The mystery of the meandering, merry martini

In Broadmoor, the mystery of the Holiday Martini Glass continues. Each year around Thanksgiving, the 4-foot-tall martini glass — complete with glowing red swizzle stick — goes up on the lawn of the Mehls' home on Parkside Drive. It's a tradition that began 15 years ago in Sahalee, where it was once stolen from the Mehls' front yard and returned a week later. Intrigue followed the martini glass to Broadmoor, where one night each December, the glass mysteriously migrates next door and winds up on the neighbor's Christmas tree.

"No one quite knows how it gets there. It's on their house, and then suddenly it's on our tree," says Lisa Turnure. "It just kind of happens in the middle of the night."

There, it becomes a beacon for the annual Turnure Martini Party — known in the pre-martini-glass years as the Turnure Christmas Party — a sign that the holiday party season has begun. The end. ...

WHAT TO GET THE MAN who has everything? An e-mail circulated by the wife of a Seattle icon — no spoilers, but he makes frequent appearances in this column's "celebrity sightings" — asked for book and DVD recommendations for a Christmas basket she is putting together for her husband, a voracious reader. No word on whether book-club queen Oprah was on the e-mail recipient list. ...

IT'S NOT EXACTLY "Dancing with the Stars," but some of the city's movers and shakers get limber at the Pacific Northwest Ballet in open-to-the-public Pilates classes, occasionally working out alongside PNB dancers like Ariana Lallone or James Moore. Who knew? Regulars include socialite-philanthropists Cathi Hatch, Kim Richter and Patty Barrier. "I used to get a kick working with Susan Brotman while PNB hunk Stanko Milov would be off to the side working with a different trainer," says program director Marjorie Thompson. "It made me think of King Kong." ...

MONKEY SEE, MONKEY DO: "Evening Magazine" host John Curley mentioned on a recent show that he'd signed up to do the Iron Man in Nice, France, next summer (who does he think he is, The Bachelor?). Viewers Robin and Toby Taylor of Seattle were so inspired — "Heck, if Curley can do it, so can we," she reportedly said — they signed up before the show ended. Did we mention it's a 2.5-mile swim followed by a 112-mile bike ride and 26-mile run? There's no backing out now that it's in print! ...

MOST CREATIVE (AND SHAMELESS) PLUG disguised as a holiday greeting: The 5th Avenue Theatre sent out holiday cards this year featuring a glowing red nose on the 5th Avenue dragon and the line "Who loves you pretty baby / Who's gonna help you through the night?" from a Frankie Valli song. In case anyone was wondering, "Jersey Boys" runs through Jan. 12. ...

IT'S A DOG-FRIENDLY HOTEL: The Hotel Monaco is offering a "Hair of the Dog" package for New Year's Eve, which includes cold pizza delivered to your room on New Year's Day along with a $20 minibar credit and late check-out. Which actually sounds pretty good even if you're not hung over. ...

CELEBRITY SIGHTINGS, BONO EDITION: Bono checking in to Hotel 1000 at 1:20 a.m. ... Matthew McConaughey at the new Heathman Hotel in Kirkland ... Bono and Bill Gates having dessert at Campagne restaurant ... Jamie Moyer signing wine bottles at The Local Vine in Belltown ... Bono signing autographs outside his hotel wearing sunglasses and a furry Russian-style hat.

Pamela Sitt: 206-464-2376 or psitt@seattletimes.com