KITTIES AND COCKTAILS

Red Carpet Roxy wearing Abi Ferrin at Charlie Scola's book signing
Steve Richard Harris from "Young and the Restless" posing with a feline friend
Benu Mabhena of "Blood Diamond" holding a kitty companion
Christi Metropole, Executive Director of Stray Cat Alliance, mugging with Foxy
Red Carpet Roxy with event planner Charlie Scola

Meow! is all I have to say about last night's book signing party for Charlie Scola's "Party Planning Secrets: The Ultimate Guide to Planning an Extraordinary Party" sponsored by Angeleno Magazine at Donald J. Pliner in Beverly Hills. The event benefited the Stray Cat Alliance whose mantra is "to build a no kill nation one stray at a time." As guests mingled and sipped on Pama Pomegranate Liquor cocktails to wash down treats from Le Pain Quotidien, the talk of the night was about parties and cats.

Executive Director of Stray Cat Alliance, Christi Metropole, cuddled adorable adoptee, Foxy, as she relayed to me the main goals of her organization that, "all feral cats are spayed or neutered and no cats die in the shelters." There are millions of stray cats that live on the streets, and while many can live a fulfilling life, they all need to be fed and have water regularly, as well as be spayed or neutered. This can be achieved by what Christi referred to as TNR-Trap, Neuter, Return. According to the their site, there has been a 30%-60% decrease in the number of cats euthanized in areas were this TNR system is practiced. She maintained that everyday citizens should "take action for the animals in their world" and not assume that cats living on the streets are being taken care of by someone else.

Cat lovers were definitely taking note and having a great time playing with the kittens that were up for adoption. "Young and the Restless" star Steve Richard Harris declared, "I love cats! I have a puppy right now, but once the puppy is old enough, I think we will move on to cats." Similarly, actress Benu Mabhena of "Blood Diamond" echoed the message of the evening, "Cats are the most wonderful little creatures. These are hard times and usually animals suffer first. And if people can help then they should help." And about Leonardo DiCaprio, her co-star in "Blood Diamond?" she assured me that was extremely nice, really humble, and he would give her advice on set as she was a newbie on this kind of large scale production. She also mentioned that he got hurt while filming and they shut down the production. Now that is power!

Self-proclaimed "Party Charlie" Scola was having a joyful time signing copies of his new book which he wrote for 4 years called, "Party Planning Secrets: The Ultimate Guide to Planning An Extraordinary Party" and even offered me his 5 steps "to creating an outrageously successful party." 1. A very creative, high energy worded invitation 2. Greet your guests at the door 3. Create the ambiance with music and lighting (preferably pink light as women's make up tends to look good in this type of light) 4. Give your guests something else to do besides drinking 5. Have great food and beverages, but not necessarily expensive ones. And for whom would he like to plan a epic blowout? Sir Paul McCartney, but he vocalized that the shindig would have nothing to do with the Beatles or English food. And as far as felines go, Charlie is a huge fan, stating, "You adopt a cat, and you will not be sorry. You will be very happy. You will start doing things like I did like bringing a picture of my cat to this booksigning!"

You can find many more nuggets of information about being a premiere party thrower in Charlie's book,"Party Planning Secrets: The Ultimate Guide to Planning an Extraordinary Party" out now.

Click here to read more about the Stray Cat Alliance and how you can help these kitties.