On the evening of Friday, July 8, Melissa and I threw a Britney Spears themed party at Studio C Private Cinema Club in the newly minted area of Cutesville, The District (think downtown Granite City!)
Studio C is a hidden gem in the back of the building that houses the always delicious Garden Gate Tea Room and is absolutely perfect for hosting parties like ours! We celebrated the life, legacy, and legend that is the Princess of Pop, Miss Britney Spears. Melissa and I had been talking about doing this FOR YEARS and when I realized I had vacation time in July without any destination on tap, I figured this was THE BEST time for us to finally do this!
We celebrated by playing Britney’s music videos all night long on the BIG screen, snacked on Britney themed foods, played Britney themed games, and took Britney themed pictures because everyone came dressed in their Britney-inspired attire, drawing inspiration from both her legendary career and life! Suffice it to say, our night truly was simply THE BEST! So, take a look…!
While we did obviously have THE BEST time that evening celebrating Britney, I did want to shift gears a little in this post and share with you all an extraordinarily raw and personal story that one of my absolute best friends, Sepideh – who lives out in California otherwise would’ve been at our party – wrote for me about her own experience with Britney Spears:
After passing 18 years, I cannot control my tears after listening to Britney Spears song, “Everytime.” In 2004, I moved to the United States from Iran. Imagine a girl who was apple eyed for her family with lots of friends around and is now alone and only has her husband who is busy with work. After a couple of months, we found that a baby girl is on the way and it was another big change in my life. My anxiety, stress, and hormone changes turned to depression and I felt I cannot handle all of these changes. New lifestyle, being away from my family and friends, and having a baby all together broke me. I remember the day I was watching MTV and Britney Spears “Everytime” music video played. I still can remember that I felt the song with all of my heart, especially the end of the music video, which made me cry. After the music video finished, I jumped in my car and drove to Target where I bought the CD. Believe it or not, the song “Everytime” saved my life and made me fight what I saw as my weaknesses. One day, my husband and I were in the car and I played “Everytime,” in that moment I couldn’t control myself and I cried so hard and my husband asked me the reason and for the first time, I started to talk about my struggles. I have to say, “Everytime” song was my wings to fly. After that day, my husband took care of me and saved me from the darkness of my depression and anxiety. I listened to “Everytime” constantly during my pregnancy and I asked my daughter recently if she ever feels anything special when she listens to “Everytime” and she said, “mom, yes, I feel something special with this song and I don’t know where it comes from,” to which I shared her this story. Thank you Britney Spears for giving me wings to fly and saving my life.
Thank you, Sepideh, for allowing me to share this tragically beautiful story. I will never, ever forget the first time Sepideh told me this back when we worked alongside one another at Macy’s, it left tears in my eyes and warmth in my heart and has stuck with me for nearly ten years now. I really appreciate her vulnerability in sharing this with you all, it means so much to me and I hope you all enjoyed reading it.
While Sepideh’s story is wholly unique to her, it’s by no means an isolated one. I’ve had other people share with me intimate details of their lives where they were able to find strength and security in Britney Spears. I mean, my goodness, I’m in a Britney Spears Facebook Group with approximately 2,000 other members who can all essentially say this.
For so many people, Britney Spears is just an incredibly talented pop star with a record-breaking career and visibly tough personal life, but to many of us, she’s so much more than that. She’s a source of all things good in this world and while that may sound dramatic to some, I honestly don’t know a better way to describe how I feel about her. She’s provided me and Melissa with the soundtrack to our lives and is tied to so many of our favorite memories. This is why we wanted to celebrate Britney’s life and legacy alongside several of our best friends because Britney Spears is someone ALWAYS worth celebrating.
THANK YOU so much for viewing! I greatly appreciate your support! Please feel free to leave a comment below as I very much LOVE reading and responding to them and there is NOTHING I love more than talking about two of my favorite things in this world: Cutesville and Britney Spears! I’ll return next Tuesday with another all-new post, but until then, I wish you all, all the best in your weekly endeavors!
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You guys looked so cute! So many great looks! Such a fun idea and looks like it was a great time!
Thank you! Yes! We had THE BEST night! We’re even talking about doing it again next year!
Very brave of your friend to share that story about how Britney saved her life that was very touching thank you for sharing that. I’ve never seen a party like this before this sure is something.
Agreed! Her story brings me to tears & for me, showcases how Britney Spears means so much to so many.
What your friend wrote is just beautiful. Such a moving sentiment.
Agreed! It put tears in my eyes!