and the hosting begins.
you guys know me. i'm all about being a gracious, welcoming host. i love making sure people feel comfortable in my home, whether that means fresh sheets on the guest bed (or blow-up mattress, lbh), an extra toothbrush to use, or makeup remover and contact solution in the bathroom. i love cooking meals when people stay with me (or making Mister Man cook meals for them). i think i got the hostess gene from my mom, and i haven't always embraced it, but it's starting to manifest itself now that i'm older, and it's great. having a house to offer up doesn't hurt either. 
and we've found out that having that house to offer up, especially when it's in a central location, means being the ones to act as the bed and breakfast for wedding weekends, friends in from out of town, and family members *coughsiblingscough* wanting to hang out at our house. i thought at first that i wouldn't want anyone to stay here until everything was completely set up, you know, until all the paint was dry sort of thing. but then i realized my friends and family aren't crazy people with sticks up their butts, so they won't care if the guest room is still painted like a big top-themed nursery. (i think homemade coffee cake will help with this?)
so august will pretty much be one big weekend filled with houseguests, and i know i'm going to love all of it. because it means seeing people i never get to see. and going to amazing weddings of family and friends. and drinking wine/staying up late (or not) or drinking coffee/getting up early (or not) and talking until there is nothing left to say.
my goal for the next month of hosting (and obviously my goal for hosting always, goes without saying GUYS) is to be as laid-back as possible. it's not fun to be away from home no matter how fun the weekend is going to be, so i want everyone who comes to stay at my home to feel as comfortable as if they were in theirs.
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i've decided on a few things that will help me in this noble pursuit of being a good host:
- get that guest toiletry kit ready for the guest bathroom. include shampoo, conditioner, soap, lotion, toothpaste, makeup removers, and anything else you might need away from home to keep yourself so fresh and so clean clean.
- take 30 minutes the night before people get here to whip up something for breakfast, like coffeecake or a quick-bread. yogurt and berries are a good standby, but at least on the first morning, it's nice to have something special so it feels like a vacation.
- be prepared with ideas and supplies for other meals while the guests are there. some ideas are: sandwich fixings, soup in the freezer you can heat up, quinoa and veggies for a filling meal. yea, you might end up eating out most of the time, but sometimes people just want a meal in that they don't have to pay for.
- bloody. mary. supplies. and tons of coffee.
- extra blankets for the bed or air mattress. because you never if someone gets extra cold at night, and it's terrible to be cold when you're trying to sleep.
if one of you came over, would you need anything else? am i missing any essentials? because i don't want to be THAT person. help me not be that person.
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and as a sidenote, can i just say how thankful i am that i don't know any crazies? i know we all have nightmare stories of guests we couldn't wait to get out of our homes, right? i haven't had my own home for that long, but there were plenty of houseguests during my college years who i loved on a personal level, but could have gone without sharing my living area with...i'm thinking of a particular football game weekend senior year when a guest who was given the couch in our apartment decided it would be a good idea to drop grapes on the floor and then step on them. all over the apartment, kitchen to bedrooms. they were not invited back again.
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