Sushi anyone?

(Top Left: Donna Hazard and Nigella Hillgarth at Party for a Blue Planet; Top Middle: Michael Mars, Pamela Humphrey and Terri Campbell at Party for a Blue Planet; Top Right: Alyson and Jeff Lindsey at Party for a Blue Planet; Bottom Left: Katie Fagan and Bud Ris at Party for a Blue Planet; Bottom Middle: Mary and Peter Renner at Party for a Blue Planet; Bottom Right: Michelle Vilms, Jacqueline Fantuzzi and Karen Fabbri at Party for a Blue Planet)

What’s not to love about a party that starts with cocktails in a mangrove swamp? Party for a Blue Planet, a fundraiser for the New England Aquarium, featured drinks in the Tropical Gallery, strolling dinner stations around the Giant Ocean Tank and raucous partying in a tent overlooking Boston Harbor. Even the seals seemed to enjoy themselves, frolicking nonstop while guests sipped, supped and danced the night away.

Present and accounted for: blond beauty Alyson Lindsey and her suspiciously tan other half, Jeff, board chair Donna Hazard, the delightful and delovely Jane Wolfson, head honcha Nigella Hillgarth, pharma bigwig David Altshuler, affable blue blood Ogden Hunnewell, silver fox Pamela Humphrey, the delightful Michelle and Andres Vilms, investment guru Alistair Lowe, the always sparkly Mary Renner, Prince Harry look-alike Bowman Hallagan and one guest who said, “I wonder if the penguins realize they’re living in waterfront property rent-free?”

However, the evening’s funniest remark came when one attendee said, “I always think it’s weird that they serve seafood at these things,” to which an Aquarium staffer responded, “Don’t worry. We count the fish afterward.”

Living la Dolce Vita

(Top Left: Tony Nunziante, Jan Saragoni, Emily Rooney, Jared Bowen and Jenny Johnson at Italianissimo!; Top Right: Ethan Dupree, Emily Boyes Watson, Jed Dupree, Dani Popova and Stefan Gyoshev at Italianissimo!; Bottom Left: Consul General Nicola DeSantis and Joe Milano at Italianissimo!; Bottom Middle: Dot Joyce and Angela Menino at Italianissimo!; Bottom Right: John Sasso at Italianissimo!)

Q: What’s more Italian than Italian?

A: Italianissimo!, the fundraiser for Friends of the Italian Cultural Center of Boston, which was held on the banks of the Charles at the Museum of Science’s Washburn Pavilion.

A Fiat Cinquecento, complete with a cardboard cutout of the Pope, blessed the proceedings as guests sipped cocktails and watched sailboats glide past. Inside a tent, meanwhile, an Italian feast was served family-style to a high-octane crowd that included Italian consul general Nicola DeSantis, gaming mogul Alberto Fornaro, token Irish chicks Margery Eagan and Emily Rooney, soignée divorcee Jan Saragoni, incorrigible scamp Tony Nunziante, nightlife kingpin Patrick Lyons and the stunning Kristina, fashion royalty Yolanda Cellucci and her handsome husband, Dan, BSO babe Doreen Reis and former first lady Angela Menino, who gave out awards named for her late great husband.

The entire evening was molto bene, and the wine kept flowing into the wee hours, prompting one guest to say, “The best thing about Uber is that it takes away some of the stigma of getting drunk.”

However, the evening’s best exchange was as follows: “I might be Irish, but my dress is Armani,” to which another guest responded, “I’m Italian by injection.”

Where’s Van Morrison when you need him?

(Top Left: Alexi and Steve Conine at the Moondance Gala; Top Middle: Brian Natale and Carolina Save at the Moondance Gala; Top Right: Alison Hirsch, Tani Marinovich and Sandy Steel at the Moondance Gala)

It was a marvelous night for a Moondance, judging by the fact that the annual gala to support the Esplanade Association raised close to a million bucks.

The party, held beneath a tent next to the statue of Arthur Fiedler, began with cocktails served from a vintage Airstream trailer (note to self: I need one!) and continued with dinner and a live auction where one slightly inebriated guest asked, “They’re auctioning off Bruins’ wives?”

Prominent among the throng: blond bombshell Julia Owens, unfairly beautiful pair Liz and Peter Georgantas, Latin firecracker Yvette Lowenthal Mulderry and her handsome other half, Peter, bashful Adonis Tom Potter and his dapper husband, Dan Mathieu, the naturally carbonated Jodi Hess and her hubby, Hal, Back Bay party pair Steve and Jeryl Oristaglio, debonair developer Tony Pangaro and his stunning wife, Creelea, dazzling young things Lori and Matthew Sidman, Newbury Street royalty Judi Rotenberg and her sister, Jane Moss, the incomparable Audrey and James Foster, arts booster Dan Elias and his enchanting other half, Karen Keane, real estate magnate Christopher Egan and the lovely Jean, the effervescent Sue Brady Hartigan, ebony goddess Ingrid Calder, and so on and so forth down the line of A-listers.

For those who were still standing, there was dancing under the stars, and judging by the couple making out by the water, it was a fantabulous night to make romance ’neath the cover of September skies.

Overheard by the bar: “My husband said I had to choose between my wine glass and my auction paddle. Last year, I accidentally bought him a $10,000 watch.”