Hamptons Mouthpiece, “We do the talking for you” Greetings friends..what an exciting weekend it was….Started off my weekend with the celebration of my birthday party that I shared with my good friend Laura. Our party was held at BeachHouse in East Hampton. We walked in and we were escorted to our party in the outside patio space, our bartender Talia was there to greet us and my friend Helen was already there getting the party started.. I immediately had a Punch drink..I think it is a Beachhouse original and it was delicious…I can tell you it did not contain rum because I am allergic to rum….

Shout Out goes to the Beachhouse Restaurant who took great care of us and I could not have asked for more…Friends their outdoor space is so beautiful and the perfect place to have a party…they are equipped with 2 outside bars, and  lounge chairs, makes you feel like you are not even in the Restaurant.The appetizers were delicious and my friends walked away saying only good things about this place and ready to book for their next event…Thank you Katie, Michael and Talia for making both Laura and my Birthday special…

On Saturday, July 30, 2011, Rush Philanthropic celebrated the Twelfth Annual ART FOR LIFE East Hampton benefit event! Zen of Giving theme of the evening, 

For over a decade, hundreds of friends and supporters have joined Russell Simmons, Danny Simmons, Joseph “Rev. Run” Simmons and Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation to celebrate the creative energy of New York City youth and honor exemplary individuals for success in their respective fields and good works to better the community.  In attendance were,Mary J. Blige,Kimberly B. Davis, President JPMorgan Chase Foundation, Oz Garcia, Nutritionist & Author,Tamara Mellon, OBE, Founder & Chief Creative Officer, Jimmy Choo, Edward Norton, Actor/Filmmaker, Crowdrise Co-Founder, Soledad O’Brian, Jennifer Hudson, Miri Ben-Ari, Kara Walker, Star Jones, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kimora Lee Simmons & Djimon Hounsou, Lala Anthony, Marc J. Leder,Katie Lee,Esther Silver-Parker,Uma Thurman,Patricia Velasquez Dr. Oz, Taraji P. Henson

What a turnout it was….it is was a sold out event at a ticket price of $1500 and it is rumored that there was a wait list to attend the event..How great is that for such an amazing organization that does so much for children in urban communities where Arts are not offered to them in school and their parents to do not have the means for these extracurricular acitivites… Art and Music are so important in a child’s life and it makes them better students when these two subjects are part of their entire academic experience…

We parked our car at the Apple bank in East Hampton and hoped on the shuttle bus to the Simmons Estate…We were one of the first to arrive and immediately grabbed our spot to be sure to get all of the images…you can see those image..Photography by Kurt

Hamptons MouthPiece is a newcomer to the Press so I did need to pay my dues so unfortunately this year I was unable to score top interviews with Ed Norton, Mary J. Blige and several others…but I did have an opportunity to speak with Soledad O’Brian and Dr. Oz, they were so gracious and I was so pleased that they took the time to speak with me…

 
 
I loved Soledad’s “Education
in America” series it was fantastic and if you have not seen it yet, I implor you to watch it especially if you have children, it is a must watch with students preparing to go to College…I asked her “Did she feel that the Arts were a part of that education in America” her response was no and that might be the topic of another series…watch for yourself….

Edward Norton was not giving anymore interviews by the time he got to me and Ms. Star Jones indicated that she was not speaking to anyone…Not sure what that was all about , I am sure she had her reasons….

Taragi P. Henson, Photography by Kurt

I was able to chat with Oscar nominee, Taragi P. Henson and I asked her about what she was working on…We chatted about her upcoming role in Steve Harvey’s new movie based on his book “Think Like a Man” she was happy to tell me that she plays a pretty girl and this was a first for her…Movie will be out sometime next year, I was surprised to learn that Lala Anthony will be in the movie as well…..I read this book and I am very excited to see the movie next year…Congratulations Taragi…you are an amazing actress and a very warm and approachable person in real life…I wish you continued success…

As always my very special person that continues to bring me to “Art for Life” for the last 5 years is Danny Simmons…I just really love Danny as a person and as an artist…He is such an advocate for Art in the Schools and he works at this continued challenge everyday..The first thing I noticed about Danny this year was how much weight he has lost and how well he looked.. He was sporting the yellow, on anyone else it might have been too much, but Danny you rocked it….Congratulations on another successful year for “Art for Life”. This Foundation can only exists with the generous donations it receives all year long…If you believe that Art is an intricate part of a child’s educational development and that all children should have the same opportunities..click here to find out more about what Rush Philanthropic does and donate… It would be my hope that one day Art & Music will be considered required courses in every school.

Kimora Lee Simmons and Mary J. Blige, LA Reid, Erica Reid

  
Mary J. Blige looked beautiful, she got there late and therefore was rushed on the red carpet. Mary was one of the honoree’s of the evening for her positive contribution to the community through giving…Mary’s charity FFawn “Foundation for the advancement of Women now” does amazing work and continues to support and encourage young women to go to college and once they are there encourages them to strive to be the best and offers scholarships for young women who make the Dean’s list….Thank You Mary for sharing a piece of yourself with your fans through you own painful childhood and your beautiful music.

A couple of weeks ago I posted on my Facebook that I would be eliminating Gluten from my diet, and my good friend Didi called me on it…well I had the opportunity to have a chat with Dr. Oz and asked him “Is Gluten important?” Here is what he had to say:

Jennifer Hudson never walked the Red Carpet, the Press was very upset because they were told that she would, I am sure she had her reasons, however I was very disappointed. Since we were not given access into the event there are no images of Jennifer…ahhhhhhh what a let down……but the show went on and she gave an amazing performance is what I am told, so the lucky attendees were given a private concert and I am very envious….
It was a glamorous affair and a tremendous amount of celebrities showed up to give to such a worthy cause…For the first time in 5 years there were no Housewives of NYC in attendance….Need I say more?

What is your Zen of giving? Mine is sharing my adventures with you….’til next time….Hamptons MouthPiece and “we do the talking for you” I leave you with this last video…This is Dylan Jenet Collins who lives here in the Hamptons…this young girl is so talented and I can listen to her all day…Way to go Dylan, I am a huge Fan..

 Hamptons Mouthpiece ” we do the talking for you” I saw this information and wanted to share just in case you did not read this in the Sag Harbor Express..

There will be no train service between Speonk and Montauk August 2-4.
Buses will replace trains in both directions during the outage. Regular service is expected to resume on Thursday August 4th at 1pm….Weekenders never fear the service will be back up and running for the cannonball on Thursday evening leaving NYC..
Beginning Tuesday  August 2nd at 1240pm and continuing until 1pm on Thursday, August 4th buses will replace trains between Speonk and Montauk while the LIRR replaces a bridge in Southampton that was struck and severely damaged by a truck a couple of months ago.

Eastbound: Take your train as  far as Speonk and then board buses for stations WestHampton through Montauk . Allow up to 40 mins additional travel time.

Westbound: At Stations Montauk through Westhampton board buses to Speonk where train service will resume. You will board buses up to 40 mins earlier and arrive at your final destination at the normal time.

Westbound AM Peak, August 3 & 4th
Montauk, scheduled to arrive at Amagansett at 558am, East Hampton@ 603am, Bridgehampton @612am, Southampton at 622am and Westhampton @641am will board buses at your station for Speonk, where normal service will resume for points west. All other trains on these days will be using buses as well..
For more information call LIRR 718-217-5477

Hamptons Mouthpiece, “we do the talking for you”...I usually try to do a recap of things I have attended for the weekend in a post blog but I was awaiting images from my hubby…living with a photographer is like living with a plumber, an electrician or a builder…they tend to put no great rush on doing things for their wives….So I just got the images yesterday and here we are again another weekend just snuck up on me…Has anyone noticed how quickly the summer is moving…

Carole Coleman & Francis Savage

Well a brief wrap up for last weekend in the Hamptons…I had the pleasure of meeting some pretty cool people at “Howard in the Hamptons” This was Howard Univeristy Alumni Associaition of Westchester and Rockland County…Chester & Gladys Redhead hosted this relaxing day of sun and fun at their home in Sag Harbor..I was told by Reggie Bush the President that the Alumni began retreating to Sag harbor in 1996 for a day of relaxation, food, Drinks and NO BUSINESS…….Organizers Carole Coleman and Francis Savage did a fantastic job because everyone looked Happy and relaxed…Their was plenty of really good food…Later on that evening I saw many people from this group at B’Smiths hanging out and I think I saw a few drinking B’Smith’s popular Watermelon Magarita…I love this drink…but right this is on hiatus from all sugary drinks..

I left the Howard group and Kurt and I met up with Laura at artMRKT Hamptons in Bridgehampton…We were greeted by the organizers and given VIP passes to join them for the RUM tasting that was starting at 530pm..

Both Kurt and Laura were very pleased…I however was unable to join in the rum tasting fun as I am allergic to Rum, so instead I had a glass of champagne. So lets talk about the Art…It was a combination of Color, Glitter and many Abstracts…This was definately more youthful than Art Hamptons and definately more affordable and maybe a bit more fun because of the youthfulness. There were many pieces that I loved many that I did not like and 1 piece in particular that was just distrubing….see for yourself  below….the picture on the left I liked.

Overall, For this being the 1st show in the Hamptons, it was very nice and I look forward to seeing the show again next year.

Next stop with BaySteet Gala…ROCK THE DOCK AT THE SUMMER BENEFIT GALA…we got there late and missed the Red Carpet…I was able to snag a photo with Richard Kind…but I missed getting a photo of Blythe Danner,  Liev Schreiber, and actress Naomi Watts. So I went searching the room for them but I was too late they were seated for dinner, I went over to ask Liev for a photo of him and Naomi he told me maybe after dinner….I did run into one of my favorite people in the Hamptons…Bruce Micheal…Have you ever met someone for the first time and just clicked with that person…Well that is how I feel about Bruce. He is one of the nicest most genuine people that I know and it was great to see him…He makes me feel good by telling me that I looked fabulous and now I know he was lying to me because friends as much as I hate to admit it…I have gained weight and no one has had the courage to tell me I look like a weeble wobble…I had to see this catastrophe in a picture to believe it.. But it’s all good….I will loose the weight and return to looking even more fabulous…

Later that evening Laura and I attended a party in Sag Harbor because one of our favorite bands was performing, we did not really know alot of people there…well we knew the band….We had a blast and Laura was interviewed by someone filiming a show hoping to have a network pick it up…I don’t think the show will be that exciting because the host was somewhat of a bore….it was not you Laura it was definitely the host. If anything they should delete her and make the show all about you, because you looked fabulous!

It was time to leave the party and go home to get some sleep, hubby and I were driving to Virigina for a wedding. It was very nice and I was happy to see some people that I have not seen in awhile. The bride and Groom looked very happy and in-love….we drove back home that night and that is my wrap up for last weekend…

stay tuned for events this weekend in the Hamptons….As always tune into Hamptons Mouthpiece because we do the talking for you.