Antonella Is Booked This Summer at CU

Occasion: Friday's Washington National Opera's annual ball, which raised $3 million for the company.

Lure: Perfect excuse to show off big jewels and ball gowns -- 550 guests paid $1,000 per ticket for black-tie dinners at 21 embassies around town, followed by dancing at the residence of Peruvian Ambassador Felipe Ortiz de Zevallos.

Scene: Under the full moon, trolleys ferried guests up the candlelit drive to the residence where a massive palm-filled tent re-created Lima's main square. "Taking the bus up was like climbing up Machu Picchu," quipped one world traveler.

VIPs: Supreme Court justices Stephen Breyer and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, astronaut Buzz Aldrin.

Bar: Exotic -- piscos (sugar cane liqueur), manginis (champagne, mango, Alize liqueur) and passionate coladas (dark rum, passion fruit, coconut).

Midnight delights: A room full of chocolate -- dark, rich, deadly -- including cups of hot chocolate made with 50 percent, 60 percent or 70 percent cocoa. Ball patron Jan Lodal reached for the high-test: "It takes a strong woman to choose 70 percent, and I don't want to be left behind."

Swag: Silver bookmark, CD of Andean/Latin fusion band Raymi, chocolate truffles from Peru.

Readers Tell Us

We wrote that Jenna Bush's new AIDS-in-Panama book marks "her transformation from party girl to global activist" and received these letters.

Arlington, Va., writes: Why did you find it necessary to make a snide comment about Jenna Bush -- "party girl"? Why not just mention her new book?

Arlington, Tex., writes: I myself will be buying [Jenna's] book, and thanks for not having negative comment about this. Most columnists would have written something sarcastic about them, and it was nice for a change to just read about the twins and what is going on in their lives.

Send your tips and comments to reliablesource@washpost.com.