Speaker 1: 0:02

Welcome to the Z Michelson Travel Podcast, where every journey is a story waiting to be told. I'm your host, z Michelson, and I'm so excited to take you on a ride through the world's most incredible destinations, hidden gems and unforgettable experiences. Whether you're a seasoned traveler or just starting to plan your next getaway, you're in the right place. You're a seasoned traveler or just starting to plan your next getaway, you're in the right place. Each episode, we'll be diving into everything from must-see landmarks to off-the-beaten-path treasures, speaking with locals and travel experts and sharing stories that will inspire your next adventure. So sit back, relax and let's wander the world together, one destination at a time. Are you ready? Let's get started.

Speaker 2: 0:51

Hey, this is Zee Michelson, and you're not going to believe who I have in my studio with me today. I have author and travel advisor P Michelle. P Michelle has written two books. Her second book is what we're going to talk about today. It's called it's Five O'Clock Somewhere how to Host an Elegant Cocktail Party. Well, p Michelle, welcome to the show. Thank you so much, c, for having me. What have you gotten? Why have you gotten into writing books? I should say, why did you get this way? I said, oh, we want to talk about cocktail parties.

Speaker 3: 1:26

I've always loved to read and I've always loved to write, and so it just came natural. I just would scribble things out. And one day I decided that I wanted to write a book about cocktail parties, because I remember the famous cocktail party with my parrot Pan. I couldn't wait to grow up to host my old cocktail party. But you know what happened.

Speaker 2: 1:45

What happened? Happy hour, oh, happy hour.

Speaker 3: 1:48

Happy hour came and kicked the cocktail parties, so I thought this was a good time to try to introduce people that had known about cocktail parties, let them know what they were about and how much fun they can be.

Speaker 2: 1:59

Now I remember cocktail parties way back in the 60s. They were very popular. In the 60s, everybody had cocktail parties. Now, with your book, you know it's five o'clock somewhere. What is in it that people will know about?

Speaker 3: 2:14

It's a step-by-step guide, so it just walks you from the history of the cocktail party all the way through Everything that you need to know to actually create a cocktail party. It tells you the when, why's and how's and what to do.

Speaker 2: 2:29

Tells you the when, why's and how's. Okay, when would you have a cocktail party? Anytime, any time.

Speaker 3: 2:36

It's five o'clock somewhere. It's five o'clock somewhere, absolutely, if you're celebrating something anniversary, wedding just a get-together, holidays. You know people have New Year's Eve parties. So, anytime you want to have a small gathering.

Speaker 2: 2:53

Small gathering. Now, when you say small gathering, how many people would be in a cocktail party?

Speaker 3: 2:58

No more than a dozen, no more than 12 people. You want to keep it intimate than 12 people.

Speaker 2: 3:06

You want to keep it intimate? Okay, about 12 people? Okay now, when you were showing me your book, you were showing me this lovely lady who is really the epitome of cocktail parties.

Speaker 3: 3:13

Yes, her name was Miss Clara Dee Dee Bell Wash and she was a socialite back in the early 1900s and she had one of the most well, she had famous, famous cocktail parties that people talked about. She always had them on a Sunday Sunday. She might not have been the person who invented the cocktail parties, but she's the one that laid the claim to them. Oh, because her cocktail parties were famous. Absolutely Anybody who was anybody was going to be at her cocktail parties. Big up News, walsh's parties. That's right. That's right.

Speaker 2: 3:48

And so she kind of laid down the guidance of how a cocktail party should flow.

Speaker 3: 3:53

Absolutely. And another reason she did it is because it was during the time that it was not acceptable for women to drink in public. So that was another reason that she had these parties at her home.

Speaker 2: 4:04

So the women couldn't let loose a little bit.

Speaker 3: 4:07

So they say that she had some infamous cocktail parties.

Speaker 2: 4:12

So that would be very interesting and, like I said, she was a socialite, absolutely, so she was doing that. Now, you also had made mention of one of her bartenders that were extremely famous?

Speaker 3: 4:22

Yeah, mr Tom Bullock. He was a famous bartender and he was her favorite bartender. She wouldn't even have a party unless she had him. Oh, he was the one, absolutely. He created two very famous drinks the Cloverleaf cocktail and the Bronx cocktail. And you know, if you go to some of the high-end hotels and lounges, it feels so good.

Speaker 2: 4:47

So if you're in like the fourth season, you could ask for the cloverleaf cocktail. Now, looking at the recipes here, your book holds recipes for these cocktails, which is really, really nice. And again, the name of the book it's Five O'Clock Somewhere. How to Host an Elegant Cocktail Party. You see a little bit about Ms Walsh, you see a little bit about Mr Bullock and you have lots and lots of examples of some of these cocktails. Like I'm looking at this cloverleaf I'm terrible at mixing drinks and I see he has egg whites in it and tangreg. It looks yummy. I'm sure it is, so it does look very yummy. And also I see a Bronx cocktail in here that he invented as well, which has gin and vermouth and orange slices, gin and vermouth. That sounds almost like a martini Almost, I think he has a little twist to it now.

Speaker 3: 5:38

I have not created his two drinks as of yet, but I've created all the other drinks in the book. Eventually I'll get around to his two drinks.

Speaker 2: 5:46

Now I know a lot of people when they're having little parties, they're always wondering do I have enough booze, Do I have enough of this? What if they ask me to make a drink? You even have in your book how to set the bar up. I do, I do, and you basically say keep it simple, which makes sense to me because I like everything simple. So you're showing in your book how to set this up, what glasses are for what drinks.

Speaker 3: 6:10

Yeah, that people never know what glasses, what drinks to serve and which glasses. And yeah, that was an important item to include in the book the glassware.

Speaker 2: 6:19

Right, and I know when people are setting up bars, there are a lot of things like twists and you know whiskey sours that have to remain. There's twists that go in and things like that. So you are telling people exactly what they need to have a cocktail.

Speaker 3: 6:32

Yeah, to set up their, to stock their bar. One of the first things you want to do is to stock your bar so that you have all the equipment you need to prepare a cocktail.

Speaker 2: 6:42

And it will be alcohol, which alcohol that you should be buying. So that makes it nice. And I love the fact that glassware, because sometimes people just throw it in any kind of tumbler or a paper cup, A red solo cup. So what they have now is all these different types of glasses for the different types of drinks that you can make. And because the recipes are here in the book which makes it even nicer you can actually see which ones you want to play with and experiment with. Wow, I like that.

Speaker 2: 7:11

You know, I see this the copper mug for the Moscow Mule. I had a copper mug for Moscow Mule. Now I guess we've never had one.

Speaker 3: 7:18

Have you had one?

Speaker 2: 7:20

No, well, now that you're talking so, again in the book you're telling people not only what to put in the bar, how to stock the bar. I'm now looking at another chapter that says mixers. So you have, you know, all these different mixes. People don't realize oh, I need this with this, I need this syrup, I need that syrup, and you have that in your book as well, yeah, and so I kind of just detailed what kind of mixers that you might want to have.

Speaker 3: 7:47

You know, of course you want to have pineapple slices and oranges and just different things to make your drink appealing, right, it still is fun when you see those little things coming out of the drinks.

Speaker 2: 7:56

That's really nice. Now I know that you had the book. It's coming out and you would like to have people contact you and I believe your email is support at the cocktail party boxcom. Is that correct?

Speaker 3: 8:11

absolutely, and that's how people would come and get on the mailing list, because what I'm going to tell you is the book is a precursor.

Speaker 2: 8:20

there's something that's coming out in de, something's coming out, and here I am with P Michelle. It is the middle of summer. She's saying there's something coming out in December, absolutely, oh how nice. And we're talking 2025. So again, if you want to get on a mailing list, if you want to see more about this book and what's coming out in December, it's support at thecocktailpartybotscom. Now I'm looking at garnishes, I'm looking at some of these drinks that look like meals in themselves, and you have bar essentials in here and I just love that. You have a ton of cocktail recipes.

Speaker 3: 8:59

I have fun cocktail recipes. And of course, all of our cocktail recipes can be made into mocktail recipes. So, of course, all of our cocktail recipes can be made into mocktail recipes. So no alcohol. So, either way, whatever your preference.

Speaker 2: 9:12

Well, I'm just looking at this, the Pink Beach Party. It looks very yummy. It has whipped cream on and it has strawberry, it has ice creams and yeah.

Speaker 3: 9:22

And I'm going to add a little bit.

Speaker 2: 9:26

So now you have all of these recipes in this book as well. Something that people don't even realize is that you know when you have these little cocktail parties. How long do these cocktail parties usually last?

Speaker 3: 9:37

So, on average, a cocktail party should not last more than two or three hours.

Speaker 2: 9:41

Okay so about two or three hours. So, that being said, if you're serving alcohol, sometimes you want a little nibble. So some appetizers. Your book even shows which type of appetizers that you should be looking at.

Speaker 3: 9:54

Well, I give suggestions. You know you can make them yourself, or you can go to Costco or to your local grocery store and get the pre-made ones. Just whatever your preference is and whatever your budget is too Right. And sometimes, like when I have a cocktail party, I mix it, I do some homemade and then I purchase some.

Speaker 2: 10:15

Right, so I'm looking at you know you should have a little bit of that, a little bit of this. Now, one thing that people don't realize is that we do everything on the Internet now when you're having a nice cocktail party. You don't realize is that we do everything on the internet now when you're having a nice cocktail party. You don't want to do that. You want to have a formal written invitation.

Speaker 3: 10:32

Absolutely so. A cocktail party is semi-formal. You dress up, you put on your dye lids, you sparkle the dyes and have their cufflinks. You know Cocktail attire, exactly Cocktail attire. So it's not just a casual party like a happy hour. Right, this is something that you want to send out invitations in the mail. Email is nice, but nothing like opening up a beautiful invitation in the mail that was directed just to you.

Speaker 2: 11:03

When you would have an RSVP.

Speaker 3: 11:05

Absolutely.

Speaker 2: 11:05

Now, if you're planning one of these and you're going to do a beautiful invitation with an RSVP, how many?

Speaker 3: 11:14

months, weeks, days in advance. Would you be planning this? Just a couple of weeks, just a few weeks, just a couple of weeks. You don't want to send it out too early. People forget or they misplace the invitation, so you want to send it out and ask them to RSVP as soon as possible.

Speaker 2: 11:32

As soon as possible. So there, you send out formal invitations. Some people don't even know what that is anymore, but again here it is in your book, and again the name of the book is it's Five O'Clock Somewhere. How to Host an Elegant Cocktail Party. You even have a little bit of information on housekeeping, because usually people have these at their homes, absolutely, and you have a little bit of information on housekeeping because usually people have these at their homes, absolutely.

Speaker 2: 11:48

And you have a little bit of that and you have the guest list. You talked about the guest list and where guests arrive. You know what to do when they arrive. You know some people arrive early, some people arrive very late. But something that we all want to know about is Do you have entertainment at these parties?

Speaker 3: 12:07

You can have all types of entertainment. I've been to cocktail parties where the host had a guest artist that sat in the corner and he was sketching away. Of course we couldn't see the sketch and when he got finished with the sketch he turned it around and it was all of us oh wow, and at different times, no poem thing. Just caught us at what we were doing and he, the host, actually auctioned that painting off. It was an art painting.

Speaker 2: 12:38

Right.

Speaker 3: 12:39

He auctioned it off and he gave the money to a charity and it made a pretty good little chunk of change on that.

Speaker 2: 12:46

So again, something that's entertainment can really add to the cocktail party.

Speaker 3: 12:51

Yeah, oh, absolutely Ice carvings live musicians.

Speaker 2: 12:57

Right. A lot of times you hear a harpist in the corner or a pianist is playing A pianist, a saxophonist or a singer. And again to me, when I have something like that, the music should not be so loud, it should just be more like a background entertainment.

Speaker 3: 13:14

Absolutely, absolutely Kind of like elevator music, but not elevator music. Kind of quiet like elevator music.

Speaker 2: 13:21

It's there you know it's there, you hear it, you're enjoying it, but because guests are speaking, so you don't want it drowning them out, not like you're going to a rock concert, absolutely. And when you're doing this entertainment, when you're planning the entertainment, are you taking into consideration what type of guests you're inviting? You know, are they into harp music? Or perhaps are they in the art family where they want to see somebody doing what you said be painting, so live music or perhaps are they in the art family where they want to see somebody doing what you said painting so live music.

Speaker 3: 13:51

You want to stick, maybe, to jazz or something smooth. Now, recorded music, you want to use a variety of types of music. Pandora has a station called Pink Martini, okay, and they have international music and it's really neat because it has a little bit of something for everyone.

Speaker 2: 14:09

A little bit for everyone, and that's kind of what you're doing when you're doing these. Now I'm looking at this chapter. It's called Ice Breakers. What is that?

Speaker 3: 14:16

Sometimes you struggle to get the party started. So these are just little tips that you could use. You know you might start talking about a grand opening of a restaurant or some type of celebration. It's a conversation starter.

Speaker 2: 14:32

Yeah, that's nice. So you even have that in the book and then you have a chapter called Out the Hole and Limits. I like that. So you're saying that basically it's only basically a two to three hour event. It's not very long. What kind of limit do you put on that? I mean, naturally you don't want anybody leaving the party where they're going to have any issues, so what kind of limits do you put on that?

Speaker 3: 14:54

So you're right, cocktail parties only got two or three hours long. You do not want to serve more than two to three drinks per person, right?

Speaker 2: 15:20

And then the food helps. Exactly A lot of times when the food helps. Yes, I remember him doing a lot of these types of things before they went out to a play or before they went to the concert. It's like, yeah, and he had the piano playing in the back or he had the harpist in the back, so he did things like this. Yeah, frisbee did all this. Yeah, he really did so. This is something that you're showing how to do in this book. It's only 15 or 16, you call them parts, I'm calling them chapters parts, I'm pulling them chapters, but they're very quick, they're very easy. It's a way to make everything exciting. When you're doing a cocktail party, people get excited about that. They love to dress up, they love to dress up, and when you have this and you're showing people how to do it, it takes the heat, so to speak, off the person that's doing it, because now they kind of have a guide.

Speaker 3: 16:07

And that's exactly what I was planning. It's my guide to having a cocktail party. So it does help you and what I like that I put in the book. It helps the host how to maneuver, because the host is the one she has to maneuver and write that room and she's responsible for introducing people to each other, keeping the conversations going. A lot of times at a cocktail party, people tend to group together with people that they know or they have interest. Well, as a host, it's good to let them do that for a while, but now, after a while, you need to intervene and try and move those people around so that everyone is meeting and mingling yes, exactly.

Speaker 3: 16:49

Mingle mingle, mingle. The hospital has a significant responsibility. This is not your first book.

Speaker 2: 16:56

You had a book that came out prior to this, and what was the name of that book?

Speaker 3: 17:00

I had a book that was published in 2010. It's called I Do, now, let's Eat. It's a cookbook for newlyweds. Newlyweds, you know.

Speaker 2: 17:11

I do now, let's eat. I like that.

Speaker 3: 17:12

Well, you know how that came about. You know how women, when we get married, we want to look our best in our wedding dress. So, we starve ourselves to get down to that weight. So then that's where the name came from. The wedding is over and you're there, I do. Now let's eat Okay.

Speaker 2: 17:28

So that's kind of a cookbook of sorts it is a cookbook for newlyweds.

Speaker 3: 17:32

It has really easy recipes, but it has recipes like how to make a turkey, how to make a ham. Right, you know it's a menu. Yeah, for the holidays or whatever you might want to celebrate. So, and it's been on Amazon for 15 years now.

Speaker 2: 17:45

Oh, fabulous, and again support. At thecocktailpartyboxcom. They can send you an email. You can get on the list for this book that we're talking about today. It's Five Thoughts Somewhere how to Host an Elegant Cocktail Party. You can also find out about that little surprise you got coming out in December by joining that email, you'll find out about the surprise Absolutely.

Speaker 2: 18:05

Fabulous. So now, seeing all of this and it's not a very thick book, it's very easy to carry and you can put it right there in your kitchen or right there in your dining area that's where I usually put my stuff and again, it's 5 o'clock somewhere. It's by P Michelle pronounce your last name, talley. P Michelle Talley how to host an elegant cocktail party. We're talking an elegant cocktail party. You put your cocktail clothes on, that's right, but it's a step-by-step, very easy-to-follow guide, and people should again contact you at your email support, at thecocktailpartyboxcom, and they can find out how to get this book and some of your others. Again, thank you, p Michelle, for joining me today. It's been a great show and I'm looking forward to trying some of these cocktails. Thank you, dee.

Speaker 3: 18:58

Thank you very much.

Speaker 1: 19:00

Well, that's it for today's episode of the Z Michelson Travel Podcast. I hope you enjoyed our journey and found some new inspiration for your next adventure. Remember, the world is full of stories and sometimes all it takes is a plane ticket to start your own adventure. If you loved today's episode, be sure to tune in every week and don't forget to share your favorite travel moments with me on social media. I'd really love to hear about where you're headed to next. So, until next time, keep exploring, keep discovering and, as always, keep traveling with your heart wide open. I'm Zee Michelson and I'll see you on the next adventure.