msnbc and Vortex Victory Day

Our spring event vortex ended on a high note with msnbc's The After Party at the Embassy of Italy.  This party is so popular that it brings out the crazy and desperate--all for a chance to hobnob with celebrities and say you were there.  Last year, a couple of people jumped the fence at the Embassy to crash the party.  That's basically the same thing as jumping the fence at The White House.  It's also the one time each year that I stay up all night because the party starts at 11:30pm and usually ends some time around 4am.

We spend two whole days transforming the Embassy into a great party space.  My role for the evening was to supervise our staff--this also meant that I had most of the day Friday and Saturday away from the venue, so I was able to run last minute errands like purchase ten each of three different sizes of pillar candles at Pottery Barn, or call on my friend Sabrina to run to Home Depot and purchase 40 door mats to cover the wet marble entrance to the Embassy--because this year, The After Party happened on a very rainy day.  Here's a photo of the atrium that we transformed:

Atrium with the custom bar and some seating

 And with the lighting effects, the space looks completely different:

This is the place I was standing when someone informed me that George Clooney was coming to the party!

Once it was time to open the "doors" I was stationed at registration for about an hour, greeting guests and helping Philip pull celebrities so they did not have to wait in line.  I was doing a fine job of keeping it together as I waited impatiently for George Clooney to arrive--and he never did.

Although we installed tenting all along the sidewalks, it was still pouring rain and I ended up with tragically awful hair by the end of the evening.  At one point, I spotted one of the stars of Glee, Darren Criss.  I pulled he and his entourage aside to give them the entry tickets and asked if everyone he needed was with him. He explained that his manager would be coming and was concerned about getting him in when he arrived.  I told him to have the manager look for me--at which point he looked at me, gave my outfit a once over and said, "Got it.  Look for the lady in red"...and then he sang that song to me.  It was a "did that just happen?" moment.

After that fun interlude, I continued my running around, grateful that I had made the earlier decision to wear my sneakers until the last possible moment.  Even though a lot of our vendors laughed at me in my red dress and white sneakers--it was totally worth it to skip a few runs up and down the stairs in my heels.  Who knows how many times I walked up and down these stairs that evening--the staircase from the gate to the entrance of the Embassy:

The pillar candles added just the right effect, but these stairs are a pain!

 Many hours later, gift bags distributed, party crashers bounced, and hair ruined, I had a few moments to enjoy my friends and family that came to work the party:

Michele's first time being away from her little girl for more than one night--she came from Philly

With my cousins Amy and Kaitlyn shortly after I introduced Kaitlyn to her dreamboat, Darren Criss

When all was said and done, it was Woody Harrleson and Dave Chappelle that were the last to leave.  Lights up, bars closed, music off, they were still hanging around.  We managed to get them on their way and I was home and in bed a little after 5am.  I didn't get much sleep--too keyed up.  So Sunday was basically spent waking up only to get food and then go back to sleep.  On Monday, we had an office holiday we coined, "Vortex Victory Day," a day for us to recover from a successful but crazy couple of weeks.  If Philip were on this Blog, he'd want me to point out to you that he did not get the day off--instead he flew to California to do some business development.

I was very tempted to fly to Bermuda for a few days, but kept reminding myself that I have a big ol' vacation coming up and instead had a little stay-cation day.  I treated myself to a massage at the Four Seasons--which was great, though painful after all that I had put my body through in the days prior.  Starting back to tennis, practicing yoga, Zumba, and then running around in heels for six or so hours.  I did some shopping and then went home and vegged out some more.