WASHINGTON 鈥 It was last September that Oksana Komarnyckyj started planning her daughter Katya鈥檚 Ukrainian debutante ball.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a fun coming-out party, just like you have the quincea帽era, the bat mitzvahs, the turban ceremonies,鈥 Komarnyckyj explained.
The family from Phoenix, Arizona, had already purchased plane tickets and a dress for Katya, but then, as the big day neared, out came a forecast calling for a lot of snow.
The news didn鈥檛 stop the family from packing their bags in sunny Phoenix and hopping a plane to the nation鈥檚 capital.
鈥淗ell no; we鈥檙e still going to have a party,鈥 Komarnyckyj said.
On Saturday night, the storm raged outside the Marriott Wardman Park in Northwest D.C., but inside, the family donned聽their formal attire for the ball and gathered at a lounge near the lobby.
Komarnyckyj called for the attention of the room, which included a group of snow-trapped 海角精品黑料 reporters, and introduced her daughter and her escort, Roman Onyshkevych, 17, of Annapolis, Maryland.
鈥淭he blizzard really — it just kind of made everything more exciting,鈥 Onyshkevych said.
After they sipped sparkling cider inside, the group then made a run outside to snap pictures of a memorable event during a historic snowstorm.
