With a weekend of starry fetes second only to those of Oscar week in Los Angeles, the parties of the 62nd Primetime Emmy Awards lost little ground this season against news of a still flagging U.S. economy.

For Luxist, ice began clinking in the cocktail glasses of Emmy-bound celebs at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, August 27, at the Judith Leiber store on North Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills. Maria Bello and Patricia Arquette were co-hosting a "Don't Forget Haiti" benefit. Yes, Hollywood has a heart. And scores of Emmy hopefuls zipped by on their way to full-fledged Emmy events.

Bello wore a top by Michael Kors and a Leiber "Don't Forget Haiti" pendant as she greeted guests at the door. How did Arquette and Bello team up for the Emmy weekend benefit? "I saw her a couple of weeks after the earthquake in Haiti," Bello told Luxist.

Arquette then mentioned that she is currently "working on a project to help refurbish shipping containers as homes in Haiti." She was wearing a vintage Chanel suit. "Anything past last year is vintage," she quipped. "So I'm vintage."

Guests included Rosario Dawson, Malin Akerman, Katharine McPhee, and Autumn Reeser, of "Entourage," who told Luxist that she would be hosting a baby shower during the Emmy Awards. "I didn't realize it was Emmy weekend," she admitted.

Reeser's "Entourage" co-star Emmanuelle Chriqui mentioned that, over the weekend, she would be supporting her real-life manager Emily Gerson Saines (also present), "nominated because she produced the HBO film 'Temple Grandin.'" Saines and her project would win big on Sunday.

Entertainment Weekly also hosted a pre-Emmy party for "Women in Film" on Friday at the Sunset Marquis Hotel in West Hollywood. The pool area of the hotel was converted into an impromptu red carpet. Fueled by mini burgers and new flavors of Vitaminwater, lemonade, and pomegranate, the party raged on in a trellised back courtyard of the restaurant until 1:00 a.m. Elisabeth Moss from "Mad Men," above, innocently butchered the ...

Hotel Kura Hulanda Spa & Casino is a dream-come-true hotel for anyone who wants an authentic, lively place to stay with a community feel; and, of course, all the luxury of a five-star hotel with four-diamond-rated dining. The hotel's unique character comes from its long history as a Curacao neighborhood, as well as the keen eye of Netherlands native Jacob Gelt Dekker, who bought up the neighborhood house by house, established the hotel and to this day curates its glamorous decor and amenities, as well as the artwork both in and out of the extensive Kura Hulanda Museum.

Kura Hulanda is enchantingly appointed with antiques, art and astronomy artifacts from all over the world, increasing its elite, opulent allure and aura of adventure. Dekker, an author, explorer, philanthropist and world-traveler, has created a timeless village here, just steps away from the world-famous floating bridge and central Willemstad. His on-site museum (literally his private collection, gathered piece by piece on his travels) houses the largest collection of African artifacts and anthropological exhibits in the Caribbean and has an extensive exhibit chronicling Curacao's dark history as a major slave trade hub. Dekker also owns two adjacent buildings which are used as medical centers for the local community and for what he hopes will one day become a well-known medical tourism industry. He visits the hotel frequently and maintains his own private quarters on the property.

I recently had the pleasure of staying at Hotel Kura Hulanda and exploring its unusual grounds with my camera. Below is a photo tour of ...

Is your skin in need of a little TLC after a long hot summer of gelatinous humidity and city soot? The spa at the Trump Soho has just the cure.

The newly opened spa has nine treatment rooms within its well-appointed 11,000 square feet, but what really sets it apart is its take on the hammam - the traditional bathhouses of Morocco and Turkey. The Trump folks claim it is one of just two authentic luxury hammams in the U.S. (the first being at the Mandarin Oriental in Las Vegas) and the only one in New York. Ok, apparently there are other hammams in the Big Apple, but none whose tiles and materials have been sourced exclusively from Turkey and Morocco or that feature a domed ceiling and tiny pinhole lights that mimic the pin pricks of natural light found in many traditional hammams.

So, on a late summer day, I headed to Soho to check it out. Stefan Drobel, assistant spa director for The Spa At Trump, led me through the spa, stopping at the Tepidarium, a chamber where one is supposed to warm up before entering the baths. The steam and sauna facilities, alas, are still awaiting a final green light from city health inspectors. Then it was on to my Turkish hammam treatment, which Stefan assured me would detoxify and purify my skin. I changed into a robe and was led to a black- and white-tiled room - one of two hammams at the spa. Wearing nothing but the disposable mesh undies provided, I was instructed to sit down on a heated marble "belly slab" (which is big enough to accommodate couples, if you so desire). The mosaic tiles shimmered in the dim light and the little pinholes of light glittered like stars in the sky. My "hammam attache," Jenny, was wrapped in a towel from the waist down -- my first clue to what was to come. She promptly commenced filling silver bowls with warm water and pouring them all over me. That simple act elicited a surprisingly soothing, almost primal, ...

Moses Maimonides, the great biblical scholar, physician, and Rabbi (1135-1204) codified Jewish law in what has been dubbed "the most innovative legal text of all time." Compiled between 1170 and 1180, his highly revered tome is called the Mishneh Torah ---the "Repetition of the Law." Written in Hebrew rather than Arabic when he was living in Egypt, it consists of 14 books and is the first complete codification of Jewish law. The eighth book, "the Book of Divine Service," contains laws pertaining to the eventual rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem that was destroyed in 70 AD. Medieval observant Jews always believed it would be rebuilt and Maimonides described how it should happen. Just in time for the Jewish High Holy Days, the Met in New York City is showcasing a manuscript page of the eighth book open to a diagram of the temple and another describing regulations for rebuilding. Made in northern France or Germany, sometime between 1200 and 1400, this rare edition of the Mishneh was created in tempera and ink on parchment. Written in the clear, concise style of an authoritative legal scholar, it establishes rules which make sense even today when we think of rebuilding any religious edifice. Intended as he wrote "for young and old," Maimonides noted:"Everyone is obligated to build and to assist both personally and financially...(both) men and women....Children are not to be interrupted from their studies." And once the Temple was rebuilt: "Everyone who enters the Temple Courtyard should walk in a dignified manner..." The manuscript is on loan from the Library of the Jewish Theological Seminary.

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Judaica at the Met originally appeared on Luxist on Mon, 30 Aug 2010 11:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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