By Ellen Garnett
Staff Writer

In the midst of nearly 100 other glammed-up students, we waited.

For a good majority of students, Soirée was cut short because one of the coach buses broke down. My friends and I joined the line for the buses at around 6:45 p.m. and waited a little over an hour before we were able to board. Our feet hurt and we were a bit cold, but we survived.
Evaluating Soirée solely on the basis of the transportation mishap would not be fair because it would not reflect the time and effort that first-year Campus Activities Board member Claire Campbell put into planning the event.

What first impressed me upon walking into the Seaport Hotel banquet hall was the set-up of the tables. Every table was elegantly adorned with white feathers dipped in gold paint, surrounding the tranquil center piece: a short, rounded vase filled with water and three floating candles. The lovely atmosphere very much complemented the gourmet dinner and dessert to follow.

Dinner included three entrees: a Caesar salad, roasted chicken with sage butter, chestnuts, salsify (a root vegetable) and sweet potato gnocchi and chocolate mousse for dessert. The food was absolutely delicious, especially the sage butter, which resembled Alfredo sauce. I was tempted to lick my dish but decided against it, since it was not the “lady-like” thing to do. A part of me still regrets not taking the licking-dish-initiative.

And the chocolate mousse —forget about it. I couldn’t stop eyeballing the waiters walking by holding trays of dessert. I’m a die-hard chocolate-lover. The richness of the mousse made me examine my spoon in appreciation for every single bite like those commercials with abnormally happy women eating yogurt. (Is anyone really that happy when they eat yogurt? Perhaps if I were being spoon-fed by John Stamos. And yes, that was a plug for Oikos Greek yogurt.)

There were also vegetarian, gluten-free, dairy-free, and vegan options to accommodate students with dietary restrictions. Heaven forbid you forgot to notify the caterers about any restrictions prior to arriving at the hotel, or you would have received the same sass I did from my waiter.

I was given a plate of chicken with chestnuts and asked for one without, explaining I had an allergy to tree nuts. My waiter became snippy by immediately asking me if I had specifically requested it beforehand and when I said I had forgotten to, he huffed a little and told me to remember to do it next time, complaining about how busy they were. I thought he was going to tell me his life story for a second. In all fairness, he was right, but I did not appreciate his attitude nor the fast-paced, let-me-just-take-your-plate-while-your-head-is-turned environment created by the waiters.

After dinner, we rushed over to the crowded, lively dance floor. The DJ was full of energy and did a great job of exciting the dancers by giving shout-outs and even rapping to some of the songs.

The music played throughout the night varied a little, with moderately slow rap songs and some new and older pop songs from bands such as Owl City. I found that the music elicited awkward and repetitively mundane dance moves, like the throwing of finger guns, but it was equally hilarious and led to fits of laughter.

While Soirée 2014 had a few minor inconveniences, overall, the event was well executed and simply fun.