Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/793905
NEVER RUN OUT OF BOOZE Anne Lee Phillips takes party notes. Photography Jacob Powers. T hrowing the perfect party is an art form. Throwing the perfect Southern party involves hugging, kissing, and putting a drink in everyone's hands. Four host-masters converged at antiques and home-goods emporium Back Row Home for a Southern Style evening of shopping, cocktails, food, and book signings, where the authors passed out entertaining tips such as recipes for cheese-biscuit canapés. Author and party-thrower Julia Reed, whose latest book is Julia Reed's South: Spirited Entertaining and High-Style Fun All Year Long, offered perhaps the most sage advice: "The only real good reason to have a party is because you want to have some fun." In from Atlanta, Danielle Rollins, author of Soirée: Entertaining with Style, passed along her recipe for caviar pie (herb cream cheese, egg salad and caviar), while blogger/fabric designer Ronda Rice Carman, author of Designers at Home: Personal Reflections on Stylish Living, discussed relaxed Scottish-style entertaining; she's fresh off a stint living abroad. Moderator and founder of Southern Style Now design week and former editor of Domino, Robert Leleux, in from New Orleans, kept the conversation flowing, interjecting his own clever salvos. The evening's biggest takeaway: Keep it simple, and have fun. SEEN: Back Row Home's Tracey Shingledecker, Kelly O'Donnell, and Leighton Hale; Alton LaDay; Matt Carman; designers Elizabeth Ingram, Ben Johnston, and Sarah Eilers; Ellen McCloskey; Mary Evans McCloskey; Lane Torsch; Ruth and Neill Davis; Ellen Eilers; Skylar Walker; and Michael Leleux. AND OTHER SOUTHERN ENTERTAINING TIPS Barbie Horwitz, Stacy Graubart Tracey Pugh Shingledecker, Kelly Fogarty O'Donnell, James Leighton Hale Neill Davis, Mariana Barron Goodall Ruth Davis Maureen Evans, Kathie Bargan, Heather Stefanik Lee Luttrell, Tara Walker, Deana Crawford Sarah Eilers, Ellen Eilers Cecily Burleson, Allison Callendar Robert Leleux Skyler Walker, Michael Leleux Danielle Rollins, Julia Reed Ronda Rice Carman Elizabeth Ingram, Alton LaDay Ellen McCloskey, Lane Torsch, Mary Evans McCloskey Karen Craig, Renee Cummins 80