Night and day it's Cinderelly

Today is the first day in more than a week that I finally feel like myself. I don't get sick often, and when I do it is usually a doozy - it hits me hard and strong, but I'm over it almost as quickly as it started. Not this time. This time, I started feeling it in the back of my throat last Sunday, it moved up into my chest by Tuesday/Wednesday, and lingered there and with a dull, constant headache and dizziness that started over the weekend. Nothing bad enough to really confine me to bed or anything, just annoying for long enough that I started to worry that maybe my body chemistry had changed and I was now going to feel like this forever. Neurotic, much?

Anyway, I've gone back and forth on sharing the details of the event, mainly because I try not to talk about work too much on here. I'm not exactly anonymous, and while I don't have anything bad to say, I AM in public relations - it would be a little ironic if I were the reason something got out about my company, but not in the way I'm pitching it to the media. In any case, I'm not sharing anything that isn't public knowledge by now, so here goes.

My company's flagship store relocated this summer to a new space in Pasadena. Construction was set to end at the end of September, and I had scheduled our grand opening party for more than three weeks later. We had been working very closely with the retail design firm in charge of the construction, and were assured that everything would be done on time, and we would, in fact, be set to open early, before the party, to work out the kinks.

The end of September came and went, and our store was no where near finished. (You'd think maybe I'd have learned a lesson from the last time we opened a retail space, and maybe given myself like a month's more time?) The major, structural things had been done, but the internal installations and fixtures, it turned out, hadn't even been ordered. The design team we had been working with fired the person in charge of our project, and hadn't bothered to pick up the pieces. We were less than two weeks out from our event, and learned that we had no counters, countertops, shelves, sinks, wall graphics, or any of the other details we had talked about for months.

Under the gun, though, and by some miracle, all that got done. Shelves were ordered and came two days later. Countertops were cut and driven up overnight from Arizona. Wall graphics were printed, and the sinks, chairs, and other accessories arrived within hours of the party. The problem, it turned out, was with our permits. Because our installations kept getting pushed back, we couldn't get the appropriate people in to approve the store. And until we had our fire, electrical, and building approvals, we couldn't actually move anything in. Like the 200 boxes of product we had sitting in our warehouse, just waiting to be unloaded.

We didn't end up being ready for the inspections until Thursday morning. That would be the day of the party. The contractor and his crew had been working around the clock for days by that point, but there was just that much to get done. The fire chief was scheduled to come that morning, but the building and electrical guy had given us the window of 12 to 2. So, best case scenario, he approves us at noon and we have just under six hours to stock the entire store, decorate for the party, and change into our own attire for the event. Worse case scenario, we fail inspection and have to cancel the event, hours before it's scheduled to start. And I didn't mention, I wasn't just throwing this party on my own. We partnered with a magazine who was helping us secure catering, alcohol, celebrities, etc. So if we failed inspection, we also would have failed a major commitment and I would have honestly wanted to quit my job, leave the profession, and never set foot in Pasadena again.

Fortunately, we got the mid-case scenario, which was that the building and electrical guy came at 1:45, spent half an hour in the store making us worry, and then finally gave us the green light at 2:15. We had less than four hours to turn this empty space into a functioning, attractive retail store and party atmosphere. And this, my friends, is when my life turned into a movie.

No director yelled "Action", but immediately extras stormed the stage. We had our entire office involved at this point, and there were about 4 cars parked outside waiting to unload boxes of product from the warehouse. Like on an assembly line, they'd unload on the street, some of us would carry in, and others would unpack onto the shelves. It was chaotic, yet entirely under control.

Not five minutes after the building inspector left, the first party rentals arrived, and so did my contact from the magazine. I had so fearfully pictured a scenario in which I would have to break the bad and embarrassing news to her; now, I only needed to convince her that of course an event would be happening here in 3 and 1/2 hours! Don't you worry! I said, as I, giddy with newfound relief, wiped the sweat off my own brow.

Earlier in the day, we had assigned each staff member a specific job. Some unpacked product and merchandised them on the shelves, others broke down boxes, others swept up or decorated for the event. Like Cinderella's mice, my 15 or so coworkers worked frantically to make the impossible possible, and, at 5:45, we were more than presentable.

It was a great party. Partnering with the magazine allowed us to do some other things we wouldn't normally do, and we had an awesome turnout. But I think part of the success was a result of the energy that bounded off every one of us - the company employees who had spent the first half of the day on the edge of their seat, and the second half working physically harder than I think any of us have in a long time. I've never seen such large smiles, genuine grins, on the faces of my co-workers. Everyone was on a natural high, myself included, and that energy radiated out to our guests. I've felt team bonding before, but I can't remember the last time I was so bursting with pride over the company I worked for. It was a great feeling.

I've heard about adrenaline before, how it takes over and makes you feel like you can do anything. It took over around 2:15 PM, and lasted throughout the night. I had been too nervous to eat much breakfast or lunch that day, and by the time the party came, I was too naturally high to be hungry. I drank some leftover wine once the party ended, and that, on an empty stomach, left me feeling sick for days, or at least exacerbated whatever illness was already festering.

But it was so worth it.

The lows, the highs, I am already missing the angst I felt exactly a week ago at this time, when I sat, commiserating with Matt, over the fate of our next 24 hours. It's times like this, like that, when I love my job, and can't imagine doing anything else.