The Houston Texans wild white-out weekend began on Saturday night exactly 16 hours before kickoff at NRG Stadium on Sunday. The inspired partying kicked off at Lucinda and Javier Loya's Memorial area swankienda where close to 200 fans descended to party in team white.
And we mean all white. Revelers dressed to the hilt in white, ranging from Lucinda's high fashion white lace togs by Alexis to party guests in white jeans and white Texans jerseys. The dashing Javier, minority owner of the Houston Texans, dressed in a white linen suit. The Loyas even had much of the furniture removed from their living room to import all white sofas and chairs for the evening.
"When everyone's wearing white, it's hard to figure out who's who."
"This is the start of the football season and we're celebrating the Houston Texans," Javier said. "We're celebrating with a tailgate party. And we decided to do a white-out because we're going to be wearing our white liberty jerseys on Sunday. So here we are at the start of another great season, hopefully."
If the Loyas' party is indication of the season at hand, expect big things. The couple brought in event planner Deborah Elias to orchestrate the high-octane party that included the sounds of 17-year-old DJ Alex Pleczko aka DJ Statik, the music of DiscoExpressions (famed heart surgeon Dr. Billy Cohen plays trombone), a disco dance-off emceed by the High Tech Texan Michael Garfield and loads of food and drink, the bar set off by a Houston Texans ice sculpture.
The crowd was a mixture of old friends and new with a good number of pals from Javier's youth in El Paso. As he surveyed the all-white tableau of gusty partygoers, he noted, "When everyone's wearing white, it's hard to figure out who's who."
Well, maybe not so hard. We spotted Gary Petersen, counting down the days until his wedding in New York on Saturday; Raquel Segal, just back from summering in Los Angeles; makeup and skincare entrepreneur Sunday Riley; and Vanity Lounge owners Diane and Michael Caplan.
By all counts, it was a glam crowd with loads of eye candy. As one gent observed, "So many babe, it's unbelievable. Cute babes!"
The merry throng overflowed from the swank contemporary interiors of the Loya home into the backyard where the pool was covered in acrylic for dancing, a Houston Texans logo centering the space. An open tent, hung with white glowing orbs, provided additional space where many of the gents with a taste for cigars puffed away. The University of Texas and Brigham Young game (disaster) was projected life-sized on an upper wall of the all-white exterior.
The party crowd included Mo's owner Johnny Vassallo and his bride Kristine, Ericka Bagwell, Gina Gaston Elie and Mario Elie, Liz and Tom Glanville, Chester Pitts, Stephanie Cockrell, Sue and Lester Smith, Caroline and Gregg Tyson, Jenee and Nick Stefanakis and Lori Shellist.
The roasted "Washington hog" centerpiece of the Texans party buffet.
