The Joker and Thurston Howell? John Wade, Michael Rucker and Nick Verreos at the Magical Elves Holiday PartyIt's Holiday party time! Last Saturday was a busy night for yours truly. I was invited to a couple of Holiday Parties, one a Birthday for a good friend and another the Magical Elves Holiday Party. The problem was that the day after, I had to get up at 5 AM to catch an early morning transcontinental flight to Miami. So what is a boy to do? Well, go out, naturally!
Art's Fashionable Birthday:
Sexy 'Stache: Marc Jacobs' John Wade and birthday boy, Art Conn, Benvenuto Cafe, West HollywoodI enlisted the go-out aid of my buddy, Season 2 Project Runway designer and Marc Jacobs West Coast "head honcho", John Wade. John was featuring his long hair (I know, it has grown a lot!), giving you a sort of Heath Leger-as-the-Joker vibe. He was also sportin' the very UBER hip moustache which he has had for a while now. Note to Brad Pitt: You were not the first...
My deadline to get home was MIDNITE. I began my night at 8 PM (early for me) and headed to West Hollywood to Benvenuto Restaurant and Cafe' to celebrate my friend Art Conn's Birthday. Art is a successful Hollywood stylist and has worked on projects ranging from American Idol to Vogue Italia shoots with Arianne Phillips (Madonna's stylist and costume designer).
Birthday Thriller: Elissa Buchter of Bridge and Tunnel PR, stylist Will Clark and TMZ's Johnny Lopez, sporting his "Thriller" red jacket and deep V t-shirtEvery year, he holds his Birthday at Benvenuto and this year was the same. Why break with tradition? (maybe by now, he gets an "Art Birthday Discount" to use the space!)
Soon after greeting the Birthday Boy, we enjoyed cocktails and munched on meatballs, pizza and chicken skewer hors d'oeuvres (I ate, John did not!) and mingled with other guests, including my other good friend, TMZ writer and fellow UsWeekly Fashion Police commentator, Johnny Lopez, looking very Michael Jackson in "Thriller"...But time was ticking for my Midnight deadline and so we continued on...
Magical Elves Holiday Bash:
TimeBandits Boy: Nick Verreos with TimeBandits Watches designer, Jonathan Stephens and his festive and beautiful wife (love the sequins huney!)Next stop: The Magical Elves Holiday Bash. After I dropped off my unwrapped toy (it was the necessary get-into-the-party ticket), we instantly said hello to the party's hosts, Jane Lipsitz and Dan Cutforth, the reality gurus behind such shows as Top Chef, Project Runway and Step It Up And Dance. The party was in full swing when we arrived at around 10:30 PM, with faux snow blasting from snowman-shaped machines, a photo booth, and an entire backyard pool covered in Plexiglas and turned into a dance floor. This is how you do a Party!
We immediately ran into Magical Elves "Centerfold", producer extraordinaire Michael Rucker, who was working a tartan "smoking jacket" and matching bow tie, along with his accessory du jour: A pipe. He was a sexy yet odd combination of Hugh Hefner meets Thurston Howell III. I also saw Jerrel of Season 5 Project Runway and Kit Pistol from Season 4 as well as a couple of former Top Chef contestants, but that was it, in terms of Bravo "talent"...except...
Top Design Meets Project Runway: Season 2 Top Design contestant, Wisit, his partner Nick, Nick Verreos, and John "sexy" Wade, Magical Elves Holiday PartySoon afterwards, a guy tapped me on the shoulder and said "I'm a big fan...my boyfriend is Wisit from Top Design...Would you like to meet him?" We'll, I almost wanted to do a La Boheme aria right then and there! Of course, I am fan of Top Design and of Wisit. He was reserved yet very friendly as we bonded over the fact that we are both instructors (Wisit also teaches fashion design at a local design school). He told me that he gets asked to sing opera almost as much as I get told "Nick, you should have been a Finalist...and What are you doing NOOOOOWWWWWW??"
John and I danced a while and realized that it was probably way past my bedtime. It was 1 AM and I had to go home to get my 4 hours of discombobulated sleep in order to be somewhat coherent to board my American Airlines flight to Miami the next morning...Bye for now.