hospitality & inspiration — Reluctant Entertainer

Dinner Invite: We Chose Sunday!

September 2, 2010 By Sandy 9 Comments

I love how simple an invite can be to a dinner party. My friend recently sent this darling email to our family and one other (her son and family).

She was saying that they were open, and that they wanted to accommodate our schedule.

How lovely! (Our friend is sort-of a Mom figure to me. Wise and a wonderful mentor. So she calls herself “Mom.”)

Dinner at Mom’s
Saturday night
8/18
6:00pm
RSVP soon….
or Sunday?

And we JUMPED at the chance to go to dinner with them, because she is the Hostess with the Mostest!

Sometimes we can use humor and creativity when we invite others into our homes, can’t we? I’m glad. And for this invite we chose Sunday.

Oh, and the results of the invite? An amazing hot summer’s night with dinner outside with an incredible view and great people – the adults at one table and the kids at the other – with the food so delicious, I had to go back for seconds.

And then fresh peach pie …

Do you have a hard time doing the actual “invite” when you want to have guests over, or do you just pick up the phone and call or email?

Filed Under: hospitality & inspiration

Overnight Guests: Make it a Mini Retreat (and Easy French Toast)

August 25, 2010 By Sandy 11 Comments

When our friends came down from Portland for a whirlwind 17 hours, I knew I needed to be organized and ready to relax and have a great time. After all, they were leaving their 3 little ones at home and coming for relaxation and friendship.

Here’s an idea of what to do when you live a busy life and want to be hospitable, yet you want to shake it up a bit.

We served appetizers at our house and our kids all hung with us on the back patio.

Then we went to dinner out, just the adults.

Back for Strawberry Pavlova out by the pool – oh yum! And then bed at midnight.

I had thought ahead to our friends’ allergy needs and purchased 2 loaves of spelt (wheat free) bread for French Toast in the morning.

A delicious breakfast.

Easy French Toast
2 cups milk
3 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
2 tsp. cinnamon
Your favorite bread

A Scrabble game.

And then we had to say good-bye to our friends.

My husband and I talked about how enjoyable a short visit can be. You know you have to stay focused with your guests. We discussed so much about life, raising kids, ministry, the good and the bad. We had really good food, our kids were in and out. It was a very action-packed time together! It was almost like a little vacation for us as well – a 17 hour retreat.

Do you do better with guests who stay for a long visit or a short visit?