My boyfriend Alex writes for the New York Times, but the only parts I usually witness are his late nights and requests for back rubs. But then he came home a few weeks ago and said he was writing a story about throwing a holiday party on a tight budget–with the help of uber-famous event planner David Monn! And the party was to be at our apartment! It was totally exciting.

I loved tagging along for this article. We had a dinner party with (cheap but delicious) twice-baked potatoes amid glittery snowflakes. The coolest part? Monn put down a white tablecloth, put a bunch of white Christmas lights in the middle and then covered it with white quilt batting. The table glowed!

Thank you, David and Alex!

(Photo via Fashion Toast)