Tag: parties

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Birthdays Parties Rita Moreno

Rita Moreno had a Mardi Gras-themed 93rd birthday party

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Happy Birthday Rita Moreno! The triple-threat EGOT winner celebrated turning 93 years young yesterday, but the party got started over the weekend when lovely Rita hosted a Mardi Gras-themed bash in Berkeley, California, where she lives. In true New Orleans style, she hired a brass band to fill the venue with music, and there were masks and beads everywhere. The birthday girl herself was decked out in head-to-toe sequins: a jacket in the signature Mardi Gras colors of purple, green, and gold, paired with a brown (perhaps mocha mousse?!) skirt, capped off with a miniature, shimmery purple top hat. What a lovely, joyous way to treat yourself and 60 of your nearest and dearest family, colleagues, and friends made at the supermarket. People Mag got exclusive coverage of the party:

Rita Moreno brought a bit of New Orleans to Northern California as she celebrated her 93rd birthday.

The West Side Story icon was the guest of honor at a Mardi Gras-themed birthday party in the Berkeley area on Dec. 7, four days before her actual birthday.

Moreno dubbed the day — complete with purple, green and gold color scheme — “Fat Saturday,” a play on “Fat Tuesday,” the final day of Carnival and the Christian feasting period before the start of Lent.

“How remarkable it is to be 93 and still enjoy all the good things in life!” Moreno tells PEOPLE. “I am particularly grateful for my family and friends who have filled my life with love and laughter.”

Those 60 friends and family members who helped mark the occasion included her daughter Fernanda, former One Day at a Time costar Justina Machado and the Netflix comedy’s executive producers Brent Miller and Mike Royce.

During the lively evening, a brass band played several songs, including a special rendition of “Happy Birthday,” and a handful of guests offered sweet toasts to the EGOT winner, who wore a purple sequin jacket emblazoned with Queen of Mardi Gras on the back.

In lieu of a cake, Moreno had a chocolate fountain with strawberries, pretzels and other items for dipping.

At one point, Moreno, spurred on by others, yelled out her catchphrase from the 1970s educational program The Electric Company, “Hey you guys!”

Moreno also celebrated — and showed off — her Barbie tribute doll from Mattel, which launched Nov. 20.

“I was a girl who decided to go for it, and despite the challenges I faced, I never gave up on my dreams. That’s what I hope this doll inspires in each and every girl today: to live their life with courage and resilience so that they can make their dreams a reality,” she said in a statement in November.

[From People]

She posed with her Barbie, I love it! Hell, I’d be carrying mine around with me everywhere I went if they made a Kismet Barbie (hint hint, Mattel — I had a birthday this month, too!). Everything about this party sounds delightful. Well, except for the lack of cake, which definitely should’ve been done in addition to the chocolate fountain. Why hold back for your 93rd?? And speaking of food, I wish People Mag had reported more on what was served. This is a Mardi Gras theme, after all, and Nola is famous for their food. I grew up in San Francisco (near Rita in Berkeley), and my family used to go to a (since-closed) restaurant called Cajun Pacific, that married the cuisines of Louisiana with Northern California. They were usually only open on the weekends, but would obviously do a special service for Mardi Gras. One year we attended for the holiday, and my sweet, dearly-departed, professor of a father was lamenting the timing falling in the middle of the week when he was teaching. So he said — and this man reportedly took French in high school — “Why do they always have Mardi Gras on a Tuesday?!” My mother and I never let him live it down, but I think he secretly loved how much it made us laugh.

Happy Birthday again to Rita, my fellow December babies, and all the marvelous nonagenarians out there! Laissez les bons temps rouler.

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Photos credit: JKP/Avalon, IMAGO/Jennifer Bloc/Avalon, Jeffrey Mayer/Avalon, Getty and via Instagram

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Cher Parties Salvador Dali

Cher has a crazy story about going to Salvador Dalí’s place

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Cher undoubtedly has lived a life worth documenting, and luckily she’s done that for us. In two parts. Cher: The Memoir, Part One was released last week, and the stories recounted in that volume have been every bit as juicy as we’ve wished for and more. Perhaps craziest of them all is the time Cher, Sonny Bono, and Francis Ford Coppola walked into a bar. Only it wasn’t a bar, it was the St. Regis Hotel in NYC, and the trio accidentally ended up at a soiree hosted by Salvador Dalí. Dalí invited them to dinner at his studio the next night, only when they got there, Cher sussed out pretty quickly that they were walking into the tail end of an orgy. I’ll let Cher take it from here, in her own inimitable, vivid voice:

When staying at the St. Regis Hotel in N.Y. while visiting a friend, Cher and Bono ran into Francis Ford Coppola who was filming a movie. They also bumped into the prolific surrealist artist, who invited them to a party that evening he was hosting with his wife, Gala.

Cher said that everyone in their suite “was either beautiful or bizarre and all of them looked as if they were high,” calling the experience “like stepping into a bad Fellini movie.”

Despite detecting her discomfort, Dalí invited Cher and Bono back for dinner the following evening. Upon arriving at Dalí’s studio, Cher realized that an orgy had just taken place. She recalled a “large room where people were naked or in various states of undress.”

“One bra-less chick came out wearing a see-through blouse” that she likened to cellophane wrap. The “Believe” hitmaker attempted to look unbothered while Bono and Coppola, 85, were “sissies,” huddled together on the other side of the room.

Cher then realized she had sat on something, and pulled out a “gorgeous painted rubber fish” from beneath her that had a moving tail. She assumed it was a child’s toy but Dalí told her it was actually a vibrating sex toy.

She immediately dropped the fish and Bono and Coppola doubled over laughing. She kept her composure, but “inside, however, I was — how can I put this? — screaming.”

The group, including the “bizarre orgy people” and Cher, Bono and Coppola, went out to dinner. Several minutes into the meal, Dalí said they had a “previous engagement” and relocated to a table a few feet away. Cher, Bono and Coppola were beyond relieved and couldn’t stop laughing.

“I’m sure Dalí thought we were all cretins, but by then we were beyond caring,” she concluded.

[From People]

I mean, the scene is every inch the cornucopia of disparate items crashing together that I’d expect from the gravitational impact of Cher’s life intersecting with Dalí’s. Things I’m delighting over, in no particular order: of course a bash hosted by surrealist Salvador was “like stepping into a bad Fellini movie.” I love Cher calling Sonny and Francis “sissies,” and totally believe her account of them in that situation. (Sidenote: what is it with Coppola randomly dropping into Cher’s anecdotes? First we learned he saw her in Vegas and told her to start acting, and now this revelation!) I did find it a bit rich, though, for Cher — CHER! — to seemingly deride a woman at the orgy for going braless under a see through blouse. And at this moment, may I remind us all of her iconic 1980s Bob Mackie Oscar ensembles, not to mention the “naked” dress of his that she wore to the 1974 Met Gala. So it’s a touch the pot calling the kettle scantily clad, is all I’m saying. And finally “Salvador Dalí gorgeous painted rubber fish sex toy” needs to start trending on social media after this.

Photos credit: UPPA/Photoshot/Avalon/Avalon, London Features-LFI/Avalon/Avalon, Holland/Retna Pictures/Avalon/Avalon and Getty

Categories
Holidays Mariah Carey Parties

Mariah Carey asked a journalist to explain what a white elephant gift party is

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Here’s a sentence I never thought I’d say: Mariah Carey and I have something in common. Unfortunately, it’s not the Hot 100 No. 1 oops I mean No. 2 Christmas song of the season. It’s that neither of us knew about White Elephant Gift Parties. These gift exchanging parties — sometimes called Dirty Santa or Yankee Swap — date back to the late nineteenth/early twentieth centuries (according to the New York Times) and can have extensive rules and variations. The main gist is that the gifts exchanged are wacky, unnecessary, unwanted, or burdensome. Sounds like a party to me. In a recent interview with People Magazine, a reporter asked Mariah if she liked white elephant parties, to which Ms. Carey responded, “Say what now?”

Sure, Mariah Carey is the Queen of Christmas, but there’s one seasonal pastime she’s clueless about.

The “All I Want For Christmas Is You” singer was unaware of “white elephant parties” until a reporter for People explained them to her during an interview about her thoughts on various Christmas traditions.

Carey drew a blank when asked about “white elephant parties,” which, for the uninitiated, are parties where people trade bizarre, tacky or unwanted gifts with each other.

However, her response was sort of a gift in itself.

“I don’t know of said White Elephant Gift Party. Can you tell me about it?” Carey asked.

Once the reporter explained the concept, Carey admitted she had never participated in one, but added, “I’m always looking for a new game. Something’s fun, it’s good.”

However, she didn’t seem to be a fan of “secret Santa” gift exchanges.

“It’s just like, why? I don’t know,” she said.

Perhaps she just has other things to focus on in December. Her holiday hit “All I Want For Christmas Is You” is currently the No. 2 song in the country, after Brenda Lee’s “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree.”

[From HuffPost]

Of course Mariah has other things to focus on right now. She’s the “Queen of Christmas” and her holiday anthem is only at No. 2 — that might as well be No. Nothing!!! Don’t pester the Queen with peasant party trivia when there’s a crisis afoot! No, I jest (kind of) about Mariah’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You” being dethroned (for the time being) by a 65-year-old classic. And like I said, in this instance I totally relate to Ms. Carey. If someone had asked me before reading this news item what a White Elephant Gift Party was, my pithy reply would’ve been “a soiree for those who are unable to see Pink Elephants On Parade.” Personally, I think mine sounds like more fun. Of course, as soon as I finished writing this post I got an email from Etsy with the subject line “White elephant gifts that wow.”

photos credit: BauerGriffin/INSTARimages and via Instagram

Categories
kaley cuoco Parties Pregnant Tom Pelphrey

Kaley Cuoco & Tom Pelphrey had a huge baby shower with a drone show

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Kaley Cuoco and Tom Pelphrey are expecting their first child, a baby girl, probably this spring. Kaley and Tom got together less than a year ago, they were head over heels and all in very quickly, and soon they’ll be new parents. They had a big outdoor baby shower over the weekend with balloons, live music, fairy lights, flowers, cake, and… a drone show? There were 400 drones that made different, on-theme images in the night sky. Okay that’s pretty cool. It’s a lot, but it’s cool.

Kaley Cuoco and Tom Pelphrey are going big for their baby! The sweet couple shared photos from their glamorous baby shower over the weekend. The blowout event took place under a large tent decorated with fairy lights and featured live music from Jenny Fowler Cardenas and her bandmates, multiple personalized cakes, beautiful floral arrangements and even a drone show.

“Last night we got to celebrate our future unicorn surrounded by incredible friends, family & animals in the most magical environment,” 37-year-old Cuoco captioned photos from the event on her Instagram. “Thank you to the very special group of people who made it a night we will all remember for the rest of our lives.”

“Kaley and Tom’s baby shower was absolutely magical and they had the absolute best time. Kaley’s sister, Bri, threw the shower, and their parents, family, and closest friends were all there to celebrate,” a source tells ET.

The mom-to-be wore a hot pink mini dress in honor of her baby girl and shared photos kissing her boyfriend, Ozark star Pelphrey, in front of a giant balloon sign that read “Baby Pelphrey.”

There were also nods to Cuoco’s equestrian side with a horse statue on one cake and the drone show featuring a female jockey leaping over a hurdle. Horses were also on site at the venue for guests to pet. Cuoco later shared that the drone show was comprised of 400 drones creating different images in the sky, including a stork and a mother and father holding hands with a little girl.

A-lister Brad Pitt was in attendance at the sweet soiree, wearing a sky blue jumpsuit and posing for a photo with fellow guest Jonathan Bluth. Bluth has since deleted the photo off his social media. Pitt was an executive producer on Pelphrey’s film She Said.

“Some guests were starstruck by Brad Pitt, who was in a great mood and even took a picture with some people there,” the source tells ET.

Other guests in attendance included stylist Brad Goreski and his husband, writer Gary Janetti, as well as former Bachelorette Ali Fedotowsky.

Cuoco and her guests took to the dance floor with the mom-to-be seen jamming out to “Footloose,” and the Jackson 5 hit, “ABC.” Guests enjoyed taking photos in the photo booth, snapping Polaroid pictures, posing in a face-in-hole cutout of a cowboy, cowgirl, and baby girl, and even playing corn hole.

Cuoco and Pelphrey first shared they were expecting a baby girl in October 2022. At the time, the Flight Attendant star wrote she was “beyond blessed and over the moon” about her baby news.

[From ET Online]

The shower looks and sounds pretty fun. I like a nighttime shower that’s like a big party. And yeah, do it up for your first baby. And I like that Kaley bucked baby shower tradition by wearing that sparkly, hot pink mini dress instead of some pastel florals. I like Kaley, but the guest list is a bit… uncool. Ugh, Gary Janetti. And why was Brad Pitt there? Like, see the actual reason for being here, but you don’t have to invite all your co-workers to your baby shower. And maybe not those who have such a bad history with their own children. Anyway, are Kaley and Tom married? Around the time she met him, Kaley publicly said she would never marry again and wanted to be held accountable for that. But in some pics it looks like they’re wearing rings and in the shower pics a tattoo of his name is visible on her left ring finger. Are the rings symbolic? Is the tattoo what she got because they’re forever, but not getting married? Are they just flat out married and she’s keeping it secret because she doesn’t want to get roasted after her public vow? The latter would not surprise me, but if it’s just symbolism the tattoos are a cute idea.

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Categories
jennifer aniston Parties

Jennifer Aniston hosted a big holiday party full of Hollywood’s A-list ‘old guard’

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In recent years, Jennifer Aniston has spoken frequently about the current lack of glamour in Hollywood. A year ago, she told THR: “I don’t know what the industry is anymore. It’s not the same industry that it used to be. It’s not that glamorous anymore. It’s slowly becoming about TikTok and Instagram followers.” Recently, she told Allure that she feels like Hollywood is “dying” and “There are no more movie stars. There’s no more glamour. Even the Oscar parties used to be so fun….” While I agree that there’s a dearth of glamour these days, I actually do think there are still movie stars and probably some pretty wild Hollywood parties too. Speaking of, Jennifer decided to host a big holiday party with A-listers and “old guard” Hollywood types.

Jennifer Aniston hosted a rather secretive holiday party for a gaggle of her equally famous friends this past weekend, Page Six can exclusively reveal. The star-studded soirée took place at the actress’ sprawling Bel-Air mansion on Saturday night, and we’re told the “joke of the night” was that the group considered themselves the “old guard of Hollywood.”

After all, attendees included Sandra Bullock, Gwyneth Paltrow, David Spade, Bradley Cooper, Jason Bateman and Tobey Maguire. Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos and IAC chairperson Barry Diller were also in attendance, as were several of Aniston’s colleagues — past, present and future. “Friends” stars Courteney Cox and Lisa Kudrow — as well as “Morning Show” stars Reese Witherspoon and Mark Duplass — were among those celebrating the festive affair.

Jon Hamm — who will appear in Season 3 of the Apple TV drama series — was there with his new girlfriend and potential wife, Anna Osceola.

We’re told it was a no-cellphone party — but not because there was a rule in place. Guests simply “didn’t pull them out,” so people weren’t taking photos or videos, or documenting their nights for social media.

The bash was described to us as an “old-school, fun party” filled with “non-thirsty” celebrities.

[From Page Six]

It still cracks me up that Aniston and Paltrow eventually became friends, even when Gwyneth snottily referred to Aniston as “that TV girl.” Most of the names on this list are part of Aniston’s long-time friend group, like Jason Bateman and Courteney Cox, obviously. Slightly surprised that Bradley Cooper was there? Tobey Maguire is interesting because most of Aniston’s friend group is tight with Maguire’s ex-wife Jennifer Meyer. Anyway, in addition to being a no-cellphone party, I guess it was a mostly white party too. ¯_(ツ)_/¯

Photos courtesy of Backgrid.

Categories
Chrissy Teigen john legend Parties shay mitchell

Chrissy Teigen and John Legend’s Squid Game party: trolling, tone deaf?

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Last week Chrissy Teigen and John Legend had a really professional-looking Squid Game-themed party. A party planning company came in and transformed their mansion, complete with wall adhesives that looked like the Squid Game set, and games and furniture from the show. Red-helmeted guards served food, there was a giant piggy bank with cash and a replica of the bunk beds where people slept before they got murdered in competitions. There was also dalgona candy with safety pins, just like the

Chrissy’s birthday isn’t until November 30th, John’s is late in December and Halloween was of course last month. I’m assuming they scheduled the party last week so that more of their rich and famous friends could come. Chrissy has limited comments on some of her posts about the party but there are still people saying this is an incredibly tone deaf theme. It’s one thing to wear a Squid Game jumpsuit for Halloween. It’s much different to recreate an entire show about desperate people being murdered for the entertainment of the uber wealthy. Here are some of the comments via Buzzfeed:

theafterlifeoftheparty__: Rich people dressing up as characters from Squid Game… way to miss the point of the show. Super tone deaf.

kristinacheeseman: I love this…. But I’m also getting rich white men watching the glass bridge episode vibes

mollyyamill: This is so beyond tone deaf as a millionaire to invite your rich friends over and reenact squid games which is rooted in the violence of capitalism

radradryan: Complete lack of self awareness

[From Instagram via Buzzfeed]

Chrissy dressed as the Red Light Green Light murder doll and John dressed as one of the masked viewers who came in toward the end of the series. This is just an obnoxious theme for super rich people. They would be the people watching Squid Game, and they seem somewhat aware of this in their choice of costumes. Chrissy has shown us, again and again, who she is. John is showing us too in his unwavering support for her and participation in stunts like this.

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Categories
Birthdays Jada Pinkett Smith Parties

Jada Pinkett Smith had a rollerskating party for her 50th birthday

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Jada Pinkett Smith has hit several milestones these last few months. She shaved off her hair after years of dealing with alopecia and started building a tattoo sleeve because “carpe diem.” Jada also made a surprise appearance at the Emmys on Sunday to honor her dear friend, Debbie Allen, with the Governors Award. In fact, Debbie mentioned how she was just at Jada’s 50th birthday party. Jada has crossed the threshold into a new decade and decided to do it in style. Jada invited her friends to a roller skating party under the stars. Jada posted videos and photos on Instagram Stories of the event. Below are a few more highlights via Yahoo!

Smith took to her Instagram Story to share details of the event. In one video, she posed under a neon sign that read Jada’s Roller Rink. She captioned the video, “I rolled into 50 like…”

She also shared a video of the roller rink at night, writing, “I got to skate under Mother Moon for the first time in my life.”

Smith’s mother Adrienne Banfield-Norris, who co-hosts Red Table Talk alongside Jada and Willow, gushed over her daughter on Instagram, sharing several throwback photos of the Girls Trip star.

“​​50 years ago today @ 12:38pm you arrived weighing a whopping 7lbs 3 3/4 oz. I was and still am so very proud,” she wrote. “I thank God for the village of family and friends who helped me guide you over the years. I take very little credit for the incredible woman you have become. I am overwhelmed w gratitude. In this next season, I wish for you an abundance of love, laughter, health, wisdom, peace and just all the things as ordered by the divine.”

[From Yahoo!]

I love how Jada’s mom, Adrienne Banfield-Norris, celebrated her on Instagram by sharing the story of Jada’s birth. It was even sweeter that her mom thanked those who helped Jada become the woman that she is by helping to raise her and giving her opportunities. I am looking forward to see what this next decade brings Jada and her clan. I love how all of us Gen Xers are doing all of these nostalgic parties. I also threw myself a 70s roller skating party for my 40th. I fell on my ass several times and enjoyed the hell out of the night. It felt so good to revisit the experiences of my childhood that are slipping away in our more digital world. And as a wild moon child, I love how Jada had the rink made outside under the moon and the stars. All I can say is, I am suffering from serious FOMO. I am not sure why my invite didn’t come in the mail. But it’s ok, I’ll have my people reach out to Jada’s people and maybe I can be at the next big event. All joking aside, I hope that, despite the circumstances of COVID, Jada had an amazing 50th. Hopefully Jada will get to do something special with Willow once they are reunited since she was unable to make it to her mom’s party.

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Photos from Instagram and via Yahoo!