My husband has 2 work Christmas parties every year. One is the management party in which I am invited to, and the second is for the entire office which I am not invited to. Last year the party occurred on a very snowy December day. My husband called me to tell me that people cancelled and if I wanted to come for dinner I was more than welcome. At the time, I decided I didn’t want to go out in the nasty weather. So I declined. Instead I relaxed at home…enjoying some alone time.. when I get a call from the dear Captain Awesome. This call was to inform me that a bunch of people from the office were coming over after the party. Now I love being the hostess, but this group of people included his bosses, as well as many people who have never been to our home! Not to mention that I had no snack food to provide! How was I supposed to show off our home when it was such a disaster! So I went on full attack and became the last minute hostess!

If I were the type of person who’s house was always clean, and at any given time if someone visited I would be proud, then there would be no problem. But this is not the case with my home. I usually use guests as an excuse to do a good clean. So I found myself running around the house cleaning in order to make it presentable. In the end the gathering was a success, and I was happy with the way things turned out.

Last Minute Hostess Tips

  •  Clean the bathrooms: Do a quick once over in each bathroom. Empty the garbage can, and clean the toilets. No one likes a dirty bathroom
  • Vacuum the floors. This is a quick way to get things to look neat and clean
  • Get rid of the clutter: it doesn’t matter how…either really put it where it is supposed to go, or shove it in a drawer or closet and deal with it later.
  • Dim the lights and light some candles: no one is going to notice dusty furniture in candle light. It will look like you thought out the ambiance, and it will make your house smell good
  • Put on some music: This will give the idea that you always sit around and listen to relaxing tunes, your guests will be impressed

This year I wasn’t going to be blind sided again. No sir not me! This year, I prepared for the last minutes guests. This year when Captain Awesome called to tell me people were coming over, I was able to calmly say…Alright Dear! So I cleaned the house..lit the candles and got the place ready. Wait for it…wait for it….then I got a call saying that they were going to the boss’s house instead! I cleaned in vain! I guess if you wanted to look on the bright side you could say that it can’t hurt to have a clean house. I’m not sure what was worse…being unprepared for last minute guests or being prepared for no guests at all? What do you think?