Modern Holiday Party

This year, Modern tried something new for our holiday party. Instead of the department party and a simple potluck lunch in the office, our special event department lobbied for a fancier party. It didn't make sense that a company that throws parties for many other companies wasn't throwing their own shebang! It all changed this year.

Below is one of the centerpieces that adorned our fancy tables. The theme was Nightmare Before Christmas, and all the decor resembled Halloween and Christmas together. And, all of it was stuff we already owned! The linens were provided by one of our suppliers, the AV was provided by our friends at Webb Audio Visual, and the food was potluck. We held the party at our warehouse in the carpet aisle, but you'd never know with all the decor. Can you believe how well we can transform a place?

When our warehouse was built, it was thought that the north side of the building could be leased out (forming the name "Lease Side"), but was quickly filled with props, stage sets, and many more fun things for our Special Events department. However, because of the original purpose, there was no door built between the Lease Side and our Expo Warehouse that stores all our chairs, tables, carpet, etc. At our Christmas party, we broke down the barrier between our Expo and Special Events departments... literally, with the target below.

I had my way with the wall too! The target you see above is now a 9'x9' opening!

The "POD" according to Anne Marie. We go everywhere together! I love these girls!

My Very First Tree

Last year, I purchased an artificial tree from Modern Display, anticipating a short employment and wanting to be sure I got the great employee discount. One year later, I still work at Modern Display. So, still hoping for a change in employment, I decided I would take advantage of my employee discount again and finally buy my ornaments. I'm so glad I did, because I love the way it looks!
[Side note: My roommate decided to go cut down a tree this year, so my tree purchase last year... still in a box, unopened.]

Here are some fun pictures from the lighting and decorating of the real, 12'H tree.

I let Cammie and Connie put the lights on it. I am too much of a perfectionist that I was getting super frustrated on the first branch. They were the right answer!

My version of "decorating the tree" (above)
vs.
Connie's version of "decorating the tree" (below)

Okay, this picture is actually from the Modern Tree Tour '08 that some friends from Modern Display and I went on this year. We all drew names for Secret Santa and as we visited each home to see how they decorated the tree, the person who's home it was gave their gift to the special person. It was so much fun!

Mmmm, Chocolate

Some days, all you need is chocolate. By about 4pm today at work, that was the only thing I was craving! I'd eaten all the food I brought today, but it was all healthy and just wasn't cutting it anymore. I mentioned this to a coworker because I was trying to find someone who had some chocolate sitting around, but couldn't find it. Well, not more than 10 minutes later, I had a king size Hershey's bar on my desk! It was perfect!


But what I really want to note here is one of my theories. I believe guys have an innate need to take care of the women around them. The person who bought the chocolate for me is the same one who bought pepper spray for all the girls in the office and drops candy at our desks on a regular basis!

This guy is probably about 40 or so and never married. I find him always sneaking things onto our desks that he knows we'd love. I just find it thoroughly entertaining. And lets be honest, what would a girl do without guys like that?

Wedding Season... Full Steam Ahead

As many of you know, for the last couple years I have been planning weddings for brides in Salt Lake and the surrounding areas. I definitely fell in love with weddings during this time. I started out planning them on the side for friends, but then got a job last year as an official wedding planner, along with a few other titles. Unfortunately, my job responsibilities overlapped into various departments within the company so in December, I with my boss decided it would be best for the company to separate my job the way it should have been in the beginning, but this has now deprived me of participating in the wedding industry. It took a few months to transfer all the information I had to the new coordinator, but now that it's done, I am missing my love for weddings more and more.

Since I no longer have the privilege of planning weddings at work, I thought I would share some of my knowledge with anyone who happens to be getting married in the Salt Lake areas, and who happens to stumble upon my blog. I am adding links to my favorite vendors. And if you need any assistance in planning (or just finding the best vendor in your price range), I would love to assist. Just leave a comment and I'll get back to you!

PS- I am beginning to better define my job responsibilities since the change earlier this year. I am working as their Rental Manager/Prop Specialist. I have a lot of work ahead of me because my predecessors didn't care much for this end of their job (understandable when you compare it with wedding planning!) and much has been left untamed. Our items haven't been well cataloged for over 5 years. I'm thinking it will be a long summer. But once I get it done, oh... it'll work so nice! Hopefully, I'll be able to find a way to plan weddings on the side...

Monkeying Around

A couple weeks ago, the company I work for did a big event where the theme chosen by the client was "Toucan Do It". The Sheraton Hotel was transformed into a jungle for about a week. One evening I was asked to go down and help set up for the dinner because the transition time what so short, while there I made a sweet new friend...Yes, he is real. He even tipped his hat to me, and at one point we were staring face to face about 4" from each other! That was definitely an experience to remember!