Last Minute Scramble

Tomorrow is the big Dinner Party day and I have still have so much left to do. Luckily, my friend Kathryn has offered to give me a ride to Fairway so I can stock up on last-minute items (which pretty much includes everything). I plan to prep as much as possible today, so I can focus on the stew tomorrow.

I also need to clean the house (although the kids will undoubtedly wreck it before tomorrow night). Plus, I still haven't decided what to wear. My folks bought me an apron ("The Dinner Miracle: It Only Happens If You Believe") that I'll don for the occasion, but I still need an outfit suitable for an aspiring domestic goddess. It's too late to shop, so I'll have to scavenge through the closet and see what I can come up with.

I'm wondering if I should assign seats and create place holders. Experts say that the key to a successful dinner party is inviting the right mix of people and sparking a lively conversation. I have a feeling that this group won't have any problem finding something to gab about. Still, since they are mostly new friends of mine (and a couple of people I've never met before) who don't know each other, it might be fun to seat people according to interest.

Should I put the two photographers together and what about the foodies? I have a feeling that Mr. Di Franco, the girls' music teacher, is going to hit it off with Giulia Melucci since they're both Brooklyn-bred Italian-Americans who love to cook. I'm also guessing that the British film critic will get a kick out of Avo's tales of old Hollywood stars he met as a kid. Even I enjoy hearing his story about how Peter Sellers offered to buy him a gold digital watch, but his mom made him refuse the offer -- and I've heard the tale countless times before.

Of course, the girls are excited to greet the guests. "Mr. Di Franco will get to see our room and he'll see our pajamas!" We'll let them stay up past their bedtime so they can say "hello," but then hopefully, they'll say "good night" and leave the adults to wine and dine.

Just writing about my expectations for the night is getting me excited. I hope I'm not disappointed. It is, after all, just a dinner party. Still, it's my first-ever dinner party and a girl can only have one of those.

Anyway, I promise to report back as soon as I recover from the festivities.