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Gretchen and I decided not to bring dates to the party. Her choice would have been her mother and mine a close girlfriend. But we talked about it and figured it would be easier to just have fun and not worry about entertaining our guests. In hindsight, mom should have been there! We walked into Tamra's sparkling clean, beautifully decorated home and her backyard was just over the top. She was the perfect hostess — remember she had never had all of us to her house because she was nervous about having us there. Vicki and I are seasoned of party givers and I think Tamra was worried that she couldn't do it as well. Tamra worked so hard for this event to be perfect, taking classes, and meeting with Chef Brian Malarkey. After 3 years of us ribbing her about never being invited over, she jumped in with both feet.

This is the part that gets tricky — my favorite little housewife has a very nervous digestive system, and from the moment I walked in I knew it had been too stressful to her. Tamra and Simon had worked and planned all day for the event and by party time they both were exhausted. The flowers in the pool, fire and waterfalls made her backyard look magical. Tamra hadn't eaten all day and she was really on edge. One cocktail later she was starting too loosen up and have fun. She held it together for the 3-hour dinner, but then she just was drunk and ready for the night to be over. She was the perfect hostess until she and all the others drank too much. The camera crew seemed to delight in how drunk everyone was. I had words several times with them to wrap it up and leave but they wouldn't. Even I felt the effects of wine tasting — it is hard to judge how much you drink when you keep getting a new glass with each of the 7 courses.