I’m not sure I could have thought of a better way to begin May, than to spending it dancing, drinking, singing, laughing, eating and generally loving on a few of my best NYC friends. Except maybe a trip, but since I’d just returned from one…no, a night out with friends was just the ticket.
It required pulling out a vintage Ralph Lauren dress that I’ve carried all around the world with me, donning my mother’s pearls and wrapping my grandmother’s vintage bracelet around my wrist and then enduring the subway at rush hour but when I entered the Highline Stages and surrendered myself to the hair and makeup team in the VIP lounge, cocktail-in-hand, I had nothing but faith that it was going to be a truly great night.
Wine Enthusiast magazine threw their second annual Red & White Bash on May 1 to benefit Wine to Water and this year the “1940’s in Havana” theme was a perfect backdrop to the fun. Event designer Adam Aleksander created a colorful space that really set the stage perfectly, taking me back in time to a place I’ve dreamt of visiting. It included tables of hors d’ oeuvres from restaurants such as Yerba Buena and Los Americanos, wine tasting stations, a VIP lounge by Bacardi where you could learn to make a cocktail or (as I did) get your hair and makeup professionally done, a photo booth and a dance floor kept in continuous rythym by bugalú band Spanglish Fly.
I don’t do that many events in New York, even though I’ve now called it home for a solid year, only traveling once a month or so. Mostly it’s because after all these years of nomadic travel, I’m actually enjoying having a quiet home life again. I don’t like to go out and party like I once did in my early twenties. Still, after a glass of wine and a few hors d’ oeuvres I was shocked to find I couldn’t seem to stand still even for a second. Maybe it was pent up restlessness or maybe it was just Spanglish Fly, but after a time I started dancing and I didn’t really stop until I was descending the stairs down into the E train to go home, spell over, party done and dusted.
I have a lot of ideas for ways that I want to give back more in the coming year ahead, that I can’t wait to share in future posts. Not all of them will be as painless as that night that benefitted Wine to Water but it sure was a great way to say goodbye to winter and hello to the warmth of summer. Thanks for the invitation, Wine Enthusiast!
100% of proceeds went to charity. And if you’re in the Chicago area, tickets are still available for their June 19 event which will be just like the one I attended here in NYC.
