecake lollipops and chai tea latte shots for dessert.

We also got to enjoy music from 2-1 Chicks.

From there we headed into the State Theater for a dinner buffet catered by Sammy’s. From mini sandwiches to vegetable pasta, the food was delicious!

We were kept entertained not only by the people going by, but also by stilt walkers and yo-yo artists, a photo booth, and a fortune teller.

You could also play some of the Queen of Hearts’ games…

…and stop to enjoy a spot of tea.

And speaking of the people going by, we got to see a lot of familiar friendly faces at Jump Back Ball, including Nadine from Blog – The New Black, Alana from The Dawg’s Dish, Michelle from All Lacquered Up, Allison from Confessions of a CLE Habitant, and Sara from Finding the Time.

Special recognition goes out to my dear friend Amanda from Clue Into Cleveland and Meredith, the Jump Back Ball co-chairs.

I’ve seen Amanda work her butt off the past couple months on this event and it paid off in a big way! Not only did everyone in the room have fun, but I can tell she had a total blast!

After dinner, Radio Active took the stage of the State Theater and completely rocked out.

For a girl who worked on plays in high school and always wanted to be on the stage, I can now say I’ve danced on a pretty big stage!

After Radio Active finished their set with a rousing Journey medley that has me still without a voice (is there any way to sing Journey without belting it at the top of your lungs?!), we headed to the State Theater lobby for more music from Tricky Dick and the Cover-Ups and, of course, dessert. I gave up sweets for Lent, but CLEguy informed me the cake was delish.

All in all, it was an amazingly fun evening…OK, I’ll say it was magical! This may have been my first Jump Back Ball, but it definitely won’t be my last!

***Disclosure: I was asked by Playhouse Square to be an official Jump Back Ball blogger and I can’t thank them enough for the opportunity. In exchange for blogging about Jump Back Ball and events leading up to it, I received 2 VIP tickets. As always, all opinions are 100% my own.***