A Cinderella Day
Last Thursday was one of those days where the extremes in your life really collide. I spent all day doing my normal mom things. (I'm going for detail here, as I want to remember in 20 years what a typical day was like for me when my kids were little.)
So I got up just before 7 AM, tidied the front room and kid's bathroom, wiped down the counters and sink, finished up the leftover dishes, swept the kitchen floor, fed the girls breakfast, helped them get dressed, packed their bags and Grace's lunch, got Grace out the door, and drove Brynn to preschool. When I got home I spent a couple of hours writing an Instructor-led synchronous session for my current project and scrubbed the kitchen sink when I got stuck and needed to think. I picked up Brynn from school. I listened to everything she wanted to say about her day on the way home. Got her home, fed her lunch, read her a story and sang a song and laid her down for a nap. Continued working on the synch session until Grace got home from school. Then Brynn got up, I fixed them both a snack, looked through Grace's backpack. Cleaned up the kitchen from lunch and snacking. Wrapped up the session of the synch session and went to get ready. Yes, I was doing all this in sweats and a rumpled ponytail. It's hot, I tell you :)
Ok now for the good stuff. After a regular mom day, I got all dressed up and Chad and I went to the Beaujolais Nouveau Festival 2008. This wine festival is a fundraising event for MDA of Utah. It highlights a special wine released only in November. The whole thrill of the fancy wine was sort of lost on me, but I can appreciate that it was a big deal and people certainly were excited about it. Chad's company helps sponser the event. They have a cocktail hour and silent auction, followed by dinner and a live auction. It's a semi-formal event held at La Caille. (Of course there were a fair number of people dressed in Utah semi-formal there. To me cocktail dress is an actual cocktail dress, not a church dress or pants and a button down shirt, but whatever.)
We have had the opportunity over the last couple of years to attend various events thanks to our association with First Western Advisors and several of their clients. We have been to several client events hosted by FWA, like movie screenings for National Treasure, Harry Potter and the new Indiana Jones movie. We've been to dinners and even got to go to the Park City Jazz Festival last year, which was really fun. Last night's even was by far the most formal thing we have been to and it was so much fun.
We mingled through the cocktail hour and spent the time visiting with other folks from FWA and clients. At dinner we were seated with several interesting characters, including the Executive Director of Ballet West. I've done some non-profit work in my career, so we were able to talk about the difficulty of fund raising and the effect the economy has taken on the arts. (Don't I sound smart? Well don't be fooled. I know just enough about a whole bunch of stuff to make good dinner conversation. What is it they say? Jack of all trades, master of none. That's me.) Interesting to talk to him about how Ballet West operates and how they adjust their operations in the face of economic challenges.
We also sat with two gentleman who, in their spare time, are very involved in fund raising for medical research related to diabetes, HIV and cancer. I actually loved hearing about the technological advances in cell research they are doing. Ever since I wrote that organ donation course, I've been more interested in this kind of research and all the issues with cadaveric organ and tissue donation. We also sat with my friend's hairstylist and his wife and talked all about their recent trip to China. Which you know Chad and I could talk about all day! Our good friends Eric and Emily Wallace completed the table.
The hors d'oeuvres and dinner were both excellent. The last few years, I find myself turning into a bit of a foodie, which is surprising given how picky I am, but I knew going last night was a rare opportunity, so I laid my pickiness aside and tried everything. The dinner conversation was really interesting. I've never been to a live auction before, so that was fun to see. All in all, I thought it was a great night and it didn't hurt that I had on a killer dress and shoes! You know it is a great dress when total strangers tell you how much they like it. The pictures don't really do it justice. Always hard to capture the detail of a solid color outfit in pictures, but come over and I'll model it for you. It's a really great dress and I love it, obviously. :)
Here's a good pic of Em and I modeling our shoes. Why do I need a picture of my shoes? Uh, because you don't go out wearing awesome shoes and not take a picture - hello.
My life is generally not very glamorous, so I'm always grateful when I get to steal away a few hours and pretend like it is.
Ok - and not sure what's up with the weird spacing, but I can't spend any more time trying to fix it, so well done blogger. You win.
So I got up just before 7 AM, tidied the front room and kid's bathroom, wiped down the counters and sink, finished up the leftover dishes, swept the kitchen floor, fed the girls breakfast, helped them get dressed, packed their bags and Grace's lunch, got Grace out the door, and drove Brynn to preschool. When I got home I spent a couple of hours writing an Instructor-led synchronous session for my current project and scrubbed the kitchen sink when I got stuck and needed to think. I picked up Brynn from school. I listened to everything she wanted to say about her day on the way home. Got her home, fed her lunch, read her a story and sang a song and laid her down for a nap. Continued working on the synch session until Grace got home from school. Then Brynn got up, I fixed them both a snack, looked through Grace's backpack. Cleaned up the kitchen from lunch and snacking. Wrapped up the session of the synch session and went to get ready. Yes, I was doing all this in sweats and a rumpled ponytail. It's hot, I tell you :)
Ok now for the good stuff. After a regular mom day, I got all dressed up and Chad and I went to the Beaujolais Nouveau Festival 2008. This wine festival is a fundraising event for MDA of Utah. It highlights a special wine released only in November. The whole thrill of the fancy wine was sort of lost on me, but I can appreciate that it was a big deal and people certainly were excited about it. Chad's company helps sponser the event. They have a cocktail hour and silent auction, followed by dinner and a live auction. It's a semi-formal event held at La Caille. (Of course there were a fair number of people dressed in Utah semi-formal there. To me cocktail dress is an actual cocktail dress, not a church dress or pants and a button down shirt, but whatever.) We have had the opportunity over the last couple of years to attend various events thanks to our association with First Western Advisors and several of their clients. We have been to several client events hosted by FWA, like movie screenings for National Treasure, Harry Potter and the new Indiana Jones movie. We've been to dinners and even got to go to the Park City Jazz Festival last year, which was really fun. Last night's even was by far the most formal thing we have been to and it was so much fun.
We mingled through the cocktail hour and spent the time visiting with other folks from FWA and clients. At dinner we were seated with several interesting characters, including the Executive Director of Ballet West. I've done some non-profit work in my career, so we were able to talk about the difficulty of fund raising and the effect the economy has taken on the arts. (Don't I sound smart? Well don't be fooled. I know just enough about a whole bunch of stuff to make good dinner conversation. What is it they say? Jack of all trades, master of none. That's me.) Interesting to talk to him about how Ballet West operates and how they adjust their operations in the face of economic challenges.
We also sat with two gentleman who, in their spare time, are very involved in fund raising for medical research related to diabetes, HIV and cancer. I actually loved hearing about the technological advances in cell research they are doing. Ever since I wrote that organ donation course, I've been more interested in this kind of research and all the issues with cadaveric organ and tissue donation. We also sat with my friend's hairstylist and his wife and talked all about their recent trip to China. Which you know Chad and I could talk about all day! Our good friends Eric and Emily Wallace completed the table.
The hors d'oeuvres and dinner were both excellent. The last few years, I find myself turning into a bit of a foodie, which is surprising given how picky I am, but I knew going last night was a rare opportunity, so I laid my pickiness aside and tried everything. The dinner conversation was really interesting. I've never been to a live auction before, so that was fun to see. All in all, I thought it was a great night and it didn't hurt that I had on a killer dress and shoes! You know it is a great dress when total strangers tell you how much they like it. The pictures don't really do it justice. Always hard to capture the detail of a solid color outfit in pictures, but come over and I'll model it for you. It's a really great dress and I love it, obviously. :)
Here's a good pic of Em and I modeling our shoes. Why do I need a picture of my shoes? Uh, because you don't go out wearing awesome shoes and not take a picture - hello. My life is generally not very glamorous, so I'm always grateful when I get to steal away a few hours and pretend like it is.
Ok - and not sure what's up with the weird spacing, but I can't spend any more time trying to fix it, so well done blogger. You win.
Comments
You, however, looked GEORGOUS!!!! Love, Love, LOVE the shoes! It seems every time I see you, I think simple elegance! Every mom needs an evening like that! Glad you were able to have one!