Filed under: Events
Hey Guys! I think I said this at least 500 times last night. It was my opening to get people’s attention. We were at the Celtics game at the Garden (I refuse to call it by its full name) working for the Truth Fund. Our job was to man the Truth Fund table and solicit donations for a promotion we are currently hosting. This was our third night. And “Hey Guys,” is now my classic pick-up line.
What we picked up (besides donations) should be made into a comedy show. Besides seeing and socializing with alot of familiar faces, we also made a few new friends. Shocker.
Our first night we were all fired up and even sported Pierce baby tees and bought other Celtics paraphernalia to get us and fans in the spirit. And when the team is as hot as they are right now, that part was not too tough. I got a tattoo on my left arm (a green shamrock with a gold glitter #34 in the center) and wore a giant green foam finger. The foam finger came in handy as I stood in the middle of the concourse tapping people on the shoulder and then pointing them in the direction of our table (two good jobs for a foam finger don’t you think?). Our table was such a hit that night that they had to send over the security guards to stand by us the rest of the night. Thanks Jake.
The second night was a bit slower in sales, but not in action. It was military night at the Garden. Lots of uniforms in the house and lots of testosterone. A group of sailors came over to our table and asked if they could take a picture. Not of what we were selling, but of us. ”Sure if you make a donation.” Then one of the sailors was called to the floor for the free throw contest. This guy was tall. He was taller than some of the players. They blindfolded him and he had to make two foul shots, but from way behind the free throw line to win $5000 and free Lasik eye surgery (it is vision awareness month - maybe that is why they blindfolded him). Anyway, this guy made them both. The crowd went wild. We decided to pack up the table after this because as the more excited the guys get, the more beer they drink and the more boyish they get. I know you know what I mean.
Last night we started off pretty busy. Paul had just taped a new video message advertising the promotion and our table. People threw money at us, flashed us (oh did I forget to mention we gave everyone green beads when they donated), asked us what we were doing after the game, asked us to dance and asked us any question at all about Guest Relations. We made all kinds of friends. Stretch, Christian, Joe (who truly pulled out a wad of cash from his pocket and threw $100 at me), Dr. Goldsomething, and last but not least, Shannon.
Shannon and his crew were a real treat. He wore a backwards baseball cap (Red Sox) and had one of the strongest Boston accents I have heard in a long time. He decided to help us and everytime we shouted out for donations he would add his own words in this very same strong Boston accent. When one of his friends decided to strip off his shirt and flex his muscles and beer belly (one of the largest beer bellies I have seen in a very long time), we decided it was time to go.
Despite a few overly excited fans (and honestly who can blame them – remember where the team was same time last year) the promotion is going well and it is for a super cause. This is truly one of the rewards of my job and makes these stories and the characters that star in each, all worth it.
Hey Guys! Tomorrow night we get our Green On and do it all again.
Filed under: Events
My cousin Susie and I share an Easter tradition that we look forward to each spring. We color eggs. And I am not talking about your typical, run-of-the-mill Paas version. Our eggtravaganza is a three hour ritual that involves dye, glue, paint, glitter, sequins, and wine. The results are on display above and star two newcomers, Ed and Fred (the two with the purple beaded toupees and googly eyes.)
Although our creations may not show it, we were up against a few challenges. This year was the first in a long time we spent our holiday in the city. We are usually on the Cape when the Easter bunny comes so all my supplies are across the bridge. (I was fearful that the Easter bunny would be confused, but somehow that little cotton tail still managed to find us.) Anyway back to my supplies. There are years and years worth of Williams Sonoma and Arthur Court (yep the bunny pattern. I know I don’t strike you as the cutesy type, trust me it is the only thing that is cutesy about me or my stuff) housewares that will now have to sit dusty for another whole year. And my arts and crafts supplies – what truly makes our eggs the all time, give that Martha chick a run for her money, best are sitting right there on the shelf next to the bunny platters. The stamps, the bag of sequins, the pipe cleaners, the egg cups – all MIA.
Susie, my younger cousin however always noted in my family as the more mature, practical and sensible one, bought us a new and improved kit from WS and I found a super cheeseball glitter egg kit at Target (now look at who was being practical). Leave it to me to find bling for my eggs.
Saturday afternoon the scene was set and we were ready. I must admit the house looked fabulous and very springlike even though the city hustle and bustle was only steps downstairs and the temperature still reminded us it was winter. I went with a pussy willow and French tulip theme this year. The pussy willows for the height and the tulips for the season. I also added three small floating yellow orchids around the base of the large arrangement on my foyer table. Simple yet elegant way to decorate and the branches and color really filled the entrance. Hint to my readers – start adding fresh flowers to your homes and/or desks each week. They are a great mood enhancer and a sign of spring. After commenting on how great the house looked, we transformed my kitchen table into our workbench and let the fun begin.
The next challenge we faced was sediment. And I don’t mean in our wine. For some strange reason the dye tablets did not mix well with the white vinegar and water and the results were not too pretty. The green, orange and yellow were okay but the pink, blue and purple looked like something Jerry Garcia would have loved. So we made lots of green, orange and yellow at first but then tried the mix from the cheeseball kit I picked up at that suburban housewife bargain store. And guess what? That little five dollar kit was our saving grace. And may I add, very neat too. No dipping or dye involved. All we had to do was plop an egg into a plastic bag and mix with a few drops of color and glitter. Shake and bake for eggs.
We discovered a new way to color our eggs and made less of a mess. Susie and I had a great afternoon and evening and accomplished what we set out to do. We created a masterpiece and spent some quality time together. Natalia, thank you too for dropping in and for the wine. It was so fun to see you and have you join our egg party.
The rest of the weekend and Easter dinner was also very special and quite yummy. Easter is one of “my holidays” which means I get to cook for my family. I made one of my Aunt Jubes all time favorites and my Mom baked one of mine, her famous Easter bread. We also used our masterpiece to play our silly game. Each year, we pick two eggs from the bowl (Ed and Fred were disqualified due to the home hair advantage of their purple toupees) and hold them in either hand. We then go around the table and hit and try to crack the person’s egg sitting next to you. The one who is left with an uncracked side of an egg at the end of the game wins. My mom is the reigning champ now three years in a row. And trust me, she loves to win. My Mom, the Egg Queen.
Happy Easter! Love, Me, the Egg Queen and our two cousins Ed and Fred
Filed under: Sanity
This is the all time best response I received from my friend Candy. I emailed her the other day to ask her if we were still going out last night (she, Susie and I finally had a date on our books). They are two of my oldest and bestest friends in the whole wide world (true BFFs), but we do not get to see each other that much.
We dined, drank margaritas and gossiped all night. Well almost all night, at least until Candy’s cups runneth over. She is nursing and may I add milking (no pun intended) her voluptuousness for one more month. I tried to convince her to sleep over, but that baby at home waiting to be fed thing just gets in the way sometimes. So we stayed out as late as we could until she had to drive back to the burbs.
Susie Q and CandyPants (I am Coco in this group) are two yummy mummies and always make me smile. Last night I swallowed my ears. We caught up on all the important stuff – some silly, some serious, some personal and some professional. Just your basic girl talk. It was exactly what I needed. And I think what they needed too. Our lives are so different and yet we are all the same. It doesn’t matter how much time goes by until the next time we see each other, for some reason we always manage to pick up exactly where we left off. I can’t wait.
Did we vow to see each other and go out more? Absafreakinlootely.
Filed under: Feast
I recently joined a new gym but still needed an extra jump start to enhance my spring training. Every year at this time, I grow tired of my winter wardrobe and one item in particular, my winter coat. And in this case, I am not talking about my Montcler. I am referring to that little extra something that seems to creep up right around the holidays and then hangs out around your middle. It is so not in fashion for the next two seasons, making it so time for some good spring cleaning.
Joining Equinox was a great incentive and it feels great to be back in a routine and in different classes. Me and Tanya took a great one last night. But trust me your lululemons will look that much cuter after a good cleanse. And if you are anything like me, once you do a cleanse and start seeing the results, it is much easier to stay active and eat healthy (I type this of course as I stare at the huge candy jar filled with jelly beans on my desk).
Last year, I tried the Master Cleanse. It is a great concept but not great for me. I am anemic and happened to start this process at a particular girly time of the month and then tried to take an advanced pilates class. I ended up face first on Commonwealth Avenue after I practically passed out walking home. My Mom had a cow and I basically abandoned my disgusting home made lemonade that night. This year I wanted to try something to detox, but took a healthier approach.
I just completed Jay Robb’s Fruit Flush. It is a three day cleanse that simply rids your body of excess. It is not truly a weight loss diet, but if you need to shed a few pounds quickly (I lost 3) it is a pretty simple and painless process. Thank you Deanna and Frances for sharing this one with me! No wonder you guys always look so great on TV.
The first day you drink protein shakes all day. The protein you choose can be egg white or whey but with no additives. Jay Robb makes some yummy ones (shocker seeing it his flush right!?) Then you can eat a lean piece of chicken or fish and a raw vegetable salad (with lemon and olive oil or avocado). The second and third days you eat servings of fruit (almost any kind but limited amounts) all day long – in two hour intervals. The sugar from the fruit keeps you going all day I promise. And you must drink lots and lots of water. Dinner is just the raw veggie salad - but you can consume up to 6 cups each night. Your “dessert” is a smaller protein shake – the chocolate flavor was a nice treat.
The three days passed quickly and I have to say I feel great. My advice is to plan your three days at a time when you have nothing scheduled at night, if you can do the first day at home (the shakes are better in a blender) and to be around a bathroom! You will be “flushing” all day.
You can do this flush as much or as little as you need. I will probably do it again right after Easter (all those chocolate eggs and my Mom’s dortula!) and before I go on vacation in a few weeks, throughout the summer and probably when I am gearing up for big events. For right now, I am just happy to retire this winter coat for good.
Happy spring cleaning!
Filed under: Fashion
With titles like “Investing” and today’s “Retirement,” you might think I am a financial planner as opposed to an event planner. Rest assured, I have not changed professions, but am only preparing for a new season.
We invest for a secure and happy retirement right? Well keeping with my cost per wear analysis, we can invest in the new and retire the tried and true (didn’t intentionally mean to rhyme that, but now that I did, I kinda think I just created a new motto to shop by).
For example, I just retrieved an old pair of boots from my cobbler. He laughs everytime I bring in these particular ones or their fraternal twin. That actually is an entirely different post – when you find something you love, buy in multiples. In this case it is a pair of gray suede Prada boots that I bought at LouisBoston in 2003. I loved them so much, I also scooped them up in black. But the gray are my favorites and I have worn them all season long for five years now.
I bought them for a celebrity hockey game I was producing for the first time in Boston that promised a crowd of 15,000+. Therefore, I needed a killer outfit that was both practical and stylish (more stress on the latter of course). Maria and Louis did not disappoint and this particular outfit goes down in my personal event classics. Luckily, I am reminded of it everyday by a super cool photo a publicist framed and then sent me after the event. There I am standing between Michael J. Fox and Kiwi in Neil Barrett black cargos , a gray cashmere Tuleh halter sweater (that I still sport with jeans – it’s that good), vintage crystal drop earrings (which I took off about half way through – not sure if the ice or the clip on earrings were numbing me, but they didn’t work for an all day escapade) and the gray suede lace up stilts. They looked like stilts to me at the time as the 4 stacked inches were a wee bit scary to run around the bowels of the FleetCenter.
Let me tell you Miuccia Prada makes one comfy pair of stilts. I ran in them all day that day and then almost regularly each fall and winter since, which explains the familiar visits to the cobbler.
The time I picked them up and they didn’t look the same to me. Sure the heels were repaired and buffed, and the laces replaced, but something was off. My cobbler had sprayed them with a clear type of gloss to make them appear new again. His intentions were right, but the results just wrong. Imagine cosmetic surgery for shoes. I got the point. Sometimes too much of a good thing is just not good.
They brought me five years of height, happiness, style and confidence. Cost per wear, they do not owe me a cent. They returned the favor in spades and I am happy to report come the first spring day, they will be in retirement.
Filed under: Fashion
My husband laughs at me every time I try to explain or justify my spending on fashion as an investment. There is usually some snide comment about the ROI. “Oh really, and what annual dividend does that Balenciaga bag (or name your piece of choice) yield?”
I understand his point, but also know he is male and a true heterosexual as opposed to a metrosexual (although I desperately try to make him a hybrid). The female species clearly has a different, and may I add more creative and open minded, way of analyzing (another finance term) things.
Our analzying really comes down to a few easy questions, and then later, even easier justifications ideally reinforcing our investing in the first place. Is it practical? Will it go with everything? Does it pack easily? Does it make you happy – or at least happy at the time? (retail therapy at its best).
March’s Bazaar featured an entire article on fashion’s escalating prices and how we either do not notice, or just like I have been saying for years, justify. They go on to explain how the current prices for items, and sadly the norm, are becoming viciously overpriced. “$500 is the new $300, ” they said about the cost of good shoes. I wish some of the spring shoes I have my eye on were $500. The good ones are above that plateau and climb as much as double (skins, boots, embellished).
It is at this level that shoes become more than a great pair of heels, they become an investment. Becky recently made a great investment. She purchased the new YSL platform sandals in eye-catching cobalt blue. She brought them into the office for show and tell and we did what most girly girls do. We immediatley started answering the questions. Are they practical (okay Beck, so 3 out of 4 aren’t bad). We listed all the potential outfits and then we justified their pricetag . Cost per wear - should be a financial term created especially for women. All of a sudden the pricetag doesn’t seem so scary. Each time Becky wears her killer heels, we are going to knock $10 from the cost. We will keep track on our blackboard in the office – it is right under a simple heading YSL.
If you wear something over and over, it makes you feel fierce and makes everything else you wear with it look fab, then it was well worth the investment. Bottom line (yet another finance term for you men folk), invest in the classic pieces that you love, and more importantly, that return the favor.
Spring is right around the corner girls, time for some new investing.
Filed under: Sanity
Around the holidays I posted a blog titled “Stay Warm.” It was mainly about a dear friend of mine who is now battling invasive cancer. Invasive is a horrible word defined as either armed aggression or tending to encroach on one’s privacy. It her case it means both. But my blog was not about that, but rather how we could all use an attitude adjustment from time to time.
At the time, I was feeling blue because of all the things I had to do to prepare for the holidays and the lack of time I had to get them all done, blah blah blah. I returned home one day to find an email from this friend. My attitude was adjusted immediately.
It is funny how life works sometimes. Today, I am in NYC again running from meeting to meeting to meeting to reception to drinks. Yesterday it poured and again I was feeling down and somewhat overwhelmed. Being busy is great, but there are times when I wish I had a bit more time for me. Squeezing in dinner with my parents, scheduling windows of time with my husband and seeing friends once a month at best is just not my idea of a balanced life. I have made a bigger effort lately to do more of all of the above and am proud to say it is working. But yesterday in a moment of weakness, I caved in and was feeling out of sorts.
And almost as if it was planned, I received another email from my spirited friend. It came with “Round Two” in the subject heading and I wanted to share it with you just in case you are having a bad day (changed a bit to maintain her privacy).
My friend is a wonderful example of how to adjust your attitude. Her message is defined as inspiration.
Filed under: Events
Last week, I scouted the Mohegan Sun for a potential event we will producing this fall. I had been to Moho a few times before; the first time for the grand opening of a restaurant (our friend owns a bunch of the eating, drinking and dancing establishments there), and the second time with a group of our friends to celebrate one of Mike’s birthdays (this time is most memorable as it was the time I learned pot was truly illegal.) Mike of course has been back several times with the boys. I never saw the appeal. Those little indians have now changed my mind.
The drive was easy as can be (even for me). I am not a fan of driving in the dark by myself. Partly because I have horrible night vision and partly becuase I get so bored so easily. But I could not find any friends to come along (I think it was killing Mike that he could not “come play with me”) so I ventured out alone just shy of 5pm. The Pike was clear and I sailed through Worcester and into CT. Anyone who passed me on the road got a real treat. I sing at the top of my lungs and car dance whenever I can.
I checked in to the VIP desk around 6:40pm – less than two hours – I made great time. My client was meeting me there in a couple of hours so I had some time to explore and relax.
The place is big, but once you are there it is very easy to get a lay of the land. And I can see why it is very easy to stay and play. The place was pretty busy on a weeknight. Mostly blue hairs, but none the less. You can dine, work out, spa, gamble, catch a show, club, shop, drink and eat. Which is basically what I did minus the gambling and shopping part (shocker on the shopping part I know, but I am not a fan of Cache or Chico’s and the items I would want to purchase in Tiffany or Lux Bond and Green are major purchases in which I would need to score big at Black Jack first).
All in all, it is the perfect place for a group of guys on a two or three day hall pass. And a perfect place to host a sponsored event. I look forward to a few more scouts and luckily for me, I will get the chance to catch the new movie 21 (which I have a cameo in) that opens this month. So next time I just may try my luck at the tables and depending on how much I learn, just may hit a jewelry store to win. . .again.
Imagine having a window full of shiny baubles strategically placed right next to the casino. And imagine checking into a pseudo city where you can fulfill every vice. Our event promises to be a royal flush. It is like overnight camp for adults. Those little indians are pretty smart.
Come play with us. . .
