Highlands resident Jordan Catapano and her sister Jocelyn Dunn Muhlbach rang in the New Year with the launch of their most recent literary endeavor This Girl Minds her P’s & Q’s: An Etiquette Handbook for Dinner Parties, Restaurants and Bars.
Short enough to read the morning before a dinner party and small enough to fit inside a purse, the witty book offers valuable etiquette rules including: #28. Stop Photographing your Food, #55. Don’t Send Ugly Invitations and #133. Your Boss is Always Right Even if He Isn’t.
Photo courtesy of Jessica Abercrombie
It serves as a manual for guests and hostesses alike who are seeking to entertain with warmth and hospitality and avoid etiquette blunders. According to the sisters, it’s ideal for Palisadians.
“The Palisades is home to a community of people who love to entertain,” said Catapano, a mom who has noticed the parents at her children’s schools are constantly opening up their homes to welcome new families, host fundraisers or other get-togethers. “The Fourth of July in this town is the perfect example. From the crack of dawn, people throw open their doors, barbeque right in their front yards and invite pretty much anyone walking by to stop in for a hot dog and a drink.”
What if you aren’t a natural entertainer? This book can help calm your nerves.
“Most people will read this book and discover that those aspects of entertaining that they stress over aren’t important or even noticed by their guests,” Catapano said. “No one will care if you set the table without salad forks or have red wine glasses to serve chardonnay. But if you introduce inappropriate dinner topics, or announce that you’re stuffed after eating two bites of food, or take smartphone photos of your meal during dinner, or bring the unopened wine you brought as a hostess gift back home with you, people will be offended.”
The sisters’ first book, This Girl Walks Into a Bar: A Women’s Guide to Professional Bartending and Home Mixology was published just as the craft mixology craze was taking over the country.
“Our website and blog represented one of the few female voices in the market,” Catapano said. “We always had a vision for our little company, but in many ways the brand was born overnight.”
Growing up in San Diego with their father, a professor of world history, and mother, a painter who has held artist residencies around the globe, they were constantly hosting colleagues from every corner of the world.
“Our parents went out of their way to make everyone who visited feel welcome,” the sisters said. “That warmth and hospitality made a huge impression on us. They didn’t have expensive china or fancy table linens. They placed value on friendship, food and conversation.”
The sisters took their family values and shared love of entertaining and consulted with close friends, blog readers, neighbors and colleagues in the wine and spirits world to create their lifestyle brand, featuring fun, helpful tips and tricks for the everyday woman.
As a graphic designer, Dunn Muhlbach takes charge of all of the branding and design needs for their company while her sister, a cocktail expert with an extensive résumé as a professional bartender and mixologist, tackles the blog content and recipe creation.
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