Simon Doonan in his carnation throne built for a queen. Photograph by Jeff Martin.

The late Gianni Versace once told Elton John that when he died he wanted to go to heaven and not only be gay, but be “super gay.” Simon Doonan can relate. He’s made being gay into a side profession, in addition to his already successful careers as creative ambassador at large for Barneys New York and as a writer. His new book, Gay Men Don’t Get Fat, was celebrated in Washington on Wednesday evening with a très gay soiree on the rooftop of the W Hotel, featuring pink patent wing chairs, loads of pink flowers, pale pink skinny “boy” margaritas, “power gays,” drag queen Heidi Gloom—and Doonan, of course, in his trademark flowered shirt, trilling. The deejay was Shea Van Horn, who sometimes performs in drag, though not on this night; he went preppy instead.

Drew Barrymore with her new fiancé, Will Kopelman, at the premiere of Big Miracle. Photograph by Jeff Martin.

The so-called “whale movie” came to town last night with a splashy screening and a Potomac waterfront after-party for some 1,400 people. Big Miracle is the film’s official name, and it has an interesting, heartbreaking, and ultimately uplifting local angle. First, you need to know the name Bonnie Mersinger Carroll.

It was 1988, and Carroll—then Bonnie Mersinger—was working at the White House as the executive assistant for Cabinet affairs. President Reagan stopped by her West Wing office to inquire about an incident that was unfolding in Alaska, where three whales (two adults and a baby) had become trapped in the Arctic Circle by rapidly forming ice. The drama was receiving national media attention. “He saw that the National Guard was involved,” says Carroll, “and he wondered what the White House could do to help. And that’s how I met Tom Carroll.”

Alice Cowie, Carolyn Jones, Doug Jones, Leslie Jones, Gouverneur Siegel, and Lauren Duffy. Photograph by Jeff Martin.

Even with 44 exhibitors offering antique wares for sale, probably the most talked-about item at the Washington Winter Show on opening night was a plate that’s not on even the market. The one-of-a-kind Lenox porcelain dish, white with a yolk yellow border, has a historic and intriguing backstory—had President Kennedy not been assassinated it could well have been the chosen pattern for the Kennedy White House china service.

Both JFK and First Lady Jackie Kennedy ate off the plate, taking turns, as they decided whether it should be their White House pattern. The legend is they liked it and wanted to go with it. But due to the President’s death in 1963, the full service was never made, and only this one plate remains.

Who: Juleanna Glover, Elizabeth Glover, Kristin Glover, Christopher Reiter, Pepper Watkins

What: The “night before the night before Christmas” cocktail party

Where: Juleanna Glover’s Kalorama townhouse

When: Friday, December 23, from 8 PM on

The "Wedding Belles" exhibition party at the Hillwood Museum. All photographs by Carol Ross Joynt.

For better or for worse, I was a guest at more than 100 parties in 2011. Here are the top ten standouts:

1) The Washington Winter Show at the Katzen Arts Center (January 6)

An event that pulled together real Washington society—the elder cave dwellers and their younger counterparts—amid interesting (and a few affordable) decorative arts, good music, and good food.

 2) The Tudor Place Garden Party (May 4)

It always seems to take place on the prettiest spring evening. Lush food, great drinks, sweeping lawn, beautiful flowers, women in hats, and much camaraderie among Georgetowners young and old. For anyone who wants to mingle with Georgetown, this is the party.

3) The “Wedding Belles” Exhibition Faux Wedding Reception on the Lawn at Hillwood Museum

Caterer Susan Gage re-created a post-wedding lawn party as though it were scripted by Marjorie Merriweather Post herself, including a many-tiered wedding cake. On a beautiful, softly warm evening, guests got to sip, dine, and tour the gardens and the mansion.

4) David and Katherine Bradley’s Pre-Party for the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner (April 30)

Essentially every party the Bradleys host is a winner. They have that gift. But they throw a doozy of a true foodie dinner the eve of the WHCA bash. The exclusive guest list is “A” all the way: corporate, political, media, social, and some Hollywood.

Characters from Alice in Wonderland stopped by BYT's Newseum Halloween Bash. Photograph by Kyle Gustafson

It’s been two years since the last Where’s Waldo? book was published and about 15 since its peripatetic protagonist was considered a personage of pop culture relevance. And yet, at least ten young someones at the Brightest Young Things Halloween party this past Friday donned his signature striped shirt, black-rimmed spectacles, and wool cap. Waldos popped up in bar lines amid bumblebees and German beer wenches; volleyed with flappers and trolls at Joola-sponsored Ping-Pong tables; and, outside, bummed cigarettes from LEGO people and Santa’s elves in skimpy, fur-lined skirts.

If the Opera Ball was hands down the most opulent event of the weekend, the third-annual Ball on the Mall Saturday was its younger, less exclusive, and arguably more fun counterpart. Roughly 750 of Washington's young and beautiful crowd showed up for a night of dancing, drinks, and optional dinner in a large double tent right smack dab in the middle of the Mall. 

The L'Enfant Society-hosted ball raised approximately $515,000, according to a spokeswoman for the Trust for the National Mall, which combined with proceeds from the Trust's annual luncheon, adds up to a total of $1.8 million now earmarked for restoration projects aimed at making the National Mall "the best park in the world."

Attendees ranged from lawyers and public affairs professionals to real estate developers and Hill staffers. We'd estimate the average age of the crowd was about 28, an unusually young gathering for such a charitable event of this size. Spotted cutting a rug: Venturehouse Group CEO (and Washington Kastles owner) Mark Ein, former Mitt Romney spokesman Kevin Madden, and not-quite reality star Katherine Kennedy. With dance music ranging from the Jackson 5 to Miley Cyrus to early '90s radio hits (the DJ certainly knew his audience), the ball was legitimately jumpin' by about 9:30 PM.