Simply IrresisTABLE

Notes after a solid week of dinner parties

For six nights in a row, we’ve either been out to dinner parties or had people here, and whereas I’d normally be worn to a thread by so much wining, dining, and being “on,” I feel quite buoyant. Attending so many dinner parties in sequence makes you keenly aware of people’s differing styles and little tricks, and I’ve found it fascinating and educational.

For example, at one party, where we’re only just getting to know the hosts and where half the guests didn’t know the other half at all, I figured we would all be on our very best behaviour and the whole evening rather formal. But when the hostess, a writer, kicked off the cocktail hour by announcing she was working on a newspaper article about penises, but didn’t know how to finish it, I suddenly knew that conversational leeway was going to be wider than I’d anticipated. A neat trick, really, when you think about it. It was her clever way of saying, “Nobody here is uptight, so please feel free to be yourselves,” without her actually having to spell it out. What a pro.