Awkwardness at parties?

I went to a dinner party with my best friend last Saturday. It was being held by a friend of hers and I didn’t know anyone there. It was fancier than I was expecting which compounded those nervous feelings I usually feel in a social setting, well that and my friend’s warning looks to behave myself. When I say that it was a fancy party, I mean that the home was elaborately decorated and dressed up for guests and everyone was wearing beautiful clothes.

After all of the introductions were through and everyone was chatting, I took a seat by myself on the sofa. In an effort to show the hostess my appreciation, I sunk my hand into a bowl of gourmet snack-mix that was on the table beside the sofa. As soon as I popped the stuff into my mouth, I knew I had a problem.

I looked at the bowl and there were bits of dried cranberries, dried orange slices, and cinnamon sticks in it. But what I thought were tiny potato-chips were now looking suspiciously like stuff you would find at the bottom of a hamster cage.

I chewed away at what I now realized were wood shavings, and it dawned on me that I was eating the hostess’ potpourri. When I looked up to see if anyone had noticed I saw the hostess staring at me from the other side of the living room. So, instead of spitting it into my hand, which was what I wanted to do, I smiled at her and swallowed.

Apparently my friend saw this as well and told me not to touch anything.
It was a rough night. -_-