Grad Parties!!

I’m actually sad to say it’s that time of year again, the time when all the homework piles up, the studying increases to overdrive and you have more group projects than you thought humanly possible. Yes, it is the end of another year at HPU. For me it is the end of my final year at High Point which means graduation is right around the corner.

My friends and I have been planning our graduation party for all of our family and friends to CELEBRATE our graduation! I thought of giving you some tips from my favorite place to grab event tips from, PINTEREST!

Happy Graduation Season to all!

Also, a HUGE congrats to all my fellow seniors graduating this year! WE ROCK!!!

Pinterest Inspired Events

I decided to do something different and go to my favorite place for inspiration on ideas for events. So here are some of my favorite pins for weddings, social, and corporate events!

Here is a pin for an outdoor wedding. You can play lawn games during the reception or cocktail to add a different spin and feel for your outdoor wedding!

Here is a post on how to turn your backyard into a great place for having parties and entertaining your friends and family!

Corporate events don’t just have to be trade shows, they can be dinner parties, picnics and they can even be trendy. Here is a pin that shows you a new spin on corporate event trends!

The Mad Hatter Tea!

On this past Sunday, March 22nd, the O. Henry hotel had a Mad Hatter Tea for guests to attend from the area or staying in the hotel. There was a room set up in the hotel completely decked out in decor to make it seem like it was straight out of Alice in Wonderland. There were characters from the book walking around in costume interacting with the guests and it added a great touch to the event.

As a server, we passed tea and we had three different options; English Breakfast, Raspberry Tea, and Cherry Punch. We also served them tea sandwiches and sweets that went along with the theme of the event. It was very cool to see such a large scale event take place and see all of the moving parts come together. Check out the other tea specials that the O.Henry offers throughout the year http://www.ohenryhotel.com/afternoon_tea.htm

Here are some pictures from the event!

Working Breakfast

I have been insanely busy with work! I have been given new tasks and new jobs to learn and it has definitely kept me on my toes.

This past weekend I learned how to run and operate the breakfast that is offered to guests who stay at the hotel. It was a very early morning for me starting with me waking up at 6 am on saturday and working until about 12. It was nice to have the rest of the day to unwind but it took a lot out of me. I was thrown into breakfast with not much time for training but luckily i learning quickly and was able to adapt.

Working this event allowed me to work in a high stress situation early in the morning. It prepared me for events that i may face in the future that may be early in the morning. I am happy to be learning all aspects of these events because it is better preparing me for my future.

The Hunt

Since graduation is right around the corner, I have been on the hunt for jobs. I am from Hagerstown, MD, not far from DC or Baltimore. In Hagerstown, there is nothing for me to pursue a career so I don’t want to go home. Ideally, I would like to move to Charlotte, NC and start my career in Event Management.

I have been actively searching for jobs because event coordinator isn’t something that pops up on sites such as Indeed, Monster or Glassdoor. I’ve had to reach out to hiring managers and even company owners to see if they are potentially hiring in May or foresee any opportunities for me at their company.

So far, out of the 10 companies that I have emailed, I have heard back form 2. Both of them have thanked me for reaching out to them and apologized for not having anything at this time but would keep my resume on file. Even though they didn’t have any openings at this moment it was nice of them to keep in on file for further consideration.

I wanted to give you all some advice incase you were in the similar situation.

1. Don’t give up

2. Reach out to everyone

3. Follow-up

4. Be bold

5. Have fun 🙂

These are just some tips I tell myself and remind myself of when going through this process. It is very nerve racking and can be very hard but it is important to remember that something will happen. If you keep trying to put yourself out there, someone will hire you.

Here are some tips from my favorite how to site, Pinterest!

budgeting….

This week, I have had off all week from work. I can’t really complain because it has been nice not having to go in but it has had me thinking about budgeting. In my field of work, money isn’t always going to be consistent so I thought it would be a good idea to look into budgeting tricks. My go to place to find out tips and tricks is of course Pinterest! There are even some cool apps that will help you budget.

I hope these tips help you if you find yourself in a similar situation! Feel free to comment with your own budgeting techniques!!

Valentine’s Day in the Kitchen <3

When you are in the hospitality industry or events or anything of that nature, you work when other people are out enjoying themselves. Whether it be holidays, birthdays, weddings, you aim to please your guests. In the GVG kitchen Valentine’s day was a whirlwind. They were expecting 300 people for lunch alone and then about 800 for dinner. Not only is Valentine’s day one of the most busy nights to eat out, it fell on a weekend and a long weekend at that so they hotel was packed!

Chef Lee, one of the head chefs, has cooking classes that he does throughout the year and he happened to be doing one on Valentine’s Day. At his cooking class he has a station set up where he cooks and cameras show the audience what he is doing. Then after the demonstration, the guests are able to eat the food. Well, you would think that sounds simple, no? Well, its not! It take a lot of time management, preparation and hard work from everyone in the events kitchen. Not only do we need to set up the chef’s station but they food needed to be prepped for the guests and then needed to be plated and served for them to enjoy. Now, Chef Lee’s normal assistant was out on a vacation so he asked me to help out. Again, I was completely out of my element but man was it so much fun. Chef Lee is a great guy and made me feel comfortable and confident that I could do the job well. I was able to watch him prepare all the different courses and experience an amazing cooking class!

For dessert we made a Chocolate Molten cake. It looked so good, I wanted to share a recipe with you that I found on Pinterest!!

Working in the Events Kitchen.

Last night, I moved from the pastry kitchen to the events kitchen. Now, I know you’re thinking now she’s working in events, this is more her element. The answer is NO! Even though I’m working in the events kitchen, I still have no culinary training what so ever. Last night, we prepped food for a birthday party that was happening in the Green Valley Grill dinning room. It wasn’t a prefixed menu but just a limited offering on the normal menu that is offered. So during the night we cooked the food to order and plated it for the guests. The most challenging thing was getting the timing right and making sure the right amount of each dish was prepared properly for the guests. Even though I was completely out of my element, these experiences have me entertaining the thought of culinary school. Even if I don’t decide to follow that path, these experiences are helping me to learn more about the events industry.

One of my favorite dishes at Green Valley Grill is the Pecan Crusted Trout, it is absolutely delicious. I recommend this restaurant as well as their sister restaurants, Print Works Bistro for French style cuisine and Lucky 32 for a Southern style cuisine.

Here is a recipe for Pecan Crusted Trout. It isn’t from GVG but it is delicious, Give it a try at home!

First Day Jitters

Everyone is always nervous and excited to start a new job or position. With this new job comes so many responsibilities and opportunities and of course, you want to make a great first impression on your first day. In this post, i’m going to talk to you about my first day as an intern for the O.Henry Hotel and how to prepare for obstacles you may face on your first day.

Two weeks ago, I started my internship at the O.Henry Hotel and my first day was far from ordinary. Upon my arrival for my paperwork, I noticed a waterfall pouring down from the ceiling in the kitchen. I knew something was up but I continued on with my paperwork and orientation like everything was fine. Afterwards, I was scheduled to do a pastry follow in the kitchen. I was informed that one of the AC pipes had burst and caused a major leak into the kitchen. They thought it would be best if I went home and they would call me later. So, I leave, I’m almost back to campus when I get a call, they want me to return and do my pastry follow. I then turn the car around and head back to the hotel.

Does this seem like an ideal first day to you? Not to me, but I was able to make the best of the situation. I proved that I was flexible and willing to work around difficult situations. My advice is this, go with the flow especially in this industry. There are unpredictable things that happen every day and you need to be able to adapt.

Zeta Tau Alpha Recruitment 2015 Philanthropy Night

For my sorority, Zeta Tau Alpha, I had the privilege to be the VPIII. This means I was in charge of Recruiting new members for our chapter. Every Spring, right after Christmas break and the start of a new semester, one of the biggest events for Greek Life occurs, Recruitment! With every great event, there needs to be a great leader and that is where the Recruitment Chairmen comes in. Her duty is to make sure everything is just right so that they can wow the PNMs. Before actual recruitment comes long months of preparation from the Recruitment Chair and the Chapter. It isn’t easy to keep girls energized after long rounds of recruitment. This requires a leader who can organize, plan, and motivate the chapter throughout the entire process. Along with being a good leader, I got the chance to use event planning skills from previous internships to make each round a success.

Lets start with the first night, Philanthropy! This night is all about our organizations efforts to support Breast Cancer Education and Awareness. This is our time to educate potential new members about our events on campus and how we raise money and awareness for our Philanthropy.

Each round is planned to the exact minute from when the girls enter your house to when they have to leave. Time management is very important for each round. After the girls enter the Zeta house we had 12 minutes of talking then a 5 minute video, then 13 minutes after the video to continue talking. Here is a peek at what our philanthropy video was like: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8b4fBGa58k

Now, Let’s talk decorations. Zeta’s colors are Turquoise Blue and Steele Gray but breast cancer has everyone “Thinking Pink” (see what I did there?) In order to make sure everyone new what we were all about, we pinked-out the zeta house with pink balloons, pink lights, pink tulle and even pink shirts. It looked great! It really showed them how passionate we are about our Philanthropy by our decorations and by how we expressed to the our philanthropy’s importance to us.

Here are some pictures of our decorations: