I'm a huge fan of hosting! I love to throw dinner parties, wine tastings, costume parties and soirées of any sort! Over the years I've learned that keeping things simple enables me to enjoy the event along with my guests. I also believe that many folks don't host because they think it's too stressful, too much planning, too much money, too much clean up, the backyard garden beds still have not been mulched, it might rain...  so many people have excuses as to why they don't want to host. Excuses will only allow time to pass, which is depressing and sad. So, this post is to hopefully encourage more folks to host out there! Follow these steps for a happier, healthier hosting lifestyle with wonderful memories together!

#1: KEEP IT SIMPLE
Your worthy guests don't really care about what is being served or how it's being served! Ditch the stressful menu's and trying to over plan the party! Do whatever is easiest. I find that a great "grazing board" loaded with cheese, crackers, fruit, nuts, dips, bread and chips is a great way to host a larger group. I love placing little bowls of olive oil with a heavy sprinkle of different SALTOPIA Infused Sea Salts in each - then sliced artisan bread is a huge hit. It's easy, inexpensive and your guests will love it. If all else fails, order pizza. It's all about the time you spend together and not how you actually host that time. 

#2: GUEST CONTRIBUTIONS
I've always been taught that I should never knock on the door of my host, with my fist. I should always be carrying something to share with my host and therefore, knocking on the door with my foot, instead.  I don't think I've ever invited someone to my home, and they showed up empty handed (otherwise, I probably wouldn't invite them a second time for certain). It's common courtesy to bring something to share such as a bottle of wine or a box of chocolates. I hosted a fairly large wine tasting a few years back and asked each guest to bring 2 blocks of their favorite cheeses to share. It was perfect! I layered the table with fresh fruit and crackers. As my guests arrived, I simply opened their cheese selections and placed them onto the table amongst the fruit and crackers. We had some of the most amazing cheeses that night, paired with incredible wines! Purchasing 18-20 blocks of different quality cheese is costly!  Asking your guests to buy 2 blocks is NOT a major investment on their part. So don't be afraid to ask for your guests to contribute something to the evening. You'd be amazed at how much your guests appreciate it as well. Everyone would like to help and share in the evening. Your request will make their lives that much easier!

#3: CUT OUT THE CLEAN UP
I hate cleaning up and doing the dishes at the end of the night! Whenever I can avoid washing dishes, I try to! If you noticed in the above images, I simply toss fresh foods directly onto the table or a large platter. This avoids dishware and silverware altogether.  I typically line the table with a tablecloth and then add parchment paper to prevent the foods from sticking or staining the fabric tablecloth. It's easy and saves me a ton of work! 

#4: THEMES HELP
In order to keep your efforts to a minimum and set expectations for your guests, themes are wonderfully helpful! For example, if you planned a backyard movie night, then your guests can expect popcorn. You can set up a popcorn bar. I love putting out SALTOPIA's POPPING WITH FLAVOR set with fresh popcorn! It's easy and fun for all. My husband hangs a big sheet up with some clothes pins to project the movie. We ask everyone to bring a blanket to snuggle with and drinks to share. I've hosted TAIL GATING parties and served chicken wings as well as nacho platters. I've also hosted TEA PARTIES and served finger sandwiches with mimosas. Having a theme really helps reduce the stress and keeps things simple overall. 

#5: NO SEATING? NO PROBLEM!
The best part of themed hosting is being able to tackle common hosting problems such as seating! If you're struggling to find space or tables or chairs - then turn your problem into the theme! An outdoor picnic is a great way to avoid the furniture problem. You can even create a themed picnic such as "Moroccan Inspired" and serve all sorts of fun dips, spreads and appetizers! Check out ROCK MY WORLD infused sea salts for great flavor profiles!

Above all, just remember that less is more! You should always enjoy your event with your guests! 
Share your ideas, problems or questions below. I'd love to hear what you're thinking about. OR what your hosting horrors are! Perhaps I can help? 

I promised myself I would post at least once weekly on my "Chit Chat" column. Unfortunately, I failed already with that goal. However, it’s only because we’ve had a family member pass away. My husband’s mom lost her two year battle with cancer last week. It’s so very sad and painful losing someone, especially a parent. As many of you may know, I lost my dad to cancer a few years back as well. It’s just awful. I hate the saying, “Time will make everything better.” That’s absolutely not true. Time only teaches us to live without the loved one. It teaches us to live differently. The pain in our hearts never goes away.

I’m a person who always tries to be helpful and find solutions to problems. It’s the way I’m made. However, during times like these, I can’t fix anything. I can’t make things better. I can be helpful by being supportive and a consoling listener when needed. When difficult things like this happen in life, I like to cook or create in my kitchen. However, many folks don’t have an appetite when they feel sad. So my "cooking up a storm" during difficult times isn’t always helpful - even though it makes me feel like I have a purpose. 

So what’s a girl to do? I needed to be present and available to my husband at all times. Yet, it was impossible for me to focus on work - I needed a mindless project to refocus and settle my own nerves. And so this week, I took on a new project that’s been picking at me for a while now. I have been desperately wanting to paint over a “pop wall” in my family room. It was painted a few years back in a bright, royal blue. I liked it for a while but I didn’t care for the shine of the paint. It was time for the change!

First, you should know, I’m extremely frugal. My husband and I are both small business owners. We work very hard for every penny and nothing has been a gift to us. I also appreciate things far more when I tackle them myself! Now, this project was only meant to be a 2 day maximum overhaul… it ended up taking me 6 days and a lot more work than I anticipated. I’ll explain the details within the images below:

Here’s a before image of the blue wall before my project:

​Here’s the color I choose to cover the blue: CARBON BLACK in eggshell finish (sorta of “soot” color and not really straight black). I went darker because we have this old black leather couch we bought 19 years ago from Huffman Koos “going out of business sale.” It’s still in excellent condition - so I hate to just get rid of things that are perfectly good. I just figure out ways to rework them!

If you've never attempted crown molding before - the corners are a killer! My walls happen to be extremely uneven (so I found out with this project, which is why it took much longer) and therefore, the corners turned out fairly AWFUL. I used those pretty ornate single "feather-looking" pieces to hide the corners above the fireplace. See finished idea here in this photo...no one has to know how bad my corners really are...

My home is a center hall colonial - typical of our area in NJ. The bedrooms are upstairs and the kitchen & family room is downstairs. We have a mish-mosh of 1930s Art Deco furniture, which is all hand-me-downs from my grandma, combined with newer pieces we have collected over time. We make it work. I always feel like I should love a room and it’s decor so much, that I want to spend as much time as I can in that room. I wasn’t feeling this way with the blue shiny wall! What do you think about this room now? I guess since I superglued the styrofoam molding to the walls and ceilings, I am sorta stuck with it for a long while! I like it and this little project gave me my sanity for when I couldn't feed people over the last two weeks.