Win Win

This past May I got invited to a charity concert event hosted by Sherren Leigh, publisher of Today’s Chicago Woman.  (Click the link if you wanted to see photos.  That’s me- first row on the right- with two of the concert musicians.)

I didn’t want to go.  Well, to be more accurate, I couldn’t afford to go.  I have gone from the spoiled wife of a “rich millionaire” (thank you, Billy Wilder and Some Like It Hot) to a penny-watching worry wart. (My finances took a catastrophic nose dive in the four year court battle to overturn an egregious, one-way divorce settlement.  Nothing like a trial to wipe you out fast.)

Nowadays, I subject every discretionary expense to a long, hard, Scrooge McDuck look before I okay it.

And charity concerts- no matter how fine the cause- are still on my proscribed list.  I was weighing the pros and cons of accepting this pricey invitation with my son, Nick, when he jumped in with the deciding vote.

“Uh, you have to go, Dude.  This is business,” he advised.  “And Mother’s Day is coming up.  I’ll buy the ticket for you.  Don’t worry about it.”

Sidebar:  If I re-live all the conflicting emotions that went through me when he offered to pay for the ticket- shame that I’m so hard up, pride that I had given birth to such a mensch, I would start crying all over the keyboard.  So let’s move on.

So I took him up on his generous offer, and soon TCW informed me that my name was now on their guest list.  The event was called for six o’clock downtown, and coincidentally, I had plans to meet up with Nick- in town on business from LA- that very same night at Luxbar at 7:30.

Win win.

The evening was gorgeous, I hit the doors promptly at six, and the cocktail hour got off with a bang.  RL, one of my fave restaurants in Chicago, was in charge of the catering, and soon I was being plied with yummy appetizers of all description.  I passed and passed- until they passed around the sliders- my absolute must-have hors d’oeuvre.

(See above photo link.  That’s them in the second row far right. )

I had two.  They were awesome.  (I also thought that the more I ate on TCW, the less I would cost NCR at Luxbar later.  He’s a working man, after all.)

I mixed and mingled and met some very nice people.  And then it was time for us to take our seats for the concert.  Because I knew I was going to have to duck out early, I sat in the very back row on the end of the aisle.

Sherren got up and quickly thanked everyone for coming.  The she turned the floor over to Carrie- her editor and assistant- to tell us exactly where our (read Nick’s) hard-earned money was going to be spent.

Carrie told us that all the proceeds would go to aid women and children’s charities.  The ones that were typically overlooked and underfunded.  Nice.  (I can relate to that- on many levels.)  And then she announced that there was going to be a raffle and she asked the gentleman from RL to step up and pick the winner.

I wasn’t too invested in the procedure.  1. I never win anything.  2. I hadn’t bought a raffle ticket.

The guy from RL reached into the proffered bowl, fished around and drew out a ticket. He gave it to Carrie to read.

“The winner is …Ellen Ross,” she announced.

Huh?

I couldn’t have won.  For reasons 1. and 2.

The whole theater turned around and stared at me.

“Uhm, thank you!” I wittily ad libbed.

Then Carrie delivered my prize- a white business 8×10 envelope.  I opened it.

In it was:

1.  An $100 gift certificate to Gibson’s

2.  An $100 gift certificate to Piccolo Sogno

3.  An $100 gift certificate to Piccolo Sogno Due

4.  An $100 gift certificate to Salpicon

And …

5.  An $100 gift certificate to Luxbar

What were the odds?  I floated out of there all the way to Luxbar.

And when Nick walked in, I grinned and threw down the gift card.

“Dinner’s on me.  Look what I, I mean, we just won,” I announced.

He looked and grinned right back.  “Sweet.”

That night we lived it up.

Win win.

Wouldn’t you say?

(And I’ve still got forty bucks left on the Luxbar card.)