It was a special night: a cocktail party to raise awareness and funding for the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Southern Nevada.  What really set the evening apart were the setting – the spectacular Nobu Villa, atop the Nobu Hotel at Caesars Palace – and the group (mostly folks with young kids, at the Alexander Dawson and Adelson schools).

Hosted with flair, by Gigi & Tariq Shaukat, the real star of the event was 13-year-old Wish Child, Kendall Curtis, an impressive and stylish young lady who was stricken with retinoblastoma, at the age of ten, and told us (with remarkable poise and articulation for someone so young) about her treatments, and then her Wish (to interview celebrities on a red carpet, a Wish that Make-A-Wish brought to fruition at the IHeartRadio Awards).  But the most touching thing that I remember were the charming dance-steps she displayed for us, as her real joy in life, is dancing.

Of course, the assemblage was also really keen on checking-out the David Rockwell-designed Nobu Villa, at $35,000/night, the newest and shiniest luxury product to come online, as part of Anthology|The Las Vegas Suites & Villas Collection – the stupendous collection of premium suites presented by Caesars Entertainment.  The only rooftop villa, at Caesars Palace, the Nobu Villa measures 10,500 square feet and contains three bedrooms, a billiards room, a modern Japanese-inspired design, a sky deck with the most exquisite Strip view imaginable, a barbeque pit and full bar, a secluded Zen garden with Italian-made whirlpool (that features a private entrance from the master bedroom), a fire and water feature, Japanese lanterns, and huge urns full of flowering Cherry blossoms.  The villa is even scented like lemon and ginger!

The food (from Nobu, of course) was exactly what you’d expect – delicious first-grade sushi and sashimi and nibbly things, all selected by Mrs. Shaukat with an exacting eye toward her guests.

By the time Caroline Ciocca, President/CEO of Make-A-Wish of Southern Nevada got up to speak, she was delighted to announce that the thirty couples present had raised roughly $18,000, which will be granting the Wish of a high school senior who will now be able to travel to Madrid, and see his hero, Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro – the hunky Portugese footballer who wears #7 for Real Madrid C.F., has been ranked as the best player in the world, and is considered by some to be the greatest footballer of all time.  When I heard this, I immediately asked if this Wish didn’t require a middle-aged gay chaperone to accompany the young man to Spain.  (I was informed, in no uncertain terms, that it did not…)

Making Wishes Come True
Anthology|The Las Vegas Suites & Villas Collection – Click HERE for info
Make-A-Wish Foundation of Southern Nevada – Click HERE for info

Get into it!