Truthful Tuesday: Vain Edition

A few weeks ago, I received an e-vite to a celebration for a friend of mine from college. She had finally finished her Ph.D program, and her family was throwing her a big bash to celebrate that achievement. And then I saw on the very bottom of the invite: Black Tie.
Black Tie events are a rarity for me. When I was a kid, I went to a black tie bar mitzvah but other than that, most events I attend are either cocktail attire or completely casual. I LOVE getting dressed up fancy. Which is shocking because 99% of the time I'm a jeans and t-shirt kind of gal. Anyway, back to my confession... So this event was scheduled for this past Sunday at 5 PM. Tricky. I needed to ride 3 horses and hand walk Rio, run a couple of errands, and be Black Tie ready by 4 to reach the venue in time. You guys. I had to get ready in 25 minutes. I think I did ok though:

I went with the fail-proof braided bun for a hairdo since it requires zero hair drying/straightening. The only real hole in my appearance was my nails. They really needed to be filed at minimum, but truthfully are desperate for a manicure. Oh well. Something I've grown to realize about getting prettied up for events like this: the night is not about me. I used to really stress about looking just right for weddings, and what not. But I finally realized, as long as you show up clean and appropriately clad, that's fine. People aren't there to admire my appearance. They're attending for whomever the event is celebrating.

I totally felt awkward when one of my friends said we were going outside to take photos of each other by the flowers... but honestly, I'm kind of glad we did. It was fun! And I love this dress so I'm happy to have some photos in it.
Do you tend to run out of time to prep for events? Do you have a go-to quickie hairstyle for such occasions? Dressing up: yay or nay?