Why We Stopped Hosting Gatherings

It’s true.
We stopped.
No more dinners or games nights.
Halloween bash, huh? 
Christmas dinner at our house “NOOOO WAY!”

We used to be the hostesses with the mostess
Kent rocked the kitchen and I whipped up dessert and décor.
We were a good team!

Our home was always open for gatherings.
In fact we’ve even had friends hold their events at our home.
It was all fun and games until…….. 

We got fed up!
Actually I got fed up and Kent was all “Why can’t we just use paper plates and not worry about the house?” and I was all “Are you kidding me!?!”

I was dead set on presenting the prefect package.
Even if that meant buying new napkins to match a color scheme or just the right items to complete the tablescape.
Oh and the house, yes the house had to be juuuuuuust right!
It took me weeks to decorate for Holidays in preparation of holiday parties we were hosting.

It just got to be too much…..
Too much money.
Too much time.
Too much to cleanup.
Too stressful.  
Their was almost always some unkind words exchanged between my teammate and I.
We were usually rushing around like crazy before the party and too tired to clean up afterwards.

Enter pregnancy
Followed by our sweet Weston.
He’s a handful (pictured above)

We just no longer had the time or maybe more like the drive to host gatherings.
So we stopped!
I even stopped decorating for holidays.
It was actually kind of peaceful. 

Until recently.

We had family come to town and really didn’t have a choice but to host a few meals at our home. After those gatherings we figured what the hey let’s invite the grandparents over for a meal. After that we decided we might as well have some friends over too.

Bam just like that we were back in action!
But things are MUCH different now.

Thanks to Weston we just don’t have the time to fuss over the house the meal or special details of the gathering. I’ve just been doing the best I can do while making sure I’m having fun with the process (that’s a big one).

I’ve enjoyed being creative with things we have on hand and not fussing too much.
This means a newborn wrap from my prop stash used as a table runner. Leftover paper napkins in napkin rings (classy right). Easy flower arrangements with cheap flowers from Trader Joes.

Store bought pizza served right out of the box (not shown in the pic above) and a salad made with things we already had on hand. Mint from the herb garden and a sliced orange (again already had on hand) to spruce up the ice tea. Another newborn prop wrap used as a runner paired with a white curtain valance I have yet to hang. Paper napkins I’ve been holding onto for years waiting for just the right time to use them. Just the right time meant I never used them. 

A store bought dessert. The Martha Stewart in me had a hard time with this one but y’all if you’re near a Costco run and get this. It’s delicious! Martha Stewart can shove it. Just kidding Martha. I love you!

My new motto when it comes to hosting is…..
Keep it simple. Make it special by using things I already have on hand. And most importantly remember to enjoy the process.

Look at my dad and step-mom smiling and having a good time.
They don’t care that we just served pizza or didn’t have a dessert to offer them.
Weston on the other hand looks like I’ve shamed him.

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