What an awesome weekend we had.
Friday: The all-staff party for the AoP. Normally, we have two parties, one for the volunteers, and one for the paid staff. Quite honestly, having been to one each, the volunteer one has much more effort put into it. The year I went to it, the theme was the old Pike, early 20th century carnival style with games and prizes and people encouraged to dress accordingly. I won a really cute scarf that year in the raffle, the red one in my ‘fuzzy’ icon. The staff that year went bowling.
Last year, the volunteers had a prom, asking people to show up in prom attire of any era. Some people showed up in glitsy dresses, others in uniforms when proms were cancelled for WWII. The paid staff moved up a little and booked an event at Gameworks. It was fun, but forgettable.
This year, they put everyone together for one big bash that needed the Long Beach Convention Center’s Grand Ballroom to fit the 800 people that RSVP’d – and it was old Vegas style! We had bars, buffets, a [great] live band that was dressed in colorful zuit suits, a live singing Elvis impersonator, craps, roullete, blackjack (which Juan loved), texas hold ’em, and a ‘Loser’s Lounge’ that had free pinball machines. It was so much fun! We ate, we gambled (with free fake money – came out on top), and danced the night away. Speaking of dancing, there was a dance contest. I would never sign up for such a thing, but Juan wanted to dance, it was a good song, and there were so many people on the dance floor, I thought, ok, why not? We’ll just dance and someone will come over and tap us on teh shoulder before the end of the song. Three songs later, only three couples were left, and we were one of them. 0_0 We got 3rd place, which we were really happy, proud, and mostly surprised about. By that time, I was just about ready to collapse on the dancefloor from dancing much longer than I had bargained for. And for the record people, all I did was try and keep up with Juan – he is the dancer! But yeah, that was cool. =D
Saturday: Skip the outreach morning and go straight to the Surprise birthday party for our good friend Stef. She did not see it coming. At all. It was awesome! She got a ride to the thing under the pretense that we were going to have our book club meeting. There were so many people there to show her love and support, and really, this girl deserved it. She is such a giving person and doesn’t ever get the recognition that she deserves. This is what we tried to show her with her surprise birthday party and gifts, that we love her and appreciate everything that she does for us every day. She was soooo happy. It was her 27th, and says that it is her first birthday party ever! Oh man, it was about time.
Sunday: Mom’s birthday party! Juan and I showed up around 11 am to help set up what was supposed to be a small mellow event/meal. I chopped onions, tomatoes, cilantro, and jalapenos all morning and into the early afternoon for several dishes like guacamoles and pollock ceviche. My dad also made carne en su jugo (which I didn’t have any more room for but brought home for dinner tonight) which went over really well. Fruit salads and ice cream cake, yummy food all around. My mom was happy and enjoyed her flowers and gifts. Juan and I bought her some really pretty white gold dangley earrings that she put on immediately.
I am telling you, it was a great weekend!