The Event is over at last, and I made it through! I believe it was a resounding success--lots of happy guests and chefs. My own bit of it, the auctions, made more money than last year (lasted about three times as long as scheduled, too, which was tiring) and got me up on stage with Iron Chef Michael Symon, Bob Waggoner of Charleston Grill, Marcel Vigneron (who now sports a full beard, almost bushy, which is surprisingly becoming on him), Celina Tio, and Lee Anne Wong (who looks great and is a total doll--she really sold her auction item, man. She had ME wanting to bid on it.)

The only item I actually came close to bidding on was a last minute addition from our friends at the Food Network: exclusive VIP tickets to Iron Chef 2009, to be filmed in Manhattan, with a VIP tour of the studios and kitchens. But wait! There's more. It totally snowballed; Chef Joel Antunes, a very fine French chef who is taking over the fabled but declining Oak Room at the Plaza Hotel, offered dinner for 4 at his restaurant for the VIP guests. And during bidding, Michael Symon agreed to have lunch with the winners while they were in NY. I know, right? I would've been willing to pay thousands. Unfortunately, there were people (people who'd been drinking wine all night) willing to pay much more than I was, and that particular package went for almost the highest amount of the evening. The largest single bid was for a private dinner for twenty prepared by Charlie Trotter and his entire team.

And all the proceeds benefit Veggie U! My sweet little nonprofit children's education program. Well, I say "my" program. I've actually downgraded to volunteer status, now that I've got a book deal and am supposedly writing every day. Don't tell my editor, but it's been about two weeks since I managed to do anything that wasn't auction related. And this whole week has been spent catching up on bills and other stuff that had piled up. Oh, and on auction stuff. That's right! It's not quite over yet. We still have to track down the folks who won things but haven't paid for them yet, so that's ongoing.

By the end of this week, though, I'm out of it. Leaving for sunny San Francisco on Friday, to hang out for the weekend with Stinger, my parents (who are insane and have driven all the way from Texas to California) and my sister. Then...RWA National Conference! And all the accompanying madness, drinking, networking, and cleavage shots.

I know. I can't wait either.

Posted by Louisa Edwards at 5:48 PM