Being the long weekend, I decided to take a day off like everyone else. Instead of slaving over an opinion piece, I thought I’d relax and put up a picture essay instead. And that’s because Fletch did all the hard work, taking shots at the Riva Snow Party last night and they’ve come up a treat.
Full credit to Riva owner Drewe Bellmaine who organised a brilliant night. Using a wonderful collection of props, he created a magical winter wonderland with REAL snow from snow machines, inflatable igloos, giant snowmen and icy cocktails – all making for a sensational party. Guests dressed appropriately in ski gear and there were also a couple of snow bunnies hopping about. Just like being in Aspen without having to go anywhere. Take a peek!
An event highlight this week was most definitely the launch of the STAND IN MY SHOES project at the glamorous White House venue in St Kilda.
This is an extraordinary initiative because it isn’t asking people to necessarily donate or do anything that’s completely tangible – but rather, to tackle a problem that is more to do with a mind-set and attitude in our global community. It’s all about…
Empathy was everywhere – and in this hat, designed by milliner Danica Erard (not pictured) PICTURE: Rosanna Faraci
EMPATHY!!
… or rather, the lack of it. So a large number of the social set put their best feet forward to support three filmmakers in creating awareness about the EMPATHY DEFICIT in society and how we can tackle the problem.
The three women who started the movement witnessed a young boy being hit by a car in Los Angeles and were struck by the fact that no one stopped to help. They did. This compelled them to look closely at the problems that stem from, what President Obama calls, ‘the empathy deficit.’
Founder Vivienne Somers (Executive Producer) with Anjali Rao (MC), Founder Anna Reeves (Executive Producer) and Susan Schultz (Director of US Public Affairs) PICTURE: Rosanna Faraci
Apparently it’s an issue that’s even been studied by scientists who are concerned that we are experiencing the most rapidly declining rates of empathy in society in the past ten years.
It’s also costing us bucket loads. In the US, workplace bullying – experienced by about 49% of workers – costs a whopping $300 BILLION a year. And in Australia, the figure is about $36 billion. See, it pays to be nice!
Packed to the rafters with support PICTURE: Rosanna Faraci
It’s an issue that obviously struck a chord with Melbourne’s movers and shakers, because you could barely move in the White House on the night, with so many wanting to be there and show their support. People WANT to stop the empathy decline.
By making a movie and harnessing the power of social media, STAND IN MY SHOES hopes to restore the collective ’empathy chip’. The women say their movie is not just a film. It’s a ‘Global Empathy Moviement’ that will empower voices to advocate empathy – which they see as a transformative tool for social change.
They’ve garnered support from some huge names globally, too. There’s the TIME’S Most Influential Baby Boomer, Marianne Williamson, David Jones, CEO Havas Worldwide, Oprah’s OWN Network, media giant Arianna Huffington, neuroscientist Professor Bill Mobley and social entrepreneur advocate Bill Drayton.
Oh, and each guest was given a goodie bag at the end of the night with a special gift – AND IN THE RIGHT SIZE – a pair of TOMS shoes. I LOVE my striped pair – SO comfy. Plus, every time you buy a pair of TOMS shoes, they donate a pair to a child in need. Bloody fabulous. You should get some. Find out how at http://www.toms.com
If you’d like to know more about the STAND IN MY SHOES movie project and how you can help, check out their website at http://www.standinmyshoes.com
Our daughter, Veronica, recently turned 18. (Yes, yes, of course I was a child bride…) And while her birthdays have been cause for much celebration over the years, I wasn’t particularly looking forward to this one.
It’s not that I was worried about Ronnie. As I wrote in a Blog not so long ago, her Saffy-like tendancies mean she doesn’t drink alcohol nor did she plan to on her 18th. But she DID want a party. And these days, an 18th is a seriously tricky event.
Particularly because Corey Worthington wrecked the plans of millions of teenagers when he held that impromptu party at his parent’s home while they were away… You know the rest. About 500 feral youths trashed his home and the neighbourhood.
So forevermore, parents will be haunted by that story, fearing the worst when their own offspring plan an 18th celebration. Like me.
The biggest issue is alcohol. Whoever is celebrating their 18th, will no doubt have many guests who aren’t yet at the legal drinking age. So how can you, as a parent, monitor who is and who is not allowed to drink grog at a party? The laws have changed, so that if you are found to be serving a minor alcohol, (including those with fake ID) you can be fined or/and potentially sued. Even if the party is in your own home…
My biggest tip for parents of younger teenagers, is to start talking about the fact that you WON’T be throwing a party for their 18th NOW. Get in early. It’s just TOO damn hard. Give them money, send them on a holiday, buy them a car – just DON’T hold a party. Here’s why.
For starters, it’s impossible to find a venue. If you don’t want to hold the party in your own home – and who would with the threat of social networking sending a locust swarm of rampaging youths to your house within minutes – then good luck trying to find a place that will. We rang restaurants, function venues, the council and even the local RSL. While our initial enquiries were warmly received, as soon as I mentioned the dreaded birthday age number – EIGHTEEN – the phone line went dead. No one wants to take the risk.
In our case, we got lucky. We booked a local church hall and paid the deposit before one of the senior vestry members rang me, spluttering with concern, that we were staging a… SHOCK, HORROR – 18th!!! Turns out there’d been some miscommunication along the way and the lovely lady who took our booking, had no idea 18th birthdays were considered such a dangerous risk. As we had paid our deposit and sent out invitations, the booking had to be honoured. Lucky us.
Ronnie with some of her guests arriving at the party
Then there’s a myriad of organisational tasks ahead. Here’s a quick checklist that might help:
1. Notify your local police about the party with the necessary details.
2. If you can afford it, hire a couple of security guards as an extra precaution against gatecrashers. We decided not to take any chances and did.
3. Have a thorough guest list and make sure those invited know they are not allowed to bring along uninvited friends.
4. Make sure there’s plenty of bottled water and soft drink available, as well as alcohol. And food!
5. Rather than alco-pop bottled drinks – favoured by lots of girls – organise a slurpy machine so you can add you own alcohol. It’s cheaper, plus you only need add a very small amount of grog to help prevent anyone over-indulging. (sneaky, huh?)
6. Organise wristbands for those that CAN drink alcohol to help bar staff or friends serving beverages, to keep it legal.
7. Call on family and friends to help on the night. The more back up you have, the better.
8. Save money on a tiered birthday-cake display. Popular cupcake stores often hire out cake stands for $30 a pop. Buy your own on-line for between $30 and $50 and you’ll have one for keeps. I bought the Giant Cupcake on the top but then saved money by making the actual cupcakes. Okay, I ‘fess up – I used packet mix from the supermarket – but still a helluva lot cheaper than the cake shop versions. The pale lilac icing was challenging… Try mixing blue and red food colouring, but go easy on the blue.
9. Organise as many games and activities as possible to distract the party crowd from grog being the focus. Fletch was a star and sorted Table Hockey and Foosball machines that were really popular – especially earlier on before the mob worked up the courage to hit the dance floor.
10. Hire a Photo Booth. This was the BIGGEST hit on the night. Again, this genius idea came from Fletch, who sourced ours from the Australian Photo Booth Company. They also provide an assistant to help, plus a range of goofy hats, glasses and fancy dress paraphernalia to give endless hours of dress-up entertainment.
Doubles are made of all the photos, so that copies can be put into an album for the birthday person at the end of the night – a fantastic momento from the evening. Even better, it arrived earlier in the day, giving our family loads of laughs taking practice shots before the party. I even managed to get in a bunny-ears shot with Ronnie. Which is just as well, because I wasn’t allowed in the main party room on the night unless I was bearing food… (Mothers are SO embarrassing.)
11. Book a GOOD DJ. I had no idea about DJs, but after talking to my niece Charlie, who knows far more about teen parties than me, I learnt there are plenty of local types who don’t cost a bomb but do a great job. So I took her advice, (about who was the most popular on the scene in our area) and it worked a treat. Again, more dancing means less drinking.
12. Worry less. You’d be surprised how well behaved our teenagers are. It’s quite shocking, really. No one vomited, no one threw any punches and I didn’t even see ONE messy drunk. Although that could be because I wasn’t allowed in the room much…
In fact, the most risqué behaviour I came across was when I flicked through the photo booth shots the next day. There WAS a little bit of random booth snogging… (Thank God – they ARE normal.)
And even though I DID worry too much, and Fletch and I worked our butts off cleaning up that messy hall with the help of my Mum and step-father, Ken, till TWO THIRTY in the morning, there was THAT smile on the face of our gorgeous daughter all night that made it completely worthwhile. In a word – incandescent.
So I had a huffy moment yesterday about Fletch FORGETTING to tell me that he met a long-held major CRUSH of mine – MR BIG – at the British TV Awards. Not even a phone call or an autograph, which would have been appreciated given I wasn’t even able to be there…
Never mind, I said, I can make my own fun and promptly got on a mini-bus yesterday with a bunch of mates and headed up to the stunning Mitchelton Winery, about an hour and a half’s drive up northern Victoria.
First stop – forget a grand tour – we headed straight to the elegant restaurant with a cosy open fireplace to get lunch and the wine tasting underway pronto.
At the front and to the left is Mitchelton’s Managing Director, Andrew Ryan, who was definitely the host with the most-est. The feast with accompanying wines to follow was truly outstanding… It’s easy to see why this is such a popular wedding venue.
Then Mitchelton’s wine expert John Beresford gave us the rundown on the various wines we’d be sampling and the fun began.
Mitchelton’s signature wines – its award-winning Print Shiraz 2009 and 1999
Then the famous Mitchelton Print Shiraz was brought to the table and it was time to see if our taste buds were clever enough to tell the difference between a 2009 or a 1999 vintage. Easy – they were both damn fine drops. Well, I guess that’s why everyone was smiling
Fergus, Sam, Nick, Amy, Alex (Stan), Dean, Kate, Andrew, Juliana, Mitch and Jack
At which point, looking at our group, it suddenly dawned on me what a bloody fine looking bunch of people we’d put together. I mean, really, with big strong Aussie men like these, who needs Mr Big???
A sensible person suggested it was time to get going, so we did the usual exit – through the Gift Store! Wow – a treasure trove of gourmet treats and fabulous wine…
The final treat before we stumbled into the mini-bus for a rowdy drive home (via McDonalds) was the view from the Michelton Tower at dusk. Truly superb. A fitting end to a beautiful day. I mean, really, who needs Mr Big???
Even after centuries years of marriage, I sometimes still have cause to look at Fletch in amazement, shake my head and say ‘Really? Seriously? I mean, you REALLY, even now, still don’t GET me?’
I mean, he couldn’t understand me, could he? Not when I only find out LAST NIGHT that while he was swanning around at the British TV Awards last week he met and had a photograph with MR BIG. Yes… THE Mr Big, of Sex and the City fame. AND he FORGOT to tell me!!!
Mr Big (aka Chris Noth) and Fletch at the British Soap Awards
How in a zillion years could you forget to relate such a momentous meeting?
Me, who has always been such a HUGE Sex and The City fan. Me, who has the entire box set of every series, who adores Sarah Jessica Parker, who aspired to be my own version of Carrie and who obsessed over Mr Big for years?
Not even a phone call on the night? He could have passed the phone to my fantasy beloved and we could finally have had a REAL conversation??
Seriously peeved. But that’s fine. He can have a ball, kicking up his heels with the rich and famous in London… because I can make my own fun. And I will. I’m heading off to a winery now for a VERY long lunch. Let’s see how that goes….
(And yes, I have AGAIN failed to stick to my Blogging schedule as today was SUPPOSED to be Fashion Friday Blog, but I needed to vent. In fact, I think a signature of my Blogs will be the footnotes at the end of each story, explaining and justifying WHY I haven’t stuck to my own Grand Plan, yet again. And again. Well, the art of rationalisation is something to be admired, isn’t it??)
