Fashion in Minnesota

So this month is host to one of my favorite times of the year here in the Twin Cities: MN Fall Fashion Weekend. I completely missed the events last year because I was in NYC for an event with my church (and I'm missing most of the events again this year because of my friend's wedding in NYC), but I did manage to get a spot as a volunteer for one of the weekend's biggest events - the Envision Fashion Show. It was on Friday night and held at the Graves 601 hotel, which I was excited about because I've never actually been to an event at the Graves. Supposedly it's one of most swanky hotels that exist in Minneapolis. The event was sponsored by MN Fall Fashion Weekend but it was primarily being run by Ignite Models, which apparently is one of the topic modeling agencies in Minneapolis (I had no idea there even was such a thing here - don't all the serious models just go to NYC or LA or better yet - overseas?). Either way, it was my first introduction to the Graves, Ignite and Fall Fashion weekend and it was a lot of fun. Prior to the event, the only instruction I received from Ignite was to arrive at 7:30pm, be dressed "fashionably stylish" and be prepared to mingle with guests. So I figured I could handle that. Unfortunately, I ended up working late (don't get me started on the madness of my week), and didn't make it home until 6:15pm and I was supposed to be leaving my house at 7:10pm. Now y'all know one hour is not hardly sufficient time to get ready for an event like this. I came in the house, turned the shower on, plugged in my curling iron, and started shedding clothes, throwing things everywhere. Somehow I managed to be showered, fully dressed, hair done and accessorized by 7:15 (ok, I get a grace period, right???). I had been planning to walk to the event since it was downtown but at that point I ended up driving and with the downtown traffic, I got to the hotel at 7:30 on the dot. I ended up doing something I rarely ever do: I valet'd my car without even checking on how much it cost (in NYC, that could land you a good $50+ bill, but fortunately for me it only turned out to be $15). I got upstairs about 5 minutes late and found out that I was the first volunteer to arrive (there were supposed to be 5 of us). Nice. I found the "volunteer coordinator" from Ignite (a title I ended up taking on as the night progressed) and a couple minutes later another volunteer arrived named Brie. She and I began our first task of numbering the seats at the show (fyi, there were 300 seats which were reserved for the VIP ticket holders, press and media, so this was not a quick task). We got through about two rows, then were joined by about 7 additional volunteers (turns out some additional folks showed up to help who were friends of folks at Ignite). At this point is where I somehow turned into the volunteer coordinator (???). They started asking me what to do (ummm, really??? I'm a volunteer like them). After a while I just sucked it up and started delegating tasks, which worked because we got all the seats numbered in about 20 minutes. However that's when the problems started. First the seating chart skipped numbers (why, I have no idea but the coordinators stressed that the seat numbers had to exactly match the chart). So we had to rearrange some things. Then there was a chair missing in one of the rows but there was no space to add an additional chair. In the beginning I was going back and forth with the actual volunteer coordinator to find out what we should be doing but then it became apparent that she had a whole other set of issues she was dealing with (ie. coordinating the models and all the last minute drama that comes along with that). Not to mention she was sitting in a chair getting her makeup done for at least a good 40 minutes (really, if you can't get beautiful by then, well maybe it's just not going to happen). So I just started making executive decisions, lol. Once the doors opened, our next responsibility was to seat the VIP guests - a job that I loved, because it allowed me to interact with folks and network :-). Except again, I somehow got put in that "volunteer coordinator" role by default so everytime there was an issue, they were coming to me as if somehow I would be able to solve it. And issues there were. The guy assigning seats downstairs assigned the same four seat numbers to two different sets of guests. And another set of guests had no seat number at all on their ticket, even though they were VIP (I speculated whether they brought their own tickets since the tickets were standard ticket rolls with numbers written on them, but that seemed a little much for Minnesota where people are generally pretty honest - even the general admission people refrained from sitting in the VIP seats during the interactive hair show despite the fact that there were plenty seats available...yes, my behind would have taken a seat until someone made me move, lol). Then there were the press folks who were allowed to sit in the front row on each side, but wanted their friends to sit with them who were regular VIP. And I'm not talking one or two friends. I'm talking six. Really??? Let's just say it was a very busy night. And I was wearing 3 inch heels (I mean, are you really surprised by that???). So as the night went on, my patience diminished. The kicker was when during the first set of the fashion show, this volunteer came to me (as I'm at the end of the runway taking fabulous pictures because that's one of the perks of being affiliated with the event - I could locate myself anywhere and people would move out of my way to let me in front of them, lol (amazing what holding a clipboard can do). Her issue was that four people had arrived and needed to be seated at the opposite end of the runway (meaning she had to push through a lot of people to get there). So I looked at her and said "ok, so seat them - it looks like there may be people in their seats so you'll have to ask them to move". I didn't say it in a nasty manner either. This girl rolled her eyes and stomped away. You know I had a moment (one of those "don't make me pull you by your pony tail and yank it" moments - who the heck are you rolling your eyes at???). But I let that slide - I was trying to get back to the clothes on the runway. Then 2 minutes later she taps me again and says "there are people in their seats". REALLY???? After all the other drama of the night, I was about to explode. I grabbed a clipboard from one of the other volunteers and as I politely pushed the girl out of my way I heard her say "thank you" which let me know she really just didn't want to have to kick people out of any seats. Seriously, people here are just too nice sometimes. If they're not supposed to be sitting there then they need to move. She didn't have to be rude about making the move (I wasn't). I navigated my way through the crowd, found the people sitting in the seats, and asked them what seats they were assigned because I had four people who were assigned to the seats they were in and was going to have to ask them to move. They were very polite about it and moved. It took two seconds. I looked at the volunteer and just shook my head. I couldn't wait for 11pm to come and my official volunteering capacity to be over. On another note, I did meet a few interesting folk. One of the other volunteers had formerly been a model with Ignite and she gave me some info on them. Although I have no intentions to go back to modeling (and I suspect I'm too old anyway), it was good to know because I'd like to see if I can get involved with other events they have going on out here. I did get to know some of the staff a bit during the night as well. I also met this guy we kept referring to as "Seal" because that's who he looked like, lol ("we" as in, me and my friends Erin and Jjais who bought VIP tickets to the show). He was cool at first - apparently he and his friends are all models and will be in one of the Fashion Weekend shows next week, while I'm in NYC. He claimed their show was "much more upscale fashion" (uh, yeah ok). However everytime I passed him he attempted to pull me aside and talk - I had to tell him "dude, I'm working!" The last time I saw him he said "I have to get your number before the end of the night". Right - that sounded more personal than professional. I would've taken his card but I certainly wouldn't have given him my info. I lucked up and managed to dodge him the rest of the night. After the show I was STARVING. I hadn't eaten prior and the show didn't end until well after midnight. Erin, Jjais and I ended up going to the hotel restaurant to eat. We sat at the counter because it was the warmest place in the restaurant, and chatted it up with the chef. The food was excellent. I had the beef sliders which hit the spot, and the chef talked me into some chocolate cake with this sesame ice cream (ok, it really didn't take a lot of persuasion - the cake was ridiculously rich though and the ice cream was heavenly). After dinner, I got my car from valet, dropped Jjais off to her car (b/c it was looking a little sketchy downtown at 2am), came home and passed out! All in all it was a fun night despite all the issues. I'm volunteering for another (more low-key) event on Monday which is a clothing swap to raise money for MN Fashion which is the organization that sponsors the fashion weekend, as well as another fashion weekend in the spring.
Oh ok, so since it's been a minute since I've written I just realized I never told y'all about Shecky's Girls Night Out or my boyfriend's visit to Minnesota! Ok, Shecky's first. The pre-party for Shecky's GNO was last week (the actual event is this coming Tuesday and will supposedly be much bigger). The pre-party was held at the Calhoun Beach Club right across from Lake Calhoun. It was my first time there (notice a lot of "firsts" lately) and I met Erin there. It wasn't as big as I had expected - it was a moderately sized room filled with vendors and sponsoring companies. Bacardi had a booth with free mojitos, this Chiropractic office was giving free massages (I got one, it was good for the minute and 30 seconds that it lasted), and this cosmetics company doing free eye makeup consultations (they did Erin's and I wasn't impressed so I passed - the color was cute for her complexion but the lady put way too much on). There was also a salon doing free hair treatments and styling, free eyebrow shaping, and free manicures (we should have had the manicures done when we first arrived because about 10 minutes later the line was insane). There were also some vendors selling some cute product. One that I really liked were these designer purse hooks (you know, you hook them on the table when you go out, and they hold your purse so you don't have to set it on the floor....revolutionary, lol!). I've seen them before but this particular vendor had some really stylish ones and a few of them even had mirrors inside (very functional!). The actual event is supposed to have way more vendors and gift bags with over $100 worth of product (nice!). The gift bags at the pre-party had Ghirardelli chocolate, lip gloss, and a few other small items but nothing to lose sleep over. Anyway, we stayed about 40 minutes and as we were getting ready to leave we noticed these two black ladies there and one of them had a really cute top on. Erin went over to compliment her on how cute her top was, and we ended up talking to them for a few minutes. One was from Chicago and the other was a Minnesota native. They were both really nice although the one from Chicago seemed a bit more down to earth. Long story short we ended up leaving together and Erin and I were going to eat at the restaurant downstairs. The two ladies looked like they were contemplating going there too so Erin invited them to join us (notice Erin did all this - I still have quite a bit of NYC in me, although I honestly didn't mind them joining us). They ended up joining us for dinner (again, the food was EXCELLENT - I had this soft shell crab sandwich that was just yummy...just thinking about it is putting a smile on my face :-) ). We had a good time, and I recruited one of them to be in my parental advisory group. I was amazed that they both had two children each and one of them had a 17 year old who just had a baby herself (she really didn't look that old!). Anyway, it was a good night and we promised to stay in touch and let each other know about things going on across the city. Only in Minnesota.
On another note, my boyfriend was here visiting the week before last for a few days and we did a LOT! I saw more of Minnesota than I think I have in the entire year I've been living here. It wasn't his first visit but the last time he came only for a weekend so we didn't get to do as much. This time, he came in Wednesday, and didn't leave until Sunday so we had more time. I worked Wednesday so he was left to his own devices during the day but that evening we went out for dinner at Red Lobster (I can't even tell you the last time I've been to a Red Lobster but those biscuits sure made me miss it). Our waitress there (this older white lady) was in love with him and kept referring to him as Dante Culpepper because she swore he looks just like him (yeah I don't follow football but he sure seemeed pleased). On Thursday, I asked him what he wanted to do and he suggested the zoo, lol. I had never been to the Minnesota Zoo but we hit up IHOP then trekked our way over there and it was pretty cool. It was a ton of walking though and it was ridiculously hot outside. After the zoo, we went to the AMC theaters at Southdale mall and went to see the Final Destination movie that's out in 3D. Now I didn't really know anything about the Final Destination movies until the movie started but had I known what they were like, I never would have agreed to go see it. It was gory and gross. And I'm more of a comedy type of gal. After the movie, we did my favorite activity - shopping! I had never really shopped Southdale mall apart from competitive shopping for work so it was nice. Then we went to dinner at Rudolphs BBQ not too far from my house. It was cool until the waitress came to clear our plates and we noticed a tiny roach crawling on the table (umm, can we say gross???). Needless to say we didn't end up paying for that meal. I was really disappointed b/c I love Rudolphs - their food is amazing, but I highly doubt I will be going back anytime soon. The manager said they had recently had an outbreak with roaches and they had been trying to exterminate. Ummm, how about closing the restaurant down until you work that out??? Friday was spent at the Mall of America, shopping yet again :-) We went to dinner at Famous Dave's in Uptown and ended up having to pay a $5 cover charge because they were having this "blues" band playing live that night. Ok, even though we only went for dinner I would not have minded if the band was actually good. Or even actually played blues music. They were like a bad cruise ship band, playing old school music (not even popular old school music) and I couldn't get over the very feminine dance moves that the lead singer kept doing. I was ready to go about 5 minutes into the show but we ended up staying until their halftime. On Saturday we had tickets to a Twins game, and for the record, and it's been ages since I've been to a baseball game (my guess is the time I took my camp kids when I was a counselor at the 92nd street Y - and that was when I was 19). It was everything I remembered: slow and boring with mediocre food, lol. I was excited because the only Blimpie's in the entire area is located in the Metrodome which is the Twins current stadium. My boyfriend went and got me a sandwich and I told him I wanted "everything, no onions." Ok, at home that means lettuce, tomato, salt, pepper, oil and vinegar. Apparently, at this bootleg Blimpie's that also included peppers and olives which I do not eat. So I had to pick them off. Then the bread wasn't even regular Blimpie's bread - it was a croissant type bread. I was thinking "what is this mess???" I was so disappointed. Then when I was in the mood for some ice cream, there wasn't even a Dairy Queen! Minnesota is land of the Dairy Queen's so that just didn't make no sense. To top it off, the Twins ended up losing 4-2 (not as bad as the loss the night before - I think it was 9-1). For the rest of the day, we drove out to Maple Grove and had dinner at Houlihans (hadn't been to one of those in a minute either). Then we went to Dave & Busters in the area, and played games for about three hours. I hadn't been to the D&B out here before so it was nice. It was really crowded though. We ended up with something like 6,000 tickets, but of course there really wasn't anything either of us wanted. We did a lot of running around those few days and by the time he left Sunday I was exhausted! Then I had to return to the craziness of work (more about that later...I've been writing too much for one sitting). Ok, I have to go now - I have a laundry list of things I'm supposed to be doing today and I haven't made much progress...until later!
Oh yeah, check out FB for pics of the show and the animals at the Minnesota Zoo. I also posted pics from my friend Alissa's wedding.