Beautiful Banquet Table

Most of you know that I work in a hotel.  Tonight we are doing a big charity event. They auction off a decorated table that is served by some local "celebrities"--the mayor and other prominent business people. I have been at work most of the day today helping to get the room set for this event. They have a decorator do the special table. This decorator did not supply them with napkins, so I ran home and pulled some from own personal collection. This is the table they will auction off tonight, set with my own napkins:

The table is also set with wine glasses that have hand-painted animals (the event is for our local Humane Society).

So cute!

Wouldn't you love to have a prime rib dinner served at this table?

Pink and Black Event

I thought I would share this beautiful set up we had at the hotel for a recent event.  The client hired a decorator.  We all thought it was beautifully done!

I do love a pink/black table!

Look Who Came to Visit at Work Yesterday

Sasquatch!

  Our hotel is hosting a production crew and actors for a fishing reality show.  Sasquatch is making commercials for Jack's Link's (beef jerky ), the main sponsor for this show.  He has been spotted all around the town doing all sorts of crazy things.  The whole town is enjoying our week of fame.  We cannot wait for the shows to air, beginning in January.

 

Since I had my camera at work, I snapped a shot of one of the four containers I do each year. 

There are a  couple of Tropicana flowers almost ready to bloom.  The creeping jenny has been gobbled up by the Ipomeoa. Jenny is not as aggressive as I had hoped.  I really wanted that shot of chartreuse to hang down in the front. 

 

Here is a close up of the foliage plants -- Persian Shield, Coleus, Ipomeoa and licorice plant instead of Jenny in this one.

 

 

This container is on my porch at home and Jenny behaved beautifully. Of course the container is shorter and has no Ipomeoa.

 

.

 

The licorice plant shows up nicely in the containers flanking my garage.

I will have to remember to use the golden licorice plant instead of Creeping Jenny with Ipomeoa.

 

I always enjoy my containers in late August when the perennial garden is pretty much done!

I Have Not Had a Very Good Week

I like to keep this blog light and fun so I won't go into details, but I have had a very bad week.  Now and then out of nowhere we are thrown down a rough road. Somehow we find the strength to keep trodding down the path.....
So when I got home this afternoon, I decided I deserved to open this bottle of wine that the Big Kahuna gifted me with last month.

I can't even pronounce the name.

I do love having a boss who likes to buy good wine. He usually gifts me with a bottle of whatever the latest case to arrive at the office is. It's always fun to break away from my $14/box grocery store wine and pretend to be an oenophile (a wine aficionado or connoisseur) like he is.

He keeps saying that he has turned me from a teetotaler to a lush! I have to say this dry white wine is very good--prior to his vino teachings, I hated dry wine. Now I like the dry whites; I even like some of the reds....so maybe he's right! LOL.

So far I have no plans for the weekend. I will probably stay home, clean, cook, sew and maybe begin to read one of the novels I won.

I hope you all have a good weekend!

I Felt Very Overwhelmed at Work Today

I had so many different important things that had to get done--early morning mandatory insurance meeting, weekly labor report to the Big, Big Kahuna at the home office (should have been sent yesterday, but I ran out of time), meeting with bride/groom and parents for a big January wedding after they have already informed me they can't afford the bar costs--required some pretty creative suggestions on my part to get to something they could afford, 100 people for lunch on the F&B Director's day off, a convention for 2011 that I turned down last week because they were too large, but our local CVB director asked me to send a bid anyway......just in case they were smaller.........that is like saying..."hey, can you waste an hour or more of your time to send room rates, meal quotes, and vendor set ups to a group that won't fit in your hotel?" Sure, no problem!




I was very happy for this day to end! Luckily, it all turned out pretty good...



I decided I deserved a little reward when I got home. . . so I poured a glass of Chardonnay and did a bit of shopping --- 25% off and free shipping....could not resist!





I bought three of the same belt in colors to match things I already own...a couple of bead ball necklaces to match the bracelets I bought last month...a green/black necklace because I wear a lot of green/black and really needed it!



See that big brown bangle bracelet on the bottom?  It is suede with orange/blue embroidery........so cool!



I am trying not to buy any  more clothes because I have no closet space for them.



I also felt like creating something ...... so I have started another blue jean purse with black vinyl accents... Here are the four blocks I made all sewn into one 8-inch block....

Not sure where I will go from here....but when I get it done, I will show you a pic.

A mini-Marathon Baking Session & an Interesting Work Day

In the wee hours of Saturday morning, I was baking.

My mother-in-law just got home from a hospital stay and I wanted to take her some goodies.

I made blueberry muffins, banana bread and chocolate cookies.

I had it all boxed up and out the door before 8:00 a.m. Most of it was still warm when DH delivered it to her.



I've had these cute little boxes for quite a while. We did a food show at work and the vendors gave them to me when they left. Rather than pack up everything, they usually just give it to us --full cases of stuff! It's a unique fringe benefit.

I made up labels way back when, then put the labels and the boxes together in plastic bags and promptly forgot about them...for a few years! LOL. I am glad I found them because they make nice boxes for giveaways...the recipient does not have to worry about returning anything.


My MIL called right after she got them and was thrilled to death. So all the baking at 4:00 a.m. was worth it!

Most of you know I work in a hotel. I do a bit of everything - sales, human resources, administrative tasks--it's a small-town-major brand hotel - we all do whatever we have to do to keep everything rolling along.

Today was pretty interesting day for me. I was MOD (Manger-on-Duty; I am every weekday morning) so I was there about 6:45 a.m. to unlock everything and get the day rolling. I did some admin. reports from 7 - 7:30 A.M, then I did payroll. After payroll, I did callbacks from my phone messages and I made two group room blocks (Sales duties). Then an ex-employee called and wanted her job back (Human Resource duties). I am not the person who makes that decision, but she thought I was.

At 11:00 a.m. I met with two ladies to go over the final details for their 60th class reunion (Banquet Sales duties). Wow, 60 years! Those ladies looked great. They must have been close to 80 years old. Are people looking better these days or am I just getting old and thinking they are?

Just as I was finishing up with the class reunion ladies, a big rainstorm began. OMG, it was raining so hard that the poor ladies could not even walk out to their cars. I got them a cup of coffee and had them sit down in the lobby to wait until it was safe to walk outside.

Just then (about 11:30 a.m.) the power went out. Oh, no! We had a service club luncheon to serve at noon. . . what a bad time to lose power! A power outage is not a good thing at a hotel...so many things need to be reset (gas ovens, computers, elevator, etc. etc.) Thank goodness our maintenance department handles all that, because I would not have the vaguest idea what to do.

Luckily our chefs are on the ball and had all the food for the buffet cooked and waiting in the warming ovens. The banquet setup man was quick to get candles for all the tables. We put two on each table and six down the buffet line. It was still too dark for people to see what they were eating, so I got a flashlight and stood there as everyone went through the line and lit up every bowl of food as they walked down the buffet line and explained what each dish was--there were nine different dishes for me to illuminate.

All that before 12:30 P.M.! My job is rarely boring! It sure beats being a window washer on a skyscraper-have you noticed how many rescues they have made lately for window washers?

I Hope the Big Kahuna Does NOT make Me Start Doing this Job

Human bed warmers 'help' Holiday Inn guests sleep

No kidding......this is verbatim from the release:

Guests staying at the London Kensington branch of Holiday Inn will be able to avail of a rather unusual service this week.

Human bed warmers are being employed at the hotel to help guests get a restful night's sleep.

Staff members dressed in all-in-one sleeper suits will be sent to warm guests' beds for five minutes before they get under the covers themselves.

A spokesperson for Holiday Inn said: "People want to leave the cold outside and climb into a warm bed.

"The bed warmers service is a bit like having a giant hot water bottle in your bed, warming it up before guests climb in to give them a great night's sleep away from the cold - of course they jump out before you jump in."

Commenting on the move, Dr Chris Idzikowski, director of the Edinburgh Sleep Centre, said it could help people get a good night's sleep as a warm bed, with a temperature of approximately 20 to 24 degrees, is the ideal environment for rest.

I swear if he starts making me perform this job,I'm out of here!

Most Days I Really Like My Job

I know, I know. I just came off a work rant, so now I will balance it with a positive post.

I was so busy today that 9 hours passed in what seemed like two. I had no time to even think about my new glasses, so I guess they must be a good fit and I can see just fine with them.

The first couple of months of the year are very busy for me. All the meeting planners are finished with the holidays and thinking about their meeting and sleeping room needs for the year.

Right now I am working on the final details for a convention for the weekend after this one. That takes a lot of time doing contracts for every little thing they do. I have to get every detail from the sleeping rooms to how many bags of whipped cream they want for their pie throwing event. Then I have to relay all the info to every department in the hotel. If I get something wrong, it could ruin the entire event. So I am on the phone talking to and emailing my contact person all the time.

Today I did 14 contracts for that convention and then redid most of them after the meeting planner made changes to his count and set up needs.

In between I also blocked off rooms & did contracts for two summer weddings and booked a year's worth of meetings twice a month for a service group--24 written entries in the big book and a contract.

I talked to a potential customer for well over an hour -- my ear was actually RED when I hung up the phone--but he booked two meetings for next week so that was good (then I had two more contracts to do!).

I had to do all the computer work for a new hire and worked just a bit on getting all the earned vacations ready for 2010 (remember I am also Human Resources).

You get the idea---my day was BUSY-- but I loved it!

One of my work friends is retiring due to ill health at the end of this week. She has been there over 30 years--started when she was barely thru her teen years. I am really going to miss her. She always has the latest on what's happening in every department. Now I won't know any of the good gossip or what guests she found in amorous positions in the electrical room!

I came home, did one load of laundry and cooked a beef roast for dinner. I just cleaned up the kitchen and am now finished working for the evening.

So how was your day?

Warning--Work Rant

I am off work for the rest of this year. The only positive about never being able to take a full week of vacation (I ALWAYS have to work on Monday) is that I have 4 stray vacation days hanging out there for me to use up.

I work in a very weird environment--nobody is happy when you take a vacation -- they all act like you are being anti-company or something.

If I was the Big Kahuna and one of my employees gave up EVERY SINGLE MONDAY of the year to work, NO MATTER WHAT, I would be very happy with the dedication of that person and I might even reward that person with an extra day off now and then, just for not having to try to do all the reports, payroll, Accounts Payable, etc. that she is doing on those Mondays that I would have to learn to do. NOT THE CASE where I work. I am sure that legally I don't have to be subjected to working 52 Mondays a year.

The reality is that I don't really mind. I just mind being taken for granted and listening to remarks like, "How do I know how many vacation days you have left? You are the one who tracks them." Like I am cheating or something. (In addition to Sales, I am also the Human Resource person, & the Executive Assistant. Let me add that most hotels pay three people very hefty salaries for those 3 positions.) I can see where he might erroneously think that as the others are off for their full two-week vacations and I am only off for my 4-days. It may seem as though as I am off more often. Oh, well, after 24 years, I am used to it. Nonetheless, I am so very close to telling him to take that job and shove it!

So no work talk for the rest of the year!

Oh, my, these truffles are good!
They were part of my wine-on-top-of-the-package Christmas gift. I just opened them yesterday. MMMMMMMMMMMMM. I am only allowing myself two per day to savor their melt-in-the-mouth chocolate goodness. I have not had my two for today yet. Perhaps later tonight. Thanks, Chris!

While putting away the Christmas decorations, I decided to get rid of some games that have been sitting on the shelf for the past 15 years.
Just look at all of these games!

I also found a portable BBQ grill that has never been taken out of the box.
I think I bought it for DH before we were married (we've been married almost 21 years). I guess that gift was a DUD! LOL

It looks like we need to make a trip to donate to the thrift store.

I finished a new table runner yesterday.

Tomorrow I think I will begin hand quilting one of the quilts I finished piecing last fall.

A Year's Work

See that big fat book in the back?

Well, it started its life just like the little skinny red book in front of it.

They are my function books for all of the events I sell at work. Everything I book, gets a contract. The fat one is my 2008 function book and the red one is my 2009 book (you can see a few contracts sticking out of that one already).

Yesterday after I had pulled out '09 to schedule an event, I was struck by the difference in size, so I grabbed the Big Kahuna's camera and snapped this shot. He thought I was nuts. But sometimes I am just awed by things like this.

I have filled 23 of these books in my hotel career. That's a lot'a contracts!

A Dud Evening

I have been home from work for over 4 hours and have done nothing other than heat up leftovers for dinner.

Usually I would be sewing or maybe doing some fall decorating. For some reason I am energyless tonight. I have been on the sofa watching a Project Runaway marathon.

I had a busy day at work and spent a few hours on my feet atop some 2.75-inch heels. If I had known I would be standing so much, I would have brought other shoes. The kitchen needed some help plating the dessert for a luncheon of 170 people. So me and another person did the decorative plates. We first put a big squiggle of red syrup on the plate--like this: Then the cake was sliced and one piece was placed on top of each plate. A delicate dollop of whipped cream is piped to the side. A mint leaf is placed on the whipped cream and chocolate chips are scattered across the plate.

Did I mention that we did 170 of these? That's a lot of cake and it took way longer than I thought it would.

I am the person who sells these events, menus, etc. After plating all of these desserts, I can see why the cooks are not always happy when I bring back a function sheet with a ton of individually-plated desserts!

Then the group wanted us to release the tables individually to go to the buffet. So I did that which meant another hour standing on the heels, chatting with everyone as we waited... It took each table of 10 forever to go through the line. I guess they were just stunned by all that fabulous food! I went back to every table and asked if they enjoyed their lunch and every single person loved the meal. That was great and pretty unusual for 170 people. . . and don't think they would hesitate to tell me if they didn't like something.

Anyway that was my day. Hopefully I am more energetic tomorrow as I have a ton of work to do putting all the plants to bed for the winter.

Lack of Customer Service

I am always amazed when I compare the high level of customer service we provide at the hotel with what I receive when I am on the opposite side of the counter.

I am not exaggerating when I say that at the hotel where I work, we go overboard trying to please customers. It’s really ridiculous the lengths we go. It’s very rare that I see that level of service given by businesses I deal with.

Remember the Husqvarna Sapphire sewing machine I bought last January? I bought this machine because of its quilting possibilities. In order to make use of these possibilities one must, in addition to the pricey machine, purchase the “Quilter’s Kit”, which has the sewing feet needed to machine quilt. I ordered it before I walked out of the shop on January 23, 2008. It’s a pretty expensive little kit – somewhere in the $300 range.

I don’t know the actual price because I have never received it. It is now August 6, 2008. I have called three times and talked to the store owner. I asked him specifically if he would call me when it came in. He said he would call. Yesterday I went to the shop in person to see if they had one in stock. Of course, they didn’t. The owner was not in, but the lady who sold me the machine was. She apologized and said she would leave the owner a note. I called again today. The owner won’t be back until tomorrow.

I think I have been very patient. It has been nearly seven months and I am still Quilter kitless!

I have witnessed adults throw hissy fits at our hotel counter for way less.

Just recently a lady screamed at the guest service rep until she was redfaced because she booked "last available room type" over the internet and she got a smoking room. As the name implies, there is no guarantee as to the type of room you get and a screen pops up which specifically states that smoking preference cannot be guaranteed.

The hotel had not one ounce of blame on this one and yet, this woman-- dressed in business attire--threw a tantrum like a two-year old child until we gave her a nonsmoking room. Of course, a nonsmoking room does not just magically appear. It was a room that someone else had reserved and expected to get when they arrived. I just hope someone in a nonsmoking room canceled that night so the conniving woman didn't ruin another person's day by taking their room. Ms. Businesswoman waited too long to reserve and the only rooms left were smoking, so she made the reservation knowing full well that she was not guaranteed a nonsmoking room. The sad thing is her conniving worked because we try to please them all--even those we know are flat out lying. I hope she broke one of those 2.5-inch heels on her walk down to that nonsmoking room.

It's been nearly 29 weeks and I can't even get Local Sewing Store to order a quilter's kit. Many business owners in my small town complain about losing money to internet orders. I wonder why they can't figure out what motivates us to do so...I am giving this guy two more weeks and then I, too, will be surfing for an internet source.

I never know what may happen during my Work Day

Yesterday about mid morning a big blue and black bus pulled in. We all did a double take as it passed the front window.

It wasn't a sports team bus, so it could only be one other thing---a celebrity must be coming in to perform at a local festival.

A few minutes later I hear whispering and giggling from a young female restaurant employee. She is all smiles and saying, "It's him! He just pulled a bike out of the bus and he is riding it."

"What?", I ask. "Riding what? Who?"

"J*a*k*e* O*w*e*n!" she is nearly hysterical as she waves her hand in a fanlike fashion across her face. "Oh, my God, he is soooooooooooooooo cute! If he walks into the restaurant, you will have to pick me off the floor!"

So I went out to gawk with the rest of them. All I saw was someone in shorts bent over a bike with a bandanna on his head.

O.K., so I have never heard of J*a*k*e O*w*e*n.


Was I ever young enough to get all giddy over a celebrity? Probably, but I don't remember ever being that way.

About an hour later his bus driver came to the desk. He lost his cell phone charger and wanted to know if we might have one. He and I walked completely around the first floor to find the Executive Housekeeper to see if she had one in lost and found. We chatted about where they had been and where they were headed. Can you believe they are leaving at midnight to head to the next gig. The driver will sleep here all day so he is awake to drive through the night. It doesn't sound all that glamorous to me.

Years ago I had another encounter with a country singer. He was walking in the lobby. I nodded a hello and thought he was no big deal. At the time, I had never heard of him either.

His name was G*a*r*t*h B*r*o*o*k*s.

We've had a few celebs stay with us in the 20+ years that I have been at the hotel.

I also said a word or two to I*v*a*n*a T*r*u*m*p. I was surprised that she came down to the desk drinking coffee out of a Styrofoam cup. Ugh, even I hate to drink out of Styrofoam. I would have thought she'd have called the desk demanding a real coffee cup.

And our biggest claim to fame was when we had the cast of Die Hard 2 staying with us for weeks while they filmed the airport runway scenes for the movie. They were supposed to be filmed in Denver, but, lucky for us, Denver suffered from an unseasonably warm winter that year. They needed an airport with lots of snow. Somehow they found our little airport and the rest, as they say, was history for our little town. B*r*u*c*e W*i*l*l*i*s did not stay with us. They rented an old historic house in town for him.

I will have to find out from the starry-eyed hostess today if J. O.'s show was any good last night. She was going to wait in line at 2pm to get a good seat. The show was not until 6:30 p.m.

Enough of celebs. Let's get back to more important things.

Like this pot of basil, which appears not to be basil at all. It's just a pot full of weeds. I guess there will be no salsa in August at my house.

The deer have made a pretty good meal of this big hosta.
The first one must have done a good job filling him up, because he only ate half of this one.

I would be pretty impressed if someone would develop a deerproof hosta. Now that would be a celebrity worth getting all giddy over!

Snippets of My Day

4:55 a.m.--Jumped out of bed before the 5 a.m. alarm (I HATE to be shocked awake by an alarm) and headed straight to the Bunn.

Brushed teeth while coffee brewed. Savored a nice rich cup of the brew while visiting a few blogs.

5:45am --showered, did hair and just a touch of makeup. Looked for something to wear.

6:10am Decided I needed to iron this white eyelet jacket. It took forever--- about 20 minutes.

6:30 a.m. -- all dressed for work in a wrinkle-free jacket. Grabbed a bagel and headed out the door.
Construction all the way...O.K. I don't drive that far, but it's annoying nonetheless.
This is where I pull into the driveway at work. I am lucky that I didn't get hit by that big yellow thing.

Once I was safely at my desk, the day flew by with activities like these:

I did contracts for a few group room bookings and a cancellation, I met with a bride/groom to get their final wedding set up and menu details, I spent over 30 minutes on the phone with one client that I've spent three weeks explaining why food prices had to increase and why it was still a bargain (today he finally agreed and faxed over a signed contract for the remainder of the year). I always spend a lot of time on the telephone at work, (which is why I hate to talk on the phone when I get home). I did the daily deposit and the daily labor, I input a couple of new employees into the payroll system and terminated a few, and I made a report for the Big K to show how much the increase in the minimum wage would affect us for the remainder of '08 and for 2009.

It seemed like I barely looked up and it was 3:30 p.m. I like days like today. Busy with no major problems.

Dinner was grilled chicken breasts with a skewer of red peppers and Vidalia onions.

It has not rained for over 24 hours, so I had to water the deck plants while the chicken grilled.

Vidalia onion season is nearly over. We hate to see them go, so I decided to chop up a few and freeze them.
I filled a Folger's coffee can. They will taste great in November on a grilled steak.


And here it is 7:00 p.m. and I am winding down with this post while watching a parody of Bill Gates last day at Microsoft.

It's been a good day.

The Macadamia Nut Crowd Loves Mohawks

On payday everyone comes to my office to get their checks. I get to see many co-workers that I don’t see often because they work at night.

Such is how I recently crossed paths with the Mohawk-coiffed dishwasher, who was recently promoted to the weekend swimming pool security guard.

He’s a young guy with a very likeable personality. A few weeks ago I commented that he looked rather nice in a Mohawk. It was unsculpted and unspiked. I told him I had never admired a Mohawk haircut before and it surprised me that I was complimenting his.

"Wanna touch it?"He bent right down in front of me and offered up his horseshoe-shaped tuft of hair.

With that gesture, his became the first (and likely the only) Mohawk I have ever had the opportunity to run my fingers through. It was all soft and fuzzy feeling. I guess he was sporting the casual nonstyled version because he had to be to work so early in the morning that day.

When he came in get his check, he had used a bit of sculpting gel and I commented on the different look. With a little smirk, he said he had to look good for all the ladies he would be seeing at the pool tonight. I laughed and said I’d imagine that one of the fringe benefits of his new position was the chance to strut around a pool full of bikini-clad young ladies all evening.

“Well, no” he said, “It’s mostly older ladies who like me to sit down and talk with them while they feed me macadamia nuts and pretzels.”

I’ve been smiling all afternoon about that remark.

Maybe I am not the only "older lady" admiring that Mohawk.

Care for a Goose Egg Omlette?

This weekend, while walking along the beach, my boss (fondly referred to in this blog as the "Big Kahuna") came across this goose. At first he thought she was dead as she lay with her head completely down on the ground.

As he walked closer, she suddenly jumped up to see what danger lurked. Ah, she's sitting on three eggs.
She raised her head high and appeared to be squawking.
Then she spread those menacing wings and lunged toward the Big Kahuna.

The blurred image indicates that the Big K may have been just a tad scared as he quickly jumped out of mama's way!

I don't blame him, I would have been scared, too!

At work today we had a large patriotic-themed Luncheon banquet. I thought the room looked nice enough to take a picture.

The decorations were easy and inexpensive. I think if someone was having a 4th of July or an election day home party they could do very similar decorations. The flags were just stuck in a wine glass with mylar shreds. A few days prior, the flags were rolled around the stick and secured with rubber bands so when they were opened today, they stayed a bit rolled. Very nicely done, in my humble opinion.

Another day in the Hospitality Industry

Today one of my coworkers came into the front office. His eyes opened wide with astonishment as he told of walking down the hall behind a big woman in stilettos with the largest calf muscles he'd ever seen.

"I'm telling you, she was this big," he proclaimed, raising his hands and arms to illustrate Amazonian proportions. As he shook his head in amazement, he added, "You should have seen her trying to walk in those heels."

He brought his shoulders to his chin and his jowls quivered in disgust as he declared, "I've never seen such an ugly woman."

A few minutes later he called to tell me she was now at the pool in her bathing suit.

I was pretty sure that I already knew who this woman was, but I took a little stroll to the other side of the hotel, because I couldn't resist seeing for myself.

Sure enough it was Rachael.

Rachael is a c*r*oss d*r*esser man. We know he calls himself "Rachael" because a very important hospitality rule is: Call the guest by his/her name whenever possible. To comply one of our guest service reps asked him what he would like to be called when in feminine attire. He was very pleased that she asked and he happily told her that he would like to be called Rachael.

He is sitting outside his poolside room in a woman's one-piece bathing suit, heels, long glue-on fingernails, red lipstick and a shoulder length chestnut-colored human hair wig.

This is the first time I have actually seen Rachael.

The guest service reps tell me that he checks in about every 3 months...usually at night and usually as a (very unattractive) woman. When he checks out he is a senior citizen man.

He never bothers anyone. Except for our employees strolling by his room to catch a glimpse, he is all alone out by the pool. I would have loved to stand there and gawk a bit, maybe even chat with him a little, but I just nodded and said, "Hello." He smiled and returned the greeting (in his manly voice).

A housekeeper came from another direction. We gave each other a knowing glance in passing. Neither of us could suppress a slight giggle.

I wonder what Rachael's life is really like? Does he have a family? A job? What does he think as he watches all of us walk by? Is he embarrassed? Excited? Angry?

I guess he must want us to give him attention. Otherwise he would not be sitting there publicly flaunting himself in all his feminine glory.

I bet you thought the hospitality industry was just carrying luggage and giving out room keys!

I rarely have a dull day at work.

The Partygoers were Nestled all Snug in their Beds with Visions of Fun still in their Heads

If the lefover bottles on this poolside table reflect last night's party activities, then I am sure many of our hotel guests had a lot of fun last night.

The hotel had its annual NYE party.




I brought my camera in early this morning to snap a few of the "day after" photos. I was surprised that the place didn't look too bad. In past years it was much more of a mess.








By the time I got in at 6:30 a.m. today, the housekeeping staff had already started the clean up.

Decorations were tossed aside waiting for the decorator to come and pick them up.

Tables were being folded and chairs were being stacked.
The floor was still littered with hints of last night's activities.

Someone dropped an egg roll as well as a couple of their drink tickets. Those three blue tickets could have been redeemed for three alcoholic beverages.

Perhaps the person dropping them had already consumed more than enough alcohol.

Can't you just imagine 160 people blowing noise makers and tossing streamers at the stroke of midnight?
I even found one of the tickets I made for the event on the floor under a table.

The night auditor was very calm this morning which indicates that everything went well and 2008 arrived without incident.

I worked for just a few hours this morning.

Now I am ready to make frosting for my cake and then sew until it's time to leave for the family dinner party.

Happy New Year to all of my blog readers!