My Birthday Bash 2008 - Negril Village NYC

Whew! Family.....

I am finally recovering from my annual birthday bash....it was a VERY long day for me (all will be explained later...lol).....but let me start from the beginning.....

I decided towards the end of December that I wanted to have a birthday party and I expressed this to my publicist Mary Moore...I knew that I wouldn't be able to do it in my usual "Runway Diva Fashion"....ya'll know...I generally will secure an arrangement with a club preferably on a Friday or Saturday night...they get the bar (my peeps like to drink..lol) and I bring in a DJ of my liking....(Usually DJ Rockin Rob or The Legendary Chris Washington!)...supply a little food to sop up all that alcohol (The Runway Diva can THROW DOWN in the kitchen!!!).....waive the cover at the door and the party is on!!!!

Well because the party was kinda last minute....I realized I couldn't do it in my usual fashion and I would have to "piggyback" my party on someone else's....Big Ced of The Industry Co-Sign (http://www.theindustrycosign.com/) was kind enough to let me have my party during his usual Thursday night event. Well, everything should have been all good from there right? RIGHT????

lol...from the moment I decided I wanted to have a party and sent out my "Save The Date" emails...I began having these weird feelings and emotions and wavered frequently between being excited and wanting to cancel everything...every day it was a new story with me...lol. (menopause is a beautiful thing....NOT!). Mercifully Jacqueline stepped in and told me not to worry....so I did as I was told and tried not to worry but I just couldn't relax completely.

The icing on the cake for me was the weekend leading up to my party, where I went to see Patti Labelle and got a really bad case of food poisoning (see winter explosion 2008 blog) and was actually sick on my birthday....you KNOW that pretty much set the tone for my bad mood to continue.....

Anyway, the day before my party, I got a call from Mary early in the morning informing me that my presence was requested at The Hammerstein Ballroom for BET's Rip The Runway taping and did I still want to do it (I had gotten the call a week or so earlier but they couldn't make up their minds about actually HAVING the segment again (Hmmmph! Never mind that it's THE MOST POPULAR SEGMENT in the ENTIRE BROADCAST????...but more about THAT later...lol). After saying a brief prayer for my stomach to be still...I agreed to participate and got myself together for the 1pm fitting/rehearsal.

After much chaos, I got the fittings and the rehearsal out of the way without much of a problem and headed home to prepare my bag(s) for the next day. My new dilemma was that we were not scheduled to be onstage to do our segment until 9:15pm and my party started at 9pm. Well since our segment was ONLY 2 minutes and 23 seconds (I kid you not) I figured I could do it and jet downtown quickly to make my party. As usual the broadcast was a little behind but I got out of the Hammerstein Ballroom at 9:45pm jumped in a taxi dressed in a Qristyl Frazier Dress (that I snatched off of a plus model as soon as we were done) and got to Negril Village at 10pm.

Jacqueline met me outside and grabbed my bags and coat so that I could make a "proper"...lol...entrance. I got downstairs to find my friends waiting patiently for me, Jacqueline had the section where we were seated beautifully decorated and I knew immediately that all my fears were for naught. I looked around and saw so many familiar faces from various points in my life that it made me smile and feel loved.

As soon as I walked through the door I saw an old face from my John F. Kennedy HS Track & Field days, his name was Gerard and he was actually managing the upstairs dining room (the last time I saw Gerard was in 2005 when he was managing at "Earl Monroe's Restaurant" in Harlem, where I was having my birthday dinner at the time!), Also in attendance was my girl Vonne with a new friend; Sohad G came with a jacked up back & a friend in tow (thank you chica!) , Shawn Griffith and his wife Aileen (who I worked with back in my NY Magazine days) and I hadn't seen in many years; Kimberly "Q" Purnell (who couldn't resist showing off her new FLOOR LENGTH WHITE MINK COAT!!!!AARRRRGGGHHH!!!!) & her partner Trescha (I won't put my nickname for her here...lol but thanks for the Sushi plates & fluffy socks ya'll), Jacqueline's best friend and my new friend, Clunis (who gave a beautiful bracelet and matching earrings to go with the dress I was wearing - thank you lil mama); Timikal Bobo (who I met during FAT Chance while she worked for Oxygen), actor TC McLaurin (who came even though he was on crutches), My brother Shawn Johnson (who I met way back in my "Pulse" days), Sharon Jones & her fiance' Stacey (Thank you for the gift card!), Rosamund "Rosie" Fife (who I first met while working with DSE), Personal trainer, William H. Felder, New Plus Sized Designer B. Justice (who I met in Fort Lauderdale last fall when I attended the "Oh What A Night" fashion event with Linda Scott)...Bryan (the "B" in B. Justice) brought me a beautiful poncho & cowl that he made for me because my buddy Marco Mays told him that I am always cold (lol...I am); my bestest buds, Gwen DeVoe & Eda Francois, Cee-Truth & Cutie Kev Lawrence of The Thermal Soundwaves crew, My childhood buddies from East 128th & 129th Streets - Dionne, Arlene Rieira & Shawn Pressley, my baby sis, Karen and my oldest nephew Darren (who is now 21 and as handsome as they come!!!) and even my monster was in attendance for a little while.

It was an intimate little group and I was able to work the room fairly quickly (at least I thought I did...lol). Every one wanted to buy me drinks but I did my usual "take a sip" and pass it down ritual (because I didn't want a repeat of the er...drunken "Jet Lounge" party a few years back). I found out from Jacqueline that my childhood friend Craig Bannister had stopped by with out his partner Bruce (Sending out speedy recovery wishes to your mom Bruce!!!) but couldn't stay....he left me a bottle of my favorite champagne Veuve Clicquot (yellow label-Yummy!)...that made me giddy!!!! I got a chance to sit and chat with almost everybody (Kev Lawrence - I didn't get to spend enough time chatting with you - apologies - will definitely make it up to you though!) and as I looked up I saw a few models who came through when the Rip The Runway taping was finished....Plus Models Mia Amber & Wynter stopped by as we were winding down. Negril Village brought out red velvet cupcakes with a candle and everybody sang (lol...or rather...attempted to sing) Happy Birthday - (no one ever knows the rest of the words to the Stevie Wonder Joint...).

I had a wonderful time and even though I couldn't really get my dance on like I would have liked...I enjoyed myself nonetheless. As we emerged from Negril at 1am - we found ourselves right smack in the middle of a damn snowstorm!!!! You gotta love NYC in February....

Anyway, before I end this blog, I just want to take a moment to thank the following folks:

Big Ced - We couldn't have done it without you - Thank you SO very much!

Mary Moore - I am so sorry you couldn't attend, but in case no one has told you lately - YOU ARE THE BOMB and I love you more than you know! Thank you.

Jacqueline Kennedy - I don't know why we were thrown together in the manner that we were but your influence on my life has been extraordinary (you have no idea)...I thank you for helping me out of my funk and I look forward to us doing glorious things together this year. You are awesome.

To My Most Wonderful Friends - You all have no idea how much I value the friendships that I have with each and everyone of you. Having to experience the loss of 3/4 of my friends before they reached age 30 has been a hard pill for me to swallow and the result is that I am very protective of those that I call "friend". Your continued love and support of all the things that I do is nothing short of amazing and it is the fuel that keeps me going - I love you all, thank you for sharing your lives with me.

The journey continues family.............

"Choose your friends carefully. Your enemies will choose you. "