Monthly Archives: March 2014

The De Gaulle Grand Opening Soiree

My friends and I only drink champagne and wine, for the most part. Finally, Houston has figured this out and is accommodating our champagne wishes! New to the Washington Ave. entertainment corridor is The De Gaulle, next to Hughe’s Hangar. This is H-town’s first official champagne house and home to over 50 types of champagne. This town just got a bit more bubbly and I like it! Saturday, March 29th I attended the VIP grand opening reception . Thank you for the invitation Ms. Lori-Lemon Geshay! The theme was midnight in Paris! Ok, I thought it was spring time in Paris hence my floral Alice + Olivia pants, but I won’t worry too much about it. I had a wonderful time with my lovely friends and my handsome man!

The venue took me back to Paris, drinks were flowing, the DJ had us dancing, and fashionable eye candy everywhere. Tres chic crowd! I love my Veuve, Dom, and Moet, but a taste of Perrier-Jouet Nuit Blanche had me at HELLO! They had a champagne tasting bar set up and I learned very quickly, the smaller the flute, the more expensive the taste!

The evening would not officially go down in style without its charitable efforts. A suggested $20 donation at the door helped support the Pink Door nonprofit. Well, I am looking forward to more nights at my new favorite place. Chin chin!

Host Committee Members in the crowd included Cortney Cole Hall, Jared Lang, Kim Padgett, Lori Lemon Geshay, Lisa Gochman, Mark Sullivan, Tiffany Halik, just to name a few.

Thank you, May I have another?

The Candlelighters 6th Annual YPG Margarita Taste-Off featuring some of Houston’s finest restaurants took over Hughes Hangar off Washington Ave. and I was there. Saturday, March 29th the charity hosted hundreds as we mixed, mingled, and sipped competing margarita recipes and voted for the best concoction all for charity. 100% of the proceeds benefit Candlelighters Childhood Cancer Family Alliance. What a fun way to spend a sunny Saturday afternoon! The place was packed, girls rocking their summer dresses and fancy flats, and the guys rocking their duds too.

Tents set up from corner to corner included favorites like El Tiempo, Escalantes, La Tapatia, Soto’s Cantina, Emma’s Grill, El Big Bad, Sorrel Urban Bistro, Maria Selma Restaurant, etc. I was a big fan of El Big Bad! Their presentation was killer….decked out in wrestling masks…shaking ritas like the old Mr Flannigan days from the movie Cocktail. What a hoot!

To complete the whole event, there was a silent auction, live music entertainment, and plenty of chips, queso, salsa, and tacos to soak up all of that tequila. Every restaurant walked out a winner in my opinion. I am definitely adding this event to my list for next year!

About the organization: Candlelighters Young Professionals Group was created to support the Candlelighters mission to provide emotional, educational and practical assistance to children with cancer and their families treated at the Texas Medical Center and/or who reside in the 13 counties of the greater Houston area. The YP group demonstrates their commitment through fundraising and volunteer activities while offering members social and professional networking opportunities. Members of the Young Professionals Committee are asked to attend meetings where they are given the opportunity to take part in the inception, planning and ultimately the success of several social functions throughout the year aimed at raising both funds and awareness for Candlelighters.

Caught In An Oil Spill

March 26, 2014UncategorizedGalveston, Houston Ship Channel, Lakewood Yacht Club, Lori Lemon Geshay, Nicole Brende, sinking oil barge, Texas oil spill, Trende Brende, YachtNCB

I love boating and what better way to entertain your clients and friends than on a gorgeous 40 foot motor yacht! March 22, 2014 I took 12 of my gals on an outing from Clear Lake to Galveston aboard the “Sea Tejas”. Our Captain and 1st mate took command of the waters while the rest of us enjoyed cocktails and lite bites. It was a foggy day causing us to take our time. What would have been a 1.5 hour trip took us 3 hours! Along the way dolphins entertained us with their jumps and tricks. Who would guess in the brown murky Houston Ship Channel dolphins would call it home? Well, just three miles out of Galveston is when the real attraction hit….literally! Around 11:30 am (the news incorrectly reporting 12:35) an oil barge carrying over 900,000 gallons of oil was struck by the motor vessel Miss Susan. Miss Susan was transiting from Texas City to Bolivar at the time of the collision. I must say we were all in shock. We witnessed the thick oil in the waters; in fact we motored through it and the smell was very potent.

We were eyewitness to the sinking barge. In fact, here is a video I took from my I-Phone which was broadcasted all over the CBS news stations in Texas. Yep, my two seconds of fame! : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xGdGFD9w9U

We ended up docking at Willie G’s in Galveston and had a nice lunch. The Coast Guard announced the closure of the ship channel so we were not able to come back via boat. The boat to this day is still docked in Galveston. I won’t even discuss the financial impact on my pocket book for this diversion. But, we were able to get back to Lakewood Yacht Club safely via cars. This was definitely a trip to go down in history. I am saddened by the accident for the sea animals. I hope we can get the wildlife protected and clean up their homeland soon.

On Board: Annette Amaya, Anna Kaplan, Laura Cernock, Marina Kaplan, Laurie-Leigh White, Jan Vitenas, Colleen Nichols, Liliana Cuellar, Jennifer Gravenor, Nicole Brende, Lisa Bridle, and Lori-Lemon Geshay.