Thanks to many people for helping make this happen, from donating photos to editing blurbs to giving an opinion on design matters…and massive, massive props to Yuhki.

Other random things: change is…change.  I’m moving this weekend (just rooms) and I’m looking forward to it, despite the amount of stress it’s caused.  My friend Kendall is here this week, which has helped.  I won’t get into it right now, but I’ve lately felt a huge desire to escape.  I did plan an trip to Raleigh/Durham relatively soon, and if only I could justify a trip to London/(the other) Cambridge…sigh.

Oh!  Also, I started another blog, which is related to Project #3.  In the end, these blogs are mostly for my personal benefit, but check it out!

A brief life update: just….sigh.  As they say, “when it rains, it pours,” and a few “real-life” events have sent me reeling towards a quarter-life crisis (and didn’t this already happen earlier last year?).  It will be fine, I will be fine, and I know that.  But right now, I need a hug.  Also, a new roommate (this is actually serious–if you know of someone in Boston looking for an apartment, have him/her get in touch with me).  At least I have a going away party to plan…

It’s been >8 months since I’ve last blogged, and I know I’ve previously not blogged for a while and then said a lot has happened, but this time, really: a LOT has happened since last May.  I’ll try to get you up to speed…

Festa: The Eliot Alumni Ball (May 30, 2010) was beautiful.  A more intimate (~350 guests), more sophisticated version of The Fete, which is what I had been hoping for.  Two ice sculptures, a split dance floor, open bar with special drink option “The Sweet Charles”, cupcake and memory tree centerpieces, a barista in the wee hours…it all came together. Much of the credit for the event’s success goes to Sue (logistics) and Anthony (aesthetics), and thanks to the tutors for helping with set up.  Festa did have its share of compromises and unfavorable circumstances (including my biggest near-meltdown yet, oh boy, ask me in person), but ultimately, everything turned out wonderfully, and Lino and Anna received the sendoff they deserved.

Luckily, Festa withdrawal wasn’t that bad, because within a couple of weeks I fled the country for my much-anticipated personal vacation: 10 days in Paris/England, primarily for May Balls at (the other) Cambridge.  Best week of my entire year.  A red-eye to London, a weekend in Paris (my first time!) with my aunt, a quick stop back in London to catch up with an old friend, and 3 black tie events (and a garden party) in Cambridge.  So, so many good memories: crepes and falafel that I will be dreaming about for decades, hanging out with old friends, making new friends (that have since become very good ones!), bumper cars and bungee-trampolining in black tie, game-changing fireworks shows, punting down the Cam, a lazy afternoon of tea and scones at Grantchester (mmmm elderflower fizz).  From an event-standpoint, the May Balls were absolutely surreal and worth every penny (and those ticket prices required a ton of them, nearly literally!)—all-night (8pm-6am) black tie affairs, lots of food (oyster bar, chocolate fountain, cheese tent), open top-shelf bar, multiple dance floors, performances, fireworks, carnival games.  Special thanks to Urvesh for being the best host I could ever hope for.  It’s currently not looking especially promising, but I really am hoping to get back for May Week this year (especially with Laurence over there, oh heyyy).  Crossing fingers!

I then enjoyed my first summer in Boston (previously, I always fled home/abroad as soon as school was out), and minus a few uncomfortable sleepless nights (thanks oppressive humidity), it was quite nice and makes the Boston winter slightly more justifiable.  The 4^th of July fireworks show here really was fantastic (and this is after seeing 3-4 shows in England!), and an amazingly well-coordinated event; I was impressed!  I also turned 24 with an olive-free picnic in Harvard Yard the weekend before and Korean food and Berryline on the actual day.

My next event was John and Ellen’s wedding (Labor Day weekend 2010).  John was my proctor (RA) my freshman year at Harvard, and I became friends with Ellen through taking a economics/statistics class together my junior year.  Pretty crazy and funny to think that I ended up coordinating their Maine wedding, and it was an absolute blast.  Ellen paid attention to every little detail, and we pulled off a breathtaking ceremony and reception with the help of amazing family and friends.  Some photos! FYI, the favor?  Local honey in jars labeled “John <3 Ellen, meant to bee…” I know.

And now we’ve gotten to the biggest change that happened since I last blogged: in early October, I left my job in finance to pursue event-planning full-time.  It was not an easy decision in the slightest (quite honestly, a very scary one!), but after much reflection, I’ve realized that doing something I’m passionate about is very important to me.  I’m extremely fortunate to currently be in a position where I am only responsible for myself, and I’ve decided to take the leap, be completely selfish, and explore this possibility for the near-future.  I learned a lot from my year+ in finance, some about business and some about myself, and am very grateful for all the mentorship and experience I received throughout.

Since then?  Well, I spent the remainder of 2010 working on two events for Harvard’s introductory computer science course, CS50.  David, the course’s professor, and I met at a holiday party my housemates threw in 2009, and funny/fortunate how things turned out a year later.  The first event was the CS50 Hackathon (Dec. 2-3), an all-nighter event held at Microsoft’s N.E.R.D. for students to work on their final projects.  Pizza at 9pm, Chinese food at 2am, unlimited soda and Red Bull and candy…and a trip to IHOP at 6am for those still standing.  Very twilight-zoney and at times, it felt like a social experiment, and I would say it was a success!  At the very least, from a post-event survey, no one hated it .  Photos here. The second event was the CS50 Fair, CS50 students’ final project exhibit and SEAS’s flagship recruiting event.  9 tanks of helium, 1500 customized CS50 cupcakes, and 1500+ guests..it was my biggest event yet!  Photos. Both the Hackathon and the Fair were vastly different from anything I’ve previously worked on, and I enjoyed working with some old friends and making some new ones.

And now, post a leisurely 3.5 weeks home in CA for the holidays?  Back in Boston, and it’s time to get serious.  I have 3 projects I’ve decided to focus on for this spring, and I’ll detail in a future blog post.  It’s exciting, but also very daunting.  Whew, I’ll stop here.  Take care, stay warm, and talk soon!

In 10 days, I’m going to show you how an event should be thrown.  It’ll be great, and I’m really excited about it.  A secret: yes, there will be cupcakes.  As excited as I am, though, I’ve been pretty consistently tired for the last ~3 weeks, which, honestly, sucks.  I’m looking forward to a time when I’m not falling asleep in yoga everyday…

Random life update: things are good.  I was thinking about it a lot the last couple of days, and this first year post-college has taken me for a wild ride.  I don’t even know what I expected, but it was nothing like this.  I feel like things constantly change and I frequently have “SERIOUSLY?!” moments.  Thank goodness human beings are extremely resilient.  I wish someone would have warned me or prepared me for this, but then again, I don’t know how that could have happened.  To seniors who are graduating: life is pretty much never what you expect it to be like, and you just have to roll with it.  And when things suck, it helps to take yourself out of the picture, for a few seconds, and just laugh.  Life can be ridiculous.

All I know is: I’ve grown up a lot.  Possibly more in this past year than my entire college career, which I find mind-blowing: I thought college is supposed to be that time of growth and change and self-discovery.  Not that I didn’t grow at Harvard, but I feel like it’s more in this year that I really started to know myself.  It hasn’t been easy, but I figure out things about myself every single day.  Overall, through the good and the bad, it’s been wonderful.  Initially, I’ve tried to keep a record of crazy/weird things that happen to me, but after a while, it got too crazy to constantly record them because I just needed to…be.  I definitely have a list, though, and maybe one day, when I am actually bored, I’ll start a book of vignettes…

Update: things are good!  Festa planning is underway, and it’s keeping me pretty busy.  Ticket sales have launched, and I get excited every time I get a notification of someone purchasing tickets.  The initial response has been really great!  Paper invitations will hopefully be finished by the end of next week (text finalized today).  Pricing out vendors, continuing to brainstorm, and dreaming of the big night….the usual.  It’s going to be fantastic, but I am also starting to feel a little overwhelmed.  I’m calling April my retreat month and am severely limiting my social commitments (this is my blanket apology to my friends).  That being said, if you live in Eliot, you’ll probably see me a good amount anyway.  But I need to focus, and I promise you, it will be worth it.

What else…I threw my “staying here” party last weekend at my house, since I was supposed to start in Hong Kong yesterday.  As many “going away/bon voyage” parties get themed around where the person is going, my “staying here” party was themed around local things.  Local wine, beer, cider, cheese, chocolate…bread and cupcakes from down the street…and someone brought Munchkins.  I had a lot of help and fun preparing with my housemates and Kendall, and the house was beautiful with flowers and candles and dressed up pretty people .  I wish I could just throw parties all the time.

If you hadn’t already been wishing you were sorted into Eliot on housing day, I’m telling you, you do now.  Also, I have been in a semi-bad mood for the past couple of weeks because I realized that I inadvertently gave up my social life for the next 2.5 months because of this, but ultimately, I’m excited.

So here is my wish: I desperately want to go to St. John’s May Ball.  It was ranked the seventh best party in the world by Time magazine.  Help!

Since early to mid January, things have been much better.  For starters, I haven’t been miserable all the time, which is HUGE.  I can’t even explain how big of a difference that makes.  Things have improved on various fronts.  I’m a serious skeptic and very not in the happy-go-lucky, ignorance-is-bliss camp, but things are…dare I say it?  Good.  I’ve also gotten back into doing a lot of yoga and cooking, which help me calm down and decompress.

What are some of the things I’ve learned?  The most important thing has been to “have some compassion for myself.”  It was the first thing a friend said after hearing about how things were going, and while I dismissed it at the time, it later really resonated with me.  I hold myself to very high standards and expect a lot out of myself, and sometimes things don’t work out the way I want them to.  And it’s okay.  It’s okay to accept that I’m human and just figuring things out.  I may not be where I want to be, but it’s important to respect and appreciate where I am right now.  I’ve also adjusted my mindset to life as a working girl, which I won’t get into here, but it’s made me feel a lot better about everything.

How does this relate to event planning?  Well, I think a big thing missing from my fall/winter was no events.  I’ll admit it, I miss The Fete.  Every.  Single.  Day.  I knew that things would be different post-graduation, but I thought I would be fine, but in actuality, it felt like there was this light and joy that was absent.  The good news: part of things-starting-to-work-out includes new events!  Which means more sheilachristine blogging!  The descriptions and updates will come in later posts.

Finally, I want to thank my friends for being here for me.  I needed you more than ever, and you generously rose to the occasion.  It was a difficult and dark time, but I never felt alone.  Thank you so much for all of your support and tolerance for my complaining and freaking out.

The following is his obituary that appeared in The Sacramento Bee on Saturday:

LEE, Benjamin C.
aka Lee Yun Choi
Passed away on November 25, 2009. Born on January 1, 1917 to Lee Yui Yuen and Chow Kwai in Kwangtung, China. Survived by his wife, Sylvia H. Lee. Father of Dr. Benjamin P. Lee and his wife, Dr. Sonia C. Lee. Grandfather to Sheila, Sasha, Benjamin and Sophie. Mr. Lee studied business at the University of Shanghai in the early 1940′s and went on to manage various hotels in China during WWII, becoming general manager of Sunning House in Hong Kong and director of the President Hotel in Taipei, Taiwan until his retirement in 1983. He was one of 20 Eagle Scouts sent by Generalissimo Chiang Kai Shek to represent China in the United States and Europe and organize the World Jamboree of Boy Scouts in the Philippines in the late 1950′s. A member of the Rotary Club of Hong Kong and South China Athletic Club, Hong Kong, he received various awards and was a top fund raiser three consecutive years. Friends are invited to a visitation on Saturday, November 28, 2009 between the hours of 2 and 4 PM at Mount Vernon Memorial Park, 8201 Greenback Lane, Fair Oaks, CA.

I miss him a lot.  While I only knew Ye Ye as a retired grandfather, he had a very full life.  Interestingly, he worked in the hospitality industry, and my parents say that I must have gotten my knack for event planning from him, along with my love for languges, traveling, and scrapbooking.  Like me, Ye Ye was also a staunch supporter of the power of paper: he always spent a long time picking out the perfect Birthday or graduation card.  I am glad to have them as memories.  He was always extremely supportive of my pursuits and proud of my accomplishments, and I know that I would not be where I am today without him. 

This Thanksgiving has been extremely sad, but it has also made me all the more thankful for my family and friends.  I love you Ye Ye.  11.25.2009.