Oh la la. Five nights at the George V in Paris with airfare, Egyptian jewelry including a necklace dating from 1400 B.C., a Pebble Beach golf holiday, a Palm Beach golf holiday and more — these are just a few of the auction offerings that had guests at Wayne Smith Jewels in Uptown Park signing up early for the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston Grand Gala Ball auction.

The ball isn't until Oct. 1 but chairs Michelle and Frank Hevrdejs and party host Wayne Smith welcomed a well-heeled contingent to the swank jewelry store Thursday evening to offer pre-ball enticement on the tantalizing host of auction items, a number of them reflecting the gala theme, "An Egyptian Fantasy."

Swooning over a few of the more delectable items were Anny Whyte, Sara and Bill Morgan, Tony Abyad, Sharyn and Jim Weaver, Louis Skidmore and Kathy and Marty Goossen among others.

Tasty delights

It was a well-fed group in the Macondo room at Américas River Oaks at midday on Thursday when supporters of Volunteer Houston's inaugural "Taste-ful: Off the Vine Connoisseur" evening set for Oct. 27 sampled the various signature dishes that executive chef David Cordúa will be presenting that evening and that will be paired with South African wines compliments of Branwar Wines Distributing Co.

In the formal tasting, Branwar Wine's Warren Luckett presented the vino while David explained the dishes.

Joining the tasting table were Mike Gustafson, vice president of exploration and production with ConocoPhillips, and Jared Lang of Momentum Audi, both companies sponsors of the big event. Volunteer Houston CEO Carrie Moffitt was in the mix as were Cara Morales, Nick Espinosa, Heather Pray and Branwar Wines president and CEO Wayne Luckett.

The fundraiser, which sill support Volunteer Houston's A Visit From St. Nicholas program, will take place in Américas River Oaks.

Chickens in the coop, election in the bag?

Peacocks, chickens, bees and Studmuffin, the miniature horse, almost stole the show at Wednesday night's gathering of leaders of the Houston Arts Alliance at the Memorial area home of Karen and Roland Garcia. Their mini-menagerie, including the beehive, provided unexpected entertainment for the sophisticated group that gathered in support of the American Leadership Forum.

Tops on the guest list was Mayor Annise Parker, smiling as Wednesday was the deadline for filing for city election. Roland and Karen were the first to toast the mayor on her predictable re-election as no serious candidates had emerged in her race. But the mayor was quick to point out that there is still an election to be won before any serious celebration.

Joining the mayor and Garcias over dinner from Cogwheel Catering were Kathy Hubbard, John Guess Jr., Jonathon Glus, Philamena Baird, Michael Cordúa, Judy Nyquist, Pat Jasper, Shannon Buggs and Ron Witte.

Fabene Welch, organizer and host of the evening, missed the do as she had to help her mother evacuate from her home due to the wildfires in the Hockley area.

Hanging in Austin

The swank Hangar Lounge rocked on Saturday night when a pride of Houston party people skipped the UT/Rice game in favor of a bash celebrating Laura Casey's impending marriage to Evan Greenberg. (That would be this Saturday in Napa Valley. )

Among those making the party scene, heavy on dancing and carousing, were Shannon Hall, Sabiha Rehmatulla, Mauney Mafrige, Marcy de Luna, Debbie Festari, Rob Rutherford, Natalie Lefevre, Greg Fourticq, Monsour Taghdisi, Erin Florescu and Elizabeth Petersen.

Birthday partying Virgo style

How nice to be among the Virgo birthday babies who were invited to join Margaret Williams in a celebration of her own big day with an elegant dinner party at River Oaks Country Club.

Headlining the guest list was Dr. John Mendelsohn (who just turned 75) and wife Anne, who departed for Boston the next morning; Kelli Cohen Fein and Marty Fein, who were just back from a trip to Africa; Rose and Harry Cullen, Tara and David Wuthrich, Guyla Pircher and Boyd Harris and Margaret's always-charming escort Jim Daniel.