This past weekend was very relaxing. After my event on Friday evening, I couldn’t see doing anything else.
After a very long day and lunch with long time friend/mother Anderson, I thought it best to head home for a disco nap. I knew the night would be long.
@ the Fireplace with my buddy Richard
I started Friday night out later than normal at the ole’ trusty Trap (Fireplace) for cocktails with friends. After several libations, hellos an two-steps it was time to make it to The Legendary Father Charles KHAN’s Confessions of a Vogue Fem Vixen Ball. Ms. Fabulous DMV (business partner Ninette Oommen) came to meet me at the Fireplace and we fleeced over to the Scene in NE for what we knew would be a different kind of event.
House of KHAN representing KHAN POWER to the fullest
Now Ninette has never been to a house ball before and they are really not my thing but I went for several reasons.
Every charity/nightlife event I’ve hosted in DC and asked for the KHANS help & support, they have shown up to show their support, in staggering numbers.
I haven’t been to a ball in 10 YEARS.
After a blog posting earlier this year on DC’s MOST FABULOUS Magazine’s website and the ignorant comments about the house of KHAN and houses all together, I sat out to this event with a goal in mind – to highlight the positive within the ballroom scene.
I was personally invited by the Overall Father of the House of KHAN, Charles, himself.
Overall Father, House of KHAN, Charles Khan
Ninette & I arrived at the venue about 11:30ish. As soon as we parked the car and stepped out the sound of house music filled the air and we knew something special was about to take place. We went in and were greeted by a very professional staff who were expecting up. The House of KHAN actually gave us our own liaison that was there for whatever we needed. Great touch of class guys…SIMPLY FABULOUS!!! Ninette and I made rounds, taking photos, talking to patrons about what the ballroom scene means to them. I got the response I knew I was going to get. These houses are more of a family to some of its members than their own flesh and blood. Look out for the upcoming article in DC’s MOST FABULOUS Magazine.
The festivities got underway about 2 am and the place was PACKED. The KHAN were KHANFIDENT, the face kids faces were beat, the runway kids outfits were on; it was time to shart the show. After about 3 hours of butch queen vogueing fem, runway, face, as well as many other categories, we were ready to call it a night. The night was a huge success.
Legendary Tanaka Ebony
I saw my one of oldest friends in the ball room scene that I haven’t seen in year. The Legendary old way voguer, Tanaka Ebony. This is someone I met when I first came out in 1997. While I never joined a house, he and the Philly House of Ebony took me under their wing and taught me the proper decorum and how to conduct myself in this lifestyle. To an 18 year old boy who just found a new sexually revolution the lessons taught to me by the House of Ebony we’re invaluable. I thank them and pay homage to them each and every chance I get.
I am not sure what time Ninette and I hit it but I do remember pulling up to my house with the sun blaring.
So, this past week was full of not-to-miss events.
On Wednesday, June 17, the National Black Justice Coalition hosted the 2nd annual (NBJC) event honoring congressional leaders making a positive impact on GLBT rights and legislation. The event was held at the fabulous Washington Club located at 14 DuPont Circle. The networking, conversation, speeches, food & libations were all absolutely fabulous. Who knew that congress had a GLBT Caucus consisting of 80 congress members strong? Thank you to Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin and other congressional members for all of the GREAT work they are doing on behalf of the GLBT community. After the event I fleeced over to the DuPont Hotel's restaurant for dinner and more libations with the NBJC leadership team. We continued on to party throughout the evening at various locations.
Thursday I started out with early evening cocktails at The Heights in Columbia Heights to meet Darroll Screen’s and the Snob Mob (inside joke for his fraternity…I love you guys) for Darroll’s birthday celebration. This celebratory event boasted a diverse group of gorgeous, educated people. My plan was to stop in for a drink or 2 and hit it to my next event. As the conversation revolved around politics, relationships & sex I found myself stuck and elated that not only were these people good looking they also delivered their points on the subject matter with such conscious precision that one would think we were in a graduate program debate club competition. I definitely walked away from dinner with a different outlook on some issues. After dinner and more libations, I somehow persuaded the group to accompany me to my next destination.
It was time to go meet my brister (brother/sister) Quincy Jones at the Homo Hotel Happy Hour and the Morrison Clark Hotel. I hit it there and took care of the most pressing issue, my libation. Quincy and I caught up on one another lives (we’ve both been extremely busy over the past month or so) and continued to drink. Moments later Darroll and crew arrived. We continued with great conversation and more libations. Before my brister murdered one of these guys for stepping on his brand new Prada shoes and not say “excuse me”, I thought it was definitely time to go. About 9:30-10PM it was time to fleece once again. This time, to the Corte Salon grand opening party at Lima on K Street. We made plans to meet our group later that evening and hit it.
Brister Quincy and I decided to pump to Lima from the hotel. Well PUMP is exactly what we did. Quincy had me walking through the streets of DC & in and out of traffic with the speed of superman on (crank or crack here?). Before I could even catch my breath we were on the dance floor at Lima sipping on our cocktails. The party was cute however we missed the fashion show (the party started at 8 PM). We shook out booties on the dance floor for a bit. We met some really interesting people then the party seemed to take on a different spin. Note: See Quincy’s Twitter updates for more info on that…LOL. About an out after we arrived Quincy and I really needed a Fireplace cocktail. We looked at one another, and in an E.S.P kind of way knew it was time to hit it to our next destination. Without a word to each other we fleeced upstairs, pass security and into a taxi.
We arrived at the Trap (Fireplace) a few moments later and within minutes I was sipping on the Trap’s world famous Ciroc and cranberry. It was like haven to my pallet. The birthday crew made their way there and we continued to party for the rest of the evening. The party dispersed from the Fireplace at about 2ish but I had one more stop to make. [NOTE] - When I looked at the photos to to add to this posting I completely forgot that we went to the Bachelors Mill...wow
I needed to run past one after party to say happy b-day to a friend who took of the entire week to celebrate his birthday. We were supposed to do lunch at some point that week but it never came to fruition. I arrived at the party about 2-2:30ish AM, shared some laughs and more cocktails and it was time to call it a night.
Friday, I knew, would be a great evening. I had plans to meet fashion diva Kristi Love for an early evening business meeting over libations. We started the evening at Logan Tavern for dinner and drinks. I was so good to see Kristi. We haven’t seen each other in several months. We caught each other up our current projects and discussed her major project of the moment. More on that at a later time… After the business portion of the night was over it was time to party.
At 10:00 PM we hit it over the Donovan House’s rooftop party to meet one of Kristi’s fellow designer friends. This was also an opportunity to break in her new assistant whom she just met, interviewed and hired while at dinner. The assistant quickly understood that if she wanted to work for anyone in our circle that nightlife and entertainment would be a major part of her job description. She hung in as long as she could. After several rounds of drinks it was time to fleece. Roberto Cavalli here we come…
Roberto Cavalli launched his new vodka at Current Friday night. While current is one of my favorite nightlife destination’s in DC, this party was giving way too much. First, it was a hassle to get in. Not a problem I told myself Current’s manager is a great friend of mine. I go up to the bouncer and request the J.L. (I don’t want to put his name out there). The bouncer tells me that he doesn’t know who that it. Apparently, the bouncer doesn’t work for Current. Not a problem I told myself, I’ll just call him. Damn! 2 out of the 4 phones I brought out with me this eve, his number is in the one I don’t have. Hell, I will just pay and J.L. will take care of it when I get in. Big mistake! The first floor was literally immobile, you couldn’t move an inch. We didn’t even try that route. We fleece right up to VIP, which was no better. After 5-7 minutes of no one knowing were J.L. was it was time to go. The party seemed like it was a lot more fab earlier but it was far too many people there begging to be seen…not our crowd. We hit it over to our trusty nightlife venue that never lets me down…Fly Lounge.
Fly Lounge, as always, was on a poppin. The people, music & libations always seem to be on point. We danced well in to the night or morning and separated for the evening at about 2 AM.
I had yet another after party to hit it to. I hopped in a taxi and was on my way. I noticed that as I reached the front door to the after party, I left my wallet in the taxi…urgh!!! I ran back out but it was too late. My life was in that 2 x 2 inch leather and canvas Gucci folder. Trying not to think about it, I met some friends at the after party had more libations and partied until I couldn’t do it anymore. I got home at 7:30 AM.
I couldn’t see going out on Saturday. In bed all day… Real Housewives Marathon.
Sunday I had several events on my calendar, the first the grand opening of ShiQueeta Lee’s Ruby Slipper Brunch. I text my business partner, Ninnett (Ms. Fabulous), to see if we were still on for brunch. A return txt message about an hour later confirmed we would be doing brunch around to 2 pm. We arrived at Policy and were directed up stairs. I saw all the drag divas and thought…Oh this is gonna be hot. ShiQeetta cursed me out wanting to know what took me so long but said that they had 1 more show to do. Great! With prime seating Ms. Fabulous and I ordered the bottomless mimosas (which in my opinion is the only reason to do brunch), grab our plates from the buffet and settled info for what I was sure would be an OVAH show. As expected the show blew us away. ShiQueeta Lee continues to show us why she is the Diva of the City (she likes to say of Diva of Town or U Street but trust me…she being very modest).
Her performance as Marry J. Blige had my business partner scratching her head wondering where she knew ShiQueeta from. Mind you, they just met before the show when ShiQueeta was sporting another fabulous ensemble. I also was excited to see another one of my favorite performers, Lady Toni. With so many drag shows in DC it’s hard to determine the good from the bad before spending your hard earned money. Well, for those of you that didn’t make it; check this one out. ShiQueeta has done it again. Side bar: DC’s MOST FABULOUS Magazine is launching a DC’s MOST FABULOUS Drag Show were the patrons will vote each week. At the end of the contest one show will be award with the covenant title of DC’s MOST FABULOUS Drag Show. Stay tuned at www.dcsmostfabulous.com . After the brunch the tables were removed that Policy turned in to a tea dance from 4-9PM. Ms. Fabulous and I sat and had a brainstorming session with J. L. (manager of Current) for about 45 minutes then it was time for the next destination.
We arrived at the Beacon Hotel rooftop party, which looked like something from a music video. The party was definitely HOT except for the fact that martinis at the downstairs/restaurant bar are $5.00 and for the same martini on the rooftop you’ll be paying $15-20.00. The problem with is that you can’t take your drink, purchased at the downstairs bar, to the roof. Brilliant scheme to make to you spend more money for the same product. It’s best to drink down stairs then rejoin the party. Ms. Fabulous had to put the Elevator Czar in her place after she stuck her nose in a conversation we were having with the manager. Other than the cocktail & elevator girl situation, we had a FABULOUS time. The people were beautiful, the scenery was breath taking and I hung out with some out my socialite divas who I haven’t seen in a while. I LOVE ALL OF YOU GALS. Thanks for such a great time. Several hours into the party Kristi Love text me and said she was (FINALLY) on her way…LOL. She arrived and after making a few rounds and more libations we hit it to what I thought was the final destination of the evening.
Sheldon Scott, manager at Marvin, was having a fabulous rooftop fundraiser party. We arrived about 10ish to an ultra chic, ultra sexy party. Once again the people were beautiful, the beats were electric and the drinks…let’s just say they put me exactly where I needed to be. After ripping my own runway (yes, I actually turned one of the walkways in to my own runway and SERVED for BLOOD…see the drinks). Some of my diva’s tried to come for me but let’s just say I was the last one standing. The party was sickening. I had a BLAST. Just when I thought I was done for the night, my boo boo txt and ask what I’m doing for the eve. They wanted to hang out or I may have wanted them to hang out I don’t remember but they end up meeting me at Sheldon’s party and we all hit it to ESL.
If you haven’t been to Eighteenth Street Lounge (ESL) on a Sunday night, you have no idea what you’re missing. I haven’t been back there on a Sunday in quite some time. The house music will have you working yourself into a frenzy. Before you know it the lights start to come on and you look around like you’ve just woke up from a comma wondering where all of the time has gone. Oh how I love ESL on Sunday night. It was time to call it a night… What a fabulous day.
So last night the DC’s MOST FABULOUS Magazine/AAA Wine Tasting Event was a success. Many of the folks who planned to attend couldn’t do to Red Line train crash. Still many found alternative transportation just to make it there. Thanks so much. Brandon did a great job with this 5th annual event. We, DC’s MOST FABULOUS Magazine, we honored to be one of its sponsors.
At the event I hit it to dinner at Lima Restaurant & Lounge. The lobster was everything, the empanadas were seasoned to perfection and the shrimp was juicy and succulent. After another glass or so of wine, it was time to enjoy the beautiful weather.
We hit it to the rooftop pool/bar of the Donovan Hotel. The night was absolutely magical and the vibe was ultra chic and sexy. Brandon & Bobby came to meet us after their dinner and we all laid back in the extremely large cabana, sipping libations, catching up and taking in the sites of the city from the rooftop. I really did not want to leave…then they called last call. It was time for my next destination.
Fourteenth and U here I come. The first stop was Marvin which was a complete waste of time (I didn’t have my ID, I lost my wallet on Friday). I walked across the street to one of my favorite restaurants; Utopia.
The place looked exactly how it looked when I used to live on 13th and U St. The live band was amazing. I had to have my favorite libation from Utopia…the chocolate jazz martini. After about 3 martinis it was time to call it a night. As I was on the way home I thought; nights like this is when I love my life.
The project is the brain child of DCs MOST FABULOUS Magazine publisher and editor-in-chief and is the culmination of a webisode reality series, videoblog & blog entitled The Cocktail Hour.
The name, The Cocktail Hour, comes from my life and the fact that many think all I do in life is party. However, what some don’t know or understand is that in order for me to brand myself and my magazine, social events are very important in industry. Many times it’s imperative that I make it to a social engagement, especially when personally being invited by the chair of an organization, even when I really don’t feel up to it.
I hope you join me for The Cocktail Hour by FOLLOWing the blog, because it's always cocktail hour somewhere around the world.
STAY FABULOUS!!!
@ the Fireplace with my buddy Richard
It was time to go meet my brister (brother/sister) Quincy Jones at the Homo Hotel Happy Hour and the 
At 10:00 PM we hit it over the 
