Soirees and Such

HuffPost Food, not to be confused with HuffPost‘s Italian, French, UK, Canada, divorce, black, Latino, high school, travel, college or gay sections, has a video clip featuring Washington’s most spirited politically opposing couple, James Carville and Mary Matalin.

But as you can see, they can agree on one thing: the Maker’s Mark cocktail.

Watch here.

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If all the spring conferences and after work mixers typically leave you noshing on free appetizers rather than actually meeting people, there’s a cure. In mediabistro.com’s latest AvantGuild feature, career coaches outline five steps to help even the most socially averse conquer their new-people phobia.

No. 2: Listen first.

The one hard and fast rule to remember is to listen more than you talk, says Juli Monroe, a coach at 1 to 1 Discovery, a Washington, D.C.-based networking and social media agency. “If you listen first, then you know how to talk about yourself,” she explained. “If you can address their needs, then you can pitch your services, but in a targeted and strategic way.”

Read more in How To Network in Any Situation.

This article is one of several mediabistro.com features exclusively available to AvantGuild subscribers. If you’re not a member yet, you can register for as little as $55 a year and get access to these articles, discounts on seminars and workshops, and more.

We’re recapping the White House Correspondents’ Dinner from Saturday night with a special Tick Tock. Enjoy as we take you through the night.

By Betsy Rothstein, Peter Ogburn and Eddie Scarry

5:30 p.m.: I meet up with Eddie at a shitty McDonald’s in Adams Morgan as the sky opens up to a downpour. Eddie is visibly pissed. He had his umbrella in hand and left it since (he says) weather reports declared that it wouldn’t rain until around 11 p.m. That’s right, we start the evening with Eddie blaming the media.

5:45 p.m. Peter, Eddie and I convene at the Washington Hilton bar to inhale Cokes as we mentally prepare our plan of attack for the evening.

6 p.m. We approach the escalators and are turned away from going downstairs because we need to show the security man a copy of our invitation. He says he knows its stupid, but it’s the way it is. Our knight in shining armor, HuffPost‘s Ryan Grim approaches and hands me what is comparable to contraband — a photocopy invitation of one of the pre-parties. He has several copies.

6 :10 p.m. And we’re in. We’ve entered the Atlantic/NJ/CBS pre-party, where the star of the evening is actress Claire Danes. She’s there as a guest of CBS “Face the Nation” host Bob Schieffer. Her brother tags along. Nonetheless, Schieffer stays close by Danes. Asked if he has the best guest of the night, he says, “I mean, it’s Claire Danes, what more do I need to say?”

6:19 p.m. Outdoor parties are the loser of the evening. It’s cold, damp and people are on a mad hunt for the bars. But we also spot our first WHCD big butt of the night; or perhaps that’s just an ill-fitting coat.

6:34 p.m. Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.) enters Atlantic fest. Mother Jones and MSNBC Contributor David Corn is here with the lead singer of OK GO. This was the big q of the night at this party — who is David Corn with? NJ Publicist Taylor West tells me FishbowlDC had better get to the bottom of this.

6:40 p.m. We’re now mingling out in the hallway, watching Bloomberg’s Stephanie Green interview model Elle MacPherson, who is wearing a high slitted sleeveless black gown, similar to what Angelina Jolie wore to the Oscars. We hear Stephanie conclude her interview by saying, “Thank you so much. I love your underwear!” Whoa! What? We asked Stephanie if she had said what we thought she did. She said what many inevitably say to reporters: “You’re not quoting me on this, are you?”

6:42 p.m. The Washington Examiner‘s Nikki Schwab gives Eddie the first cold shoulder of the day — it’s actually FBDC’s second bout of coldness from her in a 24-hour time frame. Don’t worry, there will be more.

6:43 p.m. Shock of all shocks, Politico‘s Mike Allen has his face buried in his Blackberry.

6:44 p.m. We wander into the TWT reception hoping to meet Uggie the dog and hear he was just there and just left. We meet TWT‘s Kerry Picket and her boyfriend, whom the blond towers over.  The party ironically serves Mexican food. WSJ‘s Neil King is here with his daughter Lilly.

7 p.m. Next stop: Bloomberg reception, where NY Mayor Mike Bloomberg is holding court in the center of the room in a purple bow-tie. A partygoer sees a black woman across the room and asks, “Is that Michelle Obama?” Actor Kevin Spacey is also here and singer Alicia Keys. Guests attack them for photographs like a bunch of star-crazed idiots.

7:10 p.m. Back out in the hallway, Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer asks Peter if he’s “just here to watch the hotties go by.”

7:15 p.m. We run into Pollster Frank Luntz, who’s dressed in a goofy striped suit and his signature sneakers. He’s miserable, he says. “Too many people, too chaotic. That said, there’s nothing like it.” He answers questions about his sneakers, saying that at this point he has maybe 35 pairs. He has three homes so he says he has to split them up. Luntz surmises by the end of the year he’ll have between 40 and 50 pairs. He explains that when he worked for a previous network they made him wear a tie, which he found so confining. So he decided they can force him from the neck up but from the feet down? That area is all his. No idea who owns the area between his neck and feet.

7:17 p.m. Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell says it’s “great to see so many young people here.” He forgets he’s not at a campaign rally.

7:20 p.m. Took a bathroom break. Walked in behind Schieffer. Walked out behind Luntz.

7:24 p.m. Lady drops tray of wine glasses. They shatter. Glass everywhere. She’s all nonchalant about it. No one hurt.

7:25 p.m.: James Davis, spokesman for the GOP Convention in Tampa, is bragging to Politico‘s Charlie Mahtesian that he ate 11 onions in 8 minutes during last year’s Vidalia Onion eating contest, which he nearly won. Because of the WHCA dinner, he’s missing this year’s onion-eating contest.

7:26 p.m.: HuffPost‘s Laura Bassett “on a mission” to find actress Reese Witherspoon. Just saw lead actress from “B in Apartment 3″ have to find out her name.

7:27 p.m.: NYT‘s Brian Stelter saunters by holding hands with his girlfriend, who has donned a bright red dress. “She is cute,” says Eddie. And we spot another set of WHCD big butts.

7:28 p.m. Rep. Fred Upton‘s niece, model Kate Upton, walks by. Heads turn. Onlookers try to figure out who she is. Because she looks like SOMEONE. Peter says he’s going to text his neighbor’s horny son to find out who she is.

7:29 p.m.: MSNBC Commentator Richard Wolffe escorting Chef Jose Andres for the second night in a row. Andres is responsible for the outstanding fare at The Atlantic‘s David Bradley‘s Friday night soiree that included things like crushed beat on toast and crispy avocado.

7:30 p.m. The balding gentleman with Elle MacPherson casually places his hand on her ass on their way down the hallway toward the ballroom.

7: 40 p.m. Eyes turn as CBS Chief White House Norah O’Donnell walks by in a long, bright yellow sequined dress that’s scooped out low in the back. Bystanders remark favorably on her attire. On her arm was Chef Geoff (Mr. Norah O’Donnell) escorting her. No one remarked on his tux.

7:42 p.m. Woody Harrelson seen leaving reception. Corona still in hand. Though he spent much of the weekend glued to Steve Schmidt‘s side, we hear he was flirting heavily with certain female reporters over the weekend.

7:43 p.m.: Always the charmer, Eddie rushes up to actress Kerry Washington, whose wearing a lovely long peach gown, and tells her how great she looks. Washington stars in the new series “Scandal” in which she plays a lawyer who has slept with the President of the United States.

7:44 p.m. Tom Hanks‘s son, Colin, who is the spitting image of his father, is mobbed by partygoers and friends in the hallway.

7:45 p.m. Garden brunch extraordinaire Tammy Haddad heads toward the ballroom with the 4’11” Daniel Radcliffe in a sparkly red and black blazer.

 

 

This dark gray leather couch may seem like an innocuous piece of furniture found at last night’s Funny or Die/Atlantic/NJ party at 1800 L St. Sponsored by Volkswagon, they somehow fit actual cars inside the party space. As you can see from the photograph at right, even a potential romantic hot spot. But downstairs in the darkened vast bar area was this gray piece of furniture that matched the carpet maybe a little too perfectly and caused a fair amount of trouble.

Needless to say this became FishbowlDC’s home base.

Early on in the party, a man walked by and completely wiped out, sprawling all over the couch. He managed to get himself upright rather quickly as people watched. No one really had to help him but some inquired if he was okay. Later in the night, a woman wasn’t nearly so lucky — she fell backwards onto it. And still later, in the thick of the alcohol-soaked party haze, a woman tripped over it to the point where her necklace was up over her face and she was entirely splayed on the floor. We tried to snap pictures, but the whole thing happened so fast and Eddie ( who was laughing and yelling at me not to take pictures of this) prevented me from getting the shot in time. About four people helped this last woman up.

By the end of the evening there should have been a team of medics standing by this thing.

At one point we anticipated that NYT Washington Bureau Chief Carl Hulse, who stopped by to chat with the Fishbowl team, might topple over it (horribly Peter said he had his camera ready just in case), but Hulse, after talking with us about music, his band and reporters, walked smoothly past the danger couch and made his way to the bar.

Friday night’s First Amendment Party, thrown by The Atlantic– together with National Journal, Funny or Die and Impact Arts + Film Fund, promised to deliver on some big name stars. Your entire FishbowlDC team was on hand to attend. We’ll have more on the party later, but for now, here’s a picture of Charlize Theron. She was trying to hide as she escaped the pen of “celebrities” mingling away from the common folk at the back of the party. The Charlize sighting was so brief, we aren’t sure if that’s a shot of her or a grainy shot of the Chupacabra. Among the other partitioned partiers were MSNBC’s Luke Russert, who strutted around the enclosed area. We also spotted a dead ringer for Sam Stein from HuffPost, who was putting on a clinic of bad dance moves. We can confirm that the bad dancer was NOT Stein. Although, we hear he’s a terrible dancer on his own.

Among the perks of a journalist covering the White House Correspondents’ Dinner and the events surround it are the gift bags that are doled out at select parties.

Last night we collected our first bag of the weekend, and what a delight it was. A big fat thank you to Elle, Lanmark Technology’s Lani Hay and the Creative Coalition for assembling a collection of items we never knew we wanted so badly. This was awaiting us on our chairs inside a banquet room at The Ritz to celebrate female journalists. Who the hell says there’s a war on women?

Contents of the black bag:

1. Beautiful bright orange hair ties from South Moon Under.

2. The latest Elle Magazine with Rihanna on the cover. If you don’t know how to pronounce Rihanna just ask CNN’s Wolf Blitzer.

3. Skinny Pop Popcorn. Only 100 calories per bag. Guilt free, cholesterol free.

4. A creamy yellow box of chocolates from Largess Affair.

5. Liz Earle face cleanse & polish in a pretty mint green container.

6. Kate Somerville intensive exfoliating treatment and a separate bottle of dermal quench Liquid Lift.

7. Glo Therapeutics skin revitalizer bronzer.

8. $35 toward perfume at Lafco in New York.

9. A diamond in the ruff Radiance Micro-Oxygen facial at RPS Medspa.

10. A delectable lemon flavored Georgetown Cupcake.

11. Free training session with Laurant at YaLa Fitness.  Uh oh. Who’s Laurant? Who knows? But it’s free.

12. Lip gloss. The color: luna (a dark peachy pink).

13. An absolutely luxurious turquoise eye mask from Kumi Kookoon. We’re in the cocoon as we speak.

14. Burt’s Bees lip shimmer in the always necessary array of plum, cherry and strawberry.

15. Burt’s Bees daily moisturizing cream for sensitive skin. It’s hypoallergenic.

16. Promise Me by Nancy Brinker, founder of Susan. G. Komen for the Cure.

Who showed up?

Read more

The hurricane (or a cyclone), the Twitter hashtag #nerdprom, is sweeping Washington as journos brace themselves for the weekend. For some, it’s a chance to let their hair down and party. For others, (cough cough) it just means more work. However you choose to commemorate the weekend, the town seems to have embraced the concept of stars sweeping into town to mix and mingle with politicos. Using Storify, here are just a few people already tweeting about prom.

 

 

 

This weekend Hollywood types will begin parachuting into D.C. for the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. The event takes place Saturday evening but there are plenty of pre-dinner receptions and cocktail parties taking place between now and then to catch the celebs.

Here’s a roundup of who you might expect to run into over the next few days and which publications we know are hosting them:

Movie types:

Actor and outspoken Obama backer George Clooney along with his girlfriend actress Stacy Keibler (Time); Actor Adam Scott; director Steven Spielberg; MPAA Director Chris Dodd, actress Eva Longoria, Donald Trump‘s daughter Ivanka, actress Charlize Theron (Politico); actress and occasional inmate Lindsay Lohan (FNC’s Greta Van Susteren and husband John Coale); actress Reese Witherspoon; “Hunger Games” stars Elizabeth Banks (ABC/Yahoo! News) and Josh Hutcherson; actress Zooey Deschanel; actress Viola Davis, actress Goldie Hawn (her date: CNN’s Piers Morgan); actor Josh Dallas; actress Sanaa Lathan; actress Rosario Dawson (Atlantic/NJ); actor Paul Rudd, actors Ginnifer Goodwin and Colin Hanks (NPR); actor Pierce Brosnan and his wife Keely (WaPo); canine movie star Uggie (TWT).

Recording artists:

Singer Mary J. Blige (NPR); R&B legend Stevie Wonder; singer John Legend.

Media personalities and small screen actors:

Late-night comedian and this year’s WHCD host Jimmy Kimmel, reality TV star Kim Kardashian; CNN’s bighead Piers Morgan; “Modern Family”s Sofia Vergara, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Julie Bowen and Eric Stonestreet along with “Cougar Town”s Christa Miller and Bill Lawrence (ABC/Yahoo! News); actress Rashida Jones (Forbes); fashion designer Rachel Zoe (Politic0); radio host Tom Joyner; author Katherine Stockett and Facebook co-founder and publisher of TNR Chris Hughes (NPR); model Elle Macpherson, actors Matthew Morrison and Chase Crawford, CBS TV hosts Gayle King and Charlie Rose; actors Tim Daly and David Arquette (CQ-Roll Call); Sandra Fluke of Slutgate fame (HuffPost); actress Sofia Vergara.

TWT‘s dinner date, Uggie, the dog from Best Picture winner, The Artist, is already in the doghouse, it seems.

Page Six’s original report, which was picked up by Politico, is that while he will attend the private reception hosted by The Washington Times, he will not be allowed into dinner in the ballroom. Apparently, he’s got a hot date with room service. No word yet if he will be entertaining any canines of the female persuasion.

Other TWT guests include the following: Tom Corbett, Governor of PA, Dan Snyder, Redskins Owner, Bruce Allen, Redskins GM, Cathy Lanier, DC Police Chief. Michael Rizzo – GM of Nationals, Admiral James Winnefeld Jr., VP of the Joint Chiefs, Chris Ruddy – Editor-in-Chief of NewsMax and Sam Sebastian, Director of Sales for Google

Another huh?-lister strikes. But this one may have come from above.

“American Idol” finalist Colton Dixon will attend the annual White House Correspondents’ Dinner this Saturday as a special guest of the Christian Broadcasting Network, CBN news director Rob Allman announced today. The news first appeared on Today.com and CBN.com this morning. The 20 year-old Tennessee native, who finished in seventh place and was eliminated from the competition last Thursday, impressed CBN with his choice to ignore producers’ suggestions to refrain from expressing his spirituality on the show.

See more details……

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