Whine & Cheez: CBS Joins the Pinterest Party!

Set your DVRs, folks! The Pinterest Party I hosted last Saturday will be featured on CBS This Morning on Thursday!

If you're wondering how this came to fruition, allow me to explain: a few weeks back I threw my very first Pinterest Party. Let’s just say it was a success—such a success that a producer from CBS' national morning show contacted me to see if I would be throwing another one anytime soon that they could feature for an upcoming Pinterest segment. Without hesitation, I told her I would absolutely throw one if it meant they would come and film the party. A few emails and phone conversations later, she booked the flights and I sent out the Evite!

“Holy cow! CBS is coming to our house!” I told my hubby.

Then that panic set in. CBS is coming to my house? I have WAY too much to do and not much time to get it done. I had to act fast. I started cleaning, organizing, planting flowers, hired landscapers, etc. You name it, I was on it. I was as cool as a cucumber until the crew arrived ahead of schedule on Saturday morning. I was literally in the middle of preparing and finishing the appetizers, cleaning the kids' messes, and spot cleaning when the car pulled up. Lucky for me, they needed time to set up which gave me a few extra minutes to try and get things in order. I will tell you this, though: my kitchen was no way near as organized, clean or set up the way I had planned it. In fact, when I see it on TV I will likely be mortified. Don’t quit your day job, Martha. I still have a long way to go!

Let me begin by first telling you how amazing, wonderful, down to earth, beautiful and HILARIOUS Lee Woodruff is; Lee is the CBS correspondent that covered the party. (She is married to Bob Woodruff, the well-known reporter that was hit by a roadside bomb in 2006 while covering the Iraq war.) Talk about one incredible (and very loveable) woman. She’s down to earth, kind, fun—I didn’t want her to leave. In fact, I told her that if she ever decides to relocate from the New York area, we’d love to have her here in our neck of the woods. And I wasn’t the only one that thought so; all the girls were gaga over her. She’s remarkable.

The entire crew was amazing, too. They transformed my little home into a TV set within minutes. We started the party with the usual antics: mingling, drinking and snacking. Only this time, there was a famous woman in my kitchen equipped with a cameraman, sound guy and producer. It was hilarious to watch the other girls getting interviewed with a huge camera inches from their faces. It's safe to say the wine was going down VERY easily.

I even added a little spin from the last Pinterest party I threw. This time, I had a DIY craft that the girls could make and take home as a little gift from me. To make them, I spray-painted 12 terracotta pots with black chalkboard paint ahead of time (in order to speed things up while at the party). Also on the table were some herbs for the girls to plant in the pots. (I chose Thyme and Basil.) Most girls wrote the name of the herb on the pot, but clever Lee wrote “Lee’s Pot,” and then she said something funny about having trouble getting it through security at the airport. We all laughed so hard!

During the craft and throughout the party, she was asking us questions about why we love Pinterest. It was so fun and we are without a doubt pumped for Thursday, when we can all sit and overanalyze our every move, love handle, double chin, etc. We are all our own worst critics, right? I for one can't stand seeing myself in videos, so it will be interesting to see!

On a similar note, while prepping the food on Friday night I sliced my index finger, which meant I had to wear a big, ugly band-aid on my newly manicured nails—not nearly the Giada De Laurentis hands I had envisioned. I bribed the cameraman with a peanut butter brownie to delete any footage of the "band-aid finger." Let's hope he holds up his end of the bargain!

We exchanged our gifts white-elephant style, just like last time. It was great seeing the new ideas the girls came up with. I even gave Lee and the producer a little something for spending the day with us.

All of the girls, including our new friend Lee, were given parting gifts of cowgirl cookies (which I gave away at the last party), as well as homemade lemon-sugar hand scrub. Both were a hit. I felt sorry for the girls though. They literally had two mason jars, a planted pot and a huge bag (containing the gift they got from the exchange) to take home. Maybe next time I’ll invest in some wagons so they can get all of the loot to their cars. Hey, that actually might be a cute idea!
It was a blast. And the best part was meeting Lee. What a great woman.

Here is my Pinterest board with the foods we ate, the drinks we drank, and the crafts that were exchanged.

So be sure to watch on Thursday. Who knows, maybe it will inspire you to throw your very own Pinterest Party. Or at the very least you can poke fun at the girls you will undoubtedly recognize as your friends, neighbors, and acquaintances!