The First Toast

From L to R: Budding Fashion Reporters Jocelyn Luddy and Reilly Folsom. WHCA President David Jackson (USA Today) and NYT's Mark Leibovich What's a party with Washington's media elite without bourbon, beer, wine, Food Truck quality mac 'n cheese and 11-year-old fashionistas to put guests in the hot seat? The view from the American Gas Association offered guests a perfect shot of the Capitol. The crowd at last night's WHCD party thrown by QGA and FD blended White House correspondents like CNN's Ed Henry, Ebony's Kevin Chappell, The Hill's Sam Youngman and USA Today's David Jackson , USA Radio Network's Connie Lawn, and Politico's Julie Mason with Fortune's Tory Newmyer, Politico's Amie Parnes, RealClearPolitics' Erin McPike, Roll Call's John Stanton and NYT's Carl Hulse. Let's just get one thing straight: NYT's Mark Leibovich has heard all the "bcc" jokes out there. And yours will not be special. Welcome to the first party leading into WHCD weekend. The food was catered by D.C. food trucks of lore CapMac and Sauca and guests were dying over the mac 'n cheese. Dessert was Good Humor ice cream bars from a cart complete with an umbrella. One partygoer remarked that the party could have been held on an outside corner. But a party outside wouldn't have allowed for the two-station open bar, where bartenders made unsolicited repeat drinks for many of the journos. One guest called one of the bartenders "the motherf*cking man." Other guests in the crowd: QGA's Jack Quinn and wife, Susanna, FD's Jackson Dunn, Stacey Bowlin, Jared Allen and Mary Kathryn Cover, Terry McAuliffe, QGA and FBDC's Matt Dornic, WaPo's Amy Argetsinger, SELF's Marc Adelman, Pamela Sorensen of Pamela's Punch, The Hill's Christina Wilkie and Emily Goodin, CNN Publicist Edie Emery and Megan Grant and TWT's Emily Miller. Miller said WHCD week makes her feel like an awkward teenager. "It brings out the worst 16-year-old in me," Miller said, explaining that her worries go like this: '"Why wasn't I invited to that party?' or 'Was I too fat for this dress?'" She adds, "At least I was invited to the pre-pre-pre-pre-pre party." The fashionistas at the party were Jocelyn Luddy (daughter to Jack and Susanna) and her friend, Reilly Folsom, who were testing out their journalistic skills by interviewing female party guests and Adelman. They're trying out for a fashion blog out of San Fran called StyleBistro.com. They asked their subjects questions about what uniform they'd want for work if they had to have one and what styles they missed and didn't. The girls in flowered skirts and white T-shirts weren't amateurs. They had practiced their questions for days. They cajoled by saying funny things like, "Come on, I want all the deets." As the pair interviewed USA Today's Jackie Kucinich, the whole scene became so focused that photographers like Roll Call's Tom Williams began snapping pictures of the interview. Afterwards, Kucinich and Argetsinger (also interviewed by the girls) second-guessed their answers that involved Pappagallo purses and culottes. Alec Jacob contributed to this report. More pictures and guests after the jump... More guests: Reuters’ Jon Decker, Time’s Jay Newton Small, WaPo's Paul Kane and Publicist Kris Coratti, C-SPAN’s Howard Mortman, Roll Call’s Shira Toeplitz, Jessica Brady and Emily Heil, WJLA’s Rebecca Cooper and Mike Conneen, TWT’s Stephen Dinan, Washington Examiner's Nikki Schwab, CBS's Christine Delargy, Politico’s Karin Tanabe, The Hotline’s Amanda Munoz-Temple and Reid Wilson, Publicist Janet Donovan, Bloomberg's Meredith Balenske, Nicholas Johnston, Bill McQuillen and Publicist Jessica Turtletaub, HuffPo’s Peter Cherukuri, Annie Groer and Washington Life’s Kevin Chaffee. AGA: Jennifer O’Shea, Lydia Meigs, CEO Dave McCurdy and Laura Sheehan.

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The First Toast

Betsy Rothstein

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Betsy Rothstein