"Out of clutter, find simplicity."
~ Albert Einstein

As I wrote the previous entry, on her 20/20 show, Barbara Walters was interviewing Mariah Carey, and I caught glimpses of video footage of Mariah's and Tommy Mottola's wedding.

I happened to be in The Big Apple -- New York City -- for a board meeting in June, 1993. 

On June 6, as our cab drove by Manhattan's St. Thomas Episcopal Church, we caught glimpses of Mariah, then 24 and dressed as a Cinderella bride in a $25,000 Vera Wang gown and Tommy, her 44 year old Sony mogul groom, leaving the church after a $500,000 wedding ceremony patterned after that of Prince Charles and Lady Diana.

Following them were fifty flower girls, then their 300 plus guests, which included some of the biggest names in music and entertainment history, including Streisand, DeNiro, and Springsteen.

There was nothing understated -- or simple -- about these nuptials.

~~~

DH and I were on our way to the Pierre Hotel on Fifth Avenue and just across Central Park, in the heart of New York City, where we were being lodged by the "The Board,"  which was holding its quarterly meeting there. 

That night, Mariah and Tommy spent their wedding night in the Pierre's luxurious plush penthouse suite, mere floors above us as we slept.

Small world.  

~~~

Sadly, just as Charles' and Diana's money and fame did not buy them long-term happiness and marital bliss, neither did Mariah's and Tommy's. Things got complicated.

Although Mariah and Tommy have since gone their separate ways, I retain a soft spot in my heart, romantic that I am, for them.  On a day filled with promise and well wishes, I witnessed these two people beaming with happiness on those church steps.  

Their wedding cast a romantic spell on what might have been just another business trip, as the next day, DH and I indulged in a horse-drawn carriage ride.  As we rode through Central Park, we contrasted our own simple island wedding with Mariah's and Tommys.  We laughingly reminisced over our own wedding -- when I wore a dress that was under a $100 and that included the veil.  

After our ride, we spent a quiet hour for a tête-à-tête, having a classic afternoon tea in the Palm Court in the heart of The Plaza Hotel.

The Palm Court

Thanks to Mariah and Tommy, we indulged and played out our hopelessly romantic New York City fantasies.  These years later, with our fond NYC romantic memories intact, I hope that their years together had its happy moments. 

I wish Mariah and Tommy happiness and contentment in their present lives and a bit of unsolicited advice: 

This most wise principle applies to nearly every facet of life, especially to relationships with self and others.  The older I get I see that it is adopted in direct proportion to one's experience and maturity level. 

There is an elegance and richness in simplicity and unostentatiousness.

~~~

Other NYC recollections:  

The next morning, we breakfasted in the hotel's restaurant, Café Pierre, with actress Olympia Dukakis breakfasting with friends several feet away from us. They were having a blast, giggling like schoolgirls.

Ms. Dukakis found popular success in her late 50s, when her performance as Rose Castorini, in the romantic comedy "Moonstruck," earned her an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.  

Clearly a noteworthy achievement in a medium in which the careers of many actresses end before the women reach the age of 30. 

>> Olympia Dukakis: Filmography

~~~

"You win only if you aren't afraid to lose."
~ Rocky Aoki

That night, after attending a star-studded AIDS benefit at the Lincoln Center, we were having a late dinner at a hole-in-the-wall Japanese restaurant when entrepreneur and speed boat racer Rocky Aoki, a man first known as a wrestler on the Japanese Olympic team before he became the founder of the Benihana restaurant chain, came in for dinner, sitting right beside us.  

And no, the restaurant was not Benihana.  There were no flashy, knife-wielding chefs cooking "Japanese" food over a hot, sizzling grill.  

Rocky, like us, just wanted some simple, authentic country fare in a quiet nook of a Japanese restaurant that we'd found serendipitously in a backstreet of New York City.

He seemed very likeable.  Very down-to-earth.  

Woody Allen is said to be ubiquitous on those NYC streets. We did not run into him during the entire four days that we were there. 

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