You're Never Too Busy for the Important Stuff

A few weeks ago my aunt called me to invite me to a birthday party for her aunt, my great aunt. She was turning 90 and my aunt was throwing together a bash. My aunt was also performing in a musical that afternoon that a number of party guests were planning to attend. She said she I knew I was really busy but they’d love for me to come.

As it happened, I was busy. I had plans for later that same night, but I told her of course I would come. I kept my evening plans, adding in the play and the first hour of so of the birthday party. It made for a very busy Saturday, especially since I was already committed to baking a treat for my evening plans and offered to pick up store-bought appetizers for my aunt’s party.

It was worth it. I sat with my cousin in the rafters of my junior high school during the musical and at the end the whole cast sang happy birthday to my great aunt. Afterwards I rushed to buy a card for her from "all the cousins", and laughed as the three cousins that were in attendance (myself included) struggled to remember everyone’s names. I discovered that my great aunt went to the same high school as I had, which I’d never known, and I met my second cousin’s girlfriend. I didn’t want to leave early, but I did, and went on to enjoy similarly fun evening plans where my choco-mint brownies were a huge hit.

I’m a busy person, there’s no denying that, but I don’t ever want to be the kind of busy person that my friends and family think doesn’t have the time to hang out with them. I’m busy because I make myself available to do that, and I’m blessed to have plenty of people to do that with.

Your life is meant to be full, but it's up to you to fill it with what’s going to be meaningful. Make time for what’s important... If you’re too busy to enjoy you’re life you’ll miss it. Don’t underestimate the value of spending time with people, no matter what you’re doing with them.

I won’t miss the workout I skipped to see my aunt wear a fake wart on stage and dance around with mice, and seeing the joy on my great aunt's face surrounded by her family did more to reduce my stress than any good night's sleep ever would. My life is full, all right, but there's always room for more of the good stuff.

Party Tip #2: Simplify the Menu

All great parties have great food, whether it’s formal or casual, snacks or full blown dinner. The trick to hosting an event with great food is to tailor the menu to the event. It’s easy to think of everything you love, or have a really great recipe for, and throw it onto your party menu, but if you streamline the menu you’ll find you can still receive rave reviews while actually being able to enjoy your party.

Take M’s recent birthday party/open house, with a guest list of 30+ including friends, family and children. Dinner options included beef brisket and veggie chili. They thought about adding grilled food as well, but (rightly) decided it added a level of complexity to their menu and would require a lot of outdoor time away from the party. Both the brisket and chili had prep that had been done the day prior, and both spent the day heating and getting delicious in crock pots on their counter. Right before the party, chili accompaniments and sandwich buns were placed out and voila! Dinner is (self) served and the hosts spent the party chatting with friends.

Not sure where to start? Here’s what I do when planning a menu:

• Begin with either a centerpiece item (such as the brisket) or a theme (Mexican is a favorite of mine). Both focus your attention on a handful of recipes that you can coordinate. It also makes decisions about whether to include things easier (Q: What goes with brisket? A: Coleslaw).
• Choose items that work for the number of guests you're planning to have. Save your chicken parmesan for a dinner party and go with lasagna for the crowd.
• Keep the number of total items low. You want variation, but you don’t need to go crazy. Avoid several of the same thing, for example four kinds of chips, and overlap where possible, for example pita chips and veggies both go well with hummus.
• Plan to make some things and buy store bought for others. This will save you time and sometimes money. Plus, pre-made can be better than what you’d make at home.
• Think about the preparation of the food, both prior to and during the party, and minimize items requiring last minute preparation or overlapping timeframes. You don’t want to be sautéing peppers while a stream of guests are ringing your doorbell, or juggling items in your oven so everything stays hot.

Providing delicious food for your party doesn’t require days of food preparation and slaving in your kitchen. PARTY TIP #2: SIMPLIFY THE MENU. Organize a menu that contains a balanced selection of items that are low on day-of prep and maintenance. Let the crock pot do the magic while you entertain your guests. Impress your father-in-law with your unbelievable beef brisket.

You just planned the perfect party. You’re Welcome.