My Girl Wants to Party All The Time...

Sorry - but I've been listening to a LOT of XM's 80s on 8 lately while working from home, and damn if they don't love to play Eddie Murphy's one-off attempt at a music career! In case you have no idea what I'm talking about, please to enjoy...

Check out Rick James' hair. I mean, really. I think I had that same perm in 1986. Also? This basically looks like a scene from "Beverly Hills Cop" that ended up on the cutting room floor, the one where Axel Foley sings his way out of a jam.

Anyhoo - my point (and I do have one) is the last few nights have been filled with fun parties and events, starting with Monday night's book launch party for author Melissa Walker's wonderful debut novel Violet on the Runway. I just did an interview with Melissa last week, which should be up soon on Venus, and let me tell you, she's a true delight. The party was held at Lolita and sponsored by the kind and cool folks at Mediabistro, where Melissa also teaches. Jolene was my co-pilot for the night, and we had a really lovely conversation with Cortney Harding, who currently serves as the Indies Correspondent for Billboard but has also contributed to a number of other publications - plus she's an Oregon native, so she's already aces in my book.

Jolene and I later retired to Jin, where I had my first sake experience. I would describe it as white wine-esque with an Ouzo kick, but sans the licorice taste - make sense?

Saki-licious

Jolene, however, was a seasoned pro.

Saki - it does a body good.

Tonight, Jolene had planned to take me to see a show on Broadway as a belated birthday present (we opted for "A Chorus Line" and I will confess, I've seen and fallen in love with the movie version way more than once - uh, Michael Douglas, I'm looking in your direction). We made a pit stop on the way to attend a party celebrating the release of Yellow Tale's sparkling wine. The event was held in, of all places, a laundromat near Hell's Kitchen that had been revamped to reflect the Yellow Tale brand, and the marketing guru in me was thoroughly impressed by the creative presentation. The wine itself was very refreshing with a medium sweetness - and let's be honest, I'm a die hard fan of white wine and champagne, so this was right up my alley.

I also ended up having a really interesting conversation with Debi Mazar, a lovely actress who was in attendance acting as an ambassador of sorts for the launch. I've been a fan of her work for some time, and among her many current projects, she has a terrific new online cooking show she produces with her husband called "Under the Tuscan Gun" - definitely check it out.

So these are things that happen when you live in New York. I haven't even told y'all about how I completely assed out a week or so ago upon meeting another writer whose work I sincerely admire, only to discover he was married to a woman who, no joke, was one of the core reasons I wanted to become a writer in the first place. We're talking priceless shit here - open mouth, insert foot, full on ass out. You would have been so proud. And by proud, I mean mortified.

Speaking of, there's a MORTIFIED show in New York tomorrow, and good news: we've also just secured the date for our first show in Washington DC (produced by yours truly). So all of you Capitol Hill folks, mark your calendars - I will see you at HR-57 on Tuesday November 6th, 2007 for what promises to be the Beltway event of the year.

Put that in your pipe and smoke it!

PS - Abby, you just about killed me the cupcake-related package. Could you be any more amazing and thoughtful? I cannot wait to be your number one street team leader when your first novel hits the shelves. Seriously, stand back - the good karma coming your way will be like a tide rushing through, so put on your water wings.