Sydney
So Sydney
At last week's Silver Party, buggies were provided to transport guests the few metres from drop off to entrance.
Maz Compton, BooHoo The Edit VIP launch. Photo: Supplied
At last week's Silver Party, buggies were provided to transport guests the few metres from drop off to entrance. We're seeing this happen at several large scale bashes. We love that organisers recognise some boots just ain't made for walking.
SPECTRUM NOW LAUNCH
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The inaugural Spectrum Now festival, presented by the Sydney Morning Herald , launched with a large, exuberant party at Carriageworks with the festival's creative director, Richard Roxburgh, at the centre of celebrations. Roxburgh treated the crowd to a hilarious soliloquy on the evils of bureaucracy and the triumph of art before the inspired crowd launched into some frenetic dancing to a surprise performance from a singer and musicians from VulgarGrad. Guests included artists Joshua Yeldham and Reg Mombassa, actors Sylvia Colloca and Dan Wylie and funnyman Tim Ross.
ISOWHEY SPORTS FIGHT YOUR LIMITS EVENT
No heels required for this sweaty morning session at Darlinghurst fitness centre Flow Athletic. Instead, a game group of celebrity personal trainers, athletes and identities donned their gym gear and subjected themselves to a fierce workout with ESPN Search4Hurt star Andrew Pap. He showed no mercy to victim including Miss Universe graduates Erin Holland and Tegan Martin and athletes Edwin Asotasi and Lauren Hannaford ��� but brunch from Bondi Harvest refuelled everyone enough to stay on their feet. At least until after they'd left.
HOLDEN CRUZ: NEW LOOK, NEW LOVE
We enjoy a social experiment ��� especially when it's held in a great bar with an abundant supply of cocktails. To launch the new-look MY15 Holden Cruz, Nine's Shopping For Love host Pete Lazer presided over a series of live blind dates inside a Cruz parked at The Bourbon in Kings Cross. The dates were analysed by expert judges including relationships expert and psychologist Dr Peter Jonason and former Miss Universe Australia, Laura Dundovic. The winning couple, Loretta Jacob and Aashish Chopra, were chosen for their sizzling chemistry and won a trip to the Hunter Valley in the new car.
LADURÉE WOOLLAHRA OFFICIAL OPENING
Laduree, the elegant French purveyor of macarons, teas and other gorgeousness, has opened its first Australian standalone shop, in Woollahra, and invited a beautifully groomed French contingent and well-known sweet tooths to sample the decadent space.
John Symond and partner Amber Keating were there to support Laduree's Australia director, Jonathan Alphandery, who's the partner of Symond's daughter, Deborah. A visibly delighted Alphandery toasted the new store and welcomed this little piece of Paris to Queen Street.
GAIA TENTH BIRTHDAY
Australian music legend Olivia Newton-John invited a select group of friends to celebrate a decade of her Byron Bay retreat, Gaia. She treated the gathering to a private serenade of her classics Magic and Have You Never been Mellow , both written by John Farrar, the composer behind much of the Grease soundtrack. Farrar and his singer wife, Pat, were in the audience alongside stars including actresses Kerry Armstrong and Kaarin Fairfax and singer Venetta Fields.
BOOHOO THE EDIT VIP LUNCH
Online fashion retailer Boohoo launched its Autumn/Winter campaign, The Edit, starring TV Personality Aisha Jade and Australia's number one beauty "vlogger", Lauren Curtis. Curtis modelled the Australian curated capsule collection of ten key wardrobe essentials while fashionistas including Jules Sebastian and Donny Galella joined Boohoo CEO Carol Kane for a delicious lunch at Potts Point restaurant The Apollo. We spotted a goody bag first: a Boohoo selfie stick.
INSTYLE WOMEN OF STYLE NOMINATION ANNOUNCEMENTS
The latest round of smart women to be recognised in these annual awards was announced at a cocktail party at the jeweller Georg Jenson's flagship CBD store. The nominees were a roll call of female talent across eight categories from business to entertainment, and included Gillian Armstrong, Elizabeth Ann Macgregor, Camilla Freeman Topper, Susie Porter, Jennifer Byrne and Pip Marlow.
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THE HAPPY COOKBOOK LAUNCH, Glovers Station
Albert Schweitzer, the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1952, said: "Happiness? That's nothing more than good health and a poor memory." At the launch of nutritionist Lola Berry 's The Happy Cookbook at Glovers Station in Elsternwick on Wednesday the good health part was taken care of ��� Berry's recipes are based around nutritionally dense wholefoods, are gluten- and wheat-free and feature very little dairy and no refined sugar. But a bad memory ��� that's boring ��� so we asked guests to recall the specific surprising thing that makes them happy.
"Lola!" Matthew Butcher said, but we decided that wasn't surprising ... Lola's was though: "I love getting into bed at night ��� there's this website called rainymood.com and it's the sound of rain ��� I listen to rainymood and put my favourite tunes, a bit of Angus and Julia Stone or Chet Faker or Oliver Tank, over the top and fall asleep to that. It's weird but it makes me happy."
"Hers is food in general," Nic Davidson said of Sarah Holloway . "It is," Holloway nodded, "but my big disgusting thing is almond and chia butter with a spoon, with nothing else, just a whole jar and a spoon by myself and that's my happy place." Do you do anything else while you're eating? "I smile and I make weird breathing noises. I have to remember to breathe between the biting."
KOOKAI AW15 RUNWAY, Royal Exhibition Building
Luck was a lady on Wednesday night as Kookai presented its autumn winter collection ��� Viva Las Vegas ��� at the Royal Exhibition Building in Carlton. It got us thinking ... away from bright lights and flashing signs, just day-to-day, what makes you feel the luckiest?
"When I won money on the pokies," Sarah Burns said. "I won, like, $300! I was pressing buttons ten minutes."
"This is kind of cheesy ..." Shanali Martin hesitated, "but last year when I got to go to Europe after school, that's pretty lucky." Were you well-behaved or were you scandalous while you were away? "I was with my mum and dad so I was very well-behaved thank you very much."
"If we're not going all lovey-dovey and serious it's when you see something sold out online and you've missed out and then you go back to check a couple of days later ��� I'll just double-check ��� and it's back online!" Barbara Licuria said. "I literally do a happy dance for that." What's your happy dance? "I do body-pop and a bit of the robot."
FUSION BOOK PREVIEW, Tonka
Fusion is a book that captures the coming together of Formula One driver Daniel Ricciardo , Infiniti cars and chef Adam D'Sylva and on Thursday, at D'Sylva's Tonka restaurant, we were offered a preview. D'Sylva explained: "It's about design and art and food and culture and about what Daniel is and what I am and what I cook. I based the recipes in the book on what Daniel likes to eat ��� he likes his pasta, his fish, his chicken ��� and all healthy because he has to stay light and trim." Signed by both Ricciardo and D'Sylva, Fusion will be given away at the Infiniti Live Site across all four days of next week's Formula One Grand Prix.
We wondered, what does home taste like to you? Ricciardo answered by email far from home after car testing in Barcelona: "Barbecued Australian sausages, because it reminds me of being outside in the sun with friends back in Australia." And D'Sylva? "It's more like what home smells like. For me it was the smell of onions cooking, spices in the air, cumin and cardamom and garlic, and tomato sauce simmering away."