Company is Coming!

Hi friends!! Happy Wednesday!!!

How is your week going so far??

I sure hope all is well!!

Thanksgiving is just one week away (HOW?!) and Christmas is right around the corner. For many people this means family and friends will be visiting from out of town. So...I thought it would be fun to share some ways I like to make our guests feel special when they come visit us. My mother has always been a wonderful hostess, so I like to think I learned from the best :)

Okay- so we are fortunate enough to have a dedicated guest room in our house. There is not an en suite bathroom though- so when we have people stay with us- they use the girls' bathroom. It is RIGHT next to the guest bedroom, which is nice. I make sure to clear out all of the girls' stuff- shower gel, hair accessories, etc. and put out "special" shampoo, conditioner, body wash and a brand new hand soap. 

For the guest bed- even if the sheets are clean...if we haven't had guests for awhile, I will re-wash the sheets to make sure they smell nice and fresh. I just have bright white sheets on our guest bed. I love that I can bleach them and they just feel FRESH (and they're super soft)! We have an armoire in our guest bedroom and that is where I keep our guests' towels. To go with the white sheets, our guest towels are also white. I always make sure to include a darker colored hand towel for my lady guests who wear makeup. I know I feel terrible when I have "messed" up someone else's things- so having a dark colored hand towel to catch any leftover mascara or foundation is just nice to have on hand!

You obviously don't need to go out and buy new towels and sheets for your company...BUT- I sure do think it's nice to invest in some linens that are JUST meant for your guests. And if your budget allows it- how fun to have some holiday themed sheets and hand towels!!

These beautiful holly sheets are flannel and from Walmart. They have amazing ratings and are so affordable! And these adorable holiday hand towels are from Target and $6.00 for a set of two! An easy and inexpensive way to add a simple holiday touch to the bathroom your guests will be using!

1. Holly Flannel Sheets from Walmart

2. Bath Towels from Target

3. Holiday Bath Hand Towels from Target

Bath and Body Works has the BEST hand soaps! And they have so many festive scents to choose from during the holidays. I always make sure I have out a special , brand new hand soap in the guest bathroom as well as in our half bathroom downstairs when we have guests visiting us. I love that the holiday hand towels from Target come in a pack of two- one for the guest bathroom and one to have in the downstairs bathroom or "main" bathroom that everyone uses throughout the day!

I always try to find out if our guests are coffee drinkers (or tea drinkers or bourbon drinkers...you get the picture :) and then make sure to have their favorite drinks on hand. Being a big coffee drinker myself, I love to have GOOD coffee on hand. Starbucks is easy to pick up at any local grocery store or maybe you have a local coffee shop that you could buy some coffee from! I think it's really fun to share fun local shops/restaurants with your guests. Picking up some coffee from a local shop who roasts their own coffee beans or getting some fresh bagels from the best bakery in your town is just another simple way to show your company you are really happy to have them visiting you and your town/city!

How fun are these Rae Dunn look alike mugs from Walmart?? They are only $7.88 for the set of 4 and I think they would be so cute set out for your guests to use (and then to send home with them as a special little "thank you" gift for visiting)! Of course, if you can find out what type of creamer your friends like to use...have that on hand! I usually just err on the side of having a BUNCH of fun creamers in the fridge so they can pick from a variety! 

As far as feeding your guests...this is where I am probably a little bit more untraditional. Cooking big elaborate meals...especially if the people  we have visiting also have young children...STRESSES ME OUT. So I am all about SIMPLE and YUMMY.

If our guests arrive on a Friday night, I will get several pizzas from Harris Teeter- which is a grocery store here in the south. They make the most delicious artisan pizzas and are very affordable. I will make a salad or have a veggie tray and serve that alongside the pizza. 

Obviously you can get your pizzas from anywhere...but again, I think it's fun to get pizza from a place in your town that is "known" for their pizza or from YOUR favorite pizza place. 

For dessert- I always have the BEST chocolate chip cookies made! I make the cookies ahead of time, put them in the freezer and on the day our guests are arriving, I let them thaw on the counter top!

For breakfast...I like to suggest we go to a fun, local donut place, grab some STRONG coffee (because you know the kids were up late while the adults were hanging out!) and then go for a nice walk or to a local park. I love getting out and about with our friends who visit us!

Lunch is sometimes a big tray of chicken nuggets from Chick-Fil-A with veggies and dip and fresh fruit. Or sometimes, I like to make big sub sandwiches and serve those with chips and fresh veggies. Again- VERY easy- but still really tasty!

Dinner is sometimes out or if we want to stay home- grilling out hamburgers and hot dogs is always a great way to feed a big crowd. I also love to do a big taco bar. Everything can either be bought pre-packaged or made ahead of time! My favorite way to cook for a big crowd!

If our guests stay through Sunday, I love to serve my semi-homemade cinnamon rolls! I also usually make a batch of sausage gravy ahead of time so that can be ready to have with biscuits (from a can! I get the "fancy, big buttermilk" ones and call it a day!) for biscuits and gravy. Definitely not a healthy meal..but hearty and yummy...and everyone usually loves it.

Sidenote- I am NOT a big breakfast eater at all. So I always keep that in mind when we have people staying with us. I make sure they know to NOT feel obligated at all to eat and if they want something outside of our mealtimes to make sure they help themselves to whatever they want. This obviously should just be understood, but I always think it nice to make people feel EXTRA comfortable. I know I always feel like an odd ball when someone points out I am not eating. I am not being rude...I just don't want to eat! HA!

My mission when we have people come stay with us...even if it is just for a short overnight visit...is to make them feel WELCOMED and LOVED.
And I really do think it is in the small details where you can make your company feel extra special! NOTHING fancy at all...just touches that show you thought about them and you appreciate them making the effort to visit you and your family!

If you are like me and LOVE a good list- look at this checklist I found from The Happier Homemaker!! It really covers everything! So great!

I know most of you probably do some of these things when you have friends and family visit...but hopefully some part of this post was helpful!! Goodness knows I am no expert...I just do my very best to make sure our guests know how much we appreciate them and how happy we are that they took the time to come visit us!!

Okay...now I am ready to have some people come stay with us! HA! Who wants to come visit??!? As much as I love having company...we actually don't get a ton of visitors and I would LOVE for that to change. So if you want to come visit Greenville, NC...email me and you have a place to stay. HA! Kidding! Not really!! ;)

Now it's your turn!! PLEASE share in the comments the extra special things you do for your guests! It is always SO helpful to get tips from other people and I don't know about you- but I can use all the help I can get..especially in this beautiful but extremely FULL holiday season!!

Hope you have the BEST day!

Linking up with Whitney today!!