To celebrate Neal Hamil's "double nickel birthday," his pals Rosmarie Johnson and Courtney Hopson pulled out all the stops. The duo took over Up restaurant in Highland Village for an over-the-top Sunday afternoon celebration that went on for several hours to celebrate the longtime New York and Houston model agent's milestone day.
One huge, long table, dramatically covered in white cloth and vases of white flowers, took up most of the main dining room, as more than 60 of Hamil's nearest and dearest friends gathered to toast the birthday boy.
While guests dined on brunch delicacies like lobster beignets, gruyere mac and cheese, crab cake Benedict and beef short rib hash, downed with generous supplies of champagne, Bubba McNeely and Greg Giacona, who make up the singing duo Bubba & Greg, performed standards like "At Last" and "Me and Mrs. Jones."
As the party appeared to wind down, the duo swung into more up-tempo tunes like "Billie Jean" and "Proud Mary" that had guests up and dancing. Among the standouts were Claire Cormier Thielke, who performed a wicked Tina Turner imitation, and Diane Lokey Farb and Fady Armanious, who danced with the finesse of contestants on Dancing With the Stars.
Among the passel of A-list guests were John and Becca Cason Thrash, Dominique Sachse and Nick Florescu, Frank Billingsleyand Kevin Gilliand, Annie Amante, Fred Smith, Jacob Sudhoff and Jerry Hooker, Lennart Kulke, Greg Fourticq, Holly Moore, Jeanne and James Ruberti, Jeri and Jim Moore, Dr. Jacob and Nicki Tai , Valerie Sarofim, and Hamil's sister Karen Hamil Stueck and her husband, Chris Stueck.
Fred Smith, from left, Neal Hamil and Chad Schwarz.
