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Laura from Live Smile Celebrate has come up with a blog series called "25 Things You Don't Know About Me" based on the celebrity series in US Magazine.

She tagged me and four other party gals to write the same post and after doing so, tag some other party friends. What a cool idea! So here are 25 Things You (Probably) Don't Know About Me...

1. I was born in Connecticut and grew up in New Jersey (I had bad hair for a lot of those years and didn't know it).
2. My favorite party style is shabby chic with lots of personal details.
3. I am a chocoholic. My current chocolate bar obsession right now is Chocolove's Almonds & Sea Salt in Dark Chocolate.
4. I'm 5'2 1/2" tall.
5. I have one daughter, Lainey, who calls herself the official "model" and "taster" of Catch My Party. She takes her jobs very seriously. (You've probably seen her on the blog.)
6. I've been with my husband for twelve years (married for eight) and still find him to be the most interesting person I know.
7. I am an amateur photographer and have been taking photos since I was a teenager.
8. In five weeks we are moving from Santa Monica, CA to Palo Alto, CA. I have not packed one box yet.
9. I have sleepless nights before throwing a party because I worry about every detail.
10. My favorite TV show is Top Chef.
11. My desk is covered in Post-It notes.
12. My favorite food is sushi and my favorite sushi restaurant in LA is Sasabune.
13. I love smaller, more intimate parties because I find it easier to talk to people.
14. My favorite color is green.
15. I believe in dreaming big.
16. I love to cook.
17. We have a dog named Gertie who is an eight-year-old Tibetan Terrier and we take her on vacation with us.
18. I'm shy but like to speak in public.
19. Before starting Catch My Party, I was a screenwriter in Hollywood and once wrote a movie for Salma Hayek. The movie never got made, but I got to work with her. She's funny, smart, and even more beautiful in person (if you can believe it).
20. I can spend hours on the Internet looking at shoes and handbags.
21. My favorite party trends right now: food and drink bars, funny photo booth props, tassel garlands, chalkboard anything, and ombre cakes.
22. I'm really into gel nail polish.
23. I love orangutans.
24. The most satisfying part of my job is getting to showcase creative people from all over the world. I find it humbling.
25. I never want anyone to throw me a surprise party because I think I would freak out!

I'm tagging:

Lynlee -- Lynlee's Petit Cakes

Rebekah -- A Blissful Nest

Kristy -- The Purple Pug

Brittany -- GreyGrey Designs

Do -- Piggy Bank Parties

Now that Catch My Party is off and running, I thought it was time I got some half-way-decent photos taken of me. There are so many places I need to add a photo (like our own site), and I never seem to have one I like.

While my husband is wonderful in many ways, he takes the most unflattering photographs.

So enter photographer Tamar Levine.  I met Tamar when she tutored me in Photoshop about a year ago.  She's young, hip (but not too hip), and approachable.

I thought, if I was going to get my picture taken, I needed it be by someone who was going to make me feel comfortable.  And Tamar was just the person.  She was fun, supportive, easy to work with, and she even gave me some important tips on how to look my best in photos ("chin up, chin up").  By the end of the shoot, I felt like such a natural.  I even wondered if I'd missed my calling as a supermodel.

Here are some of the photos she took of me at the photo shoot.  (I love saying photo shoot, by the way.)

While Tamar is best known for her fashion photography, she also loves shooting portrait and engagement photos.

Here are some of her fashion photographs...

And here are some of her gorgeous wedding and engagement photos...

She will be shooting my daughter's next birthday, so be on the look out for that in March.

And if you live in Los Angeles and are looking for a creative, down-to-earth photographer, who takes beautiful photos, and might make you (delusionally) think you could be a supermodel, Tamar Levine is your woman.

The best party I ever had was definitely my Sweet 16.

I've always loved fashion, so for my Sweet 16, I called up my local Bloomingdales in Short Hills, NJ, and asked them if they would put on a private fashion show for my friends and me, and let me be one of the models.  They'd never done this before, but because I sounded eager (and maybe a bit pushy) they agreed.

So we had a buffet lunch for forty of my closest friends in the restaurant at the top of the store, and in the middle of the room, there was a big runway set up.  After we ate, my friends took their seats around the runway.   I went back stage.  The fashion show started, and as these professional teen models began strutting their stuff, I remember standing in the wings, wanting desperately to back out -- what did I get myself into?!?!

But once the officious woman with the clipboard signaled for me to "go," I had no choice.  I stepped onto the runway like a deer caught in the headlights.   But then I heard it -- cheers and hollers from my friends! -- and instantly, something in me changed.  I became a 5'2'' supermodel wearing not very flattering gray Burmuda shorts, a cropped sweater/jacket, and socks with flats.   It wasn't a good look.  But it didn't matter, because I felt... great!

How do I look?

Like a supermodel

Now it's your turn, what was your best party ever?

Cheers!

Jillian