It has been a celebratory week in this household!! I am thrilled to announce the Barking Beast Runway Show was a huge success!!! We raised thousands of dollar and dogs got adopted!!!!! Hallelujah!!! Click here to watch the highlights! 

If life came with a remote control, I would hit the pause button right now just so I could marinate in the excitement that came from last weeks event a little bit longer.  The evening was spectacular!  On Twitter yesterday I posted something that was reflective of how I felt Friday February 20th went down-” If you get the right people, in the right places, you can move mountains.  My event last Friday is a testament of that.” and oh did I move mountains. I felt like I moved Everest. I have 8,232 photos and a ba-jillion stories to tell from that night. Since this blog doesn’t have enough bandwidth to support all that imagery and narrative, as best I can allow me to recap the highlights of the most phenomenal night of my life in a shorter blot style version.  Here goes . . .

From the minute I saw the line at guest check-in when registration opened at 6PM at the Westin Hotel San Diego inside the Emerald Ballroom, I knew I was off to a great start!  Guests starting pouring ready to enjoy the delicious complimentary dinner buffet which included carving boards, and sushi to alcoholic drinks in the dinning area before show time.  We had terrific company from all types of social demographics in attended the event.  I was thrilled!!!

Meanwhile around 7:15PM on the Syn Lawn San Diego turf, the celebrities and famous pets took the “red carpet” for photos with guests, autographs, along with some Q&A for FOX Sports San Diego’s #SDLive. Our amazing line up of celebrity judges whom consisted of stars from professional sports and entertainment included Mike Costa, Maria Arcega- Dunn, Thomas Kesier,  Geena the Latina, and Frankie V.  I thank all five of the kind hearted celebrities for using their notoriety to shine light on the Barking Beast cause. To top it off, the runway show famous pets cameos included Chopper the Biker Dog, Speedy the Therapy Dog, Dozer the Surfing Dog, and the Ballistic Racers!  Talk about a PARTY!

By 8PM It was SHOWTIME! My amazing Master of Ceremonies Chris Cote and the composer of the nights soundtrack DJLux to hit the stage and it was on like donkey kong!  We opened the show with introductions of the famous pets and the celebrity judges. My guest speaker The FACE Foundation said a few words about their program which I feel very passionate about as it assistants underprivileged pet parents with veterinary care they cannot afford. Then, before the models and mutts hit the runway, I showed a video montage which showcased where 100% of the runway show proceeds were going: Rancho Coastal Humane Society, San Diego Humane Society, Second Chance Rescue of San Diego, and the Chihuahua Rescue of San Diego. The montage played alongside the beautiful melody of a LIVE violinist.

From emotional, we then went to exciting the real stars of the show hit the runway accompanied by a beautiful model and everybody looked phenominal.  The models were dressed in Sun Splash Swimwear while the dogs were styled by RuffTies.  From watching from afar, I could tell guests were LOVE with the show- engaged from beginning to end. Seriously – on behalf of my show, if you attended, I challenge you to tell me of a charity that was more entertaining than mine.

The show went from good, to great to WOW when is the next one?  My inbox is overflowing with messages people are sending in about the tremendous time they had- I spent over an hour today sorting through e-mails and making to-do lists in the midst of all the post event excitement.  Not only was the runway show a sensation but I also learned how much work strenuous planning I am capable of- never have I taken on a project of that caliber before and in the beginning I wasn’t quite sure if the event was going to be a success. Like I mentioned in posts before, planning the runway show had definitely brought about a fair share of stress, but now that the event has been done I can confidently say that every drop of sweat and tears was well worth the challenge!

Since it’s debut, people have been writing in to me asking how they can get involved with sponsorship for next years Barking Beast Runway show. I’m really losing my marbles over that!  New opportunities have arisen just this past week alone.  Yes, the show may be over but the momentum is still going… Waves have made and I am ready to ride them. Hooray!

Thank you everyone for your delightful congratulations and support of the events success on the blog, on IG and on Facebook. You guys are the sweetest! Thanks to all who participated in the show! If you want to see more photos of the event you can follow me on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook, or check out the Barking Beast Runway Show album on our Barking Beast San Diego Facebook Page!  Be sure to stay tuned for the television debut of the Barking Beast Runway Show soon to air on FOX Sports San Diego’s new show #SDLive! 

And I couldn’t properly recap the highlights of the night without giving a shout out to my Father Fred Milberg, whom without his support and financial assistance I would have never been able to make the Runway Show happen. On that note, I am leaving you with my contributions thank YOU letter to those involved.