Laila Ali’s Must-Haves for a Good Time
Even though she is popular in her own right as a former boxer, Laila Ali is perhaps even more well-known for her stint as a celebrity contestant on ABC’s Dancing with the Stars. Oh yeah, and her famous father, Muhammad Ali. Now Laila is back on TV as co-host of The Gladiators, alongside wrestler Hulk Hogan.
She recently had some of the Gladiators stars over to the home she shares with new husband, NFL player Curtis Conway, and shared her “must-haves for a good time” with People magazine:
1. A menu to match the guest list. She knows enough about the Gladiators - and their Spandex outfits - to offer a low-fat meal. Get her chicken with mustard and sage recipe here.
2. Flowers. “When you’re having people over, nothing is better than arrangements of fresh flowers.” Ali relies on L.A. florist Michael Walls, who provided the blooms at her July 2007 wedding to ex-NFL player Curtis Conway.
3. Games. Think the Gladiators are competitive on air? To loosen up a crowd, Ali puts out Scrabble, Pictionary or a karaoke machine. “Get people to make fools of themselves,” she says. “I don’t have any problems acting silly.”
4. To-Go Boxes. “People were taking all of my Tupperware home - it was too much!” Instead, Ali buys take-out containers from a local big-box store and makes sure no one leaves empty-handed.
5. Good directions. “I tell you, it can really ruin the mood when you have lost people calling,” says Ali, who uses Mapquest.com to get guests to her hidden L.A.-area home. Still, “I sometimes have to drive down the hill and find them.”
Photo from LailaAli.com.
