Saturday night was date night for Handsome Husband and me, and we had a great time out. We dressed up and went to the Memorial Medical Foundation's Festival of Trees Gala. I can't even remember how many years I've decorated a tree for the Festival, but it's been several. Designers get to attend the gala, and that's my favorite part of doing a tree every year.
The Festival of Trees is held in a building at our state fairgrounds. It's a builidng that used to house livestock, I believe, but it's been converted to a multi-purpose building that can be used for a varity of events. The Festival of Trees folks spend a solid week there before the Gala kick-off, and transform the concrete-floored, cavernous, empty space into a Christmas wonderland. The trees are lit all with white mini-lights. There is fluffy, white "snow" covering the floor around each tree. A gingerbread village sprawls out across the middle of the room. The lights are dimmed, and a twinkling glow takes over.
The Gala kicks off the Festival of Trees, and is an all-around holiday season kick-off for alot of folks in our community. It is very well organized and executed. It's a fundraiser - tickets can be purchased individually. It's also a celebration and a "thank you" to everyone who works hard to make the Festival of Trees a huge success each year. It's the time when the event sponsors are recognized, and they select their trees, and when the community gets a sneak peek at the beauty of the season. For the Gala, which is a black tie event, there are elements added to the evening - There is a silent auction with several unique, and often exclusive, items for bid. They open the Holiday Market area, where a variety of seasonal decorations, clothing items, and even Holiday jewelry are available for purchase, and there is food and drink... lots of food and drink. The Gala is expertly catered each year, and with a wide variety of food selections. This year, there were four "stations" for food. Each featured main items like scallops, shrimp, crab, prime rib, and roast turkey. Each also featured a great variety of things like roasted asparagus, pickled eggplant, cheese and crackers, and veggie kabobs. And the dessert station featured a chocolate fountain - how can you go wrong with a chocolate fountain? And, of course, there is plenty of beer, wine, soda, and water to go around.
This year, we ran into several people we know at the event, and got to share some great conversations, and I think my friend, Tonya, and I rather enjoyed checking out what everyone else was wearing. People watching can be half the fun of going! The band that played was one I am not familiar with. They sounded good, but I have to admit I was a little dissappointed that Ed Clark's band didn't play. He always gets the audience to participate playing maracas and tambourine, and the Handsome Husband was ready to grab those maracas if they'd been playing. By the time we made it around to the dance floor, my feet were killing me from walking on the concrete floor in sexy strappy sandals, so we didn't do much movin' and shakin', but I'm sure we'll make up for it next year!
We ended up the night at a local haunt back home in Sherman, where we found several more folks we know. Of course, the Handsome Husband and I were still in our formal wear, which gave everyone something to talk about for a bit. All in all, it was a wonderful night out, and I can't wait until our next date night!
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