I Heart Dinner Parties with Bloggers

I love a good dinner party as much as shrimp tacos in Baja and hitting home runs in a softball game. So yesterday I ditched the last night of the Book Passage Travel Writers Conference for a dinner at my friend HC's.

I firmly believe that the recipe for a successful dinner party is 80% company, 20% good food. My friends chose their guests well, and were even better hosts. Masterful really. The fact that the food was outstanding was a bonus.

I could go on and on about everything we talked about that excited me, but lets port-wine reduction the evening into this great observation from Jon, a freelance playwright. The scene: all of us sitting around the living room and HC at the keyboard showcasing each of the guests' blogs up on the 42in flat screen above the mantel. We were laughing and oohing and awing at what the others were in to when it occurred to Jon, "this is the new parlor game for adults." Ahhh, bloggers. Vain? No, just obsessed with oursevles. Oh wait, that's just me. His observation really cracked me up. Almost as much as the answering machine messages of Jon's dad talking to him about Mets games and UFO's. (Jon, if you're reading this, give us the link!)

It was liberating to be with other writers, and inspiring to listen to them talk about books I've never read and plays I haven't been to. The dinner was also a bon voyage to Emily who is leaving on a three week trip to France including Paris, Provence, and Burgundy. Molly, who writes for Yahoo Picks was an ebullient presence and bravely let us make fun of her at will for her broken toe. And right before I left early, Jenny showed us beautiful sweaters she'd made from a knitting machine.

THE FOOD DIARY CONTINUES
Day 5, Jen:
Breakfast: swedish pancakes, one piece of bacon, strawberries
Lunch: chicken taco salad, iced tea
Dinner: the best appetizer EVER. proscuitto-wrapped fig slices, crackers with fancy yummy cheese, Plumicot and walnut salad, and some plate licking seemingly Tuscan chicken and pasta dish which I'm sure has a more formal name
Dessert: Peach tart

Day 5, John:
Breakfast: wheat muffin
Lunch: fried rice
Dinner: Mijares nachos with two Coronas

I really want to talk more about how meaningful it was for me to go to this dinner party, but I have to jet off to the next meal!

Current: San Francisco, Ca
Next: Pasadena, CA for TWO WEEKS!!!!1