Last night was the 25th annual Black & White Party to benefit Aid for AIDS of Nevada (AFAN). Over 7,000 people are living with HIV in southern Nevada, and AFAN provides critical services like case management, housing and nutritional support and HIV prevention education. I’ve previously volunteered with their summer camp for children living with or affected by HIV, and can say that the organization does great work.

This year’s party was held at the Boulevard Pool at the Cosmopolitan Hotel on the Las Vegas Strip. As the pool is on the 4th floor, we got to enjoy this glitzy view throughout the party.

Admission to the party was $35 per person, and we got to enjoy unlimited food samples from premium Vegas restaurants and tasty libations. As all of the food & drinks are donated, 100% of admission goes to support AFAN.

At the entrance to the party, we were greeted with samples of Piper Champagne.

Too bad we only got one sample each, as it was pretty good champagne!

Restaurant samples this year were heavily meat-oriented, and since I don’t eat red meat or pork I filled up on sushi samples from Sushi Roku and Blue Ribbon Sushi Bar and sweets from The Cupcakery and the Cookie Zoo.

I seriously had 6 of these albacore tostadas from Sushi Roku.

…and almost as many of these mini cupcakes!

On the beverage side of things, ice sculpture seemed to be “the thing” at this year’s event. Too bad it was 108* F. in Vegas yesterday!

When getting a shot of Montecristo Rum, I was instructed to hold my glass up to the nipple.