Oh, the Many Bags of Swag

Goodies! gimmeeee!!!!

One of the best benefits of living in New York are all of the events you can get yourself invited to and all the bags of swag that come with said events.

Last night Euge and I had this event. Many worthy kids, benefactors and charities were honored. Russell Simmons spoke, but his speech was nowhere near as eloquent as that of the eleven-year-old girl from Figure Skating in Harlem, who was, coincidentally, seated at our table.

But all that nobility and eloquence aside, at the end of the evening - after the cocktails, sunset overlooking the Hudson, fabulous hors d' euvres, filet mignon, and delectable desert - at the end of the evening, there was the bag of swag with MAC and Cover Girl cosmetics, a tape measure, wax for our car and a pass to a movie.

I'm not sure what, exactly the message behind this particular selection of gifts was but I will take it!

Also, I bid on some VIP tickets to Emeril and and a couple of nights at Le Parker Meridien, but I think I didn't win - I will keep you updated. The other show option was Raechel Rae - however you spell her dumb name - so nobody had bid on the package towards the end of the evening. I put in the lowest possible bid, so it's conceivable that somebody said 'eh, I can drop fittie cents on this!' and beat me.

Just kidding, my bid was higher than that, but not by much.

Then, tonight, I was invited to an event at Vera Wang and, as tired as I am of all things bridal, even I cannot resist an event at Vera. The invitations practically come with an engraved guarantee of good food and swag.

And there are purty dresses too!

As expected, Vera put on a good show with mini cheeseburgers, spicy tuna tartar with black sesame seeds, potato fromage puree, baby quiches, and spinach and portabella napoleons.

I got to try on some of her fancy jewels and be all smug that I got my tiara and your bridesmaids dresses at her sample sale. Yup, I am still smug about that. My smug, cheap, bridal sample-sale self.

Any hoo, at the end of the evening we were presented with our bags of swag and, bless that Vera, she came through!

What Vera ponied up:

- In Style Weddings - egh
- New York Weddings - egh
- A book of bridal postcards - egh
- Vera Wang stationery - V. classy, you'll see when you get a letter written on it!
- Vera Wang Parfum (for women) Now I can smell real good!
- Vera Wang for Men - now Euge can smell real good too!
- Godiva chocolates - the expensive Diva kind. Yum.
- Vosges Haut Chocolates - really anything from this place it to die for. Yum too.
- Kimara Ahnert lipstick - in a color I would actually wear!

Also, it all came in a fancy shopping bag with a leather handle.

That's the swag report for now. I will keep you updated, as I have several more events coming up that could provide a veritable bounty o'swag.

Miss you already!
xoxo
Ali

ps. I just want to mention that I was v. virtuous and went to a Pilates class before going to the Vera event tonight. I know you are proud. Right? I am such a frikkin yuppie.