Pam Parties at The Pink Door

Wow! What a party! When Jackie Roberts, the lovely owner of The Pink Door, throws a party, she goes all out!

On June 27, 2010 Jackie hosted the Festa per la Salute (Party for Health) at The Pink Door. The money raised supports CCSVI research at the Buffalo Neuroimaging Analysis Center (BNAC). It was a wonderful evening with great food, excellent entertainment, fun drinks, and special guests appearing via Skype.

We arrived in Post Alley at about 5:15 pm to find a line at the door. The entrance to The Pink Door is just that... no sign announces that you're there except for the pink door. A very funny and tall woman on stilts was there to greet us. Someone took our names at the door and passed them along to the announcer - or was he an emcee - or was he a ringleader like at the circus? Anyway, he announced our name over the loudspeaker as we descended the stairs into the main dining room. At the bottom of the stairs Jackie's sisters were there to greet us and offer us wine or the signature drink (more about that later!)

The next stop was the BNAC table, where Linda Safran (the Development Director) and her daughter Jenny were sharing the news about what is going on in Buffalo. It was wonderful to see Linda again (I met her in May when I was at BNAC for testing) and to meet Jenny.

The entertainment for the evening was amazing. The dining room has a very tall ceiling, and there was a trapeze artist performing as we walked in. As we moved from the dining room to the lounge, an artist was working on a painting. On the deck, which has beautiful views of Elliott Bay, there were musicians - a tuba player and an accordion player - as well as four young ladies performing modern dance. In the lounge there was a man slicing prosciutto. Over the course of the evening there were various musicians performing on the stage in the lounge.

Jackie's staff did an excellent job taking care of us. When it was time for another drink, or oyster, or appetizer, they were there.

Speaking of drinks... The signature drink of the evening was the Wheelchair Kamikaze. Jackie named the drink for Marc, writer of the excellent and award winning blog: Wheelchair Kamikaze. If you haven't seen his blog click here to have a look. So, what's in the drink? Take a regular kami - vodka, lime, triple sec - and add blue curacao and two wheels of lime, and there you have it! And I did... I had several, and had the hangover to prove it the next day.

The food at the party was wonderful. My husband loaded up a plate for both of us, and there were lots of options for us vegetarians - veggie lasagna, gluten free pasta, salad, bread. Good stuff. There were two options for dessert - strawberry sorbet and Bongo Bongo. We had multiple plates of Bongo Bongo at our table - yummy profiterole with chocolate sauce.

One of the highlights of the evening was when everyone gathered in the lounge and a large screen came down from the ceiling. Jackie gave a heartfelt thank you speech, and announced that we would be Skyping with Marc - the Wheelchair Kamikaze. It was great to see him on the big screen, and he was inspiring and funny. He announced that our next guest would be Dr. Robert Zivadinov, the director of BNAC. I have to confess that I went back out on the deck to sit down during Dr. Z's talk - with no disrespect to Dr. Z, but the alcohol and MS were taking their toll and my legs were tired!

After the Skype sessions were over, there was more entertainment on the deck - a fire dancer! It was great to see her perform with Elliott Bay in the background. As the evening went on, there was more music on the stage in the lounge and the accordion player continued to play on the deck.

Jackie's party was important for fundraising for CCSVI research. However, just as important for me was to have so many people with MS who are interested in CCSVI in one place! While many of us had communicated on ThisIsMS.com or Facebook, most of us hadn't met in person. It was wonderful to meet folks who have already had the procedure: SammyJo, Marie, Janet (who I believe gets the award for traveling the farthest - from PA!), and Kathleen. It was also great to meet people with MS who are just as obsessed with CCSVI as I am! I know that we'll stay in touch, and there's talk of meeting again later this summer. If you were at The Pink Door and I didn't meet you, please find me on Facebook or post a comment here.

My beekeeping husband also connected with a beekeeper friend of Jackie's, so he was happy to talk with someone about natural methods of beekeeping, Warre hives and swarms!

For those of you who aren't in this area, please keep The Pink Door in mind as a great place to have a meal and enjoy some entertainment when you're in Seattle. It's an easy stop - just one block up from Pike Place Market!

And to the lovely Jackie: thank you for what you've done for CCSVI and Seattle. You've helped us to find one another; you've helped to fund the research; you've helped to spread the word about CCSVI to people who may not have heard. You gave us a place to meet and a party to remember. You are an inspiration. Thank you!