KDHamptons

KDHamptons: How long have you been living in the Hamptons and why do you love it so much?

Dini: I have been coming out east since I was five. I spent my summers in Southampton well before all the development began. My first job was in the Rogers Memorial Library, when I was 13. I was such an avid reader as a child that I had finished all the books in the children’s section so the librarian let me work there. As Southampton parents know, there is a summer reading contest and the contestants need to give short oral reports about the books they read to the librarian to prove they read them. Since I had read all the books, I took over that job. Sheer bliss for a nerd like me. I also worked at the Parrish, the Fudge Company [just three weeks though, as I ate so much ice cream that I gained ten pounds, so I quit that], countless stores, and the first incarnation of Conscious Point Inn, the hippest restaurant out here in the 80s. I bought my house in 1992, when I was 26. I always knew I wanted to live out here. I love it because there is nowhere else like it in the world. You have four true seasons, each wonderful, beaches that are beyond compare, and a community of terrific people.

KDHamptons: Please describe your perfect Hamptons day in detail for our readers?

Dini: Early wake-up. 8 am yoga with Colleen or Rodney at Yoga Shanti. Green
juice at Provisions. Shopping at the farmers market in Sag Harbor. Reading at home. Swimming laps. Lunch comprised of ingredients from the farmers market. More reading and a tiny poolside nap. A long beach walk. Home cooked dinner with my family and friends either at my place or at my favorite house [and favorite friends] which belongs to the painter Margaret Garrett and the composer Bruce Wolosoff on Shelter Island. It’s on the water and the sunsets are amazing. After dinner, we play music and dance.

KDHamptons: What makes Sagaponack so special to you?

Dini: The fields, which are less and less each year; the very old houses –
including some from the 1600s; Marilee Foster’s farm stand; the Madoo
Conservancy; Town Line Beach and Town Line BBQ.

KDHamptons: You have your annual Love Heals benefit this weekend. Describe the event and why it’s so important to helping the cause?

Dini: Let’s Misbehave to benefit Love Heals, will be at Wolffer Vineyard Estates. It’s our 17th summer doing events out here. For thirteen years, we at Love Heals held a massive, super fun barbecue and party at Luna Farm. We decided that we wanted to do something different this year, and Wolffer has the perfect setting for it. Our summer event is critical to raising the money that funds our programs. We are the number one provider of HIV/AIDS education to the young people of New York City and have educated over 600,000 youth in our 21 years! I am very proud of that.

HIV/AIDS is a still a massive problem in this country with nearly 1.5 million people infected in the US. Washington DC has a city-wide infection rate of 3%, as do pockets of NYC. We don’t hear about it nearly as much as during the height of the epidemic, which is very dangerous. The numbers are NOT going down. HIV infection can be entirely prevented, which is why the work we do is so important – we get to young people at those critical years and make sure they are armed with all the information they need to prevent infection. We also wind up doing a lot of other work with teens, including referrals. Once you start honestly discussing HIV/AIDS and STDs with a teen, the flood gates tend to open.

KDHamptons: What can we look forward to at this years party?

Dini: It’s a chic Jazz Age themed dinner and dance co-chaired by the fabulous
super models Hilary Rhoda and Nicole Trunfio and the extraordinary fashion designer – a favorite of Michelle Obama’s – Bibhu Mohaptra. Wehave an eight piece jazz band that used to play with Duke Ellington. It’s going to be off the hook! We also have a great committee including: Alina Cho, Charlotte Ronson, Shoshanna Gruss, Kelly Bensimon, Eric Villency, Andrew Saffir, Daniel Benedict, Ann Dextre-Jones, Arden Wohl, Edward Tyler Nahem and David Zinczneko, to name just some! There’s also this gal named Kelli Delaney – I hear she’s pretty cool.

The Styleliner will be outside selling goodies including Nicole Trunfio’s jewelry. She has designed a piece to benefit Love Heals, bless her. And Patron, one of our sponsors, is doing a photo shoot of guests down in the wine barrel room, which is amazing.

KDHamptons: Tell us about your fabulous public relations agency?

Dini: HvM Communications is a boutique agency. Our clients are in a variety of fields including fashion, design, art, law, internet, non-profits and more. As we are a small firm, we are in the fortunate position of being selective about our clients. A recent example of a project we worked on that I loved was doing the public relations for Eric Fischl’s wonderful memoir Bad Boy. We’re about to work on a forthcoming art exhibit at Edward Tyler Nahem about the art of the nightclub Area to coincide with the publication of a book about the famous club. It will be AMAZING!

KDHamptons: You are also a published author. Tell us about your next book?

Dini: Creating Style is an illustrated history of western women’s fashion written for an audience of 13 and up. It has lots of DIY projects, which makes it fun and accessible. A text book it’s not!

KDHamptons: What is your favorite Hamptons restaurant? Favorite dish ?

Dini: That’s tough! It’s a toss up between Yama Q, where I love everything, and
Clam Bar. The blackened swordfish at Clam Bar is amazing.

KDHamptons: Yoga is an important part of your life- where do u practice and how often?

Dini: I am a certified yoga teacher and a graduate of the Urban Zen integrative therapy program. Well being is a big part of my life. I practice at Yoga Shanti, which is where I was certified, or on my own at home. I try to do an asana (physical) practice daily, but yoga is about much more than that. Indeed, the true definition of yoga is the cessation of the fluctuations of the mind. Meditation and mindfulness are also yoga, so I practice daily.

KDHamptons: If you could invite three people (dead or alive) to your Hamptons home for dinner whom would you choose?

Dini: That’s even tougher than favorite meal! Cleopatra. Henry James. Barack Obama. Hilary Clinton. Ghandi. Sorry, that was five. Oooh, and Joan of Arc.

KDHamptons: What is your summer mantra?

Dini: I don’t have one specific to the summer….but my life mantra is Turn Fear Into Love.

More about Let’s Misbehave to benefit Love Heals: The event will be held on Saturday, August 10th at 7:00pm:  at Wölffer Estate Winery just a couple of miles from Luna Farm. Let’s Misbehave will be an intimate and elegant affair, with 200 Love Heals supporters enjoying classic cocktails and hors d’oeuvres on the lawn followed by a fresh seasonal supper on the terrace and dancing into the wee hours (or, rather, 11:00pm when the town shuts us down). We’ll be dancing to an 8 piece Jazz band and we’ve also got a few Jazz Age surprises up our sleeve. Our co-hosts include the super models Hilary Rhoda and Nicole Trunfio, who is debuting a special piece of jewelry from her line just for us, and the incredible fashion designer Bibhu Mohaptra (just ask Michelle Obama).

Hopefully by now you have received your invitation, which can also be viewed at www.loveheals.org/misbehave. On behalf of the Board of Directors at Love Heals, thank you for your past support of our efforts to empower young people in the fight against HIV and I hope to see you on August 10th!