A dinner party aboard the Flying Dutchman. But seriously, there really was a dinner party, and here's the tablescape! The menu was Thai cocoanut soup, "Me Love You Long Time" Vietnamese chicken salad and hot fudge sundaes (a gluten-free feast for one of the guests). The pretty green and white chair was borrowed from a neighbor; I only have three. "What did they think?" Chris Shott said later, "Weren't they scared when a neighbor asked to borrow something?" (These were the neighbors who are all in their mid-twenties and who invited me to their party where they served exactly this: a fridge full of beer, a sink full of ice cubes, a table with hard liquor and mixers, a bag of cheetoes and a bag of potato chips. Ah, youth!) Anyway, Chris's wife Heather, travel editor at Wine Spectator, brought wine recommended by her boss, and Liz Maestri made up the fourth. We ate and drank and talked and had a great time and I loved being a hostess! And yes, that's the Undertaker sippy cup my friend Patrick sent me on top of the stove next to the clock. Other trivia: the pottery thing my utensils are in was a gift from my sister, bought at my one and only visit to a Renaissance Festival, the paper towel holder was lovingly crafted by an inmate at the Maine State Prison at Thomaston, the towels were a gift from the Thompson sisters, and most importantly, one of my local bodegas sells Tab!