Lucky Two

OK.  So I decided that I teased you all too much by waiting mere hours since my last post.  It was cruel and I apologize.  SO.  To make it up to you, here is another amazing photo.  This is my mom and me again!  Whaa??  I know!  Crazy, right!  We look so much different without our winter coats, sun glasses and scarves on!!  This photo was taken at a fancy-shmancy dinner in Prague, hosted by an important client.  It was a twisty-turney kind of day.

Let me start from the beginning.

This was Wednesday, November 16th, 2011.  I was in Prague because the company I work for hosts an amazingly successful and enormous exposition every 4 years in some spectacular place on the planet and this year, they wanted me to go along (hence LUCKY).  Wednesday was the second day of the show, and a long day at that.  

My mom was the booth manager -if you will- and had to make sure things ran smoothly, had to know where all our staff was at any given time and also had to take care of any issues that came up/deal with clients if there was an issue.  That final reason is also why I was there.  My job was to smile, help people if they came by, be friendly, smile, take care of concerns, fetch things and fellow employees if need be and smile (did I say that already?).  Well, after a long day of smiling, running around, passing our publication out, being friendly and taking care of business, we had a gala dinner 2 hours after the show closed.  

The show closed without a hitch, but...we lost a salesperson who left their belongings in our booth.  Since my mother was in charge of the booth, we couldn't leave without delivering this person's stuff to them.  Ugh.  We ran around the center looking for our missing salesperson, sent messages to people as they came by to send her over if they saw her and all attempts failed.  We knew this person was in the building so we took their stuff over to the "front office" which wasn't really an office, but you understand the concept.  

Our salesperson wasn't there either, but we did find a man who knew where to find them and he hand delivered the belongings to the no-longer-missing salesperson.  Phew!  Now, we head outside to catch a taxi. It is REALLY cold outside and what did Stephanie forget?  I'll give you a hint: my hands were cold.  We walk down to the main street where the taxi stop is and there is a line forever long of other people waiting for a taxi.  I'll never understand why they didn't clear a path for my mom and me...we are basically the most important two people on the planet, but whatever!  So, we are in line.  Standing.  Not moving.  Being cold.  I'm taking the circumstances like a champ...if I don't say so myself.  

Luckily, we know the people behind us.  They call a cab independently and when it comes, they squeeze mom and me in too.  I am the 4th person in the back seat, sitting on my heels on the seat while my friend, Jan, sits in the hole behind the passenger seat.  Un.  Comfortable.  :(  

But warm.  :)

So, we tell the taxi driver to take half of us to the one hotel and the rest of us to a different one.  He was confused to say the least.  Prague is in the Czech Republic and English isn't their first language.  CRAZY, I know!  So, the 5 of us in the cab litterally all have different versions of an English accent and he was less than understanding.  He was also like 12 and couldn't even drive an automatic transmission.  (I will tell you all about the adventures in Prague taxis in another post).

On an ordinary day, it would take 15 minutes to get to both of the hotels...today...since we are short on time, it takes us more than 30!  Long story short (too late), we get to our hotel when the gala dinner is supposed to start.  BOO.  

When mom and I get to the hotel, we tell them to have a car/taxi in 10 minutes (a car costs at least twice as much as a taxi but are through the hotel and are generally bangin'-nice cars).  We run upstairs (mom had ordered her dress to be pressed due to wrinkles that morning and when we got upstairs, it was still where she left it...needless to say she was very less than pleased...yay me), change into our formal dresses (luckily, mom brought 2), change shoes, touch-up make-up and scoot our little keesters downstairs to catch the car.  

Pshoo!  Now, we get to the restaurant in record time, enter the doors, see our lovely ladies at the door and there ends up being a seating chart.  WHAT?  :(  At this point, I'm in a slight panic that I will be at a table with a bunch of old guys or something... 

I'm not.  Better.  I'm at table 1.  (I'm scared again: don't the important people sit at table 1?  Am I supposed to be charming and adorable to high rollers or their wives or something?)  So, I ask: "who all is at my table?"  Someone I don't know, someone else that I don't know, don't know 'em, nope, Jan!  I know Jan!  She and I got cozy in the cab!  YAY!  :)  Not scared anymore!!

Table turns out great, fun, laughing, new friends.  Phew.  :)

Now, I'm no wine-o, but that wine served at the dinner was so stinkin' good.  I should have asked what it was, but I drank several glasses and had a great time!  There was dancing and laughing and many new friends made!  Great night.  So.  This photo is of me and my mother in the midst of the dancing and might I say how lovely we both look!  

Ooh, and see how we are both in navy blue...well she always copies what I wear.  I swear she jumps into my head and picks out an outfit to match me every day.  But in her defense, the dress she was supposed to wear was black, but the hotel screwed up there...

Now you will have to wait until tomorrow for another photo and description.  Just so you know, I will also throw in a few pics here and there from India as well, just to keep you on your toes.