Post-Party

Well, I survived the launch of both website and book, and now one week later, I've survived the launch party. I was already pretty excited about the party location: my dear friend Anna Kustera, whose eponymous gallery has been the talk of the town for her current show called Rebel Rebel, featuring the works of the Swiss photographer Karlheinz Weinberger (see photo above, then check the gallery out and see a slideshow in New York Magazine here: http://www.nymag.com/arts/art/features/31251/index5.html), was kind enough to offer me the use of the space gratis for the do.

So the surroundings and decor were brilliant fun, and Miller Cruz, a New York-based Brazilian DJ who runs several popular club nights, was manning the turntables. About 100 people came for cocktails and Brazilian canapes and I'm pretty sure a good time was had by all. It was hard for me to gauge, as given my worry-wart nature, I was running around checking to make sure there was enough food, booze and books. But I've been reassured by those present that indeed, it was a rollicking affair.

I am in debt to the good people at 192 Books--a very stylish bookstore co-owned by gallery dealer Paula Cooper in the heart of Chelsea--who were kind enough to hold down the book sales and signing fort at the party. They must have been gobsmacked to watch me take FOREVER signing those books.

Seriously.

I.Am.The.Slowest.Book.Signer.In.Christendom. Give or take, approximately 10-15 minutes per book, in between party chatter, bussing newcomers, swigging from either a bottomless cup of 2-Buck Chuck or a champagne glass of guarana soda, and snacking on canapes. Frightful!

I expect to post some photos of the party soon, so you can see the mayhem for yourself.

And since I'm a glutton for punishment, I am having another party on the 31st of May for the book, together with DJ Miller Cruz and his club partner DJ Anderson Trindade, who run a really fun monthly Brazilian-music club night called Agua (which means water in Portuguese). The party is held in the snazzy pool and sauna areas of the hipster Hotel QT in the heart of Times Square. So it will really be a proper Brazilian Bikini Body party!

While recovering today though, I was surprised to read this week's The Minimalist column by Mark Bittman (j'adore!) that ran in today's New York Times' Dining & Wine section. It offers a piece-by-piece assessment of what a savvy-but-frugal cook needs to outfit a kitchen--almost in exactly the same fashion as I outline in my book and site (albeit mine is more of a multimedia experience than his article). I am gratified to see that we are almost entirely in agreement. Almost. You'll just have to check my Kitchen Tools You Need section in the Nutrition Plan area of the website to see for yourself where we differ, both stylistically and in form.

There might be a story about my book in the New York Daily News tomorrow. More on that later...