My favorite time of the year is here! I love, love, love the last three months of the year. So much joy, cheer and love being spread all over. I especially love getting together with my family and friends. We see each other so much these last three months: Halloween parties, Thanksgiving, Friendsgiving, Christmas parties, Noche Buena (I'm Cuban and we celebrate on the 24th) and Christmas. Honestly, any excuse to get together, talk and laugh is good for me! A lot of these get togethers tend to be at my house so I know to stock up and be prepared early!
First up, holiday decorations! If you are hosting holiday parties, then your home needs to be decorated. Mood is everything. I decorate my home for Fall, Halloween, Thanksgiving and then Christmas. I give each holiday it's due. On November 1st, I switched out my Halloween spooky decor, pulled out scarecrows and pilgrims and set them out in various parts of my home.
Plan! Plan! Plan! Use a planner or the calendar on your phone. Plan your menus. Write down event dates. Call your parents, abuelas and tias and see who is bringing what. I know in my family, this is a necessity or else we have a table full of flan and arroz con leche and no main dishes!
Stock up on essentials and I don't mean just food. If there will be lots of guests in your home during the holidays, do what I did and stock up on bathroom essentials at BJ's Wholesale Club. It's way cheaper and you will probably only need to go once!
Prepare a basket of essentials in your guest bath. This is super easy. I just grabbed a basket, added a couple rolls of toilet paper (no one wants to run out of that!), a box of Kleenex, mouthwash, lotion, Cottonelle Flushable wipes and an extra bath towel or two.
While I was shopping, I also made sure to grab a box of Huggies Wipes. I remember when Adrian was a baby how I would always forget my baby wipes. It's not easy to remember everything so I always keep extra baby wipes in the bathroom. Not only for guests with babies, we all know there are dozens of uses for baby wipes.
Bonus tip: Remember to buy extra coloring books, puzzles, crayons, bubbles and board games. There are always lots of kids in my home and I always have extras of these items. When we were kids I remember my mom was so strict and when we did "visitas" we had to sit on a couch and be super quiet while the adults chatted. None of that in my house. I let kids have controlled fun and having a basket of items they can play with always helps!
I'm so excited for this holiday season and I hope you are too! Don't stress out if your pie crust didn't come out perfect or if your kid made a funny face in your Christmas card photos. It's not a big deal! Remember, it's a time to get together and spread the love! You can always make up your Christmas card pictures with the perfect Christmas morning pic!!
Kimberly-Clark products at BJ's make it easier for your to be there for your family while cooking/prepping/etc., so that you are able to be there for them emotionally and spend more time with family and less time shopping! Stock up on essentials now! Not a BJ"s member? Click here for a FREE 60-day membership (valid through 12/31/15)!
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Tell me: How do you prep for the holidays?