Holiday Party

Friday was our company holiday party. It was held on the Odyssey Cruise ship. 135 people RSVPed for the party. We also negotiated a discounted rate with the Financial District Hilton. Since I was sharing a room with PRH and she is the Activities Committee chair our room was upgraded to a SUITE!

I was able to leave work early and check-in before PRH. When I saw our room, I wound up gasping "Oh my God" and laughing hysterically. We had a living room, full minibar, a vanity, and a bedroom with two full beds. I have lifetime experience of discount travel so staying in a room of this caliber was a big deal for me. As I surveyed the contents of our minibar, I half-expected my father to burst into the room and scream at me. Since the hotel offers valet service, I decided to drive.

Driving in Boston is something I try to avoid because I am scared of crazy drivers and getting lost. I learned two things this weekend: I am actually a good driver (in the city) and I am pretty familiar with Boston so if I do get lost I can always correct myself easily. I took the Pike downtown and missed the turn onto Atlantic Ave that would lead me to Broad St. where the hotel is located. I knew what direction I was supposed to be going as I passed Faneuil Hall so I found the hotel eventually. The other bonus about driving in Boston is that there are a million landmarks.

Since I was driving in, I had all the party favors we assembled. At 6:30, the committee met at Rowe's Wharf to help set up and settle details with the DJ and the captain. People started boarding at 7pm. The bar was open from 7:30 to 9:30. Dinner was buffet-style. I was very good in my food selection since I'm hardcore Weight Watchers now. The splurging I did was with booze. My company isn't really full of people who like to dance so the dance floor was pretty sparse throughout the night. I have never attended a party where I haven't danced so I found a group of three other people to dance to "Great Balls of Fire". Between the drinks, the boat, heels, and a slippery dance floor, I fell on my ass towards the end. Luckily, no one besides my group saw me go down. I got up and very conservatively danced off the floor. VERY embarrassing. Booze makes me chatty so I had many rambling conversations (not with many higher-ups thank God).

Once the boat docked, I hobbled back to the hotel room and went to bed. Hobbled because me shoes had been squishing my toes for hours. PRH hit a couple bars with some co-workers. All in all, I think the party was a success. PRH and I talked the next morning and she brought up something I wasn't aware of. Only 100 people showed up and we had shelled out extra money to accomodate the 35 more who had RSVPed. That kinda sucked.