Ooh, I go with family secrets. Mine has a pretty big one, and I feel like it opens up conversation around the table about everyone else's. You learn a LOT about each other, including how everyone's families are extremely messed up, lol. 

First of all, I will be stealing the best story someone drops here, and I'll make it my own. Know that. (Allison DuBois voice.) Normally, when it's a new group, and school comes up, I tell them how in my (boarding) high school, my roommate, who had IBS, would steal and wear my shoes to go to the bathroom. So everyone would look under the stall and think it was me taking these horrific sh*ts. When I found out, I had to laugh. 

I don’t want to be super name-droppy, but I enjoy breaking the ice about having dinner at an Oscar winner’s house, and lunch with one of the most beloved men in Hollywood. (He was lovely.) 

On the flip side, I also tell a story about how my 45-minute flight from Pittsburgh to NYC turned into a 12+ hour flying experience in which we did end up flying to NYC… only to turn around and land back in Pittsburgh. 

I usually ask if anyone has any travel plans coming up, and when the responses have died down, I hit ’em with the “omg that reminds me of the time my husband and I went to Punta Cana… Oh god you guys don’t want to hear about that trip though it’s… a story.” and then I tell them a 15 min travel NIGHTMARE story, that eventually opens up everyone to tell their own travel nightmare story, and if there’s one thing we can all bond on it’s travel nightmares.

OH yes this is something I realized after working in an industry that hosts a LOT of events. You need to be ready to just fill silence at any moment. Mine is usually about when I got my appendix removed in college. It sounds like a weird one, but usually gets a few laughs. And someone always tries to top you with their own medical story after. 

Picture this… You’re at a dinner party with a bunch of people you don’t know, but your friend who is hosting says you’ll all get along great. However, her friends are duds and you realize you need to hit ’em with your go-to dinner party story to spice up the conversation. What’s your go-to? Do you have one?

We should all have a go-to dinner party story