IRRADIANT HEART & SOUL COLLECTION LAUNCH BENEFITING THE AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION

Despite the rain last Tuesday night, my friend Celia and I went to a fun and worthwhile party for The American Heart Association, at the W Hotel in Hollywood.  It was sponsored by Irradiant Candles, as a way to launch their Heart & Soul Collection, which was a clever tie-in.

We entered to the fete by walking up the stunning spiral staircase from the ground floor Living Room, to the hotel’s stupidly-named Great Room.  (It is a great room, but still…)  It was a perfect venue for this event because it has a big main party room with a thin hallway right outside, where most of the silent auction was set-up.   The auction, which included lots of great sports memorabilia, was beautiful, and went on for most of the evening.

There were so many parts to this soiree; in addition to the auction, there was great food passed all night, female DJ Neina Drake Spins (the only other person besides me who was fun enough to wear heart-appropriate red) playing perfect beats, excellent musical entertainment, a bar scene, and tons of fabulous fashions…on the guests! And the best part was that we were all there for The American Heart Association, a very worthy cause.

The food, catered by the hotel, (and served by the most pleasant wait staff ever!,) was delish.  I really enjoyed the mini beef sliders that were perfectly basic, (meaning with nothing crazy on them, except for a tiny pickle,) and the little containers of Chinese Caesar salad, which was such a fun combo, complete with chopsticks.  Celia went nuts over the “succulent” lamb chops served with basil aioli, and bacon-wrapped scallops.

I’m sure I’m not alone in always needing a bite of something sweet after the savory treats, and this one had a fun surprise.  On a table off to the side were little Yam Good cookies, wrapped in plastic, so we could take them with us, if we chose.  Celia and I chose to do both(!)–eat one of the four flavors there, and take a different one for the road.  They all have a sweet potato base, so they’re tasty without being bad for you.

After we had all chowed-down sufficiently, and mingled for about an hour or so, we were entertained by adorable Marian Mereba on guitar and vocals.  She sang a set of covers, like Hey Ya, as well as several excellent original numbers.  I think she wanted everyone to dance, but, even though several of us wanted to, it was a bit too early for that activity, (although I have no idea what happened after we left.)

One of the most fun aspects of the night was that all the guests looked great!  I’ve never seen so many different looks in one place!  We were fascinated with the variety of fashions, especially with most people in LA being followers.  Barely any two people were dressed the same!  There was everything from home boy chic, (white jeans and tee, with colorful high tops and cap,) to a gorgeous ball gown!  And everything in-between.  There was so much beautiful jewelry and so many attention-commanding shoes, that we didn’t know where to look next!

When we were finally able to tear ourselves away from the comfy couches to head home, we each left with not only one goodie bag, but also one from Irradiant that contained two tiny candles, which are just perfect for travel.

I know a fun time was had by all, and hopefully, a lot of funds were raised for this very important cause.