It is an honor and a pleasure to have Bettie Bearden Pardee join us here today to share some of her tried and true entertaining tips. I hope you'll pour yourself a cup of coffee, tea or a glass of bubbly, which just happens to be Bettie's favorite, and stay awhile.

Bettie Bearden Pardee is an author, lecturer, garden connoisseur, former magazine editor and television host/producer. Pardee who makes Newport, Rhode Island her home, has written several books on America’s favorite City by the Sea. First published in 1979,  Newport in Flower: A History of Newport’s Horticultural Heritage  was updated and re-issued by Bettie in 2010. In 2004 Bettie received an award for a “commitment to excellence for Private Newport: At Home and in the Garden by the Horticultural Society of New York. Her most recent coffee table book, Living Newport: House, People, Style, published by Glitterati, gives readers a glimpse into the fabled town where privacy is a treasured asset.  For more read here.