What celebrity guests would you invite to a dinner party?
For the sake of this post, pretend you like celebrities. For the sake of this post, they must also be living celebrities.
Here are my choices:
John and Joan Cusack (in my reality, they come as a package deal)
Bonnie Hunt
Judy Blume
It may get awkward now that they are in your home. You may need to “break the ice,” as they say.
John and Joan wondered where did the expression “break the ice” come from.
I did a little research and discovered that it comes from navigating waters. This blog provides an excellent in-depth explanation.
Bonnie was perplexed as to which ice breaker game we should play.
I suggested to them that we play Chow Wow Meow, which was introduced to me by my friend LA.
Judy inquired as to the meaning of Chow Chow Meow.
Judy, I’m happy to help, but could you please get me a book deal? KIDDING.
No I’m not.
To get the specifics, go to LA’s post, since she is far better at explaining it than me.
Here’s the gist of it:
Chow– Something good you ate
Wow-Something that amazed you
Meow– Something cute
My chow is an iced sugar cookie almond milk latte from Starbucks. Please no Starbucks vitriol in the comments, we all have our likes and dislikes. When I go there, I normally grab the same thing (iced chai), but I recently decided to try something new. This is much lighter than their typical holiday drinks. It also has sprinkles on top, making it feel extra special.
My wow will be the one I chose for LA’s post: bioluminescence, because it continues to amaze me. You’re not alone if you’ve never heard of it. It was only in October that I learned about it for the first time. You may learn more about it here, but first watch this video:
Isn’t nature amazing?
Here is an in-depth explanation of what bioluminescence is from National Geographic:
bioluminescence | National Geographic Society
And my meow is Biscuit’s recent fondness of our fireplace. Biscuits had never seen a fireplace before, and he’s completely smitten. Buddy’s bed has always been placed in front of the fireplace (it’s gas, no worries) throughout the winter months, because he enjoys lying there. So Biscuits and Buddy are now cuddling in front of it TOGETHER, and it is the definition of cozy.
Who’s on your celebrity guest list?
What is your Chow Wow Meow?
Do you have any good ice breaker games to share?
A Grace Full Life 
I’m not sure he qualifies as a celebrity, but I’m inviting Jon Meacham. That’s how much of a history geek I am!
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Authors are absolutely celebrities, in my book! (Pun intended)
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I could go with John and Joan Cusack on my list. I’d add Trevor Noah and Drew Barrymore. We’d have a hell of a good time, don’t you think?
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I love those celebrities as well! We would have one hell of a time. 🙂
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Celebrity guest list. Hmmmm. Amor Towles. Adam Driver. Kenneth Branagh. Adele. Dan Levy. I think that would be a great guest list! Chow….I had amazing corn bread yesterday with ancho Chile butter. Meow- my daughter snuggling with me over the weekend. Wow- two things I wanted to buy are NOT on sale today. And THANK YOU!!💗💗💗💗
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Dan Levy! YES! I adore him.
I love Chow, Wow, Meow. Such a fun way to get the conversation flowing. 🙂
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Oh my gosh, this is hard. On a Monday, no less. Um, so many to choose from. I’d have to say Kristen Wiig and Hugh Grant and Bill Murray and perhaps Michelle McCarthy.
Chow: my Rocky Road Fudge Bars made GF, of course. Best food EVER.
Wow: Curly’s Irish dancing abilities, that she showcased at the Midwest Championships on Friday. Links to watch her dance are on my blog this morning, how handy is that?
Meow: Something I’d never have expected to share because I’M ALLERGIC TO DOGS and have never owned one, but mine is a photo of Lad’s dog (who lives with us currently and has yet to cause me to wheeze – thank goodness) watching Curly dance on the livestream. Mini was watching from home and she took the pic. (pic is also on my blog this am. Tried to cut and paste it here, but that’s above my paygrade).
I do ice breaker games sometimes in religious ed classes. I can’t think of a ‘good one’ but I usually just ask everyone to go around the room and share a high and a low from the week.
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Bill Murray is a treasure, isn’t he?
Have you ever shared the recipe for those bars on your blog?
Ooh, I will have to take a look. I haven’t read any of my blogs since last week. I’ve got a lot of catching up to do.
Sharing a high and a low is definitely a good way to get people talking.
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Who is Michelle McCarthy?
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I think she meant Melissa McCarthy. She was in Bridesmaids and Gilmore Girls.
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Oh so fun! If I had to pick some celebrities to have over for dinner I think I’d pick Adam Sandler, Tom Hanks, and Renee Zellweger. (Fun fact; Renee was in the hospital visiting a friend when I was giving birth to one of my boys– I think it was my oldest… but I didn’t get to meet her).
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Ooh, those are some excellent choices!
That IS a fun fact!
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I was just reading an interview with Keanu Reeves where another celebrity, Martha Plimpton (I think?) recounted a story where Reeves, River Phoenix, and Plimpton (I think?) went on a road trip to see The Feelies. This was a million years ago when The Feelies existed and these celebrities were babies. Anywho, I was gobsmacked because in my world no one has ever heard of The Feelies except me and my HS friend who found their record Only Life in some used records bin & played the sh*t out of it because it is so HS. And right then I thought, holy carp I’d love to talk to those 3 about why they wanted to go see The Feelies (which had disbanded and vamoosed by the time I found them). And what other bands were they listening to at the time? Because that was such a rad peak music time.
I would also love to talk to various musicians – I guess these are celebrities? About like… where ideas or decisions came from. The ether? A plan? Like the tale of how Cowboy Junkies recorded The Trinity Sessions… or some other songs/albums that are just magic to me. I’d love to know more, you know? Though simultaneously I only want to know more if the people involved are not asshats…. I guess that’s the hazard of meeting the people who make the things (like movies, books, music, gardens – there’s a gardener I’d love to meet & chat plants and gardening and life with lol) that we love.
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This entire comment has me smitten.
I’ve never heard of The Feelies, but if you know me, by the end of the day, I’ll have The Feelies downloaded in some capacity to my playlists. Over Thanksgiving break, I spent several days curating music playlists, and it was time well-spent. I thought you’d like that tidbit of knowledge.
Keanu Reeves and Martha Plimpton are two of my favorite actors, so having them at your dinner party makes me very happy. Can John, Joan, Judy, Bonnie and I crash your party?
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Omg yes please crash! I love your list (I somehow missed reading Judy Blume but I bet she has awesome stories)! *You* chose some of *my* fav actors. After we finish talking about The Feelies, I’m sure we could find another good topic or twenty!
So I’ve only heard the one Feelies album (Only Life) – practically whatever you discover will be a surprise to me too! Exciting!
Spending an entire holiday making mix tapes and mix CDs, uh, I mean playlists! 🙂 sounds like heaven to me. I’m picturing you surrounded by happy plants and puppers, doing a little dance to your new compilations. Nothing is better than one song flowing perfectly into the next. Definitely time well spent!
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I listened to The Feelies last night! They’re fantastic. I added some of their songs to a few of my playlists (Chill, 80s, New Wave), and now whenever I hear them, I’ll think of you. 🙂
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This was fun! I love the Cusacks too and they certainly should always be a ‘bundle’.
Also, where is Bonnie Hunt? Didn’t she have an amazing talk show a million years ago? BRING BACK BONNIE.
Linds and I watched several Adam Sandler movies this past week, so I’d invite him over as he seems lighthearted and fun.
How about Mark Whalberg? I’m amazed at his work ethic, drive and abs.
Wait, I didn’t mean one of those.
Your wow has wowed me. Amazing!
My Meow is the picture of Callie in front of our fireplace; that is her new favorite spot too!
My Chow? The only thing that pops in my head is the gluten-free brownies I made last week to share with our neighbors who have a gluten allergy. I loaded them with walnuts and they were so good. I don’t normally bake and I’m not very good at it, but the brownies with some fresh raspberries were a perfect way to end our meal.
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A Bundle of Cusacks would be an excellent band name.
SHE DID! One of my commenters happened to be in the audience of one of her shows. I agree, BRING BACK BONNIE.
Isn’t that wow amazing?
Our puppers’ have the best seat in the house.
Those brownies sound delicious.
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I second the Cusaks and Bonnie Hunt. I’ve always really liked her, though I’m not sure why. I’d like to have Rebecca Solnit to listen to her talk, but her intellect is intimidating and I’d probably feel like an ignorant lump in her presence. Oh, I know: I want to have dinner with Ted Kooser. He’s one of my favorite poets, and he seems like such a nice human. Not fancy. What about Ally Sheedy? I was so jealous of her when I was about 12; she published a children’s book (her mom was an editor for a New York publishing company, so, yeah) and Seventeen magazine did a feature about her. I was just sure that if my mom was a New York book editor I’d have been the one in Seventeen! Then she became a movie star! And I knew about her before anyone else did! I would just really like to know how all of that was for her.
Also: I love Starbuck’s peppermint hot chocolate, which has almost ruined for me the regular kind. I’m not too proud to admit my basic tastes. 😉
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I’m not sure I’d feel comfortable around people with intimidating intellects. But that’s just my ego talking. Let’s get Rebecca drunk (or high) to level the playing field. 🙂
ALLY SHEEDY! YESS. I had no idea any of that about her! So I looked it up and it’s called She Was Nice to Mice! It’s available new on Amazon for $99. LOL
Years ago, I was obsessed with Starbucks salted caramel hot chocolate. I wonder if they still make it?
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Hum.. I’d like an odd mix on dinner guests: John Waters, Cyndi Lauper, Stan Sakai, Michelle Obama, Jaime Oliver, Gabriel Iglesias & Troy Gentile and we play a round of cards against humanity for an icebreaker. Chow-The amazing mac and cheese i made for Thanksgiving, wow-people that make highly detailed miniatures, meow-my wifes feet 😁
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OOOH. Now this is good. I love an interesting mix of guests. AND playing Cards Against Humanity! Perfection.
I’d love the recipe to that mac and cheese.
I’m also fascinated by anyone who creates miniatures.
Meowwwww. 😉
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Emailed you the recipe. I figure with dinner party Michelle and Jaime could devise the menu, cyndi could sing while fluffy tells jokes and John tells weird stories. Stan is an artist I admire and Troy is hilarious on The Goldbergs..it would be an incredible evening.
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I got it! Thank you for sending it to me.
What a fun time we’d have. 🙂
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Interesting… ya don’t hear people mention Bonnie Hunt too often!! What puts her on your list??
I was in the audience of her show when Brian Boitano was a guest and she got buzzed from the teensiest drink! Didn’t get to meet her but she was was SUPER nice to guests and audience. If I stumble across her films, I stop and watch regardless of how many times I’ve seen them!! (I like to bitch when Return To Me is the edited version)
My guests, without much thought: Thomas Lennon, Jim Jeffries, and Steve Martin.
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I’ve been a huge fan of hers for many years. She’s very down to Earth and lovely, plus she’s from Chicago, so I figured she’d be an easy guest. She can pop over while she’s in town visiting family. 😉
I’m so jealous you got to be in the audience of her show. My mom and I used to watch it religiously.
Oh, Steve Martin. He’s another one I’d like to have.
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Her talk show was great!
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Yes, it was! It was also vastly underrated. I wish it had lasted a little longer.
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She seems to beca genuinely good person.
Kelly Clarkston isn’t vaguely the same but her talk show has a similar feeling of genuineness.
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I agree.
And yes, Kelly’s show is very similar.
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I’ve never thought about a celebrity guest list before, but Judy Blume! That would be amazing. I would fan girl all over the place. Hmmm…trying to think of celebrities I would want to meet…they always say “never meet your heroes.” My son is a HUGE Seinfeld fan but I think he’s actually a pretty big dick in real life so meeting him would be disappointing. His wife seems awesome though, I’d like to meet her.
Chow: white chocolate peppermint kettle corn
Wow: I received my first Christmas card yesterday!
Meow: My dog Barkley, he’s so fuzzy.
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It’s been disappointing to learn over the last year that so many celebrities I thought were respectable are assholes.
I’m going to go searching for that white chocolate peppermint kettle corn.
I, too, received my first card yesterday! Hurray for us!
Aww, Barkley is such a cute name.
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I’ll never forget meeting Gene Simmons from Kiss who lived up to his 2009 solo album “asshole”
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Oh man, I hate that. I was hoping he was a nice guy. I recently saw a TikTok of Peter Criss…I believe it was him. He was talking to a fan about growing up in Ohio and he seemed very genuine.
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That dude is an incredible human being. I met the band backstage in 22003.Tommy Thayer said Nothing, Paul Stanley was Cordial but full of himself, Gene Simmons was a total douche bag but Peter Criss talked to me for half hour and genuinely listened to everything I said. Sweet guy.
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That’s awesome.
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A few years ago (when travel was still a thing) Jesse, V, and I swam in bioluminescent algae. Abram played with a bucket of it on the boat because the idea of getting off the boat and into a bay on a moonless night wasn’t something he was on board with (and I understand that decision). It was as amazing as it sounds.
I have no idea who I would invite to a dinner party. Lin Manuel Miranda and Vanessa Nadal, maybe? Dame Maggie Smith? I do like the idea of the Cusacks.
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NO WAY! I’d never heard of it before, and here you got to swim in it. That is magnificent.
I love your guest suggestions. I feel like the Cusacks would fit in with all of them. 🙂
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Larry Bird- I would love to hear some of his trash talking stories from the NBA
Adam Sandler- I would love to shoot hoops in the driveway and hear him tell Chris Farley stories
Gene Hackman- I would love to talk to him about the making of Hoosiers.
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I had a feeling these would be your answers. I believe they would be welcome additions to my dinner guests. 🙂
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