Disfigured Feet...For a Good Cause!

Last night's hospital gala was an astounding success! We raised somewhere north of $300,000 and while my feet are probably forever disfigured from my torturing (but oh, so cute!) heels, Jack and I had a wonderful time at the Palmer House Hilton.

I had raced home from a patient care emergency to get my nails done and figure out my hair situation (to up do' or not to up 'do?). Jack arrived home shortly after me and after our requisite primping, we stepped out into the late afternoon sunshine and began the usually-30 minute drive downtown.

...but because of the Chicago marathon, an extra 45,000 people were in the city...milling around Michigan Street. So it took us over an hour to arrive and by the time we did so, we were quasi-wilted!

Regardless, we arrived in style, quickly met up with a few physicians and entered the main ballroom. It was PACKED. The gala was sold out and you could tell; seven-hundred people in black tie attire filled that room until you could barely move. We avoided the moving masses of people and shopped instead.

Silent auctions lined the ballroom's "ante" room, everything from wine tastings to restaurant certificates, from spa treatments to trips, from signed sports paraphernalia to Christina Aguilera concert tickets. I quickly decided I would bid on a package including two box seats in the Chicago Symphony and dinner at Rhapsody. I opened the bid and told Jack we'd babysit that one. I've always wanted to see the Chicago Symphony and, well, the tickets were for the performance on my birthday so I would save Jack a shopping trip!

On the same table, I spotted another auction item on which I wanted to bid: a large gift certificate to the RedHead Piano Bar (we've been "dying" to go there; they have amazing piano/jazz reviews) and a yacht cruise out on Lake Michigan at sunset (I guess so you can see the skyline from the water, at night). It was an impulse bid and I forgot I even bid on it!

After milling around the ballroom for a while, noshing on petite appetizers and champagne, it was time to begin dinner. A string quartet played while we dined on boring salads, dry, over-cooked filet, strange potatoes, and cute vegetables. To be completely honest, Jack could have grilled a better filet in his sleep...in the woods...without a grill! Not impressed by the food.

As the desserts blanketed the room, the formal program started. It included the usual set of speeches and presentations from any benefit, except this time, Jack had a personal stake in the celebratory video. He narrated part of it. It was strange (and yet, very cool) to hear Jack's voice booming around an at-capacity ballroom. I felt a swell of pride for him and sort of laughed when I glanced over at him and saw a look of wild terror on his face!

After the formal program concluded, we skipped the dance floor (the band, sophisticated and posh during dinner, immediately started playing songs that bands play at the end of weddings, where everyone is already sweaty and tipsy) and returned to the silent auctions. I entered into a bidding war on the Symphony package and it was now 4x the original price. I placed one last bet, thinking we'd probably lose the auction. I had forgotten about the RedHead package and picked up a "grab bag." For $100, you were guaranteed $250 worth of "stuff." Plus, our past president of the medical staff's wife coarsed me into buying one. Not really. (But she did!). The grab bag contained a good bottle of wine, Opera tickets, a gift cert for Cilantro's, a pedicure, and what I was most shocked by, a $100 gift card to a jeweler in town. Jack just signed and shook his head when he discovered that!

The wedding-esque dancing was going full tilt and Jack and I sat with several co-workers and enjoyed the last few songs of the evening. We did dance a couple of times, but events like that go so quickly. You're just getting comfortable and the band announces its last set!

The silent auctions closed and I swung back by our table to confirm that I probably lost the Symphony bet. Not only did we win the Symphony package, but I noticed my name circled on the RedHead/yacht package! We won both! With the grab bag I had purchased earlier, I spent (*cough, cough*) hundred dollars! While it was more than I intended, I know it's for a good cause. The cause that employs us both!

Last year, I kept gazing around the ballroom, thinking to myself, "wow, how in the world did I ever end up here?" This year, I was able to own the experience more and because of my involvement in the hospital, had much more fun at the event. I think Jack did, too, despite his look of wild terror at hearing his own narration!

So today, I'm hobbling around in my slippers, because my feet are killing me from my high-heeled sandals. But I keep telling myself, "it was for a good cause!"