Mediterranean
I work for a large advertising firm. Recently one of our biggest clients hired us for its largest advertising campaign to date. Many departments within the company had worked tirelessly on the project over a number of months we were understandably delighted to have secured the deal. To celebrate, our management decided to have a party which was anything but ordinary. The theme decided upon was the 'Mediterranean' because the new advertisement was going to be filmed in the south of France.
Everyone received a personalised postcard invitation by post. The postcard showed a picture of a beach with the bluest water you've ever seen. The location, date and time were written on the back. "Bring your swimsuit and a guest" was written near the bottom. The tenth floor of our building has an employee's social club and 25 metre pool. I couldn't wait!
My husband and I both wore our swimsuits underneath our clothes. I was impressed by the enormous effort used to transform the tenth floor into a Mediterranean paradise. Real flowers and palm trees had been placed against the walls between the backdrops of beach scenes on two sides and forest and a Mediterranean village scene on the others. There were old-fashioned striped tents that people could change in. There was a stack of fold-out lounging chairs and large umbrellas. Real white sand covered the pool deck. Heat lamps hung from the ceiling and the air was a perfect 80 degrees.
Kids were playing in the huge pool supervised by a hired lifeguard. There was plenty of room on the white sand deck for people to relax, talk or lay out. Many guests lounged on towels or beach chairs.
A DJ played chillout music in the background. At times the songs were Italian, others were more French, Spanish and even Greek. Frank and I sat back and relaxed with some of my co-workers. Everyone was having a wonderful time!
The buffet table was loaded with Mediterranean style appetizers: Stuffed grape leaves, artichoke dip, artichokes with butter sauce, stuffed green olives, and a wide variety of cheeses and crackers and rosemary bread. At the bar there were lots of freshly squeezed fruit juices, wine and beers. Next to the poolside a man dispended ice cream to the children from a hired ice cream cart. The adults were served with genuine Italian ice cream for dessert!
The photographer was a comical Italian man. He first would tell a joke then take the picture while everyone was laughing.
After the meal, Frank and I went swimming. Eventually nearly the whole office was in the pool playing water polo. After a few drinks it was hysterical!
Later in the evening look-a-likes of the "Three Tenors" gave a terrific performance by the poolside! No one could believe they were not the genuine articles. All the female guests wanted their pictures taken with them.
Later that week, the head of my department, Janice, made colour copies of the collage she made of all the pictures the photographer took at the party and handed them out. I had it framed and hung it on the wall of my office as a memento.
