Tips for Hosting a Last Minute Party

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and The Coca-Cola Company. All opinions are mine alone. #FamilyPizzaCombo #CollectiveBias

During football season we are constantly having last-minute visitors to our home to host for various football games. Ryan gets to chatting with friends, and next thing I know we are having a little party at our house...with no preparation on my end! I have a few tips and a "plan of attack" for getting your house and yourself ready at a speedy pace! 

Fix yourself up

For some reason every time we have last minute guests, I have my hair in a ratty top knot and haven't worn make-up for days. My favorite go-to hairstyle is a messy pony with sea salt spray then scrunching it up for texture. Then I fill in my eyebrows with pencil and slap on some colored lip balm to give my face some definition. Then I feel a whole lot better about hosting a party and entertaining guests because I know I won't look like a zombie! 

Put in your order at Sam's Club

Before you start the craziness of picking up the house, pick up your phone and put in an order for the $13.98 Coca-Cola & Pizza Combo deal at Sam's Club Cafe. You get a bundle of goodies, such as a 16-Inch Pizza, Cheesy Breadsticks, Cookies, and one 2L of Coca-Cola. You want to make sure it is all cooked and ready for pick up by the time you're done pulling the house together! 

Tidy up the living room 

This is the first impression for guests walking through the door, and where they will be spending most of their time when at our home. I fold all the blankets and put them in our blanket basket, put the pillows back in place, put remotes into drawers and move on to the next task! 

Dust main surfaces

I have a little dust wand that I glide over all the main surfaces that my guests will be seeing. Which typically includes: side table, television, TV stand, decorative shelving, and window sills. Quick way to make it look like you took time to clean the house! 

Hide 'yo kids hide yo' stuff ;)

Let's be real. No one is going to be searching every nook and cranny in your home for personal belongings. When I'm crunched on time, all the extras go into closets or into our bedroom upstairs where guests won't see it. 

Wipe down kitchen, dining room & guest bathroom countertops 

I may be personally pick about this, but I like clearing off main surfaces to give the appearance of a clean house. I especially focus on the bathroom, because I don't want guests to feel uncomfortable using a "lived in" restroom. I always have cleaning supplies in each bathroom to make tidy-ing up that much easier. 

Pick up the Family Meal Deal at Sam's Club

We got to feed our guests! Since I called ahead to my local Sam's Club Cafe and ordered the New Family Meal Deal, it was ready in less than 20 minutes and now is ready for pick-up. I send Ryan to go pick it up while I'm finishing up on the house. Not only is it convenient and delicious, but it's also $13.98 for the whole pack! That is one CRAZY awesome deal! 

It is the perfect solution for a quick dinner and another perk is that I didn't have to cook a thing! I always have football themed napkins and cups on hand, so I pull those out to fit the theme of our last-minute football party. 

Hopefully these tips helped you with a "plan of attack" when it comes to preparing for a last-minute party! Make sure to check out if your Sam's Club is participating in this Coca-Cola & Pizza Combo because it is seriously such a killer deal! 

Organize Your Home Office for Optimal Studying & Focus

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #CreateWithHP #CollectiveBias

We've been in our new place for almost a year (crazy!) and Ryan has loved having his own office. He has decked it out to fit all his needs as a business student at BYU, and the ALL NEW HP Deskjet 3636 Printer from Walmart is the perfect addition to his desk. He previously would print all of his papers at the campus print center, but now he can take care of all his printing needs at home and not have to rush to campus early! 

Weirdly enough, Ryan is the organization obsessed person in our household. He enjoys finding a place for each and every item. While we are still in the process of organizing his office, it has come a long way! I'd love to share a few tips and tricks on how to organize your home office, for it to become the optimal place to study and focus for school. 

1. Hang items on the wall

We hung a shelf to hold all of Ryan's hats, pictures of family, fun posters, and finally a whiteboard right next to his desk to jot down quick notes. He brainstorms ideas on that whiteboard, and having it on the wall means it's not in the way, but is easily accessible. If you've got wall space, then use it! 

2. Sort each item into its own compartment

We picked up this organizer to streamline the system in his desk drawers. Ryan now has a specific compartment for each back-to-school necessity! Pencils, pens, highlighters, flags, note cards, and more. This makes the busy school days a bit easier when you know exactly where your tools are. 

3. Use boxes/baskets for aesthetically pleasing storage 

We picked up these fabric boxes to further organize books and tech equipment. The fun colors bring the "pop" needed for the space, and it keeps chargers and other tech easily accessible! Boxes and baskets that are aesthetically pleasing are the best of both worlds; it serves as decor and organization. 

4. Be stress-free by adding greenery, candles, and family photos 

Add some life into your office space! We picked up this mother-in-law's tongue plant then lit a candle on the windowsill, and the space felt so much more relaxing. School can be stressful, so we did our best to add items to the space that will help with de-stressing!

5. Download HP Printer app to print with ease

We picked up the HP Deskjet 3636 Printer from Walmart since it's an affordable all-in-one printer that not only hooks up to wifi, but we can use through our smartphone app. Say what?! This makes our lives so much easier, since Ryan can now print any school related material from wherever he's at! 

We chose the HP Deskjet 3636 in the fun Dragonfly Blue option, which works perfectly with the current color scheme we have in the office! When using the mobile app, it is a seamless experience. We printed up the upcoming BYU academic schedule to post on the wall as a reminder for important school-related dates. 

With a couple of buttons, we were printing our high-quality calendar in no time! The printer was nice and quiet with its optional 'quiet mode'. A great upgrade from our old noisy printer that we could hear throughout the entire house! 

We were able to set up the printer and start using it so quickly after unboxing the product. It's the perfect printer for any college student since it's easy to set up, ready to use, efficient, affordable, and high quality! Any professor would be happy to receive an essay printed with this HP Deskjet :) 

What organization tips do you have for a home office? Would you pick Dragonfly Blue, Vibrant Red, or Sporty Purple for your HP Deskjet 3636 printer?

Geode In the Rough

I have always had a place in my heart for geode coasters, kind of a weird thing to collect right? ;) I came across Geode in the Rough and fell hardcore in LOVE with these gorgeous coasters!  

I asked for blue stones with gold edges and was not disappointed whatsoever. These pictures don't do them justice, they are even more beautiful in person! They are the perfect housewarming gift for friends and family, as they give a special touch to any home. 

Luckily I have a killer deal for my readers, Geode in the Rough is offering a 20% off coupon (code below) to Breezy Days readers! You should seriously start stocking up on gifts for the holidays :) The code works until the end of July, so you should hop to it! 

BREEZYDAYS20

Geode in the Rough

Instagram // Etsy

Coasters c/o Geode in the Rough (20% off with code BREEZYDAYS20 until end of July)

Lamp, Curtains, Nightstand: Target

Flowers: Costco

Espadrilles: Dolce Vita via Nordstrom

Moving to the Little Blue Townhome

I don't think I've really brought this up here on the blog, mostly because there have been more important/exciting things to write about when I finally get the chance to hop on and write.

Back in November, Ryan & I were at our wits end with the yellow brick house management. They were threatening to kick us out over the dumbest things even though we paid our rent every month, took great care of the property, and even improved it at our own cost. The place didn't have proper A/C or heating, the utilities were split in (I'm sure) an illegal way, and the management company was dishonest and slimy.

We had been casually looking online for new places, but nothing ever felt right. Then if something was within our price range during our online searches; I'd think about all the time, effort, and money it would take to move. BARF. That would be enough to convince myself to be content for another month or so; or at least until another issue with management.

I started to get real fed up with the ridiculous high pricing of Provo family housing, especially since most of it hadn't been updated since the 80s.

"How can landlords get away with this here? It's practically stealing! I'm not paying $900 a month to live in a basement with rats."

That's a rant for another time ;)

Ryan took on the home search brigade and came to me the Tuesday before Thanksgiving with a listing for a 3bd 2.5 bathroom townhome on the west side of Provo. It looked beautiful. But isn't it too big? Do we need that much space? It might be a touch above our budget? But gosh, I'll finally have heating and A/C! I haven't had that in years!

We toured the place on Wednesday, then signed paperwork that night to move in on Friday (the day after Thanksgiving).

My family and friends love us a whole dang lot, because moving was a beast in the cold dreary weather. But we are all moved in and have been decorating up a storm!

You never know how much crap you have until you have to move and store all of it. We ended up selling, donating, and trashing a lot of our belongings and it feels like a good start to a new chapter.

We're happily on the other side of Provo, where I have a functioning thermostat and a washer/dryer all to myself. You could say we're pretty content over here :)

The Dishwasher Detergent War

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #CollectiveBias #SparklySavings

Being in a rental home, we have a pretty old dishwasher that doesn't always do the job. I'll admit it's way better than not having a dishwasher at all! I usually just grab whatever dishwasher detergent is on the aisle display when doing my grocery shopping at Walmart. This time, I tried out the lemon Finish Powerball dish detergent and put it to war against my current detergent...

I printed off this $1 off coupon (on my sidebar) to get some extra Walmart savings. Walmart is also doing a Rollback sale on Finish products until October which can be combined with the coupon. I'm all about saving money! While I was a little skeptical to try out the powerball pods, I was interested to see how much of a difference it made when washing my clear glasses.

I am a Family Studies graduate, and the major included lotssss of research and statistics. So you could say I'm practically a professional research scientist ;) My control was 2 clean clear glasses filled with the same brand of chocolate milk before wash-time. The first wash I used my current Cascade detergent and the second I used the lemon Finish Powerball. I took the glasses directly out of the wash as soon as it was completed, and didn't do any extra wiping down before taking pictures.

This is the Cascade glass, which left a cloudy residue on the drinking glass. I've been dealing with this residue for a while when it comes to all my dishes. It's obnoxious to have to double clean all my stuff!

This is the Finish glass directly after the wash. Not gonna lie, I GASPED when I saw the clarity! I've not seen a clear glass like this probably in over a year. I attributed the poor washing of my dishes to the dishwasher, when a majority of the problem was my detergent! I'm now a Finish believer! Next time you're just browsing through your local Walmart, make sure to grab Finish because it finishes the job :)

My Dream Home: As Told by Pinterest

Growing up I would watch my parents do date nights at Home Depot and spend their date night moolah on home projects. Whenever my parents wanted to remodel or update a portion of their home, they read up on how to do it and went to town. That definitely rubbed off on me because now I have this notion that whatever I want to do, I can make it happen for a fraction of the price and it'll turn out beautiful. It's safe to say that my Home Inspiration board on Pinterest is overflowing, and that my parents will be helping me out with my future home ;)

1. Colorful Door 

My first non-negotiable is a colorful door, which is a pretty easy DIY but I think it makes such a huge difference when it comes to curb appeal. I also love the look of brick accents with a clean blue and white home; so classy!

2. Wrap Around Porch

While I can't really do this myself, I definitely want a home where I can entertain guests while enjoying the nature that surrounds us. If I can't have a front porch, then I'll be decking out my backyard with bistro lights, comfy seats, and a massive fire pit for smores. 

3. Flowers, Flowers, Flowers

They need to be EVERYWHERE. I cannot even express how happy flowers make me. Inside the house and outside! 

4. Dark Flooring/Herringbone 

I love the warmth that wood flooring gives to a house, but wood is a lot of upkeep. There are some awesome wood, tile, carpet and vinyl flooring options on FloorsUSA; which makes it easy to compare and contrast what I'd want in my home! My mom and I found tile that looks like dark wood flooring and I was totally sold. Granted, she is the one with a house so she's putting it in her front room. I'm excited to see how it turns out :)

5. Clean, Bright & Beautiful Kitchen

A kitchen is the hub of the home. Everyone is always in and out of the kitchen; eating, talking, and hanging out! While this picture isn't the culmination of all the various parts I would want in my future kitchen, it captures the feeling of what I'd want. The exposed beams, dark flooring, big open windows, blue accents, and subway tile make my heart sing!

6. Chic Bathroom

After looking through these pictures I don't think it's a shock to you that I love the combination of blue, cream/white, and brown. It is just so relaxing and pretty! I love the ladder in this bathroom and all the accoutrements that make it feel like a fancy hotel bathroom. 

7. Functional & Aesthetically Pleasing Laundry Room

I'm only doing laundry for 2 people and I spend SO MUCH TIME FOLDING. It's gonna be the death of me when I start having little ones haha! I'd love to have a laundry room that I don't mind spending some time in. Plus all the organized baskets make me soooo happy. I probably have too many baskets in my house right now, but I could always use more. 

Overall, I love the feeling of a bright and airy space while also helping guests to feel cozy and comfortable in my home. I've tried to achieve that in the rental I'm in now, and I get excited whenever someone new walks through my door and loves all the work I've done. Makes me so giddy! I can't wait to have my own home to decorate to my hearts content :)