Gold is Bold – SCORE Awards Gala in Washington, D.C.

I repurposed the title for this post from the Facebook comment left by a dear friend when she saw this photo of my husband and me . . .

Last month, in Washington, D.C., my chiropractic business, Spinal Health & Wellness, received a fantastic award from the SCORE foundation: Outstanding Veteran-Owned Small Business for 2011.

We enjoyed a classy gala event at the Ronald Reagan building complete with a reception, delicious full-course dinner at the awards, and an after-party.  Oh, and the SCORE Foundation provided us with a luxe room at the JW Marriott on the Washington Mall for the evening.

The icing on the cake of this award was a fully funded date night with my husband!  Special thanks to our dear friends in Northern Virginia who cherished our son for the evening.  Since they have 3 adorable kids, our son was ready to enjoy his slumber party the moment we dropped him off.

My heart took at least two weeks to prepare for the fact that this would be the first night our son would spend the night apart from both of his parents.  I think it was way easier for him than me.

They grow up so fast.

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Here’s the awesome 2 minute(ish) video First Option Entertainment produced for the SCORE awards event before I was introduced on the stage to accept the award.

It wasn’t until we were on the metro heading into Washington, D.C. that I realized I might have to make an acceptance speech.

The awards night was hosted by JJ Ramberg of MSNBC’s Your Business, and one award recipient was U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu.

No pressure or anything.

Rory Cooper of  the award sponsored by his company, Insperity.

The SCORE Awards gala was such a well-produced event at a beautiful venue.

I was surrounded by great company at our Insperity table, and I was able to attend the event with my handsome husband, my amazing SCORE mentor Paula Pagonakis and her charming husband Greg.

Since I’ve received gobs of questions about my look for the evening, I’ll spill my secret.

I rented the dress and accessories (borrowed matching shoes).  The dress is a David Meister gown that was oh-so-comfortable.  I paired it with Badgley Mischka crystal cluster earrings and a Cara Accessories cuff (that I fell in love with). You can rent formals, semi-formals, bridesmaid dresses, party dresses, and gorgeous designer accessories from Rent the Runway.

Pick a look you like, and they’ll send you a dress in not one, but two sizes.  You can loan the dress for 4 days or more.  Once they ship it to you, keep the garment bag, and stuff the dress in the provided return envelope and drop it in a blue mailbox. Simple. Easy. SO affordable.

I mean, there is no way I have the budget or the closet space for formal gowns for a black tie event, however, for a once in a lifetime awards gala, it was worth it to rent something fabulous.

I highly recommend it.  It’s free to sign up and check it out.  So, go ahead and give Rent the Runway a try.

One more thing, I was so thankful for all the media coverage that resulted from the SCORE Award.  One of my favorite articles was recently printed by Asian Fortune News–they included a fantastic photo of my family.

*Photos by Risdon Photography