Young, Broke and Fabulous

My good friend Sean, an NYC socialite in training, has learned the art of drinking for free when he hits the town. It's a simple thing really. He mostly goes to parties with free cocktails! The great thing about our city is that there are parties every night of the week, which equals a lot of free drinks! This is great for the unemployed - I'll have the special cocktail please!

This Wednesday, Wendi and I went to another one of Giacomo's famous dinner parties at his Central Park West palace. Giacomo came from Italy when he was young, and has grown to run one of the biggest hedge funds in NYC. He has been throwing elaborate dinner parties for years, and Wendi and I have recently joined the guest list, thanks to the lovable JG. The guests are always a very eclectic mix of people. This week there were some of the regulars, such as Richard K. from Miami (who is always the star guest), and then there was the owner of PentHouse magazine, a performer from The Box and her interesting boyfriend Jersey, Chikita who constantanly gave us advise on men, and a botoxed, nipped & tucked slew of other nameless women.

When I say dinner party, please don't take that lightly. Giacomo had a waitstaff of two giants (convenient for Wendi and I when we needed champagne flutes from the top cabinet), and a chef working tirelessly in the kitchen to prepare our meal. Before dinner started at 10:30, we drank the best rose champagne and were more than ready to toast the evening. We all sat around the king-sized dining table in king-sized chairs and ate like kings (and queens for that matter).

The candelabras had all but dripped crimson on the white table cloths by the time we were done with our meal, including the "intermission" to partake in activity by the window overlooking the Jackie Onassis reservoir. More than 20 empty champagne and wine bottles sat on the granite counter. Everyone was drunk and happy and felt like royalty. I'm sorry, but what recession are you talking about??

Not one peep of the economy, of the market, of AIG, of Obama or of Bernie Madoff came up. It was the most refreshing thing ever!! Instead of dwelling on all that is depressing about our current world, we focused on more frivolous topics! Think happy thoughts! I wanted to fly like TinkerBell out the window! (Now that I think of it, some of the guests were flying pretty high - just with a different kind of fairy dust.)

Giacomo's hedge fund, just like everything else across the board, has taken a hit. However, it's not stopping him from throwing fabulous parties for him and his friends. He's not pouting over this bear market, but enjoying his hard work and more free time. He knows things are going to get better, and until then, he is bringing his friends along for the time of their lives.

While this Italian hedge fund guru is on a much larger scale than most of my peers, we can learn from his ways. Stop worrying so much and enjoy life. Enjoy having more free time. Take advantage of living in the best city in the world (take that, Paris). There are so many opportunities for culture, fun, learning, exploring and getting lost somewhere below Houston St.

Cheers!