the Banquet...

I had the cutest little black dress picked out to wear for the Leading Lady Banquet. They said it was "business casual" but that results in personal interpretation (there were women in everything from jeans to evening gowns.) It had been in the 60s-70s here all week. The morning of the banquet, however, I woke up to 37 degrees, dark skies, high winds and rain all day. So much for my dress! So much for my whole day, actually. I ventured out just before lunch to have my nails done and by the time I got back I was coughing my head off. I ate a light lunch and promptly coughed myself to sleep. I woke up at around 3:45pm, which sucked because we needed to be on the road by 5pm to head to Charlotte and make the banquet on time. It was a lot of rushing around and tearing the closet apart for something warmer to wear, but we managed to make it.

The banquet itself was very nice. It was like the meal was catered specifically for me: chicken and penne alfredo, baked ziti, and chicken francese. Yummy! We were given a bottle of wine from the sponser, Cambria. They did a presentation about each of the women and gave us an engraved glass plaque.

I know that I had every right to be there, but couldn't help but feel totally overwhelmed and out of place when I would hear all of the amazing things that these other women were doing. The cool thing, though, was that upon talking to some of them, they all felt the same way I did. None of us felt like we compared to the women next to us. It was quite humbling.

They gave special recognition to a Leading Lady that, sadly, had passed away back in August. She had cancer. But for the last however many years, she had started up and worked for a chapter of Flashes of Hope, a non-profit that takes professional photographs of terminal children for their families. It was so beautiful. Her family was there and her daughter accepted her award on her behalf. Glad I brought tissues!

The woman who was named Leading Lady of the Year was seated at our table. We'd had a great evening talking to her and were so excited when she won! And she deserves it! She owns her own real estate business and sits on the board for Habitat for Humanity. What makes her special is that every time she sells a home, she takes her commission (over $60k last year) and uses it to buy and build Habitat Homes in her community. Not only does she fund the projects, but she goes out and helps build them. She is currently making plans to build homes in Haiti as a relief effort. She's incredible!

It was a great night and I'm so thankful to have been able to be included among such fabulous women! Of course....my goal now is to attend again next year!