After a Fashion

THE TRIAL ... OF PARTIES I felt like I was living in a Lana Turner movie for the last couple of weeks. Doctors, attorneys, trials, parties .... But, ahh, it all slows down a little bit this week. With a remaining handful of parties to attend (and more than a few outfits to be assembled) the rest of the holidays should be a snap. Or maybe I'll snap first. Last week was truly the Grand Central of partying. First off, we had to say goodbye to Robert Brown and Dennis Karbach, who are effectively leaving Austin, but we know they'll be back to see us. The party was thrown by Richard Hartgrove and Gary Cooper – and of course, it was wonderful. Then there was what I'll call Private Party No. 1, which was deliciously intimate for being so crowded – but the host begged me not to mention his name. Perhaps he didn't want people to know that I'd been there? C'est la vie, it was a divine party anyway, and I even visited with some Republicans. My dear friend Mark Sullivan appeared out of the blue from Houston, so, along with Stephen Rice and Mark Erwin, we entertained ourselves quite well, thank you. Dinner at Manuel's Downtown was fabulous. There's something new about this old standby that shook up everything I thought about Manuel's and reminded me what a great place it is: It has recently started an All New/All Natural campaign without raising prices, which is quite amazing. So we tried it, and bay-bee, it was heavenly. The Downtown location is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, so happy 25th, Manuel's! Keep on blazing the trail. We followed Manuel's with a trip to the Dell Jewish Community Campus for the Holiday Swing party benefiting Project Transitions. Elegant and staid, the party was a dressy, dancey affair, but I was itching to go Downtown. Mark and I took off and went to Rain. Packed to the gills, natch, it was very festive, but not enough to hold our attention for more than a couple of hours. We trekked back to Stephen and Mark's house and buffaloed them into having an extra festive afterparty. The highlight, though, was Sunday night when I was escorted to Dancing With the Stars Austin. What a wild event this has turned into in a very short time, and what a heavy-hitting event it's become. Our Police Chief Art Acevedo was in fine form, wearing a Lycra Elvis suit. Who needs patrolmen when we have him? Dave Steakley took the crown as best dancer that night, and rightfully so – he was electric. Michelle Valles danced a wicked tango, and so many of Austin's bold-faced names sparkled. This is an event to look forward to every year. I took my brother Scott Moser with me to Marvin and Eva Womack's oh-so-gracious party. Silly me, I thought that party was at 8, and of course I insisted upon arriving late. What I didn't realize was that the party started at 5pm and was almost over when we got there. That didn't mean we missed visiting with good friends though: Andy Mozisek took very good care of me, and we were having so much fun on the deck that everyone came out to see what could be so amusing. I was just holding court as usual when the tinkling strains of the Womacks' piano came drifting from inside. We went in to find pianist Anton Nel on the ivories playing Chopin, which was perfectly lovely for the season. But there's still Jody Scheske's party, Robert Nash's, Carla MacDonald's, Nak Armstrong's .... Then I think I'll sleep through the winter.