Watch your step! You could trip over a celebrity anywhere in Washington these days. You could perhaps even hear them, like the lucky listeners near the Lincoln Memorial when Bruce Springsteen and John Mellencamp did sound checks prior to their official performances. Astronaut and moon-walker Buzz Aldrin (photo) is also in town for the inauguration. He came without his wife, Lois, who had to stay in California. The 380 or so listed inaugural events got off to a great start Friday night with two terrific parties that had many of the guests gravitating from the Westin Fairfax Hotel to Café Milano.
At the Fairfax, Washington Life’s Nancy Bagley and her husband, Soroush Shehabi, hosted “A Musical Celebration of the Inauguration.” The D.C. Capitals, the National Journal, Celebrity Service, and the Atlantic co-sponsored the event with the magazine. (The magazine’s 2009 Social List and its who’s who in the new administration, which I wrote about last week, are now available online.)
Headliner Warren Hayes of the Allman Brothers provided the music, but two political headliners provided the clout: John Podesta, co-chair of the presidential transition team, and Nancy Pelosi.
In his introduction, Soroush lauded her as the first woman to hold the post of speaker, the third highest member of the government. She and Podesta, who is rumored to be under consideration for a Cabinet post, both addressed the crowd. Among the avid listeners: Rima Al-Sabah and Anne Nitze, who were deep into conversation, but broke off to hear them.
Many of the guests went on to Franco Nuschese’s Café Milano, including Arianna Huffington, Esther Coopersmith, and Smith and Elizabeth Bagley.
At the party Franco hosted at his chic restaurant/nightclub, distinguished speakers included Mayor Adrian Fenty, James R. DeSantis, the executive director of the Italian American Foundation, and Dr. Robert G. Gallo, who spoke about AIDS. The co-discoverer of the HIV virus, he heads the Institute of Human Virology at the University of Maryland.
Café Milano rocked on until the late, late hours. Raising the glamour quotient were Bo Derek and Yvonne Baki, the former ambassador from Ecuador. Everyone wanted to talk to Buzz Aldrin. He told me he is continuing his work to advance space travel (see his Web site, BuzzAldrin.com), and we reminisced about the evening a few years ago when he and Lois--his adorable, pocket-Venus wife--took me to the opening of the Florida museum planetarium that was named after him. As Lois proudly says: “He is the only astronaut who is a rocket scientist!”
Seen among the two celebrations: Michelle Fenty, Catherine Reynolds, Ina Ginsburg, Kristina McLaughlin, Janet Donovan, CNN’s Ed Henry, Charlie Rose, Tracey Ellis, Chris and Kathleen Matthews, Mark Ein, Annie Totah, Carol Randolph, Dan and Rhoda Glickman, Joe Roberts, the Honorable Jaime Aparicio, Aziz Mekouar, the ambassador of Morocco, Said Jawad, the ambassador of Afghanistan, and his wife, Shamim, Congressman Roy Blount, Hilda Brillembourg, Juleanna Glover, Kevin Chaffee, Shane Doty, Michael and Meryl Chertoff, former California governor Jerry Brown, Amanda Downes, Ann and Lloyd Hand, Sam Donaldson, and Diane and Charles Bruce (just off the plane from England, who reported the Londoners’ enthusiasm for Obama, just as I found optimism about his presidency last month when I was in Peru).
Other guests included Susan Eisenhower, Nancy Brinker, Maximo and Sedi Flügelman, newlyweds Jamie Bowersock and Amin Salaam, BET’s Robert Johnson, Arnaud and Alexandra de Borchgrave, Alexine Jackson and her daughter Julia, Bobby and Mary Haft, Ann Geracimos, Roland and Diane Flamini, John Pyles and Barbara Harrison, Michael and Linda Sonnenreich, Kathy Kemper and Jim Valentine, and Norah O’Donnell and Jeff Tracy.
Now that’s your celebrity fix for this issue!
At the Fairfax, Washington Life’s Nancy Bagley and her husband, Soroush Shehabi, hosted “A Musical Celebration of the Inauguration.” The D.C. Capitals, the National Journal, Celebrity Service, and the Atlantic co-sponsored the event with the magazine. (The magazine’s 2009 Social List and its who’s who in the new administration, which I wrote about last week, are now available online.)
Headliner Warren Hayes of the Allman Brothers provided the music, but two political headliners provided the clout: John Podesta, co-chair of the presidential transition team, and Nancy Pelosi.
In his introduction, Soroush lauded her as the first woman to hold the post of speaker, the third highest member of the government. She and Podesta, who is rumored to be under consideration for a Cabinet post, both addressed the crowd. Among the avid listeners: Rima Al-Sabah and Anne Nitze, who were deep into conversation, but broke off to hear them.
Many of the guests went on to Franco Nuschese’s Café Milano, including Arianna Huffington, Esther Coopersmith, and Smith and Elizabeth Bagley.
At the party Franco hosted at his chic restaurant/nightclub, distinguished speakers included Mayor Adrian Fenty, James R. DeSantis, the executive director of the Italian American Foundation, and Dr. Robert G. Gallo, who spoke about AIDS. The co-discoverer of the HIV virus, he heads the Institute of Human Virology at the University of Maryland.
Café Milano rocked on until the late, late hours. Raising the glamour quotient were Bo Derek and Yvonne Baki, the former ambassador from Ecuador. Everyone wanted to talk to Buzz Aldrin. He told me he is continuing his work to advance space travel (see his Web site, BuzzAldrin.com), and we reminisced about the evening a few years ago when he and Lois--his adorable, pocket-Venus wife--took me to the opening of the Florida museum planetarium that was named after him. As Lois proudly says: “He is the only astronaut who is a rocket scientist!”
Seen among the two celebrations: Michelle Fenty, Catherine Reynolds, Ina Ginsburg, Kristina McLaughlin, Janet Donovan, CNN’s Ed Henry, Charlie Rose, Tracey Ellis, Chris and Kathleen Matthews, Mark Ein, Annie Totah, Carol Randolph, Dan and Rhoda Glickman, Joe Roberts, the Honorable Jaime Aparicio, Aziz Mekouar, the ambassador of Morocco, Said Jawad, the ambassador of Afghanistan, and his wife, Shamim, Congressman Roy Blount, Hilda Brillembourg, Juleanna Glover, Kevin Chaffee, Shane Doty, Michael and Meryl Chertoff, former California governor Jerry Brown, Amanda Downes, Ann and Lloyd Hand, Sam Donaldson, and Diane and Charles Bruce (just off the plane from England, who reported the Londoners’ enthusiasm for Obama, just as I found optimism about his presidency last month when I was in Peru).
Other guests included Susan Eisenhower, Nancy Brinker, Maximo and Sedi Flügelman, newlyweds Jamie Bowersock and Amin Salaam, BET’s Robert Johnson, Arnaud and Alexandra de Borchgrave, Alexine Jackson and her daughter Julia, Bobby and Mary Haft, Ann Geracimos, Roland and Diane Flamini, John Pyles and Barbara Harrison, Michael and Linda Sonnenreich, Kathy Kemper and Jim Valentine, and Norah O’Donnell and Jeff Tracy.
Now that’s your celebrity fix for this issue!
