UNI Weeks 6-7

Yesterday was the big day—it was finally time for my African Safari themed lunch! I would say that it was a success, as I heard a lot of positive feedback from staff and guests. Last week was spent planning and preparing before the holiday weekend.

Last Monday, I worked on creating a special diet cycle menu that will be my ongoing project for the rest of my internship. The rest of the day was spent on special event tasks. I went back to Hobby Lobby with Susan to purchase our cartful of craft supplies we had to leave behind during the power outage the previous week. She dropped me off at my apartment after shopping so I could put my craft supplies away. When I was getting ready to head back to the office after this, it started down-pouring and flash flooding outside my building. Needless to say, I worked from my apartment on my laptop for the rest of the day.

Last Tuesday, I started the day at Essentials, the retail store in the student union. I observed the year- end inventory audit process for over an hour. There were two representatives from the state conducting the audit. Several of the many dining locations are chosen to be audited at the end of each fiscal year (which ends in June here). The representatives selected 10 items in the store from the inventory list, found them in the store, and checked if the number of items on the shelf matched the inventory record. After this, they chose 10 items off the shelf, verified they were on the inventory list, and cross-referenced the count. The whole process seemed very tiresome, but is necessary for accurate record keeping and budgeting. I also assisted in interviews for an assistant retail manager, as I had done the week before. There were three candidates total that I helped interview and the position was filled this week.

Last Wednesday was spent mainly in the office working on special diet menu planning, special event decorations, and special event menus. Last Thursday was completely dedicated to special event tasks. In the morning, I went to the bakery and rolled and cut out close to 250 elephant shaped sugar cookies. I was than able to bake and freeze the cookies to frost later. I worked a long day on Thursday and was scrambling to throw together some of the fine details of my event before the three day holiday weekend.

I was off on Friday because of the holiday and definitely enjoyed it! After a long run/walk in the morning, I spent the afternoon cooking dinner with some friends from work. In the evening, I went to Independence, IA for fireworks. I used Saturday and Sunday afternoon to craft leaves, flowers, and other decorations for my special event.

Monday and Tuesday of this week seemed like one long, continuous day. On Monday, I worked on finalizing event decorations, cutting out posters, preparing some menu items, and consulting with staff members. I stayed at the dining center from breakfast through dinner working on event preparation. After dinner, I took a power nap, did some reading, and went to the bakery at 9:30pm to frost my elephant cookies. I knew that the decoration process would be a bit long and daunting, but did not expect it to take until 1:30am to finish! The cookies turned out very nicely, and were well worth the time and effort.

When Tuesday finally rolled around, I felt prepared and excited for my safari lunch. I started decorating at 8am with help from a few very helpful employees. It took three of us until 10:45 to get the center decorated how I envisioned. The decorations consisted of grass table skirts, large photograph posters, stuffed animals, paper leaves, paper vines, animal print paper flowers and windmills, earthy fabrics, animal print bandanas, live plants from the campus greenhouse, and decorative menu tags. We had lots of trouble with taping up the posters and grass skirts, but got everything to hold long enough to last through lunch. I could not have been happier with how the decorations looked, especially the dessert station. Guests started arriving at 11:30, and 304 guests were served. I walked around the center throughout lunch, mingled with guests, checked on the punch bowl supply, and monitored the desserts. I heard a lot of positive comments from staff and guests about the event, especially about the decorations and desserts. I was very happy that everything ran smoothly and was successful! The only thing I would have changed, would have been adding an African-inspired soundtrack to set the mood in the facility. I was so focused on the menu and decorations that I ran out of time to put together music, unfortunately. After lunch service was over, I spent the afternoon tearing everything down and sorting out the decorations. By the time I finished everything at 3:30, I was exhausted and more than ready for a nap! I took a few hours off to sleep and get dinner, but somehow found enough energy to play volleyball at night.

Dessert Station

Punch Bowl Station

Greeter Station

Deli Venue

Today, I am looking forward to my low-key day in the office wrapping up a few projects and reflecting on my event. Can’t believe I only have two weeks left in Cedar Falls!