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Simply diVine: A Summer Soiree
The cobblestone lane of Two Rodeo Drive is often used to represent "the good life" in movies and television. Last Saturday at “Simply diVine: A Summer Soiree for the Senses” to benefit the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center everyone truly got a taste of the good life.
A happy and super-friendly crowd of 500 partied down while enjoying wines, cocktails and treats from some of the best restaurants in LA. The memorable offerings included a lavendar shortbread from Craft, a fig and goat cheese pizza from Beech Wood, and beef cheeks from RH. The big hit of the night, causing one of the few lines, were the sliders from 8oz.
Personally, our night was divided into "before tequila mujer" and "after tequila mujer". Before trying Rivera's signature tequila, all of the photos were really clear and everything was very professional, but then after tequila mujer - well, who made those delicious potato tacos? We don't remember. Border Grill? Ciudad? We don't even care - just keep handing us delicious nibbles and refilling our tequila glasses.
The live auction got extremely lively when Susan Feniger offered up a private in-home cooking lesson. As the bids rose higher and higher, everyone glanced at each other in amazement. Finally, Susan offered to teach a class for both bidders for $15,000 each, at a total of $30,000! Altogether, the event raised more than $160,000 for The Center, which offers programs including advocacy, legal services, health services, education, programs for homeless LGBT youth, and much, much more, including fantastic and fun events year-round.
One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.
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You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
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