While views from the Petroleum Club's perch on the 44th floor of the Exxon Building are always mesmerizing, there is at least one night of the year when all eyes are on the patrons — that would be during the Young Professionals Association of the Petroleum Club annual Halloween bash.
Saturday night, the crowd stepped out in creepy fashion for the party that was themed "Into the Woods." Think lots of Little Red Riding Hoods and loads of Big Bad Wolves.
This was no ordinary Halloween party. Consider that the dance floor was set in a faux forest, that there was a rural village nearby where guests could pick up desserts and where a candy bar beckoned with trick-or-treat sweets.
This was no ordinary Halloween party. Consider that the dance floor was set in a faux forest, that there was a rural village nearby where guests could pick up desserts and where a candy bar beckoned with trick-or-treat sweets. Add Grandma's house where a Big Bad Wolf lurked and a gyspy fortune teller from Puppet Pizzazz. DJ Wyatt Magnum was flown in from Los Angeles for the night during which the Jello martinis flowed.
A number of the 150 guests went home with jewelry prizes ($20,000 total, all from Houston Jewelry) handed out for their creative costuming. And the winners were Best Little Red Riding Hood Miranda Mullins, Best Big Bad Wolf Phillip Jensen, Most Elegant Female Anna Haugent, Most Elegant Male Robert Maurice Taylor, Best Overall Female Renee Bornne as the Black Swan complete with toe shoes, Best Overall Male Joseph Trahan as a pirate and Best Group costumes Melissa Popp and Don McClaugherty as Nightmare Before Christmas and Jack Skeleton, respectively.
Starring in this hit parade of costuming was Magan Hunt, YPA board member and special events chair, who was decked out in a collection of jewels valued at over $40,000 from Houston Jewelry. The bling included a replica of the Hope Diamond on a necklace, diamond pave earrings and two diamond and sapphire rings that glittered all evening.
Maggie and Rex Solomon of Houston Jewelry headlined the guest list that included Bryan LeBlanc of Coushatta Casino, Amy McGee, Gregory Spencer Hudson IV, Robert Kervin, Katie Schaffer, Doug Webster, David Draybuck, Gabriella Bahlo, Erin Hoover and Courtney Claiborne.
