Local luminaries dived into the Phoenix Hotel pool for TNDC’s annual Pool Toss, raising over $375,000 for the Tenderloin After-School Program.

This year’s Pool Toss featured Cheryl Jennings of ABC7, Stuart Schuffman (better known as Broke-Ass Stuart), and Priya Clemens of the Golden Gate Bridge District.

Attendees enjoyed live entertainment, Bay Area bites from Brenda’s French Soul Food, Chambers Eat + Drink, and Liholiho Yacht Club, among others, and an high-stakes raffle!

The Bar Code opened recently at 3600 Sacramento Street in San Francisco, aiming to be a kind of “we work” for designers and artists.

Founded by Danielle Bourhis, the corner space in a prime Presidio Heights location is a novel new retail concept that showcases the best offerings of top US and International designers and artists, with short term “pop ups.”

This allows clients to meet with top designers in an intimate setting and to experience ‘the feel, touch and see’ that only shopping offline offers. Among the brands to be featured are Hunter, Paul and Joe, Zadig and Voltaire, Scotch and Soda, Shoshanna dresses and bathing suits, Aviator nation, Knot sisters, Altuner ateliers, Minnie rose cashmere, JET by John Eshya, Bailey 44, Brunette the label, Still Water, Lna, and Hat Attack.

The Bar Code spaces merges the experience of art and fashion, with custom furniture by interior designer Leo Cesareo and art shown on a revolving on a monthly rotation (both the art and furniture are for sale.)

See photos from the opening party below!

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Few organizations reach their diamond anniversary, however, Villa Taverna just celebrated 60 years of upscale dining service to its members with a grand red carpet celebration.

Located on Hotaling Place the Villa has provided prominent San Francisco families countless year-round gatherings, events, and delicious dining experiences, all within one of Jackson Square’s rare pre-1906 historical buildings.

See photos from the special evening below!

Ronald McDonald House Charities Bay Area recently rolled out the red carpet for nearly 175 guests at Live, Life, Lunch – Style Makers & Rule Breakers, an afternoon of contemporary fashion and design held at the stunning Hillsborough home of Sheri Sobrato Brisson.

The event featured celebrity stylist Brad Goreski, NBC Sports broadcaster Kate Scott and ABC7 Bay Area’s Reggie Aqui.

Neiman Marcus showcased trendy holiday fashions and glass artist Bobby Bowes of Walker & Bowes designed beautiful seasonal tablescapes.

The luncheon raised more than $200,000 for Ronald McDonald House Charities, which provides communities of support, access to medical care, and the healing power of family and home for critically ill children.

See photos from the event below!

Sabrina Buell, Kaitlyn Krieger, and Mary Gonsalves Kinney recently welcomed Proenza Schouler designers Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez on their rare visit to San Francisco with an elegant cocktail party held at a private residence in Cow Hollow.

Attended by an impressive group of women such as Pia Cohler, Maca Huneeus, Katie Schwab Paige, Becca Prowda, Jessica Sittig, and Kaitlyn Krieger (the duo designed the exquisite dress she wore to Met Gala 2018), the event was highlighted by a Q&A with stylist Mary Gonsalves Kinney, during which the designers reminisced about the start of their business over 16 years ago, and spoke about their latest collection.

“We have a room full of amazing modern women, who all have very different lives, and even live in different states,” said Kinney, speaking of guests who shopped from the brand’s Fall 2018 collection earlier in the day. “And literally every single person was pulling things off the rack frantically because the collection works for so many people.”

“It’s actually very appropriate for San Francisco,” McCollough told us, explaining that the collection was inspired by the West Coast’s hippy lifestyle of the 1970s.

“We liked this idea of if there was an American couture, what would it be. So we started looking a lot at the ’70s hippy crafts, from macrames and hand tie-dyes, to crochet, and all these artisanal hand techniques.”

The American West inspired the New York-based designers in another big way — they’ve just launched their first perfume, Arizona, a romantic scent inspired by memories of their trip to the sweltering Grand Canyon State a few years ago.

“We were on a road trip out West, in Arizona, and we lost cell phone connection, we lost internet, we were off the grid. It was this beautiful moment where we were by ourselves, away from the world, away from the distractions,” Lazaro said.

“It was a really beautiful, romantic experience for us, and we wanted to recreate that somehow, abstractly, and imbue the fragrance with the sense of the desert, the sky, the sunset.”

Much appreciated on a foggy San Francisco night!

See photos from the event below.

Recipients of the 2019 Breakthrough Prize were celebrated recently at a glittering awards ceremony held at the NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View.

Often called the “Oscars of Science”, the 7th annual event brought together luminaries in the science and tech communities, alongside celebrities, athletes, musicians and dozens of current and prior Breakthrough Prize laureates for a festive celebration of science.

A combined total of $22 million was awarded during the evening, in recognition of groundbreaking, research achievements in Life Sciences, Fundamental Physics and Mathematics.

Each Breakthrough Prize is $3 million, the largest individual monetary prize in science.

Acclaimed actor, producer and philanthropist Pierce Brosnan guided the program, which featured performances by Academy Award winner and four-time Grammy Award winner Lionel Richie and Chinese Music Sensation G.E.M..

There were also presentations from Orlando Bloom, Ron Howard, Rachel McAdams, Julianne Moore, Thandie Newton, Lupita Nyong’o, and Eddie Redmayne.

A highlight of the evening was a tribute to the late astrophysicist Stephen Hawking, which featured statements by Eddie Redmayne and Hawking’s daughter, Lucy Hawking.

Hawking inspired the theme of the evening — “Look up” – based on a quote in his final book, Brief Answers to the Big Questions:

“Remember to look up at the stars and not down at your feet. Try to make sense of what you see and wonder about what makes the universe exist. Be curious.”

Prize recipients included Dr. Frank Bennett, Adrian R. Krainer, Angelika Amon, Xiaowei Zhuang, Zhijian “James” Chen, Jocelyn Bell Burnell, Charles Kane, Eugene Mele, Vincent Lafforgue, Brian Metzger, Rana Adhikari, Lisa Barsotti, Matthew Evans, Daniel Harlow, Daniel L. Jafferis, Aron Wall, Chenyang Xu, Karim Adiprasito, June Huh, Kaisa Matomäki, Maksym Radziwill.

“Every year I am inspired by the Breakthrough Prize laureates and the deep insights that are made possible by pure curiosity-driven research,” said Breakthrough Prize co-founder, Anne Wojcicki.

“This year is particularly special, with the special recognition of Jocelyn Bell Burnell’s groundbreaking contributions at a time when women were underrepresented and unrecognized,” she added.

Additionally, a “Breakthrough Junior Challenge” prize was awarded to 16-year old Samay Godika of India. He’ll receive $250,000 in educational prizes, which his science teacher will receive $50,000, and his school, the National Public School, in Koramangala, will receive a new science laboratory valued at $100,000 designed by and in partnership with Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.

Directed and produced by Don Mischer was broadcast live on National Geographic TV on November 4th.

See more photos from the spectacular event below!