Congratulations to Melinda, yesterday’s winner of Caribou coffee and a pink “Hello gorgeous” mug!
Throwing big parties is not my thing. I don’t think I’m a natural hostess. In fact, you can usually find me darting around, making sure food is replenished, saying things to myself like, “What the actual hell was I thinking?” and giving anyone who converses with me a deer-in-headlights look.
So… not my thing.
At Olivia’s birthday party, I tried to not get stressed out and enjoy myself, but… it was hard to just relax.
But gather one or two other couples in my house, or invite my family over for a lunch, and I’m in my element. Plus, it’s a great excuse to clean the house. I’ll even put the salsa in a cute little bowl instead of leaving it in the jar.
Isn’t this sign adorable? It was made by a dear friend of mine, Celina, whose talent knows no bounds. The girl really needs to get her own Etsy shop, but she may be busy with her three little miracles (that, and helping me make gobs of prizes for this giveaway). I’d like to think this sign would look great hanging in a kitchen. Because isn’t that where people naturally gather? To eat?
All you have to do to enter to win this handmade sign is:
- Subscribe to my blog, if you haven’t already and,
- Leave a comment on this post telling me how YOU feel about hosting gatherings. (Comments on Facebook and Instagram WON’T count. The comments need to be left here.)
The Gather sign giveaway (valid only in the U.S. and Canada) will end on January 13 (tonight) at 11:59pm, CST.
The winner will be chosen at random by Random Name Picker the next morning.
The winner will be notified by email the following day, and will have 24 hours to reply back to me, or a new winner will be chosen. All prizes will be mailed out to winners at the end of the giveaway series.
Good luck!
Love love love love hosting!! The more the merrier!!! I could host every week! Love it!
I love hosting gatherings! We moved into our new home just after Christmas 2015, so 2016 was our year to host either Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner. We lucked out with Christmas – so I had 12 months to plan 😉 – and it was great!… except for the part where I forgot to take the giblets out of the turkey before roasting it :). Family gatherings happen pretty frequently for us, and they’re always a potluck which is a major bonus! Our kitchen/living room/eating area is our gathering place – this would go really well in our living room!
Although I love having people over, it can be so much work to pull it all together. It’s definitely a big relief when done!
Love gatherings! I definitely get overwhelmed for large parties (i.e. first birthday party) but Thanksgiving/Christmas/Anniversaries/Friends Over… I’m all about those. I’m big on decorating & entertaining and live for that type of stuff 🙂
I love having people over, but more than a handful of people (especially once you factor in their children – and my kid!) and my house starts to feel a little bit small. I do enjoy figuring out menus, options and flow – and I’m lucky to have a husband who likes thinking through these things too!
While it may be stressful at times, I do enjoy hosting. Once I get past the whole holy crap there is going to be 20 people in my house – I just take advantage of the opportunity to cook and bake and of course try new recipes. Plus the next day after the storm has passed you have a super clean house and lots of leftovers to enjoy!
We love hosting! We have game night on a regular basis, and I’ve learned not to worry about getting the house perfect, and enjoy spending time with our friends!
My house is smaller so I get out of hosting parties. But when we do have a few people over I stress the whole day making sure the house stays clean.
I love hosting parties of any size but need to get better at not leaving everything until the last minute! My one goal always is to not be cooking when my guest start to arrive. Most of the time I accomplish that but not always.
I am not a “total natural” per say. but I do enjoy hosting gatherings. I like being in control of the menu, timing and overall atmosphere of the gathering, so hosting it is usually my ideal.
Celina is amazing! She did a great job. Hope I win! *fingers crossed
Frankly I really don’t care for hosting parties. Cleaning, shopping, cooking. Once you’re done though, it’s ok…
I absolutely love hosting. IfnI can come up with a reason to host a gathering, I will!! 🙂
I absolutely suck at hosting anything. I am beyond thankful that I have my husband to be the host for birthday parties and any other gatherings.
I love the IDEA of having a gathering, and I greatly enjoy gatherings in general. I absolutely adore parties and events that bring my loved ones together, and that also give me daughter the opportunity to see her favorite people. However, my anxiety can sometimes get in the way when I am trying to plan for a gathering, clean, organize, decorate, etc. I have a tiny little home, which makes me feel overwhelmed and limited at times. We are in the process of updating our home, tearing down walls, and trying to make our tiny home feel a little bigger and comfortable for us AND our guests. I am now excited about the possibility of hosting toddler birthday parties or holiday get-togethers in the coming year. This sign would truly be perfect as I turn a new leaf, overcome some of that anxiety, and plan for more gatherings in my cozy little home!
Hahah I used to think of myself as enjoying large gatherings but have since found out that I don’t….like, at all. A small gathering? I’m your girl! I can do that like no other, and actually really enjoy it. Part of why I can’t wait for my wedding in December is so I can spend time with some family and friends and marry my fiancé so we can live our lives and try having oodles of babies. Why I’m dreading it?….too. Many. People!! I don’t like to be the center of attention.
I love to decorate though!!!! And have actually been looking for a sign just like this to hang above the window in front of where our table sits.
I LOVE hosting gatherings of any kind. From making my to-do list to saying our goodbyes, it’s all the best. I view it as God gave us a beautiful home, let’s not keep it to ourselves but open it up to all!
I don’t love hosting people! It makes me nervous! But that’s something that my husband and I want to be more intentional about this year! So I’m working on it. 🙂
I love gatherings just not at my house!
If I’m being honest I like having people over to my house because that means I get to stay home! Haha. Much easier than loading up Bowen and everything he requires to make a trip. We live 30 mins from everything so it’s an hour round trip no matter where we go. Cute sign too!!
I love hosting for a small group but not so much a large group. Worrying about how everyone is going to fit into my tiny house is always my main stress point. Next is if there will be enough food. And so I overbuy and have too much food left over in the end. Oh well… more chocolate M&M’s and cheesy potato left overs for me. But the clean house afterwards is the best part!!!
I love getting together! If I have time, planning and preparing is fun too
I love to host the only problem is I get Uber crazy about cleaning beforehand. Once people arrive I can let it go but things have to be perfect when people arrive.
I tend to host everything. I love it! Having my home filled with so many people I enjoy and celebrating events is something that makes me happy. I’m not the worlds greatest hostess but I have learned a few tips and tricks along the way to make things go smoothly!
Love to host gatherings! I tend to stress out beforehand and think “why did I want to do this” but then when everyone gets there, it’s a blast. Thanks for the giveaway! Such a pretty sign!
I LOVE hosting gatherings! There is nothing better than gathering with family and friends over a delicious meal! Our usual is to have our in laws over for dinner every Sunday night.
Small gatherings are fine, but in general if I host, I feel obligated to make everything perfect and try to make sure people are enjoying themselves. It’s exhausting. So I avoid it.
I actually love hosting gatherings! It always makes me feel good when everyone enjoys themselves and compliments my cooking.
Also, I totally agree that Celina needs to open her own Etsy shop! She is AMAZING!!!
I LOVE to host! I am always the first to ask if I can host someone a baby or bridal shower. EVEN when I was going through all of my infertility issues, I still wanted to host baby showers. Maybe it was a way that I dealt with some of my issues, I don’t know. But I love a sense of getting people together, having good food and drinking and having a good time.
Hosting…. Not my thing. Sends my anxiety through the roof. The cleaning beforehand, the food, the clean up afterwards. So not my favorite thing.
Unfortunately, I have not had the privilege to host a party (Christmas, Thanksgiving, etc.). We currently live in a 1 bedroom apartment and having that many people may be a bit cramped. My husband and I are in the process of buying our first home which we are SO excited for and do plan on hosting as much as we can – I think that I would be in Heaven. Family is everything to me and get togethers bring me back to many fond memories as a child and adult.
I love hosting gatherings especially in the winter. I enjoy the fact that I can see close friends and family and not have to leave my cozy house.