Power Of Love, Keep Memory Alive Gala 2011

I attended one of the big gala events here last Saturday, The Power of Love, Keep Memory Alive Gala to benefit the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health... It is always an over the top event, and somehow each year they top the last Year's...
The decor, food, wine, auction items...celebrities...
Money raised! Amazing...
The cocktail room, above...I wonder how much these girls were paid to sit up there in their rhinestone bikinis!?

The Dom Perignon with the Andy Warhol labels ...
flowed throughout the evening...
I wanted to take a bottle in each colour home to keep the labels, they are gorgeous!

I mean, really, can we talk packaging?! It perfectly complemented the appetizers by Spanish chef Jose Andres ~  Cotton Candy with foie gras in the center, and the Dragon's Breath caramel popcorn bite sized balls infused with liquid nitrogen  ~ when you pop one in your mouth, smoke comes blowing out....Insane! And so cool! These were my favourites...

The dinner table...lots of other amazing wines to complement the dinner by chefs Michael Mina and Wolfgang Puck. Ray Romano and Brad Garrett were the entertainment this year, and had the room of 1200 people crying, they were so funny!

The auction brought in 5 million dollars, not counting the additional donations. Lee Iacoca drove onstage in his new 45th Anniversary Special Edition Mustang, which went for $140,000...and then he decided to give a second one, for a total of $280,000...
A brand new 2012 Mercedes Roadster brought $325,000...
A "Night With The Boys", poker at Ray Romano's house with he and Brad Garrett went up to $40,000, then they decided to do it for the 3 couples bidding...$120,000!
Teri Hatcher brought her celebrity Oscar Swag Bag filled with diamond jewelry, watches, and trips, and auctioned it off for $50,000...
And so much more!

We then went back into the cocktail room which was transformed into pastry chef Francois Payard's "Dessert Island", a chocolate fantasy nightclub...
Living statues were being painted with chocolate, there was a 24 foot long table filled with his amazing chocolate creations...
And my favourite,  winding tables overflowing with "Retro" candy, and To Go containers to fill up and take home... my boys LOVED these!

MY "Goody Bag" was so much fun to dig into when I got home...but I have to say this was the most valuable, this little bit of advice for preventative health...
The Cleveland Clinic  Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health here in Las Vegas, which is a stunning building designed by Frank Gehry, out of over 4800 hospitals in the country, is Ranked #4... Awesome! When you hear the Doctor's speak, and stories...It really is heartening  to know that so much is being done.


After a long night it was great to set up camp and watch the Awards on Sunday...
Loved so many of the gowns, and I guess I was on track with the red one I posted, it seemed to be a hot colour!

Did you see Madonna and daughter Lourdes at the Vanity Fair After Party?
Interesting...

I hope you've all had a great week...I also have had a bit of carpal tunnel going on, so have tried to stay off of the computer ~ But it's getting better and I'll be out visiting!

Nathalie

photos ~ me, google