Hard to believe, but true: at a recent ball at the National Museum of Women in the Artsthe husbands —O wonder of wonders!—were actually happy to be thereand didn’t have to be dragged in by their lapels. This was accomplished by asimpatico group, Euronet International, founded here in 1999 by Aki Partanen,with chapters in London, Paris, Helsinki, Miami, Madrid and San Francisco to atotal of 8,000 members.

Dancing is the magnet for this dressy crowd; several men were in white tie,some sported decorations. They dipped, swayed and boogied from waltzesthrough tangos, rumbas and swing, culminating in an impressive Grand Marchin the style of the great European galas. Carol and Herb Traxler, aided bySandy and Gary Ridgeway,led the group through the patterns to the strainsof the Radetzky March.

It was nice to see 200 people marching, just for the fun of it, first two, thenfour, then six abreast down the length of the huge ballroom to split as the groupsmounted each arm of the Museums’ horseshoe-shaped staircase, when theydoubled back in by twos again, then on, so that ribbons of marchers were passingeach other in opposite directions on the balcony and on the stairs to regroup bysixes, and go through the same maneuvers again in a continuous stream.

1789 Restaurant hosted a reception and four-course dinner prepared by Chef Ris LaCoste on August 19 inhonor of Julia Child’s 90th birthday. The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History also openedthe exhibition “Bon Appetit! Julia Child’s Kitchen,” on the same day. Chef LaCoste, a long-time friend ofMs. Child’s, created the dinner menu that featured some of Julia’s favorite recipes, and wines were donatedby Chalone Wine Group. Proceeds from the dinner will benefit the American Institute of Wine and FoodHistory Fund. Guests at the dinner were treated to a keepsake apron and an autographed copy of Child’s 40thAnniversary edition "Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Vol. I." Pictured: Julia Child and Chef Ris LaCoste. Photo by Neshan Naltchayan

Throughout the evening, Mary and Tony Aellen of Maryland’s LinganoreWinery poured their well-made wines (including one from a grape straindeveloped at Cornell University that is grown at only one other vineyard in America).They paired them with the eighteen assorted desserts done by Ibi’s Caterers,ending with a winning mango mousse.

That kept the crowd fueled until ten o’clock, when the savories appeared:crab puffs, lemon chicken and float-off-the plate cheese soufflés garnished witha trio of sauces.

Caloric? You bet, but the calories were soon burned off on that busy dance floor.

“In Iceland, those two are treated like rock stars! People crowded aroundwherever we went with them, all over the country,” reports author GaleScott after a trip there with husband Fred Hubig. She’s talking about one ofWashington’s more charismatic couples, Jon Baldvin Hannibalsson, theambassador of Iceland,and his wife, Bryndis Schram.

Vivacious Bryndis is a glamour star of stage and television in their country and her husbandis not only handsome, he is an esteemed statesman who has held several important posts inhis land.

An evening of private shopping, performances, lavish hors d’oeuvres, cocktails, anddesserts celebrating the opening of Nordstrom Dulles Town Center on September 6 raised$30,000 for The Birthing Inn at Louduon Hospital. The event was underwritten entirelyby Nordstrom. The Birthing Inn, a state-of-the art facility, is scheduled to open inDecember 2002. Photos by Philippe Nobile
Amy Simpson, Nordstrom Dulles Town Center Store Manager; and CharlesMann, Honorary Event Co-Chairman and Former Washington Redskins Defensive End.	Michelle Tyler, Event Co-Chair; David Goldberg, Vice President ofDevelopment and Executive Director of Loudoun Healthcare, Inc.; and Laura Lopez,Event Co-Chair.

This former Fulbright scholar at Harvard also attended the universities of Scotland, Nice,Stockholm and Iceland. Always a multi-tasker with energy galore, as a teacher he foundeda college and served as editor of Iceland’s largest newspaper, and later served as ministerof finance as well as minister of foreign affairs and external trade, making sweeping changesin taxes and tariffs. In addition to being the ambassador to the United States, he also servesas ambassador to Mexico, Canada, Argentina and Brazil.

In celebration of the 10th anniversary of its downtown location, Capitol City BrewingCompany presented a donation to the Historical Society of Washington, D.C. and theCity Museum on September 5. The donation sprang from proceeds from a portion ofeach pint of Anniversary Ale sold during the anniversary month of August. Thepartnership celebrates Capitol City Brewing Company’s commitment to the city’srevitalization and the City Museum’s efforts to document the impact businesseshave made on the development of Washington. Pictured from left: David von Storch,President, Capitol City Brewing Company, Barbara Franco, President and CEO of theHistorical Society of Washington, D.C. and Eleanor Holmes Norton, Delegate, U.S.House of Representatives.

Leadership is in his genes: a little research turned up the first traceableancestor in his many-branched family tree, one Einer Oddson, born in1470, who also served his country —as a sheriff ….Janet Donovan returnedfrom California, where her filmmaker son, Philip Botana, was happy toreport that his "Beneath Loch Ness" ranked Number 36 on the top 50video rentals chart the first week it hit Blockbusters, after Miramax releasedthe film through Buena Vista Home Entertainment …Tom Schaaf is intown again from Africa, where he is team leader for a new eco-tourism safariproject called "The Elephant Coast" in Mozambique, the home of the famousAfrican coastal elephants.Supporters of the project include Teresa Heinz andGraca Machel, the Mozambican wife of Nelson Mandela. She is twice a firstlady in Africa, and may become the first African woman president if she runs forelection in 2004 … In Germany, Allison LaLand visited the Peter and AllisonKeilbachs, who are well-remembered from their years when he was Mercedes’“man in America” as vice-president for Daimler-Benz here. Allison racked up adizzying round of concerts, opera, dinner parties and club visits. Berlin-basedPeter, incidentally, was planner of the trip sponsored by the National Museumof Women in the Arts, which included Budapest, Prague, and Vienna. CarolLascaris, president emerita of that museum, has returned with husbandClimis from their home in Greece.