Fay's surprise party











Last night I had a little cocktail party with new friends and some old ones. I haven't had a soiree since my birthday party and my bar was feeling quite blue. it was great to have new blood in the house and getting to know some of my guests better.
Per usual I like to have some sort of entertainment at my parties- remember Bob? The bagpiper? Lucy's singing?

Well I couldn't figure out how to top any of those until I was at a gay bar and saw a man swinging around on a pole. Blimey! That's it! Stripper!
I dashed home and googled New York Male Strippers and this popped up- http://www.hunk-o-mania.com/
I called and asked for someone gay or gay friendly. No problem!
I explained it was going to be a fun group of editors/pr people
The gentleman asked what I do-I write
Oh! Do you cover clubs?
Er, not your kind of clubs. Sorry Sir.
Ahhh its OK, thought I would ask.

(What was I thinking???! I want to go to Hunk O Mania and cover it!!)

I asked for a man to come in a cop outfit and arrest Fay for a faulty Visa.

As I clicked off I nearly pooped with excitement.
How the hell was I going to keep this a secret for an entire month?

Let me tell you it was a damn doozy not to spill the beans.
But I did it! I think it was the first secret I ever kept (Kidding! Kinda)

The shindig was a great success. I ordered 50 hot wings to rave reviews, Olivia made a divine chocolate torte and Joy and Tony brought two bottles of Belvedere when I was just about out!!

At 11:30 on the dot my cop came and I brought him into Rod's house and gave him the run down.
I walked upstairs and turned off the music and told everyone we had complaints from the neighbors about noise and that we would have to keep it down for a bit. Everyone believed me thank God. Then I explained that there was another problem. Fay was in trouble with the cops and they had come by to interview her. Everyone believed me again! Then Jean Louis came upstairs in full cop costume with a flashlight twirling, I turned on his boom box and Fay flipped out!
I knew she would be a good sport. And how!
He was everything I wanted and more. He gave Fay quite a show and of course I jumped into the action.
After 20 minutes we wound down and he stayed for some drinks and passed out cards!

Needless to say the rest of the night was a boozy blur but it was great fun and at 2am when we were just cleaning up Lucy, Linnea and a crew busted in from the terrace and we popped one more bottle and sang some ditties till 3!

Good times.

Off to Paris for Men's Week


I am leaving today at 4:50 for Paris.
I'm excited! First trip to Paris for business.

I vowed last time I was there that I would never go back unless I was paid.
Well here we go.

I was last there several summers back with Mom, Happy and Danielle.
We had rotten taxi drivers, horrid waiters, rude clerks, the usual for Paris.
It's just not worth it to me. I would rather spend my money in a country that welcomes me.

But with loads of friends in town and Obama mania at fever pitch, maybe it won't be as bad.

I will be helping out BPMW garner editors for their menswear show, (Capsule) too.
See invite below.

Just finishing the (Capsule) Show here I am looking forward to seeing how it works in Paris.
I am also attending some fun shows and celebrating Waris' new jewelry at Colette on Monday.

Keep an eye out for my posts here and on other blogs.

A Bientot!

PBR is not a beer!








No dear Hipsters I am not referring to your beloved working mans beer- Pabst Blue Ribbon-
I am speaking of the coolest event to ever grace Madison Square Gardens- Professional Bull Riding.

A new friend Clovis, who is an avid fan of PBR organized a Facebook group to attend the event last Saturday. I eagerly accepted my invite after catching several shows over Christmas and being GLUED to the tube. The sassy country boys and cowboys, the crazy clown and the death defying act of actually riding a bull for 8 seconds is riveting.

We all met up a Rawhide and then walked up to The Garden and were excited to find our seats in the LAST row of the venue!
But no worries we had a blast and took over the back row with beers, boys and foot long hot dogs.

Rod Townsend and I took it upon ourselves to find the best fashion in the building and to get as close as possible to the show so we moseyed around the venue and found some amazing red neck attire and watched the clown perform, "All the Single Ladies" much to our amusement.

After two hours of watching some bucking bulls and boys we all piled out into Gym bar for more beer and Rod and I had to hit Mr. Black since we were feeling like a dance fest after watching that damn clown. We rocked out till the wee hours after flaunting our stories of the PBR to all the club kids.

I can't wait till next year!

Can I get a yeeeeeeehaw?

New Years in Charleston







Every time I seep back into Charleston on I-26 from Atlanta I start to mellow out. And yes, I am already mellowed by my time in Atlanta and simply from being in the South but it's those Palmetto trees and Spanish moss that get me into a valium vacation care of Mother Nature.

I arrived on Tuesday 30th and just got back to NYC today. There was loads of boozing naturally, but more exciting than that was my new passion for the bicycle. Now I haven't been on one in about 15 years since Claire and I used to sit on each others handlebars and peddle to the cafeteria at the College of Charleston, but I hopped back on this trip and had a blast.

I know Jorgen tried to get me on a bike in Copenhagen numerous times but I refused, mostly because of the cobblestone streets, but also from my fear of falling in front of all of his Danish friends.

This year I had no choice. I decided to be spend thrifty and not keep my rental car all week in Charleston so my only option was peddling. Abby and I took Claire and Marco's bikes out for a spin and ended up on a bike and beer cruise down to the Blind Tiger. We had so much fun we forgot it was New Years Eve and we had a car picking us up in an hour. So we peddled like mad men uptown wearing New Years top hats and blowing horns provided by our kind bartender.

New Years Eve was a blur as usual but the next day was amusing tooling around in Abigail's 1974 Buick convertible out to Folly Island to make a 'Beeramid' with her boyfriend Brenden and brother, Nick.

Yesterday I again was on the bike enjoying a crisp day in Charleston with the scent of the paper mills wafting into town. I toured the Nathaniel Russell house at 51 Meeting Street then took a spin through the Wells Gallery, one of my favorite spots in Charleston for Low Country art.

Last night we had an amazing dinner at Lucca, the new hotspot in town and handily diagonal from Claire's home. She lives in an up and coming area and for this resto to land here is a gift from the neighborhood God's. One day it will happen in Harlem!

Now I'm back and I feel out of whack seeing salt on the streets and people hustling about. But I have one more day to savor of vacation until the mad mad world starts spinning once again.

It's all going to be fine in 2009.

Welcome to the Dollhouse Redux







As most of my friend and family know, my Great Grandfather's home is one of my favorite places. I grew up going there with my grandmother learning about my namesake and hearing her tales of living in the home in the 20's and 30's with fresh cut flowers from the 12 acres of gardens and the tea dances and debutant balls she enjoyed. Today it is home to the Atlanta Hospital Hospitality House (click on title for a link).

I have been passionate about keeping the house up since I was a teenager, raising money to replace windows and lending old pictures to decorate the house and to show restorers how the house originally looked.

About a year ago, the dollhouse that Mr. Cator built for his two daughters finally succumbed to termites. It is unimaginable how the little house built as a play place for two young girl's in the 1920's has stood this long since it was built with no foundation, just on the dirt. The little house (which I have a silver pattern from and several pieces of miniature furniture) was used as extra bedrooms for AHHH and was great for handicapped guests who couldn't climb the staircase in the main house.

After much fundraising and great donations from Home Depot the Dollhouse is being rebuilt bigger and better! Thanks to some pictures I sent them AHHH is trying to build it as close to the original as possible but of course they had to make it bigger for more rooms and an apartment for Kay who is the true heart of the house and has managed the place for years.

Looking forward to the opening hopefully in February!

XMas at the NAC






Last week I took my friend Eamon Wood to the club for lunch. I thought it would be fun for us to celebrate the holidays amidst the holiday splendor of the Arts Club nestled onto Gramercy Park.
Well the holiday Gods made it especially dazzling for us by dumping mounds of snow on the city that afternoon.
For some reason I just didn't mind crunching through the piles of powder to reach my lunch date. It was my first snow of the season and it was especially magical.

Whoever is head of the decorating committee at the club this year out did themselves! Bows, Wreathes, Flocked Trees, Peacocks!
Sipping on a Scotch, chatting with a friend and watching the snow fall onto the park was one of the many reasons I am counting my blessings this year.
Enjoy.

Secret Santa at BPMW


Last night was the staff Christmas party at BPMW and although I only work there two days a week now it is still a major family affair since I have been there for four years.

My secret santa wrapped all my presents in custom made Planet Unicorn paper!
In case nobody knows this hit youtube sensation click on the title of this post to watch a clip.
We watch these videos whenever we are stressed out in the office and everyone gets up and dances an old skool gay rave dance.

Although the boy on the unicorn isnt a spitting image of me my secret Santa did add a beard to him to give him a Cator-esque look.

What was under that rainbow wrapping? Unicorn cuff links!

Thanks Aileen!

Pictures from Karaoke to come soon.