Drinking the Kool-aid

The first week in our house has been crazy. Moving is a ton of work. We have worked on a lot of projects and set up a pile of furniture. We are trying to get it all settled. It feels pretty surreal to be in the house. Alison describes it as feeling like we are on vacation. It is so new that it has really sunk in yet.

On top of having a crazy week full of house projects, we have been bombarded with EY events. As one of my friends at work put it, Alison and I aren't just drinking the EY kool-aid this week we are having it dumped on us. While these events have not come at the most opportune time each one has been worth it.

On Monday we went to a post-busy season celebration at Ruth's Chris. It was a huge event. There were around 30-40 people in attendance. The dinner was to celebrate a bunch of smaller jobs for one of the EY Salt Lake partners. I was on one of her jobs for the first couple of weeks of the busy season, which is why Alison and I were invited. She will be transferred to Paris next month so it was one of our last chances, if not our last chance, to say goodbye before she leaves. Ruth's Chris is our favorite place to get a steak in SLC. Alison was a little disappointed because our group was so large they had a limited menu, which meant that her favorite dish, the lobster mac & cheese was not on the menu. Still, we had a great time catching up with friends from around the firm and the food was delicious.

On Saturday afternoon EY rented out a movie theater at the Gateway. It was the annual post busy season family movie day. The movie they chose was Beauty and the Beast. Since Alison and I are Disney junkies and we weren't moving that weekend it was a slam dunk for us to go. It was a really fun event. We got to see a bunch of our friends from EY and enjoy a great movie. Alison and I managed to a couple of nice recliner seats that were super comfortable. We had already seen the movie once (right around when it came out). We noticed a lot of different things about it the second time around. We love that EY holds these family-oriented events.

On Saturday evening we attended Humor Us, a comedy night raising money for the University of Utah Hospital Foundation. EY purchased a table for the event and my wife and I was among those invited to attend. It was great. They had a very inspirational presentation about the burn unit and programs the University of Utah hospital puts on for burn survivors. After the presentation, they jumped right into the comedy. There were a couple of warm-up acts from Wise Guys comedy. They were followed up by the headliner, Matt Iseman. He was hilarious. He recently won Celebrity Apprentice and told lots of funny stories about his time on the show. He also hosts American Ninja Warrior. He has the most interesting background. He obtained his undergraduate from Princeton before pursuing an MD from Columbia. He was a practicing physician before deciding to quit and become a stand-up comedian. He had so many great jokes and stories. After the show, Alison and I went up and met Matt.

We spent most of the rest of our weekend painting the garage. One of my co-workers suggested we do this project before we get settled in. Alison and I decided if we didn't do it now we would probably never do it. It is a huge project. I don't think either of us had any idea how time-consuming it would be. We spent at least 12 hours on it this week and we are maybe 60% done. Hopefully, we can get the walls and ceiling completed by next weekend. Then we can add a personal touch!

The best of all the EY events was on Monday night. We had a team celebration dinner with my main team. The dinner was at Valter's Astoria in downtown SLC. Alison and I were so excited about this dinner. Valter's has a reputation for being the best restaurant in SLC. It did not disappoint. We had a big group (14 in all) and had to get dinner at 5:30 (it was the only reasonable time that we could get a reservation). When we arrived there was already bruschetta on the table. Next, they brought out the world's most delicious bread and dipping sauce. We enjoyed the bread while we perused the rather lengthy menu. Instead of trying to navigate it, we decided to go with the "feed me" option. This option has a sampler menu of the best Valter's had to offer. We started with an appetizer of three types of meat - duck, beef, and pork. This was followed up with a pasta plate. The fresh homemade pasta was easily the highlight of the meal. Next, we had our main course of halibut, veal (delicious), and pork. For dessert, I had a gelato and Alison tiramisu. In between the meal and dessert, they brought out the most heavenly hot chocolate. The food was excellent, the service was superb, and the ambiance was amazing. We particularly loved that Valter roamed the restaurant greeting everyone and making sure everything was perfect. Valter's was the perfect place for a team dinner. It was easy to talk. I love my main team. They are so much fun. We had a great time telling stories and talking about life. I have been very blessed to work with such a fun, hard-working, and talented team. One of the executives on the team took a minute to thank everyone for all of their hard work and he made a comment that is so true. He said that it is never fun to work the long hours, but it sure helps when you work with such exceptional people.

The busy season was long and hard, but having events like these really do help me and Alison feel appreciated. I love it because Alison has a chance to get to know the people I spend so much time with. I am really lucky to work at EY in SLC. I do work with truly exceptional people. Hopefully, there are many more opportunities like these in the future.