The Civilized Life in Sarasota: Half-naked Men and The Naked Florist

Yesterday started with bare-chested men and ended up at The Naked Florist. That's a little too much nakedness for me.

Let's start with The Naked Florist. Owner Roger Capote is a cutie-pie. I am co-chairing, with Wendy Deming, Town Hall's Platinum Dinner for my good friend Kristine Nickel, who is the over-all chair of RCLA's Town Hall this year. Kristine and I met with Roger to discuss centerpieces for the Jan. 7 dinner. For those 700 of you who will be attending, prepare to be wowed! I am not spilling any luscious details, but I know Roger is going to out-do himself and it is going to be fab-u-lous!

Lunch was at Michael's On East for UCP's Goddess Luncheon: Gold, Glitz and Glam. You could definitely feel and see that Wendy Mann Resnick had retired. For many, many years Wendy was UCP and had a huge following. I have been to this luncheon in the past and this year's attendance was seemingly half of who was usually there. The whole feel was a bit different, too. Wendy always played the goddess to the hilt, costume and all. The new ED, Norma Israel, seemed lovely, but low-key and normally dressed. If you are going to have a theme, you need to fully embrace it. Also, the room lacked energy. A few tips regarding that: Even though the full ballroom is available, you don't have to use it all. It would have seemed more cozy if the sparse crowd had been tucked in closer together and the room not so spread out. Also, the lights should have been up a little more especially during the fashion show.

One other little thing, this year they changed the half-naked men from being dressed as gladiators, which was kind of cute, to now a copy of the Chippendale dancers of wild bachlorlette party fame, with shiny black pants, and only cuffs and collars. That gave off a totally different vibe.

Rohelle Nigri gave a moving speech about her recent visit to UCP. Both funny and sad, this gorgeous model told how a client there came up to her and asked if she was married. When she said no, he became so excited, he immediately went into a seizure. The point of her story was to encourage us all to visit UCP and get to personally know the people they serve. Problem was, when I looked at the program at my place setting, there was no address, no website, no phone number, no anything. Not even the ED's name. I had to look that up myself when I returned home. Another tip: the entire back of the program was blank. This was a lost opportunity to add contact information, state the mission, and list the services of the organization. You need to utilize the program as an education piece.

In no way are the above tips meant to be critical, only constructive. They are also meant to share with other chairs how to make your event look and be more successful. I have chaired many things over the years, and believe me, it is a learning process. The first event I ever chaired was a historic home tour about 25 years ago in Venice. Recently I came across the tour book from that event and I was horrified! We didn't even have the date on it! I have made so many mistakes along the way (and still do) that if I can help anyone improve their event, I want to help.

When lunch was served, I actually said to my dining companion, "My, this truly is a light lunch", as it was three little scoops of egg, chicken, and tuna salad. When dessert was served, I saw why. Apparently it is ALL about the dessert, and it was spectacular! I was totally full when I left!

Brownie Ice Cream Stack - layers of dark chocolate brownie, Heath bar cruchies, espresso ice cream, and vanilla ice cream drizzled with chocolate sauce. Yum, yum!

The fashion show had some lovely pieces from L boutique, Dream Weaver, Foxy Lady, and Taffy's Menswear.

In addition to those who are in the photos below, others in attendance where: Gloria Moss, Caroline Zucker, Shelley Binion, Lea Mei, Nikki Sedacca, Alex Miller, Chris Voelker, Dr. Marguarite Barnett, Stacy Alario, Diana Kelly, and Beth Knopik.