December blazed by, but it wasn't without its moments of play. The month kicked off with a visit to L.A. by our dear Parisian pal Stefan Elfassi and his Record Makers label artist, the fab pop freak Sebastien Tellier. What was really kooky was the venue for Sebastien's welcome to L.A.: The French Consulate, housed in a Beverly Hills manse that had never hosted such a party. Much of the furniture and art were tucked away, and a mirrored ball, projector screen and deejay table set up to entertain what appeared to be every cool French expat in a 100-mile radius, from Philippe Starck to Etnies founder Pierre André Senizergues. The guac and chips and bad Cab were not what we'd expect from a country that makes such a big fuss about its cuisine and grape juice. In fact, we couldn't shake the feeling we were in high school and had crashed a friend's house while his parents were away. But that didn't dim our buzz and Blanca, Andy and I managed to dance the night away.