The Tacoma Art Museum’s Twinkle! Pop-Crush-Fizz fund-raising party Friday night started like most arts events, with a fair amount of milling about and politely shared pleasantries.

The milling was actually hugely enjoyable, with painters Steve Jensen and Merrilee Moore working on live, very scantily clad bodies and with the "Sparkle Then Fade" exhibit open for viewing, not to mention the fab drinkie-poos (I was digging the star fruit cosmos, for sure!) and a chocolate fountain that smelled an awful lot like Heaven. 

But as the evening’s temperature cooled down, the action heated up, starting off with a taste of roller derby provided by the Dockyard Derby Dames' fabulous femmes of Femme Fianna.  The ladies seemed to help the crowd break the ice and release their inner party animals.  That feeling was then enhanced by the lounge music stylings of Lushy, who got the bodies up and moving, encouraged by the groovy go-go action, though DJ Vodka Twist was keeping the energy thumping and kept it there even after Lushy finished.

I was loving seeing recognized friends like Jenny Fab and The Frenchman as well as arts fixture KAke and some of the hippest Junior League Ladies I’ve ever met.

Even the significant one, not known as being Mr. Socialite, enjoyed himself, which is saying volumes for how the TAM can throw a party.

I can’t wait til the next one! â€" Jessica Corey-Butler