I’m all about the matchy-matchy

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Get the three of us together on an idea….and ohhhh boy….we are trouble! Ree of The Pioneer Woman, Elise of Simply Recipes and I could not be more opposites in personalities and that’s exactly what makes us like Charlie’s Angels, minus the bikinis, guns and heels.

But we do have one two things in common…a crazy desire host the most kickity-ass-ity party ever and RUFFLES! (that was totally unintentional – I swear we didn’t call each other up and coordinate our outfits). I didn’t bring my camera to the party but David Lebovitz did, and he snapped that photo above.

But then I saw Stephanie’s photo from Lick My Spoon and realized that

1) I’m color-matching my co-panelists, Helen of Tartelette and Amy of Cooking with Amy

2) I’ve got those damn ruffles again

hmmm….awfully suspicious.

I need a new wardrobe.

The lass that got caught in the swirl of Ree, Elise and my “hey, let’s put on a party!” idea is Jenny. She volunteered to organize the party for us – knowing full well that neither Ree, Elise nor I are good at schedules, organization or planning.

Well, to be honest, I’m not good at budgeting either, originally when the three of us got on the phone to throw around ideas for the party, I wanted to go ghetto. Soda crackers and Pabst Blue Ribbon beer with a DJ pumping out music on so many levels of awesomeness that you’d forget about the food.

Luckily, my co-conspirators would have none of that and so we set off to plan the grandest, most delicious and memorable party ever.

And then there was the dancing. Out there in the internets is a video of me dancing, reminiscent of Elaine convulsing on the dance floor.

Yeah, that’s totally hot.

I hate YouTube.

And then the salsa music came on, which totally saved my reputation.

That’s my friend Brian who is a dancing king.

Thank you to our party sponsors!

Thank goodness for Jenny, who managed every single detail and was our lifesaver even when our party planning almost fell to pieces. She’s calm, cool, collected and flippin’ awesome. And thank you to our sponsors who made it all happen.

• HP: their newest web-connected printer makes computers obsolete. It’s like the iPhone mashed up with the printer.
• Tasty Kitchen: Have you seen Ree’s latest adventure? Share your recipes!
• Scharffen Berger: The most decadent chocolate desserts ever – the lovely Elizabeth Falkner of Citizen Cake provided 200 cake for our party. Also, they’re hosting a Chocolate Adventure Contest – 1st prize is $10K!
• Starbucks: Showing off their newest product, Starbucks Via Instant Coffee – shake off your fears of intant coffee – this is so incredibly better. The super-fine powder is perfect for cooking/baking too.
• Chef’s Catalog: Oh hello generous swag bag! Chef’s Catalog for all your kitchen needs.
• Foodzie: Beautiful Emily Olson from Foodzie brought her team and some of the best artisan desserts to share.
• Murphy Goode, La Crema, Black Box Wines and Pama Liqueur (will post that Pama Margherita soon!)
• Tropisueno: Who graciously hosted the party and served us the best food of the whole conference. Those mini chile rellenos!!!

Diane and Todd joined me the day after BlogHer and ate all morning and afternoon long. Like non-stop. Diane snapped this photo while I treated them to a champagne and caviar tasting at the Ferry Building.

While I’m glad to have this tasting experience, I don’t think I’m a champagne-and-caviar kinda gal. One, it’s expensive. Two, so little food! I kept thinking about how much I would have rather spend that money on another meal at Contigo.

Two of my favorite people in the world…Diane and Todd. I heard they gave a fantastic photography session at BlogHer.

I hope they continue to teach classes, because they are natural teachers and such talented photographers.

If it weren’t for Diane, I’d still be using the automatic settings on my camera, which would be an awful shame…it would be like getting a Ferrari and only driving it on automatic in a parking lot.

And then we have David Lebovitz, who’s one of the very first people to hold, touch, caress and fondle my cookbook.

He’s telling me not to wear ruffles anymore.

Boo. I like ruffles. It hides stuff.

The last photo was taken by Shauna of Gluten Free Girl, mama of the cutest little girl in the world. I taught Lu how to nugglenugglenuggle – our foreheads gently touching and noses kissing – and so for the rest of the trip, all Lu wanted to do was headbutt me!

That girl has a hard head too! I was considering duct taping a styrofoam popcorn to my forehead cuz you never knew when Lu would lean towards me at baby-speed and want to headbutt me.

Which, I think is a sign of affection, no?