Black Tie Dinner

CFS (the College at Purdue that I work for) is home to the Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management, which, if I might add, is ranked #1 in the nation. They have an annual Black Tie Dinner which is an entirely student run event, so that is how we spent our Saturday evening. This year's dinner was the 10th anniversary and we sat with one of the students who served on the board for the first 2, which was pretty neat. Let me just tell you that these kids did AMAZING things! I don't know as if I've ever been to such a fancy dinner.

The service was like a dance as they served in sync and the food was seriously out of this world! We ate and drank our little hearts out. We learned that we both like Rack of Lamb (whoduthunkit!) and I love Lobster Bisque...surprise!! They had a different wine pairing with each course, and add to that the several drinks we had at the cocktail hour, and let's just say that we felt good! I am going to get a menu from one of the students because we loved all of the wine, so maybe I'll post that once I get it.

It was really fun to get all dressed up. Mostly because I got to see this handsome guy all snazzied up!!...

This is my coworker, Wendi. One of my favorite people on earth. I somehow didn't get a picture when we took our office staff picture, but maybe I'll get it from one of the other girls. So Lora and Denise aren't pictured.
At then end of the dinner. Note that you can see a smidge of my tasty dessert!
Here is a picture of the centerpieces. The students went with a "Green" theme this year and the Horticulture Dept. helped them grow their own grass. They even sent some invites out in small pots of grass. Pretty impressive, indeed!
A picture of the students
After the dinner was over, there was a "coffee" hour, which involved Starbucks Liqueur. Josh obviously didn't partake (he hates anything to do with coffee, and more specifically, Starbucks), but I sure did have my fair share!! Below you can see the ice sculptures from which the liqueur was served.

Cheers!!

The evening ended with a great cookbook on pairing every kind of food imaginable with every kind of drink imaginable. The authors of the cookbook were keynote speakers at the event and they were kind enough to bring along some cookbooks. Then on our way out, we were each offered Starbucks Coffee Mugs, which, again, I was thrilled for and Josh made me carry both. :)

We are already looking forward to next year!