Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,
Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
Speaker 1: tip is to host the same party twice.
Speaker 2: You'll get twice the fun with probably a lot less
Speaker 2: than twice the effort. Longtime listeners know that I suggest
Speaker 2: batching similar tasks. It is much more efficient to work
Speaker 2: through a punch list of ordering gifts, making appointments, and
Speaker 2: paying bills in one setting every week or so, rather
Speaker 2: than doing these sometimes tedious tasks whenever you think of them. Likewise,
Speaker 2: it is more efficient to wrap all your Christmas gifts
Speaker 2: at once. You have your tools out, you are in
Speaker 2: the zone, and everything goes more quickly. Longtime listeners also
Speaker 2: know that I am a big fan of defaults and templates.
Speaker 2: We have pasta every Monday, for instance. No need to
Speaker 2: keep reinventing the wheel here, which brings me to today's tip,
Speaker 2: host the same party twice. In theory, at least many
Speaker 2: people say they would like to host more. They like parties,
Speaker 2: they want to see their friends, they want to celebrate.
Speaker 2: It just seems like a lot of work, and that
Speaker 2: is too bad because in most cases, the greatest joy
Speaker 2: of hosting is in spending time with people we care about.
Speaker 2: It's not about designing a fabulous tablescape or wowing people
Speaker 2: with some recipe they have never seen before. So why
Speaker 2: not throw the same party twice. Maybe you've got two
Speaker 2: different groups of people you'd like to see. Get all
Speaker 2: the stuff out on Friday and host group one on Friday,
Speaker 2: then host the second group on Saturday. You can have
Speaker 2: the same flowers on the table. You can probably use
Speaker 2: the same drinks, just put half of them out on
Speaker 2: Friday and half on Saturday. You could put in the
Speaker 2: same order from your favorite takeout place, or pick up
Speaker 2: the same shrimp platters for each. You might have to
Speaker 2: clean up after party number one, but a lot of
Speaker 2: the basic decluttering and pick up will have been done
Speaker 2: ahead of party one, and so it will still be
Speaker 2: there for party number two. There are lots of economies
Speaker 2: of scale. This model can work for many kinds of gatherings.
Speaker 2: You could have a pool party for your ten year
Speaker 2: old and her friends on Saturday afternoon and for your
Speaker 2: twelve year old and her friends on Sunday afternoon. You
Speaker 2: could host a barbecue for your partner's work team one
Speaker 2: night and for your team the next night. Your mom
Speaker 2: could come over for cookies and lemonade one day and
Speaker 2: your neighbor the next day. You could have friends over
Speaker 2: for dinner one night, and then your small group at
Speaker 2: church the next night. Now, if you love planning the
Speaker 2: details of a menu and decorating for a party, great.
Speaker 2: If you enjoy doing that again and again, even better.
Speaker 2: But if what you love is time with people you
Speaker 2: care about, hosting the same party twice can be a
Speaker 2: smart way to get more connection with fewer logistics. In
Speaker 2: the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's
Speaker 2: to making the most of our time.
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas,
Speaker 1: or feedback, you can reach me at Laura at Laura
Speaker 1: vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia.
Speaker 1: For more podcasts from iHeartMedia, please visit the iHeartRadio app,
Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.