The Book Lover's Ball

     This Saturday I donned a velvet, caramel-colored dress and headed to work. The big day had finally arrived. The silent auction room was set-up with items and descriptions, there was everything from Milkweed galleys, to a private dinner for six cooked by a local chef. Christmas lights were wrapped around the beautiful Open Book staircase. The cafe was cleared of all tables and chairs. Paper butterflies were hung from the ceiling. All of the interns came early to set up.

     In typical Midwestern fashion our first guests arrived thirty minutes before the event actually started. As a native New Yorker, this kind of behavior baffles me. I was on coat check duty. It was an older crowd, generally speaking. No kids allowed. My fellow interns and I watched longingly as fancy hors d'oeuvres were taken upstairs. The other interns were in charge of registering people's silent auction devices. Milkweed hired a company called "Bidpal" to be in charge of their auction. Participants essentially bid on ipod touches and could search the items this way as well. Two Nook ebooks were also being raffled off. 

      The event was catered by D'amico & Sons and the food was spectacular. After standing for eight hours I really wanted a glass of red wine, but the open bar was off limits to us volunteers. I was disappointed to miss author David Gessner's speech, but excited to see the unveiling of the new website. It was very sleek and stylish. Everyone left with handmade Milkweed broadsides (even the volunteers). Overall I'd say it was a success. Although I overheard one of the event planners say that it didn't bring in quite as much funding as they had hoped for. 

        In office news I finally got my first copyediting and proofreading project! It's going to be a bit laborious, I have to proofread for grammar, formatting and pagination. I have two weeks to finish. Let's hope it's everything I've dreamt it would be!