{"id":26782,"date":"2022-12-20T17:10:03","date_gmt":"2022-12-20T17:10:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/womenmag.net\/news\/merry-sismas-a-holiday-tradition-honors-friendship\/"},"modified":"2022-12-20T17:10:08","modified_gmt":"2022-12-20T17:10:08","slug":"merry-sismas-a-holiday-tradition-honors-friendship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/womenmag.net\/news\/merry-sismas-a-holiday-tradition-honors-friendship\/","title":{"rendered":"Merry \u2018Sismas\u2019: A Holiday Tradition Honors Friendship"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">LAKE SUCCESS, N.Y. \u2014 It was per week earlier than Sismas, the vacation get together hosted by the jewellery designer Simone I. Smith, and organizers had been on a cellphone name to debate the menu.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cDarling, you already know I would like oxtail,\u201d Ms. Smith, 52, informed her planner, Janice Diamond, and her chef, Nancie Greene, on the decision. \u201cNo one makes a greater oxtail than Nancie,\u201d added Ms. Smith, who has identified Ms. Greene since highschool.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Ms. Smith, who&#8217;s married to James Todd Smith, the rapper higher often known as LL Cool J, paid specific consideration to the menu this 12 months after skipping her Sismas get together in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic. Oxtail was one in all a number of consolation meals she and Ms. Greene selected to serve, together with candy potato casserole, garlic mashed potatoes and collard greens.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Sismas, which Ms. Smith has hosted for greater than a decade, is called after Christmas, but additionally Ms. Smith\u2019s initials (S.I.S.) and the sisterhood of largely feminine pals that she has invited to the occasion through the years. In 2009, after Ms. Smith and her husband relocated from their native New York to Los Angeles, the place they now spend many of the 12 months, she began the get together as a purpose to return to the East Coast and see folks across the holidays.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cMy sisterhood is one of the best hood, nothing is extra essential to me than my household and my sisterhood,\u201d Ms. Smith mentioned. \u201cI simply need to carry everybody collectively.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">On Friday evening, about 56 of her family members descended upon the Lake Success dwelling of Revital and Ronny Seliktar, Ms. Smith\u2019s accomplice in her namesake jewellery firm, for the 2022 Sismas get together. (Ms. Smith sometimes has the get together at her close by dwelling, however modified areas this 12 months as a result of her husband didn&#8217;t need a reporter in the home.) Visitors together with the stylist Misa Hylton, the \u201cLove &amp; Hip Hop\u201d producer Mona Scott-Younger and Justine Simmons, an creator and the spouse of Joseph Simmons (a.ok.a. Rev. Run of Run-D.M.C.), arrived to search out Mary Mac, a D.J. who has performed for Madonna and Mayor Eric Adams of New York, spinning beneath a grand staircase within the palatial dwelling\u2019s lobby.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Tables within the eating room had been embellished with candelabras and Versace china. Close to an entrance to the lounge, a caricaturist was stationed to attract portraits of company. And close to a grand piano in the lounge, a tree was arrange for the event. (The Seliktars, who&#8217;re Jewish, don&#8217;t usually enhance for Christmas.)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Lately, every Sismas get together has had a theme \u2014 glitter in 2019; a \u201cBlack Panther\u201d-inspired African motif in 2018; \u201csheroes\u201d in 2017 \u2014 and company are anticipated to decorate accordingly. Impressed by this 12 months\u2019s venue, a greater than century-old property initially owned by William Ok. Vanderbilt Jr., Ms. Smith at first selected a regal \u201cBridgerton\u201d-esque theme. However she mentioned that when she shared the idea along with her husband, he instructed bringing \u201csomewhat hip-hop to the combo.\u201d She ended up with a theme of \u201cRegency Meets \u2018Across the Approach Lady,\u2019\u201d a nod to each \u201cBridgerton\u201d and her husband\u2019s 1990 love tune about ladies from the Queens neighborhood the place he grew up.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cOne thing about \u2018Bridgerton\u2019 blended with hip-hop trend is so well timed,\u201d mentioned Ms. Hylton, the stylist, noting that the tv sequence set in Regency-era England has led to renewed curiosity in garments from that interval, and that outsized hoop earrings, a mode lengthy related to hip-hop tradition, have develop into a contemporary staple.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Many company mentioned that they discovered their outfits on Amazon. Ms. Hylton, 49, who lives in New Jersey, paired a black graphic T-shirt and an extended purple skirt from the net retailer with Nike sneakers and a gravity-defying white wig from the Etsy vendor Veil &amp; Crown. (Hers was one in all many elaborate wigs on the get together.) 4 girls wore the floor-length \u201cDaphne\u201d robe from the model MyheroCos, listed on Amazon for $90, which some paired with Gucci sneakers and others with Nike Air Pressure 1s.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Ms. Smith, the hostess, donned a turban and a silk costume by the bridal designer Karen Sabag, which she had customized made when her husband LL Cool J was acknowledged on the Kennedy Heart Honors in 2017. Forward of the Sismas get together, Ms. Smith had the costume altered with denim patches and graffiti detailing by the artist Jon Bennett. Her pal and maternal aunt Mechelle Richardson, a mortgage dealer in Brooklyn, additionally wore garments made for the event.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cAs quickly as I heard the theme, I known as up my tailor MJ in Brooklyn,\u201d Ms. Richardson, 60, mentioned. Collectively, they designed a floral jacquard coat and sage inexperienced robe that she paired with black knee-high socks from the label Bakery HNY and boots made by Jimmy Choo and Timberland. In her hair, Ms. Richardson wore a tiara she had purchased at a bridal store and hairpins from the model Kitsch, which spelled the phrases \u201cqueen\u201d and \u201cvibes\u201d in rhinestones.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cI might put on this once more to brunch,\u201d Ms. Richardson mentioned of her ensemble. \u201cPerhaps with out the tiara although.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Simply earlier than 10 p.m. \u2014 and simply after somebody mentioned grace in entrance of the group \u2014 dinner was served buffet fashion. About an hour later, company had been herded into the lounge, the place they had been handled to a efficiency by the Grammy-winning violinist Miri Ben-Ari. Then, as midnight approached, they settled in for extra performances throughout a expertise present that has develop into a beloved a part of Sismas.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">This 12 months\u2019s program featured a rendition of the hymn \u201cHis Eye Is on the Sparrow,\u201d a soulful efficiency of the tune \u201cI\u2019ll Take You There\u201d and a three-person dance act that started with a waltz of kinds earlier than transitioning right into a hip-hop routine. The 5 company who judged the expertise present \u2014 after taking pictures of Casamigos tequila \u2014 named the dancers because the winner.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cWhen the opposite performers began singing, I mentioned, \u2018Oh no, we have now to step it up,\u2019\u201d mentioned Misty Montes, 53, a pal of Ms. Smith\u2019s from Queens and one in all three girls within the profitable dance act. \u201cSo we made just a few changes to our routine final minute.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">After the expertise present got here extra dancing as the gang let free to music performed by D.J. Mary Mac. At round 1 a.m. on Saturday, some folks gathered for an additional Sismas pastime: a white elephant present change, for which greater than half of the company every introduced a wrapped present of about $150 in worth.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Although white elephant exchanges historically permit folks to steal presents from others, Ms. Smith mentioned that the stealing brought about \u201ccritical chaos\u201d up to now, main her to switch the foundations at Sismas. Taking part company got a quantity after they arrived on the get together; later, as their numbers had been known as through the change, every selected a gift from the pile of presents, which included a replica of Assouline\u2019s \u201cLouis Vuitton: Virgil Abloh\u201d espresso desk guide and a hat and scarf from Rag &amp; Bone.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">By 2 a.m., some company had been making their strategy to Ms. Smith\u2019s home for an after get together. Others had been so filled with the Sismas spirit that they may not bear the considered leaving.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cI\u2019ve received to go away, however it\u2019s too exhausting,\u201d mentioned Ms. Simmons, who lives in Saddle River, N. J. \u201cHow can anybody simply go away a celebration like this?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><script async defer src=\"https:\/\/platform.instagram.com\/en_US\/embeds.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/>Supply: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/12\/20\/style\/sismas-holiday-party.html\">NY Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>LAKE SUCCESS, N.Y. \u2014 It was per week earlier than Sismas, the vacation get together hosted by the jewellery designer Simone I. Smith, and organizers had been on a cellphone name to debate the menu. \u201cDarling, you already know I would like oxtail,\u201d Ms. Smith, 52, informed her planner, Janice Diamond, and her chef, Nancie [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26784,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/womenmag.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26782"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/womenmag.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/womenmag.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/womenmag.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/womenmag.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26782"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/womenmag.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26782\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26783,"href":"https:\/\/womenmag.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26782\/revisions\/26783"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/womenmag.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26784"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/womenmag.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26782"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/womenmag.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26782"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/womenmag.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26782"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}