Another star-studded evening!

 Well almost. You know you are possibly at the smartest shindig in town that night if the inevitable Stenmark Twins are rolled out. The occasion was the launch of some of the most extaraordinary Gin Palaces to hit Sydney. The type that are usually seen moored off Cannes or St Tropez.
Princess Yachts commandeered the sparkling new marina at Rose Bay to show off their latest wares and the punters were not disappointed. Luxury beyond compare, sleek and beautiful and looking very fast. And we did love the idea of plonking the odd Rolls Royce alongside the luxury boats. Or are they ships?

Kris Smith with Laura Csorton and the Stenmark twins        Larry Emdur and Sydney's top caterer Mandy Quinn

Wedding Blues

First we had the 'wedding of the year' (Sunday Telegraph) -well it was the first wedding of 2012- when top shoe designer Terry Biviano married footie star Anthony Minichiello at the very grand St Mary's Cathedral in what was described as Sydney's Big Fat WAG Wedding.

The bridal party and guests then de-camped to Swifts, the magnificent 57 room Georgian Castle in Darling Point, home of the extended Moran clan. With it's magnificent ballroom and acres of sweeping lawns, Swifts is becoming the venue of choice. 

Guillaume & Terry

Minichiellio & Biviano

A week ago the beautiful former model and boutique hotel owner Terry Kajos got hitched to her handsome French beau Guillaume Sadourny at Swifts watched on by a host of pals like Stedman's catering boss Mandy Quinn and fashion commentator Melissa Hoyer who twittered updates throughout the day and as the night wore on.

Who doesn't like a beautiful wedding with their gorgeous bridesmaids and happy couple, the partying on the rolling lawns and so on.?
But it appears Swift's neighbours are not sending their best regards and they are asking questions. Is Swifts now operating as a defacto reception centre for commercial events?.


Swifts rolling lawns are surrounded by tall apartment blocks and many residents are complaining that with several recent public events the noise has been extreme and parking in the streets filled to capacity.They say Swift's unique layout forms a 'bowl' that amplifies noise to the tops of buildings in which there are many well heeled and mainly older residents like the department store heiress Lady Walton.

One resident who wished to remain anonymous said yesterday "we were told by Swifts that they were organising a few charity events so that didn't seem too bad but recently they have had what seems to be commercial events and the word is that there are several more booked. We all became quite alarmed when we saw what looked like a commercial style kitchen being installed. Most of us are worried that Darling Point's peaceful atmosphere will be destroyed"

The Shuttle left a message for Woollahra Council to contact us with the current status of Swifts but they hadn't returned our call by Friday's end of business.

Nice Coffee-Neat Calendar

We love this calendar. It's a bit late in the year to release it  but one should always time their promotion to a date as Lavazzi Coffee did-Valentine's Day.



Layne Beachley, Wendy Harmer Kym Wilson at Lavazzi



Lavazzi have been publishing a calendar for 19 years now and this year's snapper who took the beautiful and subtle photos is world famous Mark Seliger whose work you see in publications like Vanity Fair and Rolling Stone.

The theme of the calendar was 'Falling In Love With Italy' with Seliger's work depicting different scenes each set in a different part of Italy where as any romantic worth their salt knows it is impossible not to fall in love. And that's just with the food.

Mark's work is often seen in galleries and museums all over the world and he's especially known for his creative shots that transform real life into art.

Past photographers have included Annie Lebowitz (currently in Sydney for her MCA exhibition that will soon tour the country ).

The calendar was launched the same night at a private party along the Navigli the historic and once navigable canals that are now Milan's most romantic settings within a venue transformed into Cupid's garden.

Sydneysiders settled for a huge terrace house in leafy Challis Avenue, Potts Point transformed into-well a large room with plenty of good eats, champers and delicious coffee based cocktails surrounded by huge billboards of some of Selinger's romantic photos. This calendar is a great size-6" x 8" but can the general public get a copy ?. We forgot to ask.



Blair Milan



## Naturally a top Italian coffee firm like Lavazzi wants only the best for it's guests and that was evident with the parties catering staff supplied by the award winning Stedman's team led by Mandy Quinn who has won numerous awards.

 They may soon have competition. Blair Milan one of their major, majordomos is about to set  up a catering and staff hire firm of his own.  Hugely talented Blair's dad is the media personality Nigel Milan who once ran New Zealand's top television network and transformed SBS TV into the sensational multi cultural outlet it is today.

And Blair's mum is one of TV's most popular chefs and foodies-Lyndey Milan who writes for the Australian Women's Weekly and appears on Kerri-Anne Kennerley's Morning TV Show. Lyndey once presented Gordon Ramsey with a 'swear jar' at a Sydney party into which he was to deposit gold coins for charity every time he swore. Ramsey fumbled the jar upon presentation and it smashed to the floor in a thousand pieces as he exclaimed "oh f*ck !"