Odds or Ends

1. I tell guests who've been here before, "The first time you're a guest — the second time, you're family." That means make yourself at home, but clean up after yourself when you're finished. Then I make sure to show them where everything is: plates, glasses, snacks, towels.

2. Put them to work! At my house, guests know they'll be called upon to do stuff like set the table or cut up veggies.

3. Plan out breakfasts, lunches and dinners in advance, and post the plan on the fridge. That way anyone can look at it and see what is going to be eaten when. They won't eat everything, and someone else can help you prep the food.

4.Leave Clorox wipes in the bathroom. Someone is bound to notice misses and spills and wipe up for you.

5. I pile all my unused sample bottles into a lovely basket, put it on the guest bath vanity with a sign that says, "Help yourself," and let them enjoy the free bonus lipstick that was not my color, or the little shampoo bottles I've never used.

6. Have at least one room that is a travel free zone. The living room perhaps. You can tell everyone to put their things in bedrooms. That way you have at least one room that doesn't look like craziness.

7. Every night, have the coffee for the next morning in the pot ready to go, so if a guest wakes up before you do, he can just push the button.

8. Be sure to ask guests what their itinerary is for visiting others, when they'll be around, etc. Hosting is easier if you know when you'll have some downtime to rest or catch up on laundry.


Most of all enjoy your family and friends because life is too short.