Heaven awaited at the top of the stairs!

It is 2:30 am and I can’t sleep because my feet and legs are throbbing so much from the ZINO Society “Stairway to Heaven” holiday party earlier tonight at stunning soon-to-be-opened new Club Cielo. Over 200 people attended and I think I spoke to almost every single one all the while standing on a marble floor in 5 inch heels! I loved some of the elements of this party. ZINO Society team members, Mary Holmes and McKenzie Powell both wore white ball gowns and feathered angel wings and Robin Moore wore angel wings too. (See my blog posting of yesterday to see some of the event preparations.) As the ZINO Society members and guests arrived, they were greeted by harp music and angels and invited to ascend the stairway to heaven.

The guests were in awe of the beauty of the new Club Cielo and the food and service provided by the new management team and staff led by Club Cielo General Manager, David Cecil, was extraordinary! Escala and Club Cielo developer, Eric Midby, was on hand to welcome friends to the striking new venue. Cynthia Johnson, Club Cielo Membership Director, was kept very busy fielding questions from guests about the cost to join and how they could get on the list to snag one of the coveted first (and possibly only) 100 non-resident memberships. Columbia Hospitality CEO, John Oppenheimer, along with Bret Matteson,

Chief Operating Officer, VP of Sales, Shelley Tomberg and Lenny Zilz, VP of Operations were all on hand to see the successful opening of their newest property that they manage.

As you can see from the photos, my husband, Ken, thoroughly enjoyed his evening, first being greeted by an angel, McKenzie Powell, and then somehow snaring ZINO Society member Dana Reid’s designer shoe and enjoying some of Stacy Lill’s “O” Wine simultaneously.

As nice as she is beautiful, 2010 Miss Washington USA, Tracy Turnure was on hand to greet guests and pose for photo ops. It was also nice to reconnect with her mom, Terri Turnure, who accompanied her to the party.

There were eight winemakers on hand to pour their fruit of the vine for the party attendees. The guests enjoyed wines from DeLille Cellars, O Wines, Baer Winery, Edmonds Winery, Couvillion Winery, Martinez & Martinez Winery, JLC Winery and Masquerade Wine Company.

Blaine Millet of SOME Exec., my social media coach and blogging guru, was there with his wife, Lorrie, and has offered to help post all of the party photos on Facebook and I’m sure he will show me how to connect that to this blog. So be watching for the professional party photos soon . . .

YMCA Board of Directors Social

Tonight at our home, Ken and I hosted a board social for the YMCA of Greater Seattle Board of Directors and campaigners for the annual Partners with Youth Campaign.  Jane Lewis, YMCA of Greater Seattle Board Chairman and Matt Griffin, YMCA capital campaign leader extraordinaire attended along with other board and staff leaders.  Those in attendance heading up campaign teams included Doug Boyden, Molly Stearns, James Hereford and Jane Brenneman and heading up the entire Partners with Youth Campaign this year, Nancy Cho.  Co-chairs of the Association Board Campaign, Stewart Parker and I, are delighted with the enthusiasm and involvement of the board and staff.

Pictured above along with me and his wife, Delphine, is YMCA of Greater Seattle CEO and President, Bob Gilbertson.  After accepting the top job in Seattle, Bob and Delphine moved here from Tampa, Florida and have been in Seattle three years in January.

The YMCA views youth as resources to be developed, not problems to be fixed.  Each year, across greater Seattle, the YMCA helps more than 69,000 children and teens through the funding raised through the Partners with Youth Campaign.  In YMCA programs, caring adults work to help young people build a solid foundation based on developing lifetime skills, an ethic of service and the Y's core values of respect, responsibility, honesty, caring, faith and fun.  In 2009, the Partners with Youth Campaign raised more than $4.4 million.  Sharing a moving story about how she worked directly with a single mother with six children under the age of 12 years, and helped the autistic son attend and thrive at camp last summer was YMCA youth program director, Sara Biancofiori.  Her story made us all feel really good about being involved in this upcoming fundraising campaign.  We know that Sara is just one example of the many committed YMCA staff members who will spend dollars wisely in the best interests of the community and the people we serve.

If you are interested in investing your charitable dollars in programs that really work, please consider supporting the YMCA of Greater Seattle Partners with Youth Campaign.  I will be happy to get you connected if you will just let me know.

 

The angels are coming . . .

Today, everyone is a-flutter at ZINO Society getting ready for the holiday party, “Stairway to Heaven” at the beautiful new Club Cielo tomorrow evening. As you can see, the angels (aka Mary and Rob) are trying on their wings. The eight winemakers are all set to pour, the guest list is complete and the name tags are all ready. I will share more information with you after the party!

Thanksgiving Blessings

Thanksgiving was at our house this year!  Though our entire family was not able to be in town to join us this year, we did have a wonderful time admiring the three beautiful little boys pictured above; two of whom were celebrating their very first Thanksgiving.  In the photo above, from left to right are Spencer Hatch and Jackson Hatch, sons of Michael and Alicia Hatch and on the right is Cutter Laramore, son of Kevin and Katie Laramore.  Spencer is 9 months old, Jackson is 2-1/2 years old and Cutter is 5 months old.

In addition to Michael, Alicia, Katie, Kevin and children, also joining us were Sean Hatch, Troy Clark and Renee Newitt.  Sean and Troy brought festive holiday cocktails that combined prosecco, triple sec and ginger vodka, Alicia brought her grandmother’s recipe  yummy yeast rolls, and Renee brought three kinds of pie; pumpkin, pecan and Heavenly cherry pie!  And of course, there was enough pie that everyone could try any one or all three!  I had never tried the Heavenly pie before and it was delicious!

We all feasted and gave thanks for our many blessings of family and loved ones; both those with us and those far away that we missed.

Hatch Family Thanksgiving Menu

Pomegranate Dreams and Sparkling Wine

Onion Parmesan Cheese Crisps

Broiled Prawns with Prosciutto & Basil Leaves

Curried Pumpkin Soup

Martha’s Cranberry Salad in Radicchio Cups

Hot Yeast Rolls

Roast Fresh Turkey with Pan Gravy

Sage & Celery Stuffing with Sweet Italian Sausage

Potatoes Lord Byron

Carrot & Spinach Terrine

Roasted Yams & Sweet Potatoes with Maple Syrup & Cranberries

Brussels Sprout Hash with Bacon & Caramelized Shallots

Cranberry-Orange-Almond Coulis

Traditional Pumpkin Pie

Southern Pecan Pie

Heavenly Cherry Pie

Fresh Sugared Whipping Cream

Hope your Thanksgiving was happy also!  Please share your favorite Thanksgiving recipe.

 

 

What have I agreed to do??! The bachata??!

Akin to "Dancing with the Stars", the Plymouth Housing Group is organizing a festive “celebrity” dance and dinner non-profit fundraiser called "Seattle Dances" in partnership with Hallie Kuperman and Century Ballroom. Along with seven other local “celebrities” (in our own minds), I will be dancing in this fundraising event on March 13, 2010 with a professional dance partner attempting to win the mirror ball award as best dancer. My competitors include Kathy Casey, Kathy Casey Food Studios, Joyce Taylor, KING5 TV News, Colette Courtion, Calidora Skin Clinics, Steven Goldfarb, Alvin Goldfarb Jewelers, Paul Lambros, Plymouth Housing Group, Michelle Foreman Barnet, Columbia West Properties, and Peter Neurath, Puget Sound Business Journal.

Plymouth Housing Group board member, Lynn Beck, developed the fundraiser idea and it has lots of fun, fundraising elements such as each “peoples’ choice” vote costs $25 and vote casting is eligible both in person at the event and online leading up to the event. All voters’ names will be entered into a drawing for multiple prizes to be awarded the evening of the event. There are three celebrity judges including Peter Boal, Pacific Northwest Ballet Artistic Director, Marco, Hair Stylist and owner of Marco’s Salon and Nicole Vogel, publisher of Seattle Metropolitan magazine.

My dance partner is Marcelo Garcés who leads a salsa dancing, teaching and performing group called Salsa Salvaje in his spare time following his day job at Colliers International. Each of us have a page on the "Seattle Dances" website and here is the link to mine: Cathi Hatch. Eventually, there will be a video clip included on the page that will show Marcelo and me rehearsing for the big competition. Today was our first official lesson and I am still struggling to learn the basic bachata steps so it is a very good thing that there was no video camera in sight!

Do you have any tips for winning a dance competition?

"Active Networking" at the Rainier Club

This morning I had the opportunity to help celebrate the 6^th anniversary of the Rainier Club’s Executive Women’s Group by leading a discussion about the importance of “Active Networking” at their monthly Roundtable Breakfast. The Executive Women’s Group is a monthly gathering of civic, community, and business leaders, that come together for an opportunity to network and discuss relevant topics impacting professional life.

What a group of active and engaged women! We discussed barriers to networking, tips and tricks of successful networking, follow up options after meeting new people, social media networking, and networking “don’ts”. Though I shared some of my own opinions and experience in networking through my community associations and in ZINO Society, I was very impressed with the quality of the input and suggestions that was shared by the attendees of the event. There were definitely some thoughts that I can use to network more effectively.

In the photos, I am pictured with some of the attendees including (top photo from left to right) Executive Women’s Group co-chairs, Jenn Ty and Kristi Pangrazio, Rainier Club Director of Membership, Amy Tolzmann and Tina Schaaf. Also attending were Sharon Cooper, Colleen McCann and Marla Beck (middle photo from left to right) and (bottom photo) a group of Junior League of Seattle friends, Renee Bishman, Sara Becker, Jeanette James, Sara Wood, and Tricia Thompson.

Women of Influence a Quintessential Success!

Last evening Ken and I attended the Puget Sound Business Journal Women of Influence event at the Bellevue Hyatt Regency.  It was a sell-out crowd of over 500 people there to be inspired and celebrate with the 16 women who were selected as honorees.  Since I have served on the Women of Influence Advisory Board for the past four or five years and as a judge, it was exciting to be there to see these very competent and talented women we selected feted for their incredible accomplishments in their businesses and in the community.

My very dear friend, Patty Barrier of Barrier Motors pictured above was one of the honorees.  Celebrating her award with her from left to right were girlfriends Betty Rubenstein, me, Tara Stepenberg, Karen Roed, Susan Brotman and Kyle Daniels.  Also celebrating were Patty’s godson Kjell Schei, her husband Jimmy Barrier and my husband, Ken Hatch.

In addition to helping Patty celebrate, it was wonderful to be there to help so many friends celebrate their awards including Nancy Pellegrino, of BNY Mellon Wealth Management, Nancy Auer of Swedish Medical Services, Megan Clubb of Baker Boyer Bank, Colette Courtion of Calidora Skin Clinics Inc., Deborah Jensen of Woodland Park Zoo, Martha Choe of The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Annette Jacobs of Door to Door Storage Inc. and Angie Lepley of Tangerine Travel Ltd.

Media personality and good friend, Patti Payne and friend and publisher of the Puget Sound Business Journal, Emory Thomas, served as co-emcees for the evening.  Each honoree was introduced and asked to answer a question for the benefit of the audience.  It was fantastic to hear these extraordinary women respond with their articulate and witty answers.

Today I have talked with many people who attended the event last evening and I have heard over and over again how inspiring the evening was and what a great event it was.  The only complaints I have heard about the Women of Influence event today were from people who wanted to attend and didn’t get their reservations in before the event sold out.  A nice problem to have!

Next year?  Qwest Field??