Block Party

When you are in your twenties, planning and hosting a party is a relatively simple matter. You send out an invitation, pick up some beverages, select some music, and then just wait for your party guests to arrive. As you get older, however, and your friends begin starting their families, party planning gets much more difficult. Although some people choose to host parties that are explicitly adult only affairs, this can make it impossible for some friends to attend. Babysitters are expensive, and sometimes even finding one who is available for the time of your party can be impossible. If you want to make sure that as many of your friends as possible can attend your next shindig, your best option is to be inclusive and welcome children to your home. Of course, if your home is not already child-proof, there are several issues you need to keep in mind. Keep reading for tips on how to child-proof your home for your next party.

1. Pack Away Valuables

The first step to child-proofing your home for a party is to pack away your prized possessions, especially if these belongings are in any way fragile or breakable. Gather treasured figurines, glassware, and decor, and simply put them in a closet or other storage area until the party is over. Not only will this prevent any accidents, but you will also greatly reduce stress for your adult guests. If the breakable objects are all out of reach, your friends will not have to spend the entire party frantically trying to keep their children away from your priceless crystal collection instead of enjoying themselves. Trust me, moms and dads need downtime more than most.

2. Keep Child-Proofing Basics In Mind

Even though your home may only need to be childproofed for a few hours, keep basic safety principles in mind. Make sure all hazardous cleaning supplies are either in a locked cabinet or stored somewhere out of reach. Some items, such as laundry pods, are not only dangerous, but particularly appealing to young children who love to put anything colorful in their mouths. You should also make sure that outlet sockets are covered. A set of outlet covers only costs a few dollars and can prevent a serious accident. Make sure you have adequate aluminum fencing on your property.

3. Make Sure You Have Snacks and Beverages Kids Will Love

If parents are allowed and encouraged to bring their children to your party, remember your youngest guests when you plan your menu. Special snacks and beverages for kids will help children enjoy your party as much as their parents. Ask your friends if their children have any allergies or special dietary accommodations to make sure the evening goes off without a hitch.

4. Arrange An Activity For Your Youngest Guests

While adults usually have plenty of fun just mingling and visiting, kids often get bored if there is not something for them to do. Keep your kid guests out of mischief by arranging a special activity just for them. You might arrange a crafting activity, or set up a gaming system that they can play. Keep the ages of the children in mind as you pick your activity. Younger children will be frustrated if they cannot participate in the fun, and if you pick a craft with small pieces, these might pose a choking hazard for your youngest guests.

5. Consider Hiring A Babysitter For the Evening

The best way to make sure that everyone, both young and old, enjoys your party is to hire a babysitter for the evening. That way, parents can relax knowing their precious little ones will be well taken care of while they enjoy a snack, a drink, and some rare adult conversation. A local teenager might jump at the opportunity to earn a little cash, and you can send them home with extra party snacks at the end of the evening. Plus, with a babysitter helping out for the evening, you can enjoy your own party without worry.

Although it may seem strange at first to see children at your party, as long as you consider their needs in advance, your party will be one that everyone, adults and children alike, will enjoy and remember for years to come.

You probably know that adequate preparation is key to planning without stress while a well-organized and welcoming home is sure to impress all your guests. As such, cleaning the house should be at the top of your to-do list, particularly as it will ensure you manage the related tasks with ease. With some planning, cleaning your home for a gathering can be simple. To reduce the stress that often accompanies preparation, split the work into tasks that you can easily and quickly complete the week before your gathering. Assign each day a task, and finish it inside an hour. But if you have the funds to do so, hiring an established cleaning company might be the best thing to do. Below is a seven-day plan to guide you through the process of housecleaning in preparation for your meeting.

1. Strategize
Start by evaluating to find out what needs to get done, and then come up with a strategy to accomplish the related chores in an efficient manner. You will save time and be able to see progress if you plan first. Walk around pretending to be a guest, identifying imperfections and areas that need special attention. Take note of everything that needs cleaning or clearing such as inconveniencing obstacles, cobwebs, dirt, clutter, and dead plant leaves. Record the elements you would want to refresh, straighten, or put away for safe keeping. Organize the list into easy to achieve tasks once you finish the walk-through.

Combining related tasks ensures you only have to pull the necessary equipment once or twice while cleaning. Think of ways to maximize efficiency. For instance, you can wash your rugs early so that they are ready by the time you are done with the floors. You will finish the chores faster than expected by splitting the tasks among family members and by day. Also, children will be more willing to take part and assist if you turn the cleaning exercise into a game.

2. Brighten the entry and windows
The second day of your housecleaning effort is time for the dirty work. Stick to your list you and avoid distractions since additional tasks can drag out time and undermine your cleaning efforts. Give your entire house a brighter outlook. Vacuum the window screens and wash the windows. Clean your front door, front porch, and walkway. Clear away any obstacles to give your entryway a fresh and welcoming appearance. Brush away cobwebs and damp-mop your baseboards, adding some shine to your floors. Remember to press all your curtains after you clean them. The crisp, pressed look will highlight your newly cleaned windows, and the fresh smell will permeate your house.

3. Clean the bathrooms
Cleaning the bathrooms involves messy work, and taking care of this job early means you only have to perform a quick refresh on the actual day of your gathering.

Make sure you scrub the toilets and clear all the clutter from your bathroom counters. Neatly arrange the essentials, clean your medicine cabinets, and organize their contents. Because people are likely to peek, remember to tuck away everything you would like to keep private.

4. Clear guest areas
You need to ensure your guests have enough room to mingle during the gathering. Start by putting every fragile or irreplaceable item in a safe place, and then make sure your living areas are free of clutter. Ensure your living space is free of unnecessary items since they can be in the way during a gathering.

5. Attack the kitchen
Since your kitchen needs to be in tip-top shape, clean it now to ensure everything is ready when the time to prepare and serve food comes. Deep-cleaning is a lot easier if you kept your kitchen relatively clean. Remember to pay special attention to the areas you usually save for spring cleaning. Attack these tasks with vigor because your daily obligations are likely to cause the accumulation of some kitchen cleaning tasks.

Clean out your refrigerator and discard any leftover that is no longer edible and as well as expired foods to make room for food intended for the gathering. Create space in your freezer for ice. Wipe down every kitchen surface including your cooktop, appliances, cabinets, and countertops, and then clean the floor.

6. Polish your spaces
As the day of the gathering approaches, turn your attention to polishing the areas where your guests will spend the most time. Ensure the areas reflect the atmosphere you would like to present. Remember, every space has unique cleaning requirements.

7. Touch up for the gathering
Although some things will require finishing just before your guests arrive, they are usually intended to refresh the hard work already completed. Having already done the hard work, you shouldn’t linger on these tasks. The spaces only need a final polish. Ask your family to assist so that the touch-ups go faster.

Give your bathroom surfaces and mirrors a quick shine, and quickly brush the toilets. Hang fresh hand towels and put out fresh soap. Polish your kitchen counters, sinks, and faucets after you mop the floor. Empty the trash from every container in the house. After fluffing your cushions and pillows, use a dust mop on the hard-surface floors, and then vacuum the carpets. Arrange or fold your throws, straighten book stacks, and ensure your tabletops are dust-free and clear of clutter. These simple details can make your house feel fresher.

You can now set up your party area by arranging fresh flowers, lighting candles, organizing the entertainment, setting up food and beverage stations, and finishing the preparation.

The typical American yard has undergone significant changes in recent years. No longer content with traditional lawns and cookie-cutter landscape designs, modern homeowners are forging brave new trails and creating their own trends based on their own individual needs an preferences. Following are just five of the exciting new landscaping developments that you’ll see in abundance in 2017.

Wildlife Habitat

One of 2107s biggest landscape trends will be establishing wildlife habitat in urban and suburban backyard spaces. Homeowners are planting vegetation that provides area wildlife with both nesting habitat, general shelter, food, and water. For instance, many modern water features are designed with the needs of avian life in mind. Those who have acreage are choosing to leave the areas around the edges of their property uncultivated in order to provide habitat for larger forms of wildlife such as deer, foxes, and raccoons.

Outdoor Kitchens

More and more homeowners are realizing the potential of outdoor kitchens. They can be used for family cookouts, neighborhood gatherings, or just inviting a few friends over on a lazy Sunday afternoon. They allow families to entertain and cook for a large group without creating a mess inside the home. Due to these advantages, many families are designing custom outdoor grill island setups.

Fire Resistance

Certain landscaping techniques can significantly reduce the risk of damage to the home by wildfire activity. Evergreen trees for instance, contain flammable sap and should be planted at least 30 feet away from homes and other structures for optimal fire safety. Delicious hardwood trees and shrubs burn more slowly than other vegetation, and those living in areas where seasonal wildfires pose a threat often create a 6-foot space around their homes made of decorative concrete.

Water Features

Modern water features recycle water throughout their systems, making them attractive options to those who like the appearance and sound of outdoor waterfalls and pools but not the high sticker price of increased water usage.

Edible Landscaping

It used to be against municipal and county codes in many areas to grow food in your front yard, but 2017 promises to blow that restriction right out of the water. Strawberries make excellent ground cover, and their flowers provide a profuse floral display in spring — many people will be planting small strawberry patches in their front yards in 2017. For those who want to cultivate a home orchard, all standard varieties of fruit trees are available in miniature sizes to accommodate today’s smaller yards. As an added bonus, the fruit of these trees is easily picked without the use of ladders. Even though they don’t produce as much fruit as their standard counterparts, their yield is more than adequate for the needs of today’s smaller families — and few things are more attractive in home landscaping than trees laden with ripe, healthy fruits. Fruit trees also provide abundant spring flowers. Other edible landscaping options that provide optimal visual appeal are cherry tomatoes grown in hanging baskets, rows of sunflowers, kale, various chives, and chard. You can’t beat an old-school grape arbor for backyard elegance, and training raspberries up around a fence provides a great way to combine form with function — raspberries are visually beautiful fruits that provide optimal taste and nutrition for the family table.

Less Lawn Space

Lush expanses of velvety green lawns were once a staple of American landscaping. Even if the ideal lawn was never quite attained, homeowners spent hours every weekend lawn mowing, weeding, trimming, fertilizing, and otherwise trying to fuss the perfect lawn into existence. However, large lawns are on the wane for a number of reasons. Water conscious consumers are looking for drought-friendly alternatives, while others are simply tired of the time and costs involved in maintaining a lawn. Easy-care ground covers such as clover and Corsican mint and rock gardens have taken the place of labor-and rescue intensive lawns.

If you have further questions concerning landscaping options and strategies for 2017. please don’t hesitate to contact us at your earliest convenience so that we can be of assistance.

Introduction

What’s even better than relaxing with one of your favorite TV shows or a favorite movie to enjoy your free time? The answer is doing it big, comfortably and in style! There are many benefits to dedicating an entire room into the epitaph of relaxation and enjoyment – by creating your very own home theater systems. Entertain yourself, those closest to you or even your rivals – if it suits you – with a carefully thought out and executed space that embodies the heart and soul of entertainment.

Options

50” flat screen TVs are on sale almost constantly these days – it’s a perk you get from living in the modern era. There’s even bigger, for the right amount of cash exchanged – and there’s even more options available to meet or exceed your viewing needs, like 3d TVs, 4k quality or – what may be the most beautiful viewing experience you’ve ever had – 70”+ curved screens.

What’s even better than that is you can achieve a high definition screen of 100” or larger with a projector. Worry not about bulb life anymore – where in the 90s people had to replace the bulbs in their projector every few months, costing anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars – and enjoy again the perks of modern living with a LED projector, whose bulb is guaranteed by most manufacturers to last up to 13 years!

Another consideration is how exactly you bring your media to your screen of choosing – DVDs, blu-rays, even finding a VHS player for your years-old collection of hundreds of old tapes. What you may want to consider is a smart device of some sort, like a smart TV or an Android TV box or even a small, cheap laptop that you connect to your screen in order to stream whatever you want – whenever you want it – from the depths of the Internet. Different solutions like Kodi or Netflix can keep you entertained for literally weeks upon weeks with new and updated content for you to enjoy at your newly founded and ultimate leisure in your home theater!

On top of picture quality, the single most highly sought after piece of functionality in any home theater is the depth, range, and volume of a proper surround sound audio system. There are many options available – some are even wireless for an altogether beautiful arrangement around the room- and it’s important you consider and plan for the full use of the entire surround sound spectrum when you’re planning your home theater. For instance, there’s a choice between 5.1 surround or 7.1 surround – you should research of ask a techie to find out which you’d prefer! Also – beware opting for a bluetooth setup, as Bluetooth commonly has a three or four second delay on playing the audio that gets sent to it, which would wreak havoc on the goal of entertainment you’re looking to provide yourself, your friends and your family.

Consult your local tech shop for sorting out any questions you may have about what combination of what technology is right for you. You might even be better off with a home automation system. However – consult only your gut instincts when it comes to selecting the chairs, couches or whatever kind of relaxation tool you plan on sitting on, lying on or sprawling yourself in when you enjoy your new masterpiece of a home theater. Choose the best fit for yourself – and try many options before buying!

What’s more is that if you yourself or someone close to you is a computer or console gamer – they’re going to surely love every minute of gaming with a high definition ridiculously giant screen and the most high-quality surround sound they’ve experienced. Nothing quite puts an edge on competitive gaming like having the proper hardware – and a home theater system is the ultimate way to experience your all-time favorite games. It’s a proven fact (or, well, maybe it’s just a very popular opinion) that the larger the screen, the greater your competitive edge – ask any gamer, and they’ll have the same idea!

You might also consider how to protect your equipment. An LCD enclosure or monitor enclosure might save your thousands down the line.

Finally, if you or someone in your family is hearing impaired to the point where you require multiple visits to an audiologist or ear doctor, you will want to consider the numerous options available.

Although you’re dreaming right now of going out and spending thousands upon thousands of dollars, it’s worth noting that you can accomplish all of the dreams and aspirations you’re feeling right now with a $200 projector, a $200 stereo and a $200 computer. Every dreamer has a budget – pick yours!

Conclusion

When you’re looking for the finest way to relax on your own – or the most invigorating way to achieve a sense of relaxation for many friends, family and anyone else you can conceivably entertain – there’s not quite anything else that achieves the net result like your own home theater.

We’ve all been there: trapped in a social setting, making awkward small talk with new and old acquaintances and frequently checking our watches to see how soon we can make an excuse to ditch the boring get together. If you’re planning to throw a block party, advance planning and simple touches can make all the difference in a party that goes down in the record books or a stiff function that leaves guests yawning and making an early exit.

Food

For a block party, food that can easily be carried on small plates is probably your best bet. But that doesn’t mean you have to stick with the same old chips, dips and cocktail sausages. Today’s food trends are about exciting the senses.

Establish different food stations where guests can gather to sample unique fare. Soup sips are gaining in popularity; have an area where your guests can take a small cup of an exciting soup.

Sliders are always a favorite, so provide some of these small sandwiches for your guests to enjoy. Another option is small barbecued ribs. You can even add a chicken protein gravy made from chicken powder.

Of course, you’ll need a dessert station; add an interesting fruit display for those who are avoiding excess sugar.

Depending on the type and amount of alcohol you want to serve, a bartender can add extra flair. Ask him or her to name a mixed drink after your party for the evening.

Tip: Even the most well-behaved guests make a mess and post-party clean up isn’t much fun. Set several trash receptacles around so your guests can easily dispose of their plates and cups.

Music

Having an experienced (get reviews!) DJ can keep guests dancing, moving around and laughing.

Know the appropriate genre. Hardcore gangster-style rap may not be suitable to blare down your street. On the other hand, it might be just what he majority of your guests are into. It’s typically wise to play a variety of tunes that will appeal to a diverse crowd.

Step it up a notch by hiring an aroma DJ that will pipe an array of essential oil scents throughout the crowd, helping to keep the mood going. Certain scents trigger memories in all of us, and a DJ specializing in aromatherapy can add that extra touch that will create lasting memories of your event.

Entertainment

Even the most extroverted people can run out of interesting things to say. But having surprise hands-on activities or performances will help keep guests talking to each other, and about your party. Think outside the box: A few suggestions:

Henna is hot, hot, hot right now, so hire a local henna artist to temporarily tattoo your guests. Professional cigar rollers also will have your guests lining up to try their hand at rolling their own cigars and learning more about high-end cigars.

While you probably want to steer clear of face painting, iPad caricaturists are the new rage. They’ll stroll through your party drawing high-tech photos of your guests on their tablet that can instantly be emailed, printed or posted instantly to social media accounts.

“Duck lip” photos aren’t just for teenage girls. Even adults like to ham it up for the camera in a photo booth. Add some funny props that reflect the theme of your block party.

Create your own snapchat filter for guests to post on their social media channels, letting their followers know that they were invited to the party of the year.

Let’s face it: Your block party is weather dependent. A hot, sticky party will make your guests feel muggy and in search of air conditioning, while a party held in the dead of winter will make guests want to skip out in favor of an evening in front of the fireplace. Pick a time of year when it’s most comfortable outside, and keep your fingers crossed for no rain.