Farshid is officially nutso.

Wedding invitations come in all shapes and sizes.

And then there's Farshid, whose invite came wrapped in a leather box the size of a purse with a metal SCULPTURE attached to it.



You opened it up to find a portrait on fancy parchment.



And then you lift that and find the important info engraved on a metal scroll.



Whatever, it probably cost $1 to make in India. Still impressive though.

Wedding should be amazingtown!

Tim's 28th!

Monday night, right before I left for the Shore, we celebrated Tim's birthday at The Brindle Room in the East Village.



Jeremy, the head chef and owner (formerly one of the head chefs at Employee's Only), is a friend of Maggie's and so we basically had the restaurant all to ourselves.

Complete with a special 8-course birthday meal.



Yum fried oysters on guacamally!



Amazing steak tartare...



Even the lentils...I couldn't get enough...



Radish and Beet Salad....I could have done without...



Jenny took a break from managing the Goods Trailer to join us.



She had the Sea Bass...



Mags had the spaghetti...



And I had the head-sized pork chop....



And then there was a Red Velvet cake from Sugar Sweet Sunshine...




And singing...



Mags's brother Phil and fiancee Jen showed up near the end. (They'll be getting married this weekend and I'll be taking pickys!)



And then our Deerfield buddy Hiro showed up with fun gifts!



Happy Birthday to one of the kindest, warmest, most generous, (formerly) funnest people I know!



(I'd also say "best-looking", but we all say that a little too often and he gets embarrassed.)

See you at rehearsal dinner tomorrow Magothy!

SPECIAL BIRTHDAYS!!!!

Very special birthday wishes to SMERSHY!



Danny (tomorrow)!



And DHONG!



We will be celebrating DHong's birth all weekend long in THE HAMPTONS!

Taking off tomorrow.

First time ever! Excited!

Mimiiiii!!!

Sorry! I've been so bad lately. So behind on stuff. So much to do.

I've been back in NYC for a few days. I just haven't updated.

Yesterday I had the pleasure of photographing ReneeGoldsberry, famous for playing Evangeline on "One Life to Live".



I've never seen it.

What I HAVE seen her in though is her incredible performance as Mimi in the final cast of Rent back when we won the lottery.

Unfortunately the show has closed, but happily the final performance is preserved forever in the Rent: Live on Broadway DVD.

Check out Renee's performance of "Out Tonight/Another Day" in the clip below, she looks awesome in those blue "pants" on film...but in-person it was breathtaking. KG and I couldn't stop commenting on how ridiculous her body was.



Renee also played Nala in The Lion King and originated the role of Nettie in Oprah Winfrey's The Color Purple

She knows Oprah! Although, in her words, "I mean...I can't just call her up....but yeah, I 'know' her...".

Also...would you believe she's 39 and has a baby? She doesn't look a day over 29 and has the body of a 21-year-old supermodel!

She was just wonderful and hilarious to work with.

Love my job! Love getting paid for something I'd do for free!

DAVID ARCHULETA

So the signing was scheduled for 7pm.

I arrived around 5pm and the line was already 100 people deep.



It stretched back through the store and out the front door by the time 7pm rolled around.



The mom standing next to me tried to make conversation and was like, "So...are you here for a little brother or sister?"

I was like, "No..."

Her eyes widened a little and she was like, "You're really here just for yourself?"

And I was like. "Yeah... I love David..."

I could tell she wasn't sure what to think. She laughed nervously and said "Oh...." as she turned away.

And then she pulled her child a little closer to her.



I'm sure everyone around me thought I was super creepy.

I just thought to myself, "Oh you have no idea..."



Quasimodo here stood in front of me for two good hours and I wanted to strangle her.



But I didn't.

And then David came out.

And it was pandemonium.



He looked twinktastic.



There were some random American Idols from this current season there as well, totally trying to leech off of David's fame and talent.




Before the signing he sang an acapella version of "Lean on Me".

It was perfect. Every note was like heaven. Especially as he really gets into the song around 1:40.

Watch for yourself and please disregard the awful tweenager squawking along at times. I was standing far enough away so that noone was really singing along and I could just marvel at his voice over the sound system.



The signing started. Tom and I were so excited.



He was super sweet and nice to everyone.



The chubbo girl in front of me asked him for a hug, and he said, "uh...let's just shake..."



He was so sweet.

When I finally got to him I asked him if we could take a picture.

He was like, "OK. But I can't stop signing stuff or they'll yell at me."

"They" meaning his handlers. Poor kid.

Luckily Tom was there with the camera ready to go.



And my life is complete.

AC's Birthday at Anchor Bar

Fresh off our epic Chicken Dinner, we headed over to Anchor Bar to celebrate AC's birthday.





We were joined by Danny and Noops and Katherine and her sister.



Nothing makes me happier than when friend circles come together!



The DJ was real good and created massive amounts of fun.








Wait...is that who I think it is?



Yes! It is a KG sighting! Rarer these days than an A-list celebrity sighting.



You should have seen how giddy AC was!



Anchor Bar. Filled with fun.










AC even crowd-surfed. Semi-successfully.




Oh my god. But then, the night ended in sadness.

On my way home, I stopped at Mario's Pizza and bought a delicious slice of Chicken Parmesan Pizza.

I took the TINIEST of TINY TINY nibblets. Walked a few steps. And then...



Literally I was in tears.

I went back to the little Sasian behind the counter and he must have seen my deep and helpless sorrow because he smiled and handed me another one.

So the night ALMOST ended in sadness.

But no, it was a great night.