A few weeks ago, I realized U.S. Open season was coming up, and I didn’t have tickets.

Steph and I did some chatting on the Twitters about it, and then one day I got into work early, locked myself in a breakout room, and clicked over to my gmail for a hot second to see…

THIS.

Hell yeah! I went with Steph, Jenny and my friend Courtney last Monday, Labor Day.

We saw Victoria Azarenka and Aleksandra Krunic play. Azarenka was ranked in the top 20 in the world, Krunic somewhere around 145th. We thought we were in for a snoozer of a match, but Krunic gave her a serious run for her money.

It was a nice night, even if it was a little warm.

Up next for the men were Milos Raonic and Kei Nishikori. I’d met Milos a few weeks earlier, so it was AWESOME to see him play. But I was exhausted, and we left by just before 11, when they were still in the first set. The match ended up going to 5 sets, and I was happy I was long asleep by the time it was over. We’d gotten the tickets super cheap and I saw a great first match, so I was okay with this.

A few days later, I noticed an ad on Facebook promoting a contest that Emirates Airlines was doing at the U.S. Open. FACEBOOK RETARGETING WORKS!

Courtney and I had taken a TERRIBLE selfie, but I figured it was worth posting it for a chance to win, right?

FOR THE TICKETS. I’ll do it for the tickets. You never know…

And then, Saturday afternoon…

THIS HAPPENED.

WHAT?!

WHAT?!

So last night, I headed out to Queens for the men’s finals with my partner in crime, Courtney.

Turns out Kei Nishikori, who was playing Raonic when we left last week, had made it to the finals to play Marin Cilic in an underdog matchup. We made it out there halfway through the first set, and watched as Cilic handily beat Nishikori. It clearly just wasn’t Nishikori’s night.

But first, let us take one more super-flattering Honey Deuce selfie. This one wins nothing except maybe some recommendations for good moisturizer or a wonderful dermatologist for some Botox for me.

What’s the most ridiculous thing you’ve ever won?

I’ve had some pretty freaking cool experiences since starting this blog, but Fresh Direct helped me pull off a really cool one last week.

A few weeks ago I was driving back from the Hamptons, and I got an email from the FreshDirect PR people asking if I wanted to participate in a lobster party with them. IS THIS REAL LIFE? WHAT IS MY LIFE? immediately went through my mind, and I emailed the lovely lady back as soon as I stopped, saying “I am obsessed with lobster, so yes please!”

I really like entertaining, but it also makes me really nervous, so I just wanted to plan something small with my closest friends. I was dumb and originally planned on hosting it the night after the NYC Tri, but, LOL no.

FreshDirect provided me with gift cards to pay for the entire experience, which was really nice. I logged on earlier in the week and reserved my lobstahs, and updated the order the night before when I was sure what my menu would be.

On Friday, I anxiously waited for a call/email from my doorman that I had a delivery.

Oh, did I have a delivery! (The other two bags are tangentially related but were not part of the order.)

I brought the boxes upstairs and was TERRIFIED to open them. WHAT IF LIVE LOBSTERS JUMPED OUT?

Thankfully, Lacey came over soon after and was a tremendous help, as she always is when I have a party. Just when I start freaking out, she steps in and helps me project manage.

We’d gone to Uplift the night before, and I’d warned her that she’d be doing any lobster-killing. Luckily, I had checked that I wanted the lobsters split/cleaned (which I think was an extra $1 or so per pound – WELL WORTH IT.)

I’d decided on an easy menu since the lobsters would be the stars of the show: roasted red potatoes and Mexican corn. (I found that recipe because I googled “Mexican corn no grill”, because, NYC. I don’t have a panini maker, either, so we boiled the corn and then cooked the rest of it in the broiler.

Just cheesin’.

And yes, of course I wore my lobster dress.

Props to my mom for bringing me these plates, and props to Emily for having fabulous hair. (Oh, and being a fabulous friend, too.)

FreshDirect sent over a Lobster Party Kit with some tips and recipes.

No, Alex, let’s pretend to be serious here for the picture, ok?

When it came down to it, the lobster prep was actually pretty easy, since they’d already been cleaned and split. (Ain’t nobody got time for dirty lobstahs.)(And I just watched this lobster-splitting video…and it looks terrifying.)

I got 8 lobsters, so we had 16 halves. We cooked them by throwing them in boiling water with some tarragon, lemon, salt and pepper and cooked for about 8 minutes per pot. They provided Homarus lobsters; FreshDirect is an exclusive retailer for the lobstahs which come straight from Maine, where all good lobsters come from, and are sourced straight from Homarus’ dock. They have a slightly softer shell, so they’re much easier to crack open.

Hi guys!

WAIT, WHAT? They were alive??

Ta-da!

Like chicken of the sea, right?

He was not allowed lobster.

We also made some drawn butter to dip the little guys in. (And yes, I do have a lobster print on my wall. Thank you for asking. I cannot fake this level of love for lobsters.)

Sides!

True Life: I Live in an NYC Studio So My Dresser Doubles as a Buffet and the Lobsters Did Not Try to Steal My Jewelry.

I should also note that Fresh Direct has a decent wine selection; I was PSYCHED to find my fave, Babich, on their site.

Do you want to have your own lobster party?? Of course you do. Fresh Direct is currently having a KILLER sale — $4.99/pound!!!

If you have your own lobstah party, I’d love to hear about it! Use @freshdirect #FDlobsterparty to…join the party! There’s also a lobster hotline if you’re “in hot water.” 1-844-4LOBSTA. Without Lacey, I sure as hell would have called it.

Thank you so much to FreshDirect for hooking me up with this! I now: want to cook more lobster, entertain more, and uh, just cook more.

Do you like lobster? How do you cook it? Do you entertain often?