A week ago Friday, January 28 was Mpact’s annual fund-raiser, Impacto, at the venue formerly known as the Plaza Club. It was just excellent this year. The event was headlined by a Grammy-winning pop band from Venezuela who definitely lived up to the buzz, and Los Cantadores opened. Several restaurants around town catered the event with Latin-themed food. Most importantly, there was an open bar. My mission was to turn a profit on the event. During the course of the night I had 14 margaritas. Estimating that a restaurant would charge $3 per margarita (they were little glasses), let’s see here. 14 times $3 is $42, and I paid for $40 for my ticket, so I came out ahead by two bucks.
But wait, that’s not all. One of the caterers was my favorite restaurant, the Blue Monkey. The owners handed me a sombrero, telling me they’d pay for my brunch the following Sunday if I walked in wearing it. I gladly accepted their deal, not mentioning that I probably would’ve worn it anyway. It’s not like I need incentive to act stupid!
Not seeing a reason to wait until Sunday, I put the sombrero on immediately and strolled through the party. Within minutes I found myself face-to-face with a microphone. It was Lee Warren from the Definitely Downtown TV show and he wanted to interview me and get my thoughts on the party. I was on margarita number 12 at the time and have absolutely no idea what I said, but friends of mine have since seen the interview on TV and told me I was very articulate.
Then I strolled into the next room and RSVP magazine asked to photograph me. Now, I’ve never had much use for RSVP before (meaning, I don’t own a puppy or a bird) but I guess I’ll have to pick up next month’s issue. They had me strike an “Ole!” pose while wearing my sombrero. I doubt the pic will do much to add to Mpact’s “professional” image, but that’s just fine with me.
So my total for the evening was $42 in margaritas, a sombrero, free brunch at the Monkey, and infamy in print and on TV. Not a bad haul. Seriously though, great party, a bright spot in the cold days of January. Can’t wait until next year!