Pete Huyck Moment “Wanna go to Russia? Because we’re going this Friday night, and I think you should join us.”

January 31, 2010November 20, 2010 Angie9Tagged 30before30, angie banicki, crystal restaurant, jean kwolek, Magdalena Kazmierowski, murray miller, pete huyck, rodney rothman

Destination: Maggie’s Birthday at Crystal 7901 Santa Monica Blvd, Los Angeles CA

Inspiration: Legend Pete Huyck emails- “Wanna go to Russia? Because we’re going this Friday night, and I think you should join us.” Pete is probably one of the funniest people I know.  He is a comedy writer/director who has an inate talent for planning events for large groups of friends.

Actualization: Tell me you wouldn’t be excited by an email with some of the following statements(They all came true):

Dress code is “Russian fancy” which means ladies in dresses or such and men in suits or jackets and ties or tuxedos or Versace track suits.

Very very authentic.  Weird food (and tons of it), lots of wine and vodka and a live band that plays Russian pop songs, as well as Elvis and Van Halen and other very random stuff.

This restaurant has one seating, at 8pm, and you stay and eat course after course after course and drink beverage after beverage after beverage and dance until 2am.  There is a smoke machine.  It is awesome.

Pete’s friends took his email seriously and arrived dressed to impress and ready to drink like Russians.

We shared our night with a wedding party who kept thanking Pete and Maggie for adding to their celebration.

I’ll let the photos speak for themselves along with some Russian traditions from Wikipedia.

When you have alcohol, it must be drunk until it is gone

One should not make a long interruption between first and second shots

It’s good luck to trip on your left foot(I think I tripped at least once.)

Unmarried people should not sit at the corner of the table. Otherwise they will not marry. This mostly applies to girls, and often only young girls. Sometimes it is said that you will not marry for 7 years, making it all right for young children to sit there.

Realization: Our “trip to Russia” reminded me of three things I really LOVE and Russians do too! Dancing – especially the silly kind. Big dinners with friends. Vodka.

Your Moment: Next time you go  Russian dancing, please feel free to use Pete’s advice below.  I had Anya, my Russian Waxer, confirm the Russian:)

ps  Here’s a little phrase to master for tonight, when we are dancing with our new Russian friends: “K sozhaleniyu, ya poka ne govoryu po russki” which means “unfortunately, I cannot yet speak Russian.” And then you could say “Ya ischu devushku, kotoraya khochet lyubit i bit luybimoy” which means “I am looking for a girl who wants to love and be loved.” And then you would add “Dlya menya eto ochen’ neobychny sposob znakomstva” which means “For me, it’s a very unusal way of meeting people.” And then “ya ochen lyublyu tebya i prashu stat mayey zshenoy” which, of course, means “I love you very much and ask you to be my wife.” Then maybe throw out a flirty little “Tseluyu?” which means “kiss?” Then laugh off the awkward moment and follow with “kak vas zavut?” which means, “what is your name?” then “govori pazhaluista gromche” which means “speak louder please” as it will be loud on that dance floor, and then “govori pazhaluista medlennee” which means “please, speak slower” because Russian is a tough language.  Then “eto Olga?” which means “is that Olga?” Then let her know “ya skhazshu po tebe s uma” which means “you drive me crazy.” Let her know “Moya lyubov ne znayet granits” which means “there’s no borders for my love ” and “Dlya nashey lyubvi net pregrad” which means “there’s no obstacles for our love.” Then, when her huge goon of a Russian boyfriend approaches, say “izvinite” which means “excuse me” and get your ass back to our table.