Times for Heroes and Handbags

Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Prada, Oh My! It's time for Heroes and Handbags! This is our biggest event of the year for Heroes for Children. Due to a major schedule conflict, we had to change the date for the Houston event to Wednesday April 1st. Dallas is Friday, April 3rd. That's right, folks, we're running two major events in 48 hours. How are we doing it? Lots of hours, lots of stress, lots of checking and double checking. We have four women working on the events and juggling our various responsibilities (plus keeping up with HFC life outside of Handbags and preparing for other projects!).

I leave today for Houston. I am driving and my car is loaded down with contents from our storage unit. While in Houston, I have meetings for Hold'Em for Heroes and HFC Friends and then I'm off to work on final prep for Heroes and Handbags. Michelle, our new Director of Development, flies in early Tuesday morning, and Larissa and Danielle will arrive Tuesday night (good thing we're going to be hiring a Houston staff member in August!!). River Oaks Country Club will be invaded by our staff and incredible volunteers Wednesday morning at 6am, guests arrive at 9:30am. Then, it's time to sell some handbags! We have other 220 bags in the Houston silent auction. They are brand new, vintage, or "previously carried with care." Bags start in value around $100 and go up from there. We have quite a few pieces that people will be fighting for!

I hop back in the car late Wednesday afternoon after our annual tradition of a celebatory lunch at Escalantes with the volunteers. Should be back late Wednesday night, after Mag is in bed. It's straight to the Hilton Anatole in Dallas the next morning to switch gears for Dallas Handbags. Luckily, our use of the Chantilly Ballroom gives us a two room suite where five of us will cozy up to sleep together, after a really long day. We rush down at 6am for set up and final preparation. Guests will arrive as early as 8:30 for our "Snag the Bag Preview Party."

By 1:30 on Friday, Heroes and Handbags will be at a close for the 2009 year. It'll be time to crunch numbers, send out recognitions and thank yous, and look forward to the 2010 Handbags events (yes, that quickly). We immediately switch gears to thinking about the impending fall schedule, including the 5K, golf tournament, and two Hold'Em for Heroes events in Houston and in Dallas.

As you can see, I won't be around here much. This week is INSANE. I won't see my sweet family from today (well, Andrew left yesterday for his bachelor party in Shreveport with seven buddies so I hugged him goodbye yesterday afternoon) to Friday night. Our half marathon is next Sunday (um, yeah, that was NOT good timing, I realize that!). The rest of this month does not exactly slow down. We kickoff the 5K with our volunteer committee, organize our membership drive for HFC Friends in Houston, kickoff Hold'Em for Heroes, and much more. I have a trip to Memphis for the Association of Pediatric Oncology Social Workers. No, I'm not a social worker, but I work with them on a daily basis. The conference has sessions that are very relevant to our programs, and continuing education in this business will help us stay the best at what we provide for the families.

My priority for the next month is balancing this work schedule with time with Maggie. I won't be going out for anything not related to work that doesn't include her and Andrew. When I'm home, I'm focused on them. Our weekends are free and dedicated to family. It's not easy to balance, but I'll do my best. I'm off to pack!