Well as you can see I did not reach my goal at the diamond gala! As I mentioned in my last blog, I always reach for the stars. And if I fall, Eric is always there to catch me. As you witnessed, I have a very strong support system. My husband is AMAZING, and I am blessed to have him.

I recognize that it is more important to try and fail and to learn, then it is to not try at all.

So what did I learn from this experience? A lot of people think timing was the issue. I don't totally agree with that. I've been to plenty of events that were (properly) planned with short notice and they were still successful.

In hindsight, I do agree with Dwight (NeNe's friend). I probably should have charged for tickets. I decided not to charge because I was inviting people to come and spend money (via the auction, the vendors, etc). There wasn't any formal entertainment or sit-down dinner... so I didn't think I should charge.

I also should have had more control of the guest list. We had a dozen or so luxury vendors participating that night and they invited their top 10% clients. I learned that one of the vendors had my invitations sitting on the counter for everyone to take. I immediately called. The manager assured me that they were only out for an hour and were removed from the counter. I guess this is what Kim was speaking of when she said the invitations were "all around the mall." I could go on and on but what's the point.