Dinner Party Girl

I hosted a dinner party.  The first one in 13 months. 

(Did you know I'm a dinner party girl?  'Cause I am.  I'm a dinner party girl.  And I can set a lovely spread on a table, if I may say so myself.)

I **love** hostessing.  Name the party, give me the guest list, let's create the menu, and let's do this thing. 

My mom is the ultimate hostess; her sisters are the ultimate hostesses; my grandmother was the ultimate hostess.  The girls in this family had no choice but to learn the art, because it was instilled as deeply as doing the laundry and changing the sheets. 

This.  Is What.  We do.

Here is what I know, above all else, about hostessing:

There's always room for one more.
There's always room for dessert.
There's simply always room.

And,

My home need not be spotless, but my home must always be gracious.

It's really that simple. 

* * *

"... Not that I like Martha Stewart, nobody likes Martha Stewart, I don't even think Martha Stewart likes Martha Stewart.  Which actually makes me like her."

~Samantha, in Open House, 

by Elizabeth Berg