While new papa Owen Wilson was at the Dinner in the Wild at the Automotive Building in Fairest Park, the really beautiful people were at the Zodiac Room of downtown Neiman Marcus Thursday night. No, they weren’t gathered to remember the grandeur of the late Helen “Who’s Julia Childs?” Corbitt. Though, if they had, the tales the walls of the Z-Room could tell. . . like the day she chased a . . . no, never mind.
The occasion was the Vine and Dine benefiting Ability Connection Texas with Claire Emanuelson and Muffin Lemak holding the reins of the evening. The reception took place on the first floor of DT NM with red carpets and windows totally covered. What? The windows were covered? Yup. They’ll be unveiled this weekend to debut the holiday (it’s politically incorrect to say “Christmas”) windows.
All the guests were showcasing the efforts of their personal trainer workouts. These folks know how to wear short cocktail dresses, stiletto heels and oh-so-tailor-made suits. Not a pore nor split end was in sight and everyone smelled so yummy. And speaking of delish, those ice cream martinis could only result from the creative minds of NM. Even the oldest among the crowd looked like a kid when asking for seconds, “Please?”
Allan McBee sans Lynn was chatting with Mike Wyatt about Allan’s just-back-from-Ireland business trip. Hearing his description, it’s a wonder he’s not a travel writer. . . .Sunie Solomon swore she was expecting a little lass and not just showing a heavy lunch. Sunie and her husband Steve admitted that until 10 days ago no baby bump was part of the look, but suddenly the beautiful Sunie was fashionably showing. . . .Honorary Chair Nancy Rogers sans Richard was receiving accolades once again for the Rogers’ support of Dallas nonprofits. She reported with a perfect smile that the Rogers clan will be spending a very grateful Thanksgiving in the Dallas ZIP codes. . . Dee Dee Lee replaced Jim Lee just for the one
night with daughter Casey Robinson glowing in gold from tresses to heels. . . . Jimmy Gragg was hugging everybody in sight, while wife/hottie jewelry designer Sue Gragg was accepting comps left and right for her various donations. Did you see the bracelet she created for Best Buddies?
. . . NM DT GM/VP Shelle Sills said that NM was still heavily involved with CityLights, the downtown holiday lighting, that will take place Saturday night. She reported that eight years ago only 25 people showed up. Last year 35,000 people jammed Ervay. This year projections are at 50,000 for the five blocks of
lights along Main Street. Even the calm, cool Shelle admitted that the holiday project might have been more successful that NM could handle. Wise to move and expand and share the glory with other downtown corporate types, don’t you think?. . . Jodi Harris in an OMG form-fitting black cocktail body glove, chandelier earrings and a Grace Kelly French twist caused major neck jams as she checked out the NM counters. Seems that diamond earrings are more popular than Christmas tree ornaments this year. . . . Muffin, who was just coming off of her daughter’s destination wedding in Mexico (Todd Fiscus production, of course) was already thinking about her next project. More deets to follow. At least, she promised they would. . . Cousin-in-laws Janie Condon and Kim Miller were still starry-eyed from all the comps from BeatLeukemia. A couple of the guests raised sculpted eyebrows upon hearing about the tales of Saturday night with the Fab Four (Check MySweetCharity for details in the days ahead).
Then the trusty NM elevators lifted the crowd up to the Zodiac Room, where praise, wine and food was generously served.