Last weekend I was in New York City where I was invited to speak at the Wifestyle Conference, which was held in the beautiful GE Monogram kitchens. The focus was around stylish domestic living and entertaining in style – whatever your marital status may be.

Only swag bag I know that give you vodka. These ladies know what’s up.

Introducing the fabulous co-founders & hostesses, Coryanne [Housewife Bliss] and Mindy [The Gracious Girl]. These two worked incredibly hard to bring in all the experts, amazing sponsors, and delicious food [plus more]! These ladies should be very proud, the event was a huge success and they totally rocked it!

Tip [from Coryanne]: Combat clutter and mess by cleaning one room each day, sticking to a regular cleaning routine creates more free time over the weekend, and keeps your home organized during the week.

If you’re wondering about the background, it’s a refrigerator that has the Empire State Building etched into it. It’s pretty damn fabulous if you ask me.

Two [incredibly sweet] ladies from H. Bloom gave tips for creating simple yet elegant floral arrangements.

Tip: Think about creative additions – Cabbage, chilies, artichokes, small holiday ornaments, and other lovely little surprises – they’re an unexpected way to add a bit of fun to an arrangement. Ask an expert!

Chef Tageré shared tips, tricks and “how to’s” on everything from roasting a chicken, making the perfect pie crust to handling a knife. I had the pleasure of working alongside her the day before [prepping] or more like me working in [invading] her space. Let’s just say I’ve never enjoyed prep work that much. I truly enjoyed my time with her.

Tip: Cut all veggies the same [or similar] size, for even cooking

Hands on, “how to”: Make pie crusts

I love this woman. Not just because she makes amazing cocktails, but she’s completely hilarious. Introducing, the Cocktail Deeva.

Tip: There are two things every party needs a lot of… good looking men and ICE.  Only thing worse than a warm drink is NO drink.

The talented, Kelley Moore working her magic, like using a shower curtain as table cloth and a frame as the centerpiece [with disco ball].

Tip: keep a bell at the dinner table [pictured above], this helps bring everyone to the dinner table without shouting

Mindy, the Etiquette Expert explaining the proper way to eat soup.

Tip: Right has five letters. So does spoon and knife.

The lovely Kelly Kegans, Senior Editor at Better Homes and Gardens Magazine talked about home design and shared some beautiful interiors!

Tip: It’s important for your home to reflect your personal style – don’t be afraid to mix period pieces or design styles.

That’s ME, The Gluten-free Entertaining Expert! Serious preppin’

Tip: Have a least 5 gluten-free ingredients on hand. Such as rice crackers [with cheese], corn chips [salsa/guacamole], quinoa / rice & or gf pasta. If your a busy, I hate to cook type hostess, keep a frozen gluten-free pizza in the freezer and when ready to serve, cut into bite size/square pieces. Voila!

BTW – I’m in love with the apron from the Hip Hostess – matched my dress perfectly!

I made a delicious quinoa dish [recipe coming soon] and showed different ways to present it when entertaining – serve in endive, lettuce cups, on a platter as a “make your own”, etc. I also shared my secret for how to cook quinoa that isn’t mushy [also coming soon].

Thank you Monogrammed Martini for providing the beautiful tray!

We drank it with our coffee, cocktails, infused in cherry tomatoes and some of us even sipped. Currently obsessing over the coconut flavor. Thank you Van Gogh Vodka for spicing things up!

Mmmm… Look at ALL my vodka infused tomatoes!

This picture makes me laugh. Maybe more so because I showed it to my husband and he jumped out of the chair [closer to the computer screen] and responded, “wow, you really look like you know what you’re talking about! This is so cool!” My response, “no s*** sherlock. Thank you.”

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