I had the pleasure of joining Kelly on a CSMFO (in short a Finance Officers) conference dinner last night.
It is always a huge event as they kick off their annual conference with a fancy dinner.
The California city finance people get together in different locations each year. Kelly only attends the Northern California conferences which is every other year. I've only had the opportunity to join Kelly on two other occasions. Once in Modesto at a country club amidst fruit orchards and vineyards and the other in SF at an old Speak Easy. The later was really cool. We entered through a big door in the middle of an alley in the business district of SF. The interior took you back to the time of Art Deco, a live jazz band played in the background as waitresses wandered the crowds with platters of hors devours. Truly incredible.
If you asked me to show me where it is, I'd never be able to find it again.
This time we found ourselves in the city of Burlingame (just south of SF) on the peninsula, at Kohl's Mansion. It is currently a Christian school but a very popular place for wedding receptions which boasts of amazing grounds. It was also the sight where "Lord Fauntleroy" was filmed
(for those of you familiar with that).
The dress code of the night was tuxedo's for the men and cocktail or formal dresses for the ladies.
Luckily Kelly bought his tux when we got married (it has been put to really good use with proms, cruises, etc). I pulled out my red floor length dress and pulled up my hair. It's fun to play dress up especially when you know that everyone else will be out in their finest.
Kelly and I explored the mansion as we sampled hors devours and ordered juice from the bar. These events are especially fun because we have the opportunity to see Kelly's friends from all over California who he's worked with in finance. Because of his stint at the League of California Cities, he knows many of "Big Wigs" and past CSMFO presidents. It is always fun to talk to them and catch up on everyone. I have come to know that finance people are genuinely nice people who are easy to talk to.
As a string ensamble played, we dined on salad, peppered steak and sea bass (that was my plate and it was incredible) and dessert of chocolate lava cake drizzled with raspberry sauce and fresh fruit.
Kelly and I spent an incredible eventing together.
So, I was kind of disappointed that there wasn't a picture of the formal attire... But it sounds like tons of fun. I asked Tyson a while back if we could go somewhere that I could get dressed up in formal wear someday. Might be a LONG time before that happens....
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