So Saturday, February 12th was the final of my 3 day singles party stretch. The one I was most excited about the concept of because I hadnt seen it done in the area before: my Barney Stinson Suit Up party for sophisticated singles. For those who dont know, Barney Stinson is a character on How I Met Your Mother (a sitcom Monday nights on CBS) and I absolutely adore him! He is played by Neil Patrick Harris (Doogie Howser M.D), a homosexual male in real life, but is a very convincing player/man about town. When I first started writing my Bmag column people kept making the obvious Carrie Bradshaw comparisions, but Barney is way more up my alley. If you watch HIMYM, Carrie would be like Ted. Barney is more like Samantha. Not that I am promiscuous the way Samantha is, but I am not looking to lock every date into a relationship like Carrie or Ted.
Anyway, the idea behind this party was to give singles a chance to Suit Up! Thats Barney's classic saying on the show. He only wears suits when he goes out, in an effort to make a strong first impression on women. So I thought "thatd be a fun party!" Guys look great in suits, and women definitely can rock that look! So I talked to my friends at Tatu to see if they would be interested in being the venue to host the event. Tatu is an Asian restaurant next to Power Plant and Havana Club/Ruths Chris on Water Street. Its got a great atmosphere and I fell in love with it the very first time I set foot in there. So i knew it was my first choice for the Suit Up party. It was sophisticated enough, and new enough and the people there are awesome.
Then next part that made this event unique was that the door charge was not a cover charge for the venue. It was a charity donation. I wanted to involve a charity in some way, and when I thought charity I immediately contacted my friends at the Good Fellas of Baltimore. Vince and Brian are 2 of the 7 businessmen involved in this upcoming reality show about entrepreneurs and their charity endeavors. And since both Brian and Vince are single guys, I invited them to co-host the party with me as well. They accepted my offer and even agreed to take part in a live date auction where we would allow the partygoers to bid on a date with each of us, to raise additional money for the the charity. The charity benefiting from the money raised that night was Living Classrooms, who has been instrumental in rebuilding the lives of the Chiosi family who lost their home last year to a fire. This story is featured in the premiere episode of Good Fellas of Baltimore, slated to air this Saturday, February 19th.
But back to the party. The event began at 10 pm, so as to give time for the Valentine's Day weekend diners to finish up their time at the restaurant. Guests began arriving rather quickly within the first 15-20 minutes and looked nothing short of fabulous! Guys in crisp suits and ties, girls in some really sexy and creative numbers. From sleek and simple, to sassy and sparkly, to spunky and chic, there were no rules! My friend Mike came in a suit reminiscent of Rodney Dangerfield in Caddyshack, and our friend Chris (Greeny) came in a very sleek white suit with black shirt that screamed Saturday Night Fever! Girls in tuxes, and little boy neckties, and guys in fedoras and pinstripes, everyone looked so awesome! I was thrilled! I was decked out in a little silver suit that was actually a suit jacket with SHORTS! And my top was of course sparkly, and I capped it off with hot pink sparkly shoes.
Everyone gave their $10 donation, and then sipped on cocktails (and shots) and mingled. The signature drink for the night was a HUGE hit! A martini glass cocktail made with cherry vodka, plum wine and pineapple juice. YUMMY!!!! So delicious I could have drank 10! But I didnt, lol.
After about 2 hours of mixing and mingling...and partying like singles, we started the live date auction. Vince, Brian and myself auctioned each other off. Let me say, as egotistical as some may think it is to auction yourself off, its actually REALLY nervewracking! Its like "what if no one bids on me!!!?" But the things we do for charity, right? Well the auction went well and I am pleased to say that those who won me were actually 3 friends that pooled together and now we are all going on the date together! What could be more fun???
I was really proud of how this party turned out. Even though I rarely think of my "weekend self" as a sophisticated single, it was definitely a great opportunity for singles to get together, drink and feel relaxed, and yet also do something good for a great cause, and network some too. It really opened my eyes to some new possibilities for the single folks of Baltimore. And thus far, I have had tons of requests for another party like this. And I am all for it!!! I HAD SO MUCH FUN! I will say that I am bummed about the people that said they were coming and didn't, but I always get bummed about that, and in the end it was their loss. It was a great turnout for a first one, and for Valentine's Day weekend, and I had an absolute blast!
Thanks again to everyone at Tatu, and to Vince and Brian for co-hosting.
For more info on Good Fellas of Baltimore visit www.goodfellasofbaltimore.com
And for info on future singles events, make sure to follow me on Facebook (The Baltimore Bachelorette) and keep up with my blog!
Thanks again to everyone who came out and supported!
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