You know it's going to be a good party when you walk in and hear early '90s dreamy soul-pop duo PM Dawn. You know it's going to be an awesome party when the guy behind you jovially comments, "hey, it's PM Dawn!" Those are the kind of people I want to spend a Thursday night with.

I'll just add bold music choices to the long list of reasons I love going to The Raleigh. The hotel could invite me to a ballpoint pen convention there and I would go. It's just that kind of magical place. So when I got the invite for Modern Luxury mag's Cruzan after-party, I was so there. A lot of other people were there as well, which brings me to the one and only gripe I have about the event: lines.

Now, at this point I have to own up to committing a totally d-baggy move, as I recognized someone at the door and used my connection to completely cut the block-long line. I was that "that guy." But my gripe isn't that I had to feel bad about line butting. It's that all those people in line paid $175 for a ticket to this event, and yet the freeloader is the one who gets a fast pass to the bar. If I had spend my hard-earned money to go to this event, I would have been seriously miffed.

But wait! There's more lines! I've learned from past SBWFF events to eat before going. Not just because I'm a vegetarian and I can't sustain myself on one tapas-sized Caprese salad, but more so because I refuse to wait in line for food. At this particular event, celeb chef Tyler Florence was cooking up paella, which was, according to a friend, very good. But the line to get a mini-sized portion was at one point as long as the line to get in.

Other restaurants there included Joe's Stone Crab, which was serving some kind of cantaloupe and lobster thing accompanied by Pop Rocks - yes, those explosive (but in a fun way) candies you used to down on the way home from school - DeVito's and da Campo Osteria. We were advised to skip the "mojito foam thing," and the Campari-esque cocktail was deemed the manliest girly drink ever. I still don't know if that's a good thing.

But the truth is I didn't come to this party for the food and booze (okay, maybe a little for the booze). I came for the ambiance and there was plenty of it to keep me happy for a couple hours. The fire pit was going strong, there was enough room for everyone to wander around (or stand in place) without getting bumped into from every side and the music was pleasant and at a volume that encouraged actually conversing.

Ah, set adrift on memory bliss...

-- miaeditor