Louisa Cornell, ladydawgfan, KateS and Kelly Ryan are the winners of Fun Contest Saturday!
Lori Austin's (aka Lori Handeland) An Outlaw in Wonderland has been named one of Publisher Weekly's Best Summer Books of 2013!!
A big CONGRATULATIONS to Goddesses Lori Austin (Lori Handeland) and Sabrina Jeffries for being named as RITA finalists for their historical romances BEAUTY AND THE BOUNTY HUNTER and A LADY NEVER SURRENDERS!
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Every year, while cooking our Thanksgiving feast, my family and I play the Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner Game.
Here’s how it goes:
Mom (whipping up some gravy): You know who would enjoy this turkey? George Washington. I read that he loves pigeon dishes and this turkey would taste almost the same as pigeon.
Brother (setting out the glasses): I’d like to have the Borgias over for wine. You couldn’t actually drink it with them, because they might poison you, but I bet they would be fun until then.
Me (taking pecan pies out of the oven): I’d like Donald Driver to teach me how to dance. It would probably take about ten years, but he’d make it worthwhile.
Dad (slicing the ham): I’d like to teach Benjamin Franklin how to play Halo on our Xbox360. I bet he’d hit Master Chief in no time.
And so it goes. You mention a famous person (from history or now) and match them to an activity they might be good at/like/could do.
Which historical or famous contemporary figure would you invite to dinner? Queen Elizabeth I? Franklin Roosevelt? Audrey Hepburn? Tom Brady? Cleopatra? Napoleon? Elizabeth Taylor? Alexander the Great? Hugh Jackman? Who would you want to play a board game with? Take on a tour of your town/city? Teach how to play an XBox game? Share a frosty beverage?
70 Comments on “Guess who’s coming to ____? You tell us.”
You can track this conversation through its atom feed.
For me it would be Audrey Hepburn coming to dinner and we would play SingStar because her voice was amazing in Breakfast at Tiffany’s.
Posted on November 21, 2012 at 6:25 am.
Kelly, she was so stylish and graceful, wasn’t she?
Posted on November 21, 2012 at 6:32 am.
Oh goodness yes! I would be envious of her but I have been working on accepting myself for who I am.
Posted on November 21, 2012 at 8:30 am.
Oh my gosh — LOVE her! She lived such an interesting life, too. That’s cool about playing SingStar with her because I never would have thought about that, but you’re right, she had a super voice.
Good one!
Posted on November 21, 2012 at 10:26 am.
I’d love to meet R.A. Dickey, the N.Y. Met who just won the Cy Young Award. In a perfect world, I’d love to catch his knuckle ball like David Letterman did. I say perfect world because he almost took Letterman’s arm off. He’d be fascinating to talk with as he’s conquered Mt. Kilimanjaro, written a best-selling book, won 20 games for a losing team, and seems to be one of the “good” guys.
Posted on November 21, 2012 at 6:31 am.
Donna, I need to youtube that! I love sports figures of all kinds. Some of them are just amazing achievers and have done so much.
Posted on November 21, 2012 at 10:26 am.
Karen, here’s the You Tube link. Pardon the ad.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5d1x-oE2RKU
Posted on November 21, 2012 at 12:30 pm.
Thank you! How cool is that?
Posted on November 21, 2012 at 3:58 pm.
I’d like to play Sorry with Ghandi or Deepak Chopra. They’d be good at forgiveness, right?
Posted on November 21, 2012 at 7:12 am.
Lol! Robin, that’s the funniest thing I’ve read today. Thank you for the chuckle!
Posted on November 21, 2012 at 10:28 am.
Can I play Twister with Clay Matthews? Please?
Posted on November 21, 2012 at 8:17 am.
Woot! Now you are talking..
Posted on November 21, 2012 at 8:59 am.
LOL! Get in line, sister. Get in line.
Posted on November 21, 2012 at 10:29 am.
Bring it on, baby!
I’m there!
Posted on November 21, 2012 at 10:46 am.
Well, hey, the more the merrier!
Posted on November 21, 2012 at 3:13 pm.
I think I would make it a Goddess Day and have you all over to the house. With our cobblestone streets and twinkle lights in all the city trees it would be a lovely small town tour before we broke out the frosty beverages.
Posted on November 21, 2012 at 9:02 am.
Sounds lovely. I’ll head out in a few minutes!
Posted on November 21, 2012 at 9:21 am.
Aw, kez, what a fun, fun, FUN thing! I’d love that!
Btw, I sent a tweet to Donald Driver after Sunday’s game and he wrote back and said he loved my books and he named one of them — HOW TO TREAT A LADY! I’ve been squeeing ever since.
What a gentleman!!!
Posted on November 21, 2012 at 10:30 am.
Best news about DD that I have heard! He reads your books.
Posted on November 21, 2012 at 12:57 pm.
I am ASTONISHED.
Posted on November 21, 2012 at 3:58 pm.
that is sweet of you!
Posted on November 21, 2012 at 11:18 am.
I would have Ewan McGregor over for dinner. First he would take me for a ride on his motorcycle, then he would sing me a song and teach me how to play guitar. Of course I would make him do all of this while wearing his kilt.
Posted on November 21, 2012 at 9:16 am.
My choice too!
Nothing like a hot guy in a kilt
Posted on November 21, 2012 at 9:48 am.
*sigh* yes. Ewan.
Posted on November 21, 2012 at 10:21 am.
Amy, plz send pics.
Posted on November 21, 2012 at 10:30 am.
Nothing like a guy in a kilt riding a motorcycle.
Posted on November 22, 2012 at 11:50 pm.
I’d like to feast with Vita Sackville West and we’d talk gardens and writing.
Posted on November 21, 2012 at 9:31 am.
Barbara, I had to look that one up. What a fascinating character! I can see I have some reading ahead of me. I love poetry.
Posted on November 21, 2012 at 10:31 am.
She is so fascinating!
Janae,that sounds like a question she’d love to answer. Love her.
Posted on November 22, 2012 at 10:35 am.
I’d love to talk to her, too. Now, that we’ve repainted our house to a more grey green color, I’d love to talk to Vita. I love my white hydrangeas that age red under my front window, but their acidy green leaves don’t look good with the house paint. I’m sure that Vita would have more than a few suggestions for the right plantings.
Posted on November 21, 2012 at 1:23 pm.
Which historical or famous contemporary figure would you invite to dinner? Franklin Roosevelt to hear how in the present day he’d fix the economy.
I’d like to play a board game with Brad Pitt. He seems interesting, I’d like to hear his views on green building.
I’d like to take Queen Elizabeth on a tour of my town. Just because hey…the Queen of England is taking a tour of my itty bitty city. Or Johnny Depp, he’s quirky enough he’d get my town.
Teach how to play an XBox game. Oh man…I’d like Hugh Jackman as with kids he probably knows how to play one, as I don’t
Share a Frosty Beverage. Audrey Hepburn. She seems like she could hang.
Posted on November 21, 2012 at 10:11 am.
Pesky, you need to come to my family’s Thanksgiving dinner and play the game with us because I think you’d give us all a run for our money.
Btw, I’m stealing Lori Handeland’s twister idea, but using your Hugh Jackman suggestion. Now THAT would be an epic game.
Posted on November 21, 2012 at 10:33 am.
Thinking about FDR makes me wonder how he would react to current day lack of privacy. No way would he be able to minimize his physical limitations as he was during his time.
Posted on November 21, 2012 at 3:18 pm.
I’d love to invite Julia Child over – not for her cooking, but for her stories. I am sure she would toss in a few pointers as I made the gravy.
I’d also like to invite Paul Rudd over to watch movies or play video games with, he seems like he would be fun to hang with.
I’d like to invite Cary Grant over to class the place up a bit and to share stories of old Hollywood.
And then for the dessert/drink portion, I am with kez and would invite all the Goddesses over – you know that would be a ridiculously fun time
Posted on November 21, 2012 at 10:29 am.
I am dying to watch Julia and Julia (or whatever that movie is called). I have it on dvd but haven’t had the time to sit back and luxuriate. I’ve heard good things about it, though!
And oh, Paul Rudd. I have SUCH a crush on him because he’s such a GUY and has that adorable crooked smile. <3!
Name the date, time, place for the dessert/drink idea. I'm there.
Posted on November 21, 2012 at 10:35 am.
Have you read “My Life in France”? You must.
and Paul Rudd? YES!!! total crush.
must get Goddess festivities on the schedule…
Posted on November 21, 2012 at 10:55 am.
I will read it next week. I have some time then. WOOT!
Posted on November 21, 2012 at 3:59 pm.
I’d like to have a candlelight dinner with Patrick Dempsey. We would talk about everything from racing to craft brewed beer. Afterward we would play my special version of the game Operation!
Posted on November 21, 2012 at 10:30 am.
Kelly, lol! I bet you’d both have a delightful time.
Posted on November 21, 2012 at 10:35 am.
Which historical or famous contemporary figure would you invite to dinner? I would LOVE to have John Wayne and/or Darrel Royal over for dinner. Coach Royal was born the same year as my parents, and I have actually met him a couple of times–he was funny and nice, but didn’t take any crap from anyone–he was amazing. John Wayne was the epitome of the tough guy with the squishy heart. I grew up watching his movies and I’ve instilled that same love for him in my kiddos.
I would love to sit and play cards with Paula Deen and her family. I’ve watched shows where they are playing games, and they seem just as funny and rowdy as my own family–including threats to cheat.
Plus, I’m sure the food would be fantastic. 
Plus, just the fact that she has agoraphobia and has learned to deal with it so well amazes me. I cannot even imagine being afraid to leave my home…
I would love to sit in a pub and chat with Sandra Bullock. She seems like such a fun person–I’ve always liked her.
And, of course, all of our lovely Goddesses–they would all be fun to have a glass of wine and some chocolates with.
Posted on November 21, 2012 at 11:12 am.
Julie, we’d love to have a glass o’ vino with you, too.
You have some very interesting choices there and I’d love to talk to them all. Well, except Paula Deen – I feel as if I know her from watching all of her shows.
And Sandra B is on my short list, too. What an amazing woman!
Posted on November 21, 2012 at 4:00 pm.
I would have Leonardo da Vinci over. I have some questions I would like to ask him.
I also think F. Scott Fitzgerald would be a really interesting dinner guest.
Posted on November 21, 2012 at 11:21 am.
And if you’re lucky, Leo might doodle on a napkin.
Scott would be a great one, too. During his more sober years, at least.
Posted on November 21, 2012 at 4:01 pm.
Gerard Butler – he can sing and look pretty and I wouldn’t mind playing any game with him
Dickens and Dumas to debate on the human behavior and tell a few tales
Poe to provide the alcohol (absinthe at family dinner should provide to be interesting)
Sinatra and Martin – singers and would love the fact I don’t serve turkey
Posted on November 21, 2012 at 11:31 am.
Gerard doesn’t have to do anything. Just sit there. Oh, and maybe talk. That VOICE. Oy.
Great choices, all! Carla, you have a heck of a great party here.
Posted on November 21, 2012 at 4:02 pm.
Eleanor of Aquitaine.
I figure my cooking has to be better than anything cooked over a medieval fire pit and she’d get to experience the taste of corn, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie!! All new, exotic flavors for her. And then she could tell me how she did it, lived life so completely outside the medieval box.
Posted on November 21, 2012 at 11:44 am.
Claudia, I read a bio on Eleanor of A based on, among other things, her housekeeping records. What an amazing woman!
Posted on November 21, 2012 at 4:03 pm.
Btw, I always imagine taking Ben Franklin for a car ride. Somehow,I think he’d love that.
Posted on November 21, 2012 at 4:04 pm.
Talk males & females & the relationship between them with Jane Austen over tea and pumpkin pie!
Posted on November 21, 2012 at 11:45 am.
Christie, oh Jane! How could I have forgotten????
Posted on November 21, 2012 at 4:04 pm.
I would want to have you to dinner Ms.Hawkins. I would show you around town maybe you would get an idea for a book.
Posted on November 21, 2012 at 12:09 pm.
Gail, aw, thank you! I would love that.
I’m sure I’d get more than one idea, too. They always seem to come in pairs!
Posted on November 21, 2012 at 4:05 pm.
I would love to have Martha Stewart over because she could take over everything – from cooking to decorating.
Then I could sit down with Rowland Macy and discuss the upcoming store sales and trends.
For dinner, I would enjoy some good conversation with Jimmy Stewart.
And for dessert, Hugh Jackman (which I think we can all agree on)
Posted on November 21, 2012 at 12:55 pm.
Suzy, how could I have forgotten Rowland Macy. I’d want to hear that convo!
Btw, your choice of dessert? DIVINE!
Posted on November 21, 2012 at 4:06 pm.
I’d love to have Lewis and Clark over for Thanksgiving. I think they’d appreciate knowing what they helped create, and then I’d show them my Garmin and watch them cry. *g*
Posted on November 21, 2012 at 12:56 pm.
Lol! You are so EEEVIL!
Posted on November 21, 2012 at 4:06 pm.
HAHAHA nice.
Posted on November 21, 2012 at 6:11 pm.
I would invite Daniel Craig and we would play “watch James Bond emerge from the ocean in little blue trunks”.
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!
Posted on November 21, 2012 at 1:02 pm.
Christy, what a fun ‘parlor game.’ Methinks you’ll be in the parlor for a long time.
Posted on November 21, 2012 at 4:07 pm.
It’s hard to pick, but if I had to pick someone, I’d pick a couple of my ancestors to have dinner with to break through my “brickwalls.”
There’s my 4th great-grandmother Lucy who I need to talk to because she has 3 children, but no father. She was fairly affluent and her brother mentions her husband, but no one can find him. I’d talk to her about her daughter, Mariah, and also, what it was like living in southwestern Virginia during the Civil War, raising her daughter’s 2 children after their father died.
There’s, also, my 3rd ggrandfather, Jonathan, who I need to ask about his parents or about who raised him. His wife, Martha, too, because I’d like to confirm who her parents are. I’d, also, like to ask them why they move from Ohio to Wisconsin, and finally Nebraska. Oh, and I’d love to hear Jonathan talk about his experiences when he took part in Sherman’s March to the Sea.
Oh, there’s John Howland, Pilgrim and Mayflower passenger. I’d love to know what he was thinking when he was blown off the ship during a storm, and what he thinks of his more famous offspring.
And my 6th ggrandmother who served a life sentence in a Danish prison because she stole from her aunt. I’d like to talk to her why she stole and why she kept on stealing in prison.
Seriously, I could keep adding ancestors to talk to because I’ve some pretty interesting ones.
Posted on November 21, 2012 at 1:36 pm.
Janae, what interesting relatives you have! I bought my mom a subscription to ancestry.com for her birthday. I expect that this year her invitation list will mirror yours.
Posted on November 21, 2012 at 4:08 pm.
We don’t have Thanksgiving over here (not being American) but if I could, I’d invite Andrew Lloyd-Webber so we could talk musical (and perhaps he could give me some singing lessons).
And my sister definitely Donny Osmond – just to see if she still faints by seeing his face… She was – and still is – such a great fan of The Osmonds. I remember when I went to California in 1977, I had to bring along a whole load of LP’s of the Osmonds and of Donny & Mary.
Who else? King Charles The Second. Always read he was very intellinent, next to being a womanizer. I’d like to see his face when he saw how our world is like.
Posted on November 21, 2012 at 1:37 pm.
Oh, Nicki, Andrew L-W is amazing. A great choice!
Charles II is an interesting choice, too – as is Donnie Osmond. I wonder what they’d think of each other?
Posted on November 21, 2012 at 4:09 pm.
Princess Diana – me, so that we could talk kids and divorce.
Elvis – my dad, Matt(youngest brother) & Teresa (3rd sister) and they would talk about music and Elvis’ hip pivot.
Paw Paw Bill & Ma Ma Duncan – my mom, her parents, just to talk to them.
Smith & Wesson – guns – Jennifer (youngest sister) she lovesss her guns
Jesus – Becky (sister next to me in age) – do I really need to say more on this one?
Martha Stewart – Marty (middle brother) – Christmas decor, flowers, decorating, Martha could give him some tips.
And my Dad, so that my sisters Becky, Jennifer and I could just talk to him.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone.
Posted on November 21, 2012 at 2:57 pm.
Ginger, what a terrific list. And what a huge party you’d have too, if you invited them to the same place.
Your mention of your Dad made me smile. That would be sweet, wouldn’t it?
Posted on November 21, 2012 at 4:10 pm.
Mmmm interesting question.. I think I would love to have dinner with Hugh Jackman and then after dinner we could sing and dance.. Would work of some of those calories from dinner. Of course I have already had Thanksgiving back in October, buy hey he can come to my house for any meal.
Posted on November 21, 2012 at 9:01 pm.
Okay, I want Aphra Behn (one of the first female playwrights, maybe even the first) to come to dinner, but only so I could pick her brain. But given her many talents (novelist, playwright, poet, spy), I would think she’d be great at charades!!
Posted on November 21, 2012 at 11:54 pm.
I’d invite Abraham Lincoln to learn what he would do if he were president today. Would love to see how he would solve our fiscal crisis as well as how he would deal with our foreign policy.
Posted on November 22, 2012 at 1:04 am.
I would invite my ancestor to dinner to see if that person likes the food cooked by my family. NOT the take-outs, but the home-made ones.
I would invite Andrew Zimmermann to critique our home-made food and see how it differs from the food he had eaten from my homeland.
I would invite my fair Goddesses to my dinner to try my family’s food. Also, the majority of them could continue writing/typing their novels; we have that MUCH electrical gadgets for them to use.
Posted on November 22, 2012 at 1:26 am.
I’d love to play Monopoly with Queen Elizabeth I. I imagine she would be quite ruthless & rule the board in no time.
Posted on November 22, 2012 at 5:00 am.