“Welcome back! You look lovely and refreshed. Yes, it must be that Tahoe/Sonoma/Ibiza air. And your hair—is it a little shorter? It suits you.”
(Translation: Holy moley, what did she DO? She looks great! I wonder if that yoga anti-gravity class/gajillion dollar antioxidant serum/special oxygen pillow/microbial diet is really working? She looks like she hasn’t eaten/imbibed/worn anything in weeks!)
Okay, now that we’re through the formalities, we can dig in. How was your summer? Quiet? Ours too. Which is a good thing, given the fall we’re about to have. Chock-a-block with air kisses, champagne, and the occasional canapé/lamb chop/chocolate folly. Get out your minaudiere/cumberbund/Spanx (or, heck—all three!), check your calendars (and our Golden Register), and fasten your seat belts—it’s time for the San Francisco social whirl!
Here’s a bit about the warm-up in August.
Two hundred devotees of the design profession gathered in the fifty-fourth floor posh penthouse of One Rincon Hill to kick off the November 17 and 18 Tenth Annual Dining By Design event to benefit DIFFA (Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS), which, locally, funds AIDS-related services for SF General Hospital’s Positive Health Program. The committee invites designers to create fabulous tableaux for dinner parties staged throughout the four floors of the Galeria Design Center.
Friendly rivalry reigns, with designers vying for the attention and envy of their compatriots and patrons in over-the-top fantasy environments. This party is their chance to tease one another with what they could conjure, from a backyard barbecue (complete with hedges, lawn, and armies of ants—inside) to an underwater aerie for mermaids and mermen. Co-chairs Tony Garett, Ronette King, and Christie McRae were on hand to welcome author Zahid Sardar, winemaker Jerome Chary, and designers Steven Miller, Cecelia Sagrera, George Brazil, Ted Pratt, Brian Dittmar, Barbara Ashfield, David Hansen, and Claudia Juestel. Samatha Duvall and Justin Fichelson co-hosted the Table Hope and Taste event which shares the table décor with a broader audience the second evening.
Tahoe, saving the Lake, straw hats, and sunglasses were the accessories du jour et de rigeur at the treasured Save-the-Lake Luncheon and Fashion Show, benefitting the League to Save Lake Tahoe, now in its forty-first year. Oscar de la Renta showed his Resort 2010 collection with Saks Fifth Avenue, sending daughter-in-law Eliza Reed Bolen & her husband, company CEO Alex Bolen, as his emissaries, as he was recuperating from acquisition of the ultimate accessory, a new hip. Other accessories to acquire or desire include a buoy for your wooden Chris Craft or Riva (do they valet?), a baby bump or a baby to burp, and an activated Amex card to grab those gala-gorgeous gowns that were conveniently available for tented try-ons after the runway roll.
Ellie & Theodore Brown at the League to Save Lake Tahoe’s Oscar de la Renta Fashion Show.
By now everyone knows the drill: show up in your summer-smart showstopper, see everyone who is anyone, smile, swoon, and shop, shop, shop so that you have something to wear when you see ’em again soon. The cause is compelling for these happy campers, as keeping Tahoe blue is the thing to do. Most everyone’s on a first-name basis: Boaz, of course, and his ladies: Marisa, Dede, Diane, Diana, Sally and “darling,” the most useful affectionate epithet. About six hundred were welcomed to the home of Mara Fritz who co-chaired the event with Barbara Brown and Edith Tobin.
Other events about town included our novelist-of-note Danielle Steel putting aside her yellow notepads for an artistic assignment of another sort, curating an art exhibit called “WHAT?” at the Andrea Schwartz Gallery. Known for her steadfast support of emerging artists, Steel showed her playful side with a show that challenged artists and observers to interpret the one word with curiosity and candor. Works by Seamus Conley, Mitch Jones, Daniel Anhorn, Eric Michael Corrigan, Gordon Smedt, and Dana DeKalb provided party-goers with plenty to chat about, which included several of Steel’s chic children. Who doesn’t want to know what is WHAT?
Our summer birthday boys and girls did a little celebrating, too. Susan Tamagni celebrated her fellow generous and warmhearted pride of Leos at the Wayfare Tavern. Arnold Laub conjured up a covey of confidants that numbered as many as there were candles on his cake, and then some.
Mark Calvano painted the town white by convening his chic set in Harry Denton’s Starlight Room, transformed by swaths of sheer white fabric and ultraviolet light into a dazzling dance palace. Guests from social, charitable, and professional circles, suitably attired in blanc de blanc, tripped the white fantastic into the wee hours.
And, spotted at the Razz Room for Franc D’Ambrosio’s new cabaret show (he’s another Leo) were Brian Boitano, the Nibbis, Deborah Strobin, Diane Helfond, Barry Baron, Connie Goodyear, the Sokoloffs, and other luminaries. Happy birthday Franc!
And you? We thought we overheard you just the other night.
“What a lovely event. Such a terrific cause. And it was so good to see you. We should do dinner with the four of us, something easy. That would be fun. Bye!”
[Translation: I’m exhausted! That went on a bit too long. Can’t wait to get these painful six-inch shoes/industrial undergarments/Lady Gaga eyelashes off. But that party was a good one, and we did raise a 
lot of money for (insert favorite cause). I wonder if my benefit will do as well. I guess we have to invite them to dinner. She does look incredible. I wonder how she does it?]
Jennifer Raiser is a gal about town.
