Two big events packed into one weekend!

It all began Saturday evening. C and I were preparing for one of the biggest nights of the year at WES- the Grand Auction! This is the event where people go to see and be seen. It is fun, awe-inspiring and entertaining. We have gone every year since I first began to work there, but C has never stayed for the dinner part, only the cocktail hour. Being that it is my last year we decided to go for it and stay through the evening. The theme was "Roaring 20's Jazz." I love the roaring 20's fashion and music and wanted to go all out. Lucky for me, my friend Andrea had the perfect flapper dress for me to wear. All I needed was a wig, some fishnet stockings and bright red lipstick. C decided to go gangster, which led us to a tiny little costume shop in Palo Alto. It was there that he found his pin-stripe pants, suspenders and fedora. My three co-workers and I had volunteered to be the greeters for the evening. We considered this to be the best job as we would get to see everyone as they arrived. Our duties entailed greeting and passing out bidder numbers. While I was "working", C wandered around looking at the various items up for bid. The auction is the largest fund raiser for our school. There is a silent auction early in the evening where people place a sticker to bid on a variety of things like class treasures, afternoons with the teacher, or homemade cookies once a month. The live auction happens later in the evening during dinner. That part gets a little raucous- but it's great fun! This is when you hold up your bidding number and wave it around with all your might to bid on things like vacations to Hawaii, a personal parking space at the school, or wine cellar hopping. My polenta dinner was delicious and C seemed to enjoy the fillet mignon as well. We sat with several of my co-workers, which made it all the more fun. We bid several times, but were outbid before the auctioneer even noticed our numbers in the air! I don't know the final number quite yet, but I know they raised a significant amount of money that will benefit the school in the coming year. The costumes, the bidding, the food and dancing were spectacular!
We didn't stay out too late because the next morning we had to be up at the crack of dawn for the 97th annual 7.5 mile Bay to Breakers run! My friend, Andrea, drove down from St. Helena to join us. We arrived just in time to join the 60, 000+ runners. This is one of my favorite runs, simply because it is so much fun! The miles pass by so quickly and before you know it, it's already the end. Runners run in costumes, nothing, or normal clothing- whatever. There are bands playing along the street, people blaring music from their home stereos and others line the route to cheer you on. If you're ever in the area or have the opportunity to be in the area on the third Sunday in May, take time to join in the fun and festivities. We ran a good pace and finished in 1 hr. 18 min. The guy who won ran it in 34 minutes....the woman who won ran it in 39 minutes. They were done before we even got started! They really missed out! The race begins at the Bay Bridge and takes you through the city and you end at the breakers, the beach. The only part that is less than ideal is the walk back through Golden Gate Park to the bus that takes you back to the starting point. Other than that, it's a great morning. The added bonus is that you can spend the rest of the day sitting on the couch watching movies and eating popcorn without any guilt!