Working Events

In front of the Palace (note heels in hand)

I walked into the world famous New York Palace Hotel, home of the hit T.V. show Gossip Girl and many other notable affairs, wearing a blue wrap-around maternity dress that I bought years ago not realizing it was from the maternity section. You can't tell...is that a bad sign? Carrying my heels due to left-over blisters and swelling from the day before, I hobbled in at 7:30am, trying to look somewhat professional in my flip flops and maternity-business dress. I was there to assist at the First Ladies Breakfast, featuring the First Ladies of Kenya, South Africa, and Sierra Leone...none of whom decided to actually show up for the event in their honor, might I add. Christy Turlington made it though! A supermodel and me eating in the same room. Guess who ate more.

When I received my instructions upon arrival, I bravely squeezed my throbbing feet into their five inch prisons and set up shop at the entrance of the hotel. My job was to ask anyone who looked lost if they were attending the First Ladies Breakfast and subsequently point them upstairs. Problem: everyone who walked into the hotel looked dazed and confused. Naturally, these wealthy business men and women in their designer suits and dresses looked to little ole' me in my Target maternity dress for help. I felt like such a poser. Eventually I learned that there was an Ethiopian/British round circle meeting on the fourth floor and that the bathroom was located to the right.

Brittany, Me, Claire, Kaitlin, and Emily (Belle)

As I gained more confidence in telling world leaders what floor to find their conferences, many times second-hand through their body guards, I started to notice more and more secret service bustling about. These sneaky little guys weren't easy to spot at first, however, because every man in the Palace wears a suit and walks around like he's important (because he probably is). The only way you could tell was by a small pin on their lapels and the curly-cue ear pieces tucked into their collars. Without taking a close look, I noticed a group of men walk into the building seeming unsure about which direction to go. Chipper, helpful me politely asked "Can I help you gentlemen find anything?" They looked at me as though I was wearing a bologna mask with two chewed holes for eyes. It's like they wanted to be mad, but the ridiculousness of it was so humorous that they had to laugh. While chuckling, they pointed to their ear pieces. Sheepishly, I said "Oh...you know where you're going." From that point on, whenever they walked past me, they made sure that I gave them the go ahead as if I had some say over where secret service could meander. You might be wondering whose secret service team these men and one woman, who looked like the real life Sandra Bullock in Miss Congeniality, belonged to. So was I. Through minor investigation, I found out that Tony Blair was on the fourth floor. TONY BLAIR. As in former PRIME MINISTER OF THE UNITED KINGDOM. As in all of those people I'd directed to the fourth floor were going up there to discuss relations between Ethiopia and Great Britain with Tony Blair, himself. Glad I dressed to impress that day...

Not even 24 hours earlier, I was assisting at another politically-driven event at the NASDAQ closing bell ceremony in Times Square. Hence why my feet hated me the next morning. My friend Claire (Miss New York 2010...she's been featured in my blog before) helped oversee these hoop-dee-lahs and was told to find females in NYC to escort VIPs and such. That's where I came in! At the NASDAQ event, we watched the President of Tanzania make a speech right after the bell was rung (so fun!) and made sure everyone knew where they were supposed to go. Experiencing an event of such importance was inspiring and exciting; an opportunity presented solely because I'm in New York. Being a part of something like that really lifted my spirits following a difficult few days of post-move turmoil. The other girls assisting were also fantastic to talk with- one of them is even the current Belle on the Broadway tour of Beauty & the Beast! How cool is that. She's an absolute doll and answered all of my questions regarding the musical theatre world. I am so lucky to have had the opportunity to pick her brain (thanks, Claire, for setting that up!).

Tonight, one day after the First Ladies Breakfast, I helped cater a dinner party thrown by the Ambassador of Austria in his multimillion dollar home in the Upper East Side. I didn't spill any red wine or drop any $200 china: mission complete. What a week!

I forgot to mention...I went on a blind date last night. My friend Josh from high school wanted me to meet one of his coworkers, so we agreed to get together for a drink or two. Well, as you can imagine, I was exhausted from waking up at the butt crack of dawn for the First Ladies Breakfast, so I took a nap. I'm very anal about setting alarms and not sleeping through things- particularly dates- so I set my alarm for 5pm, giving me ample time to get to the East Village by 7pm. At 6:45, I awoke from my slumber, wondering if I needed to get up for work when I realized it was not, in fact, the next day. AHHH!! I'M LATE! I'M LATE! FOR A VERY IMPORTANT DATE! Immediately I clambered around for my phone and called Kevin (my date), explaining I'd be 40 minutes late since getting there would take 45 minutes and I needed at least 5 minutes to brush away my sleep breath and slap on some eye shadow. Great first impression, don't you think? Luckily he was incredibly forgiving and we still had a blast at an underground sake bar, followed by strolling around the East Village and ending the night in a lounge-y wine bar. Meeting someone new was refreshing and I'm glad he turned out to be such great company!

Tomorrow is bridesmaids dress shopping day! Lindsay is taking her maid of honor and me to look at possibilities :) I'm really looking forward to laid-back girl time. Yes, Lindsay is the kind of bride who can be relaxed and pleasant while shopping...score. Should be a great day.