My dinner parties often pass in "a chaos of unpreparedness and laissez faire." Nowadays my friends like to cook too and don't mind that I have a bunch of squash and no decision yet about how to prepare them. (And sometimes, though the event was planned well in advance, the table is piled with junk as is every other surface in the dining room and living room.) Occasionally I had time to plan the timing of the meal so everything gets done at approximately the right time, but not so often as I want. And after a major holiday I usually feel inadequate, regretting not doing more, and snowed by all the work left to clear the holiday away. Tina usually does a really low-fuss kind of entertaining, and she never seems to sweat it.
Remember that Christmas when I was going to deliver meals on Christmas day before our dinner party, and got confused, spending about 2 hours on a 25-minute chore? I think your friend came over.
I am planning to try Rachel Ray's 60 minute thanksgiving meal... today! I'll let you know.