Michael Kodama, Kristine Beljean, Lauren Perkins

Andrea and Trisha Bartel

Bloody wolf mask

Last weekend I went to a masquerade party at Snooze in Hillcrest. It ended up being a bit of a disaster — not the event itself, as Snooze raised over $2,000 for Feeding America San Diego — rather it was my lack of appropriate attire. It was all very last minute.

My friend Andrea invited a bunch of us there to celebrate her sister-in-law’s birthday. As usual, I failed to plan appropriately. At 4:30 p.m., hours before the event, it was pouring buckets and I was in no mood to head out to Party City or Buffalo’s Breath for a costume. But just as I was about to head out to buy a mask anyway, my friend Laurie called to ask if I wanted her to pick up a mask for me.

Siobhan and Aaron Braun wearing tragic DIY masks.

“I’m going to Party City to get myself one anyway,” she said. “Yes, please,” I told her. Two hours later, when I met her in Kensington, she was maskless. “I had a hard-enough time getting out of my house. Party City was out of the question," she told me while her phone rang for the fifth time. On the other line was her 8-year-old son, Adam, demanding to know what time she would be home.

Justin Hatzenbuhler and Nicole Narey

“It’s no big deal,” our friend Trisha texted us later, “They have masks here to decorate.”

Erin Kerns in an art deco mask

Upon our arrival everyone was decked out. There were a few other party poopers that didn’t wear masks. On the table near the door were plastic masks and puffy paint. My husband and I went to town and came up with sorry excuses for masks. The nostril holes in my man’s mask really did it for me. Hot!

Kim Osborne as a modern batgirl

There were a couple of stand-out masks. Among my favorites were Erin Kern’s art deco mask. I also loved everything about Kim Osborne’s carnival inspired outfit with a Batman-esque mask. She purchased the mask at a beauty supply store in Parkway Plaza of all places. She looked like a modern badass bat girl. I also really liked Justin Hatzenbuhler’s medieval mask with its red plume. There were a few shudder-worthy masks as well. There was a woman in a bloody wolf mask whose spooky presence terrorized me for much of the night. There was also a devil who spent all night on the dance floor.