Why do women lie about their age?

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Oh no it finally happened… All of a sudden in the past couple months I have found myself starting to lie about my age. I mean I’m not sure if it’s intentional but it’s definitely not honest.

For example, a couple weeks ago I was out with someone I met at a networking event brainstorming and he very politely asked how old I was and of course I was a little taken back. Really sir? Asking a woman her age, shame on you! Didn’t your grandmother teach you anything? So, I kindly replied with “27.” It just popped out I swear, very confidentially however with hesitation, not because I was lying about my age but because why would he ask? “I’m 27.” Then suddenly I realized – Wait a minute, that doesn’t sound right. Aren’t I 28… and soon to be 28 ½ on May 19th? And I didn’t believe myself so I started to do the math in my head because I couldn’t fathom that I was 28 years old already! AHH!! I could no longer concentrate on the task at hand and I couldn’t help but wonder…. When in the world did I turn 28 years old, I’m almost 30! When my mom was 28 she had 2 kids and was married. I’m living solo in NYC and lying to people about my age!! Who am I? On my next birthday am I going to be receiving those cards that say “well you’re not looking any younger” that I always make fun of? Perhaps I need to make an appointment for Botox! Do I need a face lift? Help!!

Then a week later it happened again!! I was in a meeting at work and suddenly taken off guard. For those of you that don’t know, I work in an extremely corporate atmosphere so you can imagine how uncomfortable I felt and how bright red my face turned when I was speaking and someone suddenly took me aside and said, “Julie, how old are you… really?” And I replied with a simple answer, “A woman never reveals her age.” Isn’t that rude to ask? When did it become ok to ask a person’s age? Especially at work! Are you going to start judging me when you do know my age? Here’s the thing, if I was going to tell you my age then the questions would start to trickle in……“So why aren’t you married yet?” “You’re getting old, might want to think about children soon!” “What do you want to do with your life?” Ahh!

Then I started to wonder, why did I start lying about my age? Some may say it’s the simple fact that in our society we value the youthful women and it’s embarrassing to grow old. Others may say we don’t want to admit we are getting old, but I say.... it’s no one else’s business!

So to put a stop to the madness, I have learned never to reveal my age. So what… I may be 21 on blogger, 26 on myspace, 24 on Twitter, 25 on Facebook, and on every birthday I miraculously turn 21 or 24 again (depending on the mood)…. But who cares. Age is just a number, right?

I hate it when ________ happens!

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So, perhaps I’m just not having the ‘Best Week Ever’ or perhaps it’s the simple fact that when I logged onto facebook today I noticed that 399 of my 408 friends have “snow days!!” A snow day? Are we in 5th grade again? They are enjoying themselves doing absolutely nothing in their pajamas while I am slaving away at work. Not to mention that I made the long walk in the snow, sleet, rain just to get here and now look like I just returned from a war zone (guess it was a waste of time to straighten my hair this morning)!! I hate it when that happens. I am so extremely, ridiculously jealous of my friends who are watching reruns of 90210 while lounging on their couches at home. Why does everyone get a snow day but me??? So I thought it would only be appropriate on this day of sorrow (at least for moi) to share with you my top 11

“I hate it when ______ happens” moments….

11. When you are late to work and you hear the train in the station so you run down the stairs and just as you are swiping your metro card you hear that ‘ding ding’ and the doors close. You just missed it! Suddenly then you realize it will be another 10 minutes of waiting. Weekends are especially brutal.

10. When kids go under the subway turnstiles and don’t pay! Then to make matters worse they take the last seat on the train! OR you are expected to get up and give them your seat when you paid your $2!! I can pass for a kid, perhaps I should try this technique…. Jerks! I don’t care if you are 4 years old! Cough up the 2 bucks!! :)

9. When you DVR your favorite tv show and finally sit down to relax and watch it then all of a sudden the recording stops and you miss the last couple minutes! (Needless to say, I’ve had to start recording the show after Gossip Girls to ensure this would never happen again, it’s unacceptable!)

8. When you get to the laundry-mat 2 minutes late and someone is already pulling your clothes out of the dryer whether they are dry or not. Don’t worry I have indeed witnessed 2 extreme fights at Jiffy Jeff’s and it’s not pretty, I just run and hide in a corner not gonna lie. You think the OC Housewives are crazy, that’s nothing! The Queens housewives are vicious (perhaps Bravo should tape them next!).

7. When you are in the airport security line and you happen to choose the line that isn’t moving because no one was prepared. They “forgot” to take their laptops out of their bags, forgot to take their shoes off, forgot that they have to show their boarding passes and just laugh it off…. in no hurry at all. HATE that! Morons.

6. When you finally get enough motivation to hit the gym and then end up waiting 15 minutes for a machine and loose all motivation so you just leave. Well, I did go… that’s gotta count for something, right? What happened to the saying, “It’s the thought that counts.”

5. When guys see the celebrities in the magazines and drool over how ‘hot’ they are but little do they realize these women (well majority) don’t look like that in real life. I mean I wish I was air brushed in every photo (which I do attempt to do with my addiction to spray tanning but c’mon!). I wish I had a makeup artist and hair stylist every morning! Geez!! And furthermore, if I didn’t have to work all day and could afford a trainer I’d be a size 00 too, I mean honestly celebrities really have no reason to be fat at all… I’ll stop myself now, we’ll save that for another blog ;)

4. When someone emails you the dumbest question, for example (work related) when someone asks what the address and phone number is to the hotel where their boss is staying… So I simply reply, “Not sure off the top of my head, but I bet if you google it you can find out!” GRRR…

3. When people sign emails “Happy Monday!” Seriously Sally Jo, there is NOTHING happy about a freaking Monday!! Get to work!

2. When you are feeling GREAT about yourself and decide to go out that night and put on your favorite pair of jeans and they don't fit! So then you proceed to suck everything in by putting on not 1 but 2 pairs of spanx to squeeze it all in – not kidding, I did this Saturday. God bless Spanx. (Good call on this one Michelle!)

1. You wake up hung-over only to check your iphone and realize you have 11 new facebook notifications and apparently you have been drunk messaging on facebook all night long (damnit!!!!!!). As Kristan says, drunk facebook messaging is the new drunk dialing!!

Hope everyone feels my pain and has some hilariously annoying “I hate it when ______ happens” moments to add to my list. And to all of my friends on facebook enjoying your glorious day off, I hope you had a great day and that you had a nice time in your pj’s on the couch catching reruns of 90210…. Perhaps you even found yourself chanting “Donna Martin Graduates…” That’s all I really want… I’m really not a bitter person, I just really want a freakin’ snow day!!!!

I knew I was a "New Yorker" when...

They say that once you live in the “city” for 5 years you can call yourself a “New Yorker.” Until you reach that 5 year mark don’t even try it because someone is sure to knock you off that high pedestal you so proudly put yourself on. It’s an honor to be called a “New Yorker,” the title cannot be thrown around. It’s like when you are rushing to be in that ever so popular sorority your freshman year at college… you want so badly to be apart of that clique and will do anything, but until they say the word you have no shot. You have to work at it to gain THE prestigious title.

Marking my 5 1/2 year anniversary in New York I got to thinking……when did I first know that I was a “New Yorker???”

So... based on my experience living in the city here are my thoughts!

You know you’re a New Yorker when…………………

-Every morning in the Starbucks line you have your $2.11 ready to go for a grande coffee, in & out in a matter of minutes! No chit chat…

-You think that “luxury” living would be my apartment in Queens only with a dishwasher.

-You’ve never been to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade or to see the ball drop on New Years Eve.

-You think it’s totally normal to go through a metal detector prior to entering a nightclub (Thanks Michelle, aww memories!).

-You think $6 for a beer is a bargain.

-You think it’s totally normal to push a cart down the street to go to the laundry-mat or grocery store (I’d love to do that in Indiana, what kind of reaction would I get?? “Are you homeless woman? Get off our streets!”).

-You never ever go to a chain restaurant – you are so above that ;)

-You watch all of the movies and tv shows based in New York and know that it’s just not possible (or believable) for young people to live in Manhattan with a 1000 sq ft apartment working in fashion for $15 an hour without a hefty trust fund. Seriously Michelle said it perfectly about these shows, “Can they be a little more realistic about living in NYC? No one their age really lives that way! Instead of downtown or uptown, they should say, bridge OR tunnel!”

-In the summer you know where every single Tasty Delight in the city is located.

-When the street vendor is trying to sell you a bottle of water for $2 you tell him that you’ll give him $1 and get away with it. Everything on the street is negotiable.

-The kids no longer say “I’m going to Ann’s house” they say “I have a PLAYDATE with Ann”

-You know what a bodega is.

-In the summer time you always have a pair of flip-flops in your purse so you can change out of those high heels. Comfort is key!

-You make more money than anyone back home in the Midwest but you’re still broke!

-You would never dare to make a dinner reservation earlier than 9pm, especially on weekends.

-You ignore a stranger when they ask you for directions and pretend you didn’t hear them and then go the other way fearing for your life.

-You know that Streets and Avenues mean two completely different things.

-You realize that eating a pretzel off the street is totally normal and it’s actually really good.

-You can put your makeup on perfectly on the subway even with the sudden stops.

-You know exactly how to fold your newspaper perfectly in the subway so you aren’t in anyone’s way.

-You never order from pizza hut or from other pizza chains – it’s just not an option.

-Refer to your tennis shoes as “Sneakers.”

-You never get mad when someone is running late to meet for a bite to eat, you just enjoy a glass of wine and relax.

-You can tell by looking at a Louis Vuitton bag if it’s real or not.

-You learned not to buy tickets to events on the street because it’s 90% always a scam and you’ve experienced it 1st hand.

-You don’t smile walking down the streets and never make eye contact with anyone.

-You don’t care if you push, shove or as Susie says “throw bows’” getting on/off the subway. You will do whatever it takes to get on and off that train!

-You check craigs list everyday – who knows who has great furniture they are giving away or what great apartments are now for rent!

-You realize there is no one else running against the democratic candidate and you don’t even question it no matter what.

-You are fine with living in a shoebox apartment and 500 sq feet is considered big.

-You have to go threw 3 doors with dead-bolts to get into your apartment (yep I do!).

-You notice someone getting sick on the train and instead of finding out if he/she is okay you are just so mad that they had to get sick on YOUR train because now you’ll be late for work!!

-If someone is standing too close to you on the subway or accidentally bumps into you – you always grab your purse and check your pockets!

-You are totally fine with finding a random person off of craigslist to be your roommate (yep done that a number of times in the old place, damn actors lol!).

-The guy from the deli gives you a straw with every beverage you buy even if it’s a BEER! (HAHA Thanks Kristan!)

-You refer to NYC as “The City.”

-You never do the touristy things on your own only if your friends are in town and even then you find excuses to bail.

-You go to the store and if you have too much to carry home than you have no problem jumping in a car with a complete stranger standing outside if you give him $10 (Kat and I have done this many times leaving Cosco, eek!).

-You never ever go to Midtown unless it’s for work.

-You think an hour commute to work isn’t that bad at all.

-You own the warmest winter coat imaginable and don’t care about style as long as it is warm and down to the ground.

-You have never been to the top of the empire state building.

-A birthday party in a park is totally normal, just bring a cooler with wine (however Michelle’s mom is so anti… lol laugh every time at that story!).

-You have at least 5 cab horror stories.

-You’d never buy a Broadway ticket for full price.

-You know all of the shortcuts through buildings to get to the next street.

-You have every restaurant that delivers to your apartment programmed in your phone.

-If you’re out to eat and paying cash for your meal you never leave it on the table you hand it to the waiter.

- You answer your emails within 5 minutes and think it’s rude for someone to take a day to write you back.

I saved the best reason for last… I think my 1st friend in New York, Michelle (who is a native New Yorker), said it perfectly when she said “Honestly, I knew you were a new yorker when we went to vegas and you a) pushed a girl who spilled her drink on you and b) stole some poor mid-westerner guys poker chips, cashed it in and ran!” OOPS!!! Well I guess after 5 years and 4 months of living in the city, I can now consider myself a New Yorker! Phew!

How did YOU know you were a New Yorker???

Thanksgiving + Football = WHAT?!?!!!

I love this week at work! So much to look forward to… ½ day on Wednesday, and off for the rest of the week! Finally some time to unwind and relax, but of course with that comes the most anticipated eating day of the year… Thanksgiving. Aw yes the day when calories do not count and you are “allowed” to eat whatever you want. A day when you get together with your family and friends and share your thanks without a care in the world. Every other year I have stayed in the city for the holiday and we have gone out to eat, I mean c’mon there is nothing better than drinking at 2pm and eating as much or more than you can handle without being judged, but this year I needed a change.. something new…. So my friend Shannon & I decided that we were up for the infamous challenge that so many people dread on this beloved holiday….. COOKING!!

Now I do have to take a time out here and toot my own horn and say that I have become quite the cook in the last year (well, minus that time last month when I attempted to make Kat (the b-friend) a Shepherd’s Pie and he was sick for the next 2 days and almost couldn’t go to work) but other tries have come out pretty well. So I ran the idea by Kat to see what he thought of this so-called “adventure.” What can be so hard about cooking a bird? Oh and who wants to go out on Thanksgiving? Please… give me a pair of drawstring sweatpants and let’s eat!! It made perfect sense in my book so now I just had to convince him that this was an excellent idea. I mean there’s the parade to watch, cocktails to drink and who wants to ride the subway on a holiday and wait in the cold for 25 minutes until the next train arrives that is guaranteed to be packed with parade-crazed tourists?!! And if you live in NY you will know who I am talking about ;)

After much deliberation he quickly said, “Yes, let’s do it – but on one condition… it has to be at my place since I have the HD TV.” So I promptly replied with “Great, can’t wait to see all of the Broadway performers during the parade on HD!” And he responded with a little smirk, and I couldn’t help but be extremely curious as to what caused that sneaky little look. So… after some interrogation efforts on my part he finally let loose and responded with “Julie, it’s the biggest football holiday in the world!!!” WHAT!! So I immediately responded with, "Excuse me?" thinking I didn't hear him correctly, but I was wrong and he was dead serious. Ugh! FOOTBALL?!?!?!! Sports on Thanksgiving?! Thanksgiving is now a football holiday? Why is this not making sense to me? Since when does a holiday center around football? I mean I do like the occasional game on a Sunday – but that’s it...

Does he understand that it is on this particular glorious holiday that the Christmas movies begin on Lifetime/TBS and the Christmas commercials start? Or if that's not his cup of tea, why not rent 5 Xmas movies and watch them all while getting in the spirit for the holiday season? Or if he isn't into movies, how about board games! Yes, I love board games, talk about a great way to spend time together… Now that’s the holiday spirit if you ask me, time spent with each other… not sitting in front of some HD tv watching grown up men beat up on each other, where’s the love there? Since when does a holiday meal center around football anyway and why is this okay? What happened to the story of the pilgrims! Aren’t we supposed to sit at the table and give thanks to each other. What now? What happened to the stories that we read growing up that said families sat around and wrote out what they were thankful for and then read them aloud, now that might be a bit much but you get my drift. So let me get this straight, on Thursday I am supposed to watch football and eat this feast we are preparing on.... TV TRAYS in the family room?!?!?!? I couldn't help but wonder, in a society such as this what does Thanksgiving truly mean anymore?

The dictionary describes Thanksgiving as:
-“The act of giving thanks”
-“Grateful acknowledgement of benefits and favors.”
-“Expression of thanks”
No where is FOOTBALL mentioned, I checked 3 times!

Being the good girlfriend I am, I'll fold... but just this once in order find out what all of this fuss is really about... football it is... So let it be known that on this magnificent holiday when we all give thanks to each other and appreciate the time we share together let us all take time to say “Touchdown!” “Defense…” in between bites and courses. I can only imagine what the pilgrims think of that...

So I guess the moral of the story is, whatever you are doing this Thursday– best wishes for a happy thanksgiving (with or without football).

Gooble, gobble.

What are we “Entitled” to now?

It all started out next to a cornfield in Indiana (laugh all you want Michelle), I was the short girl with the chili bowl haircut with a serious addiction to Electric Youth perfume, Oregon Trail, YM quizzes, and Paula Abdul. My life was anything but normal. I lived with my crazy sister who had a red mullet and my mother, a children’s librarian, and I absolutely hated to read. My sister Ann and I were the typical 80s children who would sit up every night with the easy bake oven, fighting over why she would always cut my Barbie’s hair, watching Beetlejuice for the 100th time (still scared to this day) and making up new dances to ‘Vogue.’ The only break my sister would take is to escape to her room when she didn’t think I was looking for a quick interview with “Oprah” in the mirror gushing over her big Oscar win. To put it quite frankly, we had big dreams and not a care in the world, life was perfect.

Growing up with such a quaint family made you appreciate the small things in life, but made the dreams so much bigger! Of course Ann and I wanted to move to LA to be Candice Cameron’s best friend (perhaps I could’ve scored a date with her brother Kirk before he went all holy) but we did what our mother called the “right thing” and went to school, boring… that’s where 21 years ago I met one of my best friends to this day, Susie. Susie and I grew up together carpooling to/from school with our annoying little siblings who we couldn’t be bothered with during one of our daily car games of “My House!” But it was another particular car ride just last week that inspired this blog….

We were driving to Chicago sharing our favorite memories from growing up and laughing up a storm when all of a sudden the conversation quickly turned to politics and the upcoming election (is it over yet ps?) and then one thing led to another and we proceeded to talk about how awful and depressing the economy is these days… We started to realize more and more how happy-go-lucky we were when we were kids making up dances and playing dress up! I sat there staring out the window just wishing we could go back to those days when we didn’t have a care in the world but quickly coming back to the realization of how different our lives are now….. yet I couldn’t help but wonder if we truly understood how lucky we really were. We were given everything (and more) and it’s almost like we didn’t know any better than to “expect” it, not like today when everyone is counting every penny. What happened to the good old days? So Susie brought up a good point…

We come from the Entitlement Generation; we are what “they” call the Millenials. The dictionary describes it as “the group born between 1979 and 1994 who believe they are owed certain rights and benefits without further justification.” We are optimistic and believe we are “entitled” to everything; growing up we had our Zach Morris cell phones and our own cars, we went to private schools and were given money to go to the movies and out with our friends. The generation where everything is supposed to fall in your lap and the biggest concern you had was what you were going to wear Friday night to the football game or if you had a date to this years Fall Carnival. Can you take me back to those times? Please! Imagine the shock someone from this generation goes through when he/she graduates from school and enters the “real” world! I thought jobs were supposed to find us!

Seriously, did I miss the class that taught us about the hard ships of life after college or let’s be honest they should start a class entitled “How to survive: Life after college, being cut off by your parents 101.” That was a huge eye opener for anyone of our generation; I mean why do I have to pay a doctor bill, isn’t that free? If I am sick aren’t I “entitled” to go to the doctor for free? I did not choose to be sick. Aren’t I “entitled” to go to school for free and have someone else pay the student loans? What? Mom and dad aren’t paying for my vacation? Who’s paying for dinner? Isn’t there a job waiting for me with a fantastic salary and a month of vacation time which I will start taking next week? Oh and isn’t it right that this job will totally turn my career around and before you know it I’ll be a VP and with the company for 20+ years!! Haha.. yeah right!!! Oh and let me back up…. car insurance, what is that? Are we destined to learn from watching the latest “Survivor?” I do not remember Donna and Brenda going through this phase.

So I guess the lesson learned is that even if we were born in this so-called “Entitlement Generation” that the media, sociologists, and even employers so kindly label us as doesn’t necessarily have to be a bad thing, it’s what you make of it. We learn from these life experiences and that’s how we grow as a person (if you so wish, we all know someone that is still stuck in the entitlement phase, yikes)…. but then again - If we “desire” it and “want” it bad enough doesn’t that mean we’ll just work that much harder in the work place? Well I know one things for sure this kid with the chili bowl haircut who grew up in the cornfields of Indiana wants that high paying successful job, flexible work hours and definitely a lot of vacation days and I am definitely “entitled” to that! Right?????? (ha!)

If I had a Million Dollars...

Do you remember that Barenaked Ladies song that was so popular back in the 90s, “If I had a Million Dollars…” (c’mon you know that tune and yes it will probably be stuck in your head all day long too!) Well, that’s all I had going through my head last week when I walked by that one event that every female New Yorker dreams to attend…. Fashion Week in Bryant Park.

Can’t you just imagine yourself walking up those white stairs with all of the photographers ready to take your picture as you enter that marvelous white tent, wearing the biggest sunglasses that you can find (or that your friend would let you borrow, ha) and a fabulous outfit so those pho-togs would think you were “someone.” Well, one of the shows had just let out so my friend and I just stood there in sheer amazement staring at everyone leaving, keeping a close eye out for the latest outfits and so-called new fashion trends.

You should have seen it – the shoes! Awww… how I love the shoes. You would have thought we were on the 8th floor at Saks in their 10022 shoe department! One woman particularly stood out, she was the lucky owner of the new delicious Christian Louboutin platform boots, and I think I just stood there staring at her in sheer admiration and of course extreme jealously. To put it quite frankly, she looked f-ing amazing. OH and she totally noticed I was creepily eying her as I didn’t move and my jaw was dropped, people would push by me to get down the street but I didn’t care, I was frozen. Oh and by the way it’s important to note that she totally loved herself even more noticing that a 20 something was in awe of her every move as I didn’t blink an eye imagining myself one day prancing down 6th Avenue as she was in those boots, loving myself and loving my life (Michelle, can we say Noele Wein?). So, my friend Kristan & I got to talking about it…. And we couldn’t help but wonder if we had to re-write the lyrics to that infamous song,“If I had a million dollars” what would we sing about?

And then we both blurted out the same exact thing.........

SHOES, SHOES, SHOES……….. and MORE Shoes!

Every woman craves that beautiful pair of shoes that just make you feel perfectly fabulous. Who doesn’t remember when Carrie Bradshaw saw those magnificent Manolo’s and uttered those 2 famous words we all have used at least once (even if you don’t want to admit it and make fun of me later), all together now… “Hello Lovers….” (Haha!) But seriously, have you ever had one of those moments? You see that perfect pair and you start to imagine yourself out with your girls sipping fruity cocktails and dancing and singing “Like a Prayer” without a care in the world… but then it happens…. reality sinks in… yuck. You then remember that rent is due on Monday and you can hardly afford dinner until you get paid on Friday because on top of that you still have to pay the cable bill…. But we can still dream right? Well, if I had a million dollars – then I would run to the 8th floor of Saks and buy a marvelous pair of shoes! Perhaps a couple! Selfish, right? I think it’s about whatever makes you happy. My friend Kristan explained it the best when she said that she gets 'chills' when she sees that perfect shoe. We love it. We can’t explain it. It’s just pure love and it makes us feel really good about ourselves. My normal pick would be the ones on sale at DSW, but if I had a million dollars I’d definitely be walking the streets of Manhattan in these Christian Louboutin Tortoise Heels that my friend Susie introduced me to (story about that later ;).

Who wouldn’t feel like a million bucks in those? Awww – the things I’d do… I mean there are so many other things of course – but just the one material possession would be fabulous shoes!
So what would YOU buy yourself if YOU had the million dollars? I’m not talking about all of the good deeds that I know you’d do, you’d save the world yada yada yada, awesome… I’m talking about that one thing you buy for yourself “if you had a million dollars….” What would the 1st thing be?

It is only appropriate to end this little blog the same way the Barenaked Ladies ended their catchy song - simply put... “If I had a million dollars…. I’d be RICH.” (and look F-ing amazing!)

"Never be Rude to the Guest!"

My grandmother, “Mommom” is famous (at least in Lauren’s eyes) for always stopping Ann in her tracks telling her to “never be rude to the guest.” Lauren loved herself and still quotes Mommom to this day (love it!). And last night that’s all I wanted to say to this extremely rude restaurant host at an event. I mean why are people so rude? I just don’t get it, did he not get the memo that we are his guests? If he treats us like this, how does he treat others? Yikes!

So to preface, one of the perks to being an Event Planner in the city is that you get invited to all of these fabulous events, whether it’s restaurant tastings, parties in brand new spaces you name it! Not to mention the gifts, oh how I love the gifts. So last night my co-workers and I went to an event at del posto where of course Kristan likes to tell me the story when we had our event there in March she sat next to Reese and Jake! No biggie… Anyway, so we left work early and headed downtown, ready to finally relax after dealing with all of the stress of work that day. When we enter the restaurant we eagerly go downstairs and pick up our place cards anxiously awaiting the passed canapés and cocktails galore. (I love eating and drinking for a living!!) Well to our surprise we were all at different tables. If you’ve been to del posto before you know that it’s a longgggggg meal. I think ours was 5 courses and the thought of carrying on a conversation with people you have no idea who they are for that long just doesn’t sound appealing unless you’ve had the chance to chug at least 5-6 glasses of wine first. I’m really not trying to be annoying, but this was an event for planners to sample the new fall menu and to thank us for our business for the past year, so it should be an exciting evening.

So, we of course did our investigating and found so many others that were doing the same 7th grade switcheroo so they could sit with their friends. Judy from my team was now Candice Harper – you know how it goes!! Once dinner was ready, as the ‘good girl’ I am I went directly to my assigned table #10 and a fellow planner from Lehman asked my friend Anne if they could switch tables so it worked out perfectly!! Next we had a free seat at our table so my boss and colleague came on over. We had the best table! Not only was it the 4 of us, but we met 4 new friends, event planners from The Economist and JP Morgan. It was great!! It was exactly the networking that del posto had hoped to accomplish for us. We had great conversations and shared the typical Event Planner horror stories, our fav places to go in the city and before you knew it we were all fast friends and even discovered that we were at the same tradeshow in Hawaii 3 years ago.

Then suddenly one of the hosts from the restaurant came over and asked why we were all sitting together… I think he said (in a very rude tone), “I don’t understand why you guys are all sitting together! The purpose was to meet others and no one should be sitting with someone they know, I don’t understand who you think you are to switch tables. Blah blah blah….” Then he went and whispered in his colleagues ear telling her everything. Can you believe that? We are your clients who give a ton of money to the restaurant. In all of the events I have ever been to, I have never been treated like that… although “secretly” I did feel like a kindergartner and wanted to wave my place card in his face and tell him, “I’m supposed to be at table #10!!! Don’t hate me Sir!!!” But why? We all had a great time, met new friends, networked and every single person at the event switched tables we were the only ones that spoke up and admitted it. So why are we to blame? Because we admitted it? Told the truth? What happened to that lame statement, 'the truth is supposed to set you free?' Something is totally wrong about this situation. Oh, and just to prove my point here those that didn’t switch left the event before the main course. Wouldn't you feel more comfortable to meet people when you are with someone else you know (sitting down for 3+ hours!!)?

So as an event suggestion for your next gig, do not separate clients from their co-workers at different tables and assign seats where your client feels uncomfortable and alone when coming to 3 hour sit down meal. These are your clients; you should treat them to a superb evening so they want to bring more business your way! The better time they have, the more business you will gain. 3 hours is way too long and just creates plain awkwardness for a client appreciation event. Not only did they lose guests, but they may lose future business.

So if you are ever in this situation just remember Mommom’s saying and “Never be rude to the guest!”