I like you, too - Amy Sedaris

You've got to love a book with a sub-title that reads: Hospitality under the Influence. This book is Amy Sedaris' hilarious look at entertaining. I would recommend signing onto amazon.com immediately and ordering two copies - one for yourself and a second for your favorite hostess. Shucks, I think this may be a Christmas staple for those friends of mine who love to throw - and attend - parties! Here are some of her ideas:

• Party Strategy The second you decide to throw a party start making ice. Sedaris calls buying a bag of it "cheating."
• The Guest List If everyone is the same, the party is a boring convention. Still you should avoid toxic combinations, like an astrologer and an astronomer, the newly divorced couple, and a serial killer and a drunken teenager.
• Invitations Be specific about time, location and themes so guests can dress appropriately. If you don't RSVP immediately, hosts will worry you are waiting for a better offer.
• Etiquette Don't arrive early unless specifically asked to. But do arrive on time, especially for a dinner party. Depending upon the host, consider practical gifts like toilet paper and stamps. If you want to bring wine, ask the hostess what she is planning to serve and bring a bottle of that. If you want to be graceful in an old world sort of way, send a bouquet of flowers the following day.
• Adult Proof Your House Assume guests will snoop. Plan ahead and fill your medicine cabinet with marbles.
• Try to Turn a Profit Capitalize on the chance to sell things to a house full of liquored up, generous guests. Set up a table of things you are selling for 25 cents. A strict hostess Sedaris has three rules for party sales: 1) it has to be a quarter, not two dimes and a nickel; 2) you break it, you buy it; and 3) you buy it, you take it away.
  

Who said entertaining couldn't be entertaining?