2010 Interview with the Alison Events Team

In celebration of the new year, we thought it would be fun to share a bit about all of us with all of you. For those of you who are unfamiliar with our team, Alison is our Creative Director, Kelsey is Senior Event Producer, Alyssa is Production Assistant, Lauren is our in-house Floral Designer, and Gillian and Mike assist with our productions day-of. Take it away...

If you could spend 2010 being a character from any story (book, movie, whatever), who would you be?

Alison: The girl from Avatar! I want to run around in a forest half naked and fly whenever I feel like it and eat off the land...
Kelsey: Larry David in Curb your Enthusiasm. I'd like to be able to be really inappropriate all year long.
Lauren: Amelie.
Alyssa: The boy from The Giving Tree... or Sookie Stackhouse.
Mike: Jennifer Lopez in the Wedding Planner. Hello Matthew McConaughey...

What decade do you feel like you should've been born in/lived through?
Alison: 1960's, LOVE all things mid century modern like Charles Eams... and love the architecture of Joseph Eichler.
Kelsey: 1970's. I would have been really into disco if given the chance.
Lauren: Perfectly happy living in the now. Although sometimes I wonder what it would be like to be a part of a different culture at a time when the world was less populated and not so easily accessible... to live off the land under the stars in harmony with nature.
Alyssa: Definitely 1960's, for a million reasons, but mostly because of the fashion, art, design and political interest. If I was basing this answer on music, I'd have to say 1970's. If basing it on hairstyles, 1920's.

If someone gave you $2010 and only 1 hour to spend it, what would you do with it (assuming you can't save it)?

Alison: Buy a plane ticket for me and my amazing boyfriend to the Amalfi Coast, ideally in first class on one of the new United planes that have the caspules... Might have to fly business I guess that's ok.
Kelsey: Buy a new dslr camera. Boring, but accurate.
Lauren: Make it rain!
Alyssa: I've never been to a casino or even bought a lottery ticket, so I think I'd probably gamble with the free money.

What blogs are you the most excited about reading in 2010? Magazines?

Alison: Well, I always love Style Me Pretty because I love Abby and its just interesting to see what everyone else is up to. Apartment_34 is cool, designsponge, alisonevents though has the coolest blog....
I subscribe to Dwell, Travel and leisure, Sunset and SF Magazine so I get my travel deets, design and local news and haps and I don't miss a weekend of NY times travel section
Kelsey: I'm excited that I finally subscribed to Sunset so I don't have to steal it from my mom anymore. Love any blogs written by my friends as it's a different window into their world which I enjoy. www.brownpaperjournal.blogspot.com, www.stylishbird.blogspot.com, www.designwatcher.com.
Lauren: Blog--my girls at Studio Choo. Magazines--right now I only read National Geographic and Food & Wine.
Alyssa: I'm looking forward to following the Etsy blog, which I just discovered recently. Also love Apartment Therapy. Not really a blog, but I always have and always will LOVE style.com. Magazines: SOMA, Dwell, Paper

Where you do feel most inspired?

Alison: When I am traveling or surfing (in a tropical place)
Kelsey: Walking solo in San Francisco. Just me and the city. Also I love being on airplanes. I do some good thinking there.
Lauren: There are many things and places that inspire me but I get most of my ideas and creative thinking done while driving (either on 280 between SF and SJ or down the coast of HWY 1) or walking/hiking. Steady movement seems to be essential.
Alyssa: Wandering the streets of Paris, NYC or London. I feel my most creative and thoughtful when I'm surrounded by the chaos of a large city.

If you could travel anywhere in 2010, where would you go?

Alison: I really want to go to India but I know its such a commitment both from a time perspective but also emotionally so if I could take a month off thats where I would go
Kelsey: Love to visit the south. Sweet tea and verandas and loads of antique shops...
Lauren: Back to India to explore and visit my Aunt and Uncle
Alyssa: I'm dying to go to Stockholm and Denmark. I have a bad feeling if I get to either, I won't be able to leave. LOVE the fashion that comes out of Denmark.

If you could throw a party for 50 of your closest friends, where would it be?

Alison: Saladita, which is in Zihuatenejo Mexico, the longest left hand surf break ever and gentle and fun and sunny and not crowded. So fun with a group of friends, great bungalows on the beach and I LOVE mexican food so you just can't go wrong. HEY maybe I'll get married there?
Kelsey: I'd rent a big house in Chester, Nova Scotia on the ocean. It's my favorite place on earth and it's the place I'd most like to share with those I love. We would cook lobster in water brought up from the ocean and after dinner would head out to the local tavern to mingle with the locals.
Lauren: On a chartered boat touring the Croatian Islands/Dalmatian Coast. Wait, I am filthy rich in this scenario, right?
Alyssa: In one of those gorgeous old mansions on St. Charles Ave. in New Orleans, with the huge wraparound porches and big white columns. We'd do a big crawfish boil and hire a local brass band like Soul Rebels or Rebirth to play on the sprawling front lawn. We'd allow anyone walking down the street to join us. Party would end with a second line out the front gates.

Favorite city in the world? Favorite restaurant/shop/museum in that city?

Alison: San Francisco. LOVE Pizzeria Delfina. LOVE American Rag. LOVE De young, but also like the cali science museum.
Kelsey: San Francisco, El Tonayense taco truck or Delfina, depends on the exibit but I love the De Young and the outdoor jazz they have in the summer outside the cafe.
Lauren: Barcelona. Cal Pep & Gaudi's Sagrada Familia.
Alyssa: Paris. Not a single restaurant I don't like in Paris. Every vintage store. Obviously, the Louvre.

Are you giving up anything in 2010?

Alison: No, luckily I don't have addiction issues but I am getting healthier by doing more yoga, eating healthier and trying to read more.
Kelsey: Nope. Constantly adding.
Lauren: No... Does pre-motherhood lifestyle count?
Alyssa: I'm making a REAL effort to stop complaining/freaking out/crying over parking in San Francisco.

If a client came to you and asked you to pick a destination for their wedding with a limitless budget, where would you pick and why?

Alison: I would choose either North shore Kauai because I think its so beautiful, tons to do, great food, relaxed vibe, easy to get to. OR Harbor Island, Bahamas because of the same reasons as Kauai. I also would love to do another winter ski wedding in Colorado or Idaho or Utah. The energy of guests at the beach and in the mountains is so low key and very family/group oriented.
Kelsey: Italy or France because I'm dying to get back to Europe. Costa Rica would be pretty epic too.
Alyssa: A small town in the south of France, somewhere along the coast, but off the radar. Mostly because I can't think of a more beautiful or more romantic place. Might be a challenge logistically, but it would be so much fun to tackle a huge project like that. Plus, it would be a great excuse to explore the French language.