I've been to a few galas in my time. Not a lot -- work prom, the Arthritis Foundation's event, and a few others -- but a few. For the past few years, faux-pas-be-damned, I've worn the same dress to all of them. I strongly believe that if you're going to spend any significant amount of money on anything but particularly clothes, you need to use it and get your money's worth. I almost always mentally amortize a significant purchase before committing to it. At this point, my dress is a sub-$100 dress, which I would definitely pay without even a second thought for it.
But I digress.
My point of the preceding paragraphs is that I've been to enough of these events that I'm a pretty good planning committee member. This year, after getting a touch burned out with my usual philanthropic endeavor, I agreed to help Heather plan the Cystic Fibrosis Breath of Life Gala.
I attended my first planning meeting tonight. And, sadly, I could not contain myself. When they suggested a theme, e.g. Roaring 20's costume party, I reflexively, and loudly, said no. You just can't get people to pay a $300 ticket for a theme party. When they suggested a cash bar after a certain hour, my immediate response was "absolutely not." Once those ideas were out of the way, we came up with a lot of great ideas for fundraising and ways to make the gala an actually fun event. Even without free drinks.
Unrelated: I'm proud of myself and relieved -- I just KNEW I had something other than my house to talk about!
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Packing.
I think I've been packing for at least two months now. I enjoyed the initial purge but now that I'm packing, I'm tempted to just pitch it all and have some one deliver all new stuff. Of course, since all my money is earmarked for my house now, that's just wishful thinking.
So, I continue to pack. And, fun -- I get to unpack on Friday!
So, I continue to pack. And, fun -- I get to unpack on Friday!
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Good as Gold.
My new neighborhood is the Gold Coast. I am entirely biased but I think my new street is likely the prettiest in the whole city. My street is nicely treed, filled with huge historic mansions, flowers everywhere, not three blocks from the lake. It seems like a very safe and idyllic place in which I look forward to living.
For the first time, I officially joined a neighborhood association. Last night was the Gold Coast Neighbors Association's annual Spring Fling ("As Good as Gold" was the theme) held at the Chicago Racquet Club. I attended along with my friends and neighbors, Melissa, Laura and Andrea. The venue was beautiful, the food tasty, the drinks flowing, and the crowd . . . interesting. We brought the median age, and no doubt income, down significantly. For the most part, everyone we met was extremely nice and outgoing. My favorite part was the live auction, although I'm quite disappointed that I did not win the mega-raffle's scooter.
While the neighborhood is very safe, the buildings like to remind their residents that there can be crime in the Gold Coast and to stay alert. The Gold Coast Neighbors Association takes its crime prevention seriously. Melissa had left her credit card on the raffle table when she bought a ticket. Not 45 minutes later, she realized her mistake and went back to get it. They had already called the company to cancel it. It was proactive, efficient, impressive and awful at once. I'm not sure why they didn't try to find her first -- either by making an announcement or at her address, as they definitely know where she lives -- but they surely avoided any potential credit card fraud.
Top Three.
Part of this is my own fault due to personality, but the construction and design process are killing me. I scheduled my move for May 21 after repeated assurance that my place would be done by mid-May. While mid-May translates to May 15 to me, I decided to allow for some slippage in the schedule and added a week. Despite this clear deadline, it seems like EVERYTHING is taking longer and no one is motivated.
Top Three Frustrations:
1. Tile. Unbeknownst to me -- but well-known to the rest of the world, particularly the design world -- tile generally has anywhere between a three and six week wait time between order and delivery. From the outset, re-tiling my bathroom was part of my design plans. Outset = March 24 or not quite eight weeks from my scheduled move. And yet, the designer didn't turn to selecting tile until last weekend. Every sample was at least a four week wait. I thought I was clear that speed was my most important factor in selecting tile at this point because I don't want to live through construction. And yet, as of yesterday when demo began on my bathroom -- all tile now removed and problems uncovered -- I STILL don't have tile chosen and was getting questions as to whether I wanted to order stuff that would take six weeks. Who woulda thunk it, but apparently I'm being too nice about this.
2. Unforeseen problems. First, as demo began on my kitchen on Monday, the contractor realized that part of the wall I planned to remove entirely contained a concrete structural support column. Well, hell. While the revised plan is still an improvement over what was there, its not nearly as good and my planned island might end up looking silly. Hopefully, not but I have some concerns. Second, as demo began on my bathroom, they realized that the valves for both my tub and sink were leaking. Things that were not uncovered during the inspection. Thankfully, plumbing is the responsibility of the condo association. My relatively high monthly assessment is not for naught.
3. General lack of speed. I do not understand why, when I select something, it takes upwards of a week for the items to actually be ordered. Clearly, people who do not have to live without lighting fixtures, or furniture, or countertops are not nearly as motivated as those of us who do. And, my failure of comprehension is furthered by the fact that I -- not to be immodest -- exceed at getting things done. I can conceirge things and orchestrate with the best of them. At this point, I'm pretty sure that my designer and her staff hate me because I am emailing them daily with reminders, prompts and questions.
Despite these frustrations, I already love the work product, even if the process isn't too my liking. And, hopefully, come sometime in June, my home will be beautiful and I will be super happy with my decisions.
Top Three Frustrations:
1. Tile. Unbeknownst to me -- but well-known to the rest of the world, particularly the design world -- tile generally has anywhere between a three and six week wait time between order and delivery. From the outset, re-tiling my bathroom was part of my design plans. Outset = March 24 or not quite eight weeks from my scheduled move. And yet, the designer didn't turn to selecting tile until last weekend. Every sample was at least a four week wait. I thought I was clear that speed was my most important factor in selecting tile at this point because I don't want to live through construction. And yet, as of yesterday when demo began on my bathroom -- all tile now removed and problems uncovered -- I STILL don't have tile chosen and was getting questions as to whether I wanted to order stuff that would take six weeks. Who woulda thunk it, but apparently I'm being too nice about this.
2. Unforeseen problems. First, as demo began on my kitchen on Monday, the contractor realized that part of the wall I planned to remove entirely contained a concrete structural support column. Well, hell. While the revised plan is still an improvement over what was there, its not nearly as good and my planned island might end up looking silly. Hopefully, not but I have some concerns. Second, as demo began on my bathroom, they realized that the valves for both my tub and sink were leaking. Things that were not uncovered during the inspection. Thankfully, plumbing is the responsibility of the condo association. My relatively high monthly assessment is not for naught.
3. General lack of speed. I do not understand why, when I select something, it takes upwards of a week for the items to actually be ordered. Clearly, people who do not have to live without lighting fixtures, or furniture, or countertops are not nearly as motivated as those of us who do. And, my failure of comprehension is furthered by the fact that I -- not to be immodest -- exceed at getting things done. I can conceirge things and orchestrate with the best of them. At this point, I'm pretty sure that my designer and her staff hate me because I am emailing them daily with reminders, prompts and questions.
Despite these frustrations, I already love the work product, even if the process isn't too my liking. And, hopefully, come sometime in June, my home will be beautiful and I will be super happy with my decisions.
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