Summer Party Tip – More hacks to make life easier.

After 13 years of hosting an annual Backyard BBQ, the wife & I decided to skip this year’s party with all the Coronavirus stuff going on.

Bummed about it, but definitely feel like we made the right choice. And after a dozen years or so of hosting, we’ve learned a few things about what to do & what not to do for a successful party.

Here’s a few of the things we learned over the years:

1. Make sure there’s PLENTY of trash barrels(preferably with lids), and make sure they’re clearly labeled. We keep one of our dog’s food in a smaller, plastic trash barrel in the kitchen, and we always make sure we remove it from there before the party or else it’ll inevitably end up with some garbage in it. And having multiple trash cans outside is a godsend when cleaning up the following day.
2. Most people have a bottle opener on their keys, maybe in their wallet. But we always tie a bottle opener or two to the coolers we have so that there’s one handy whenever someone needs it. Just something simple & easy to make things better come party time!
3. Not that we serve a lot of ice cream at our parties, but if you’ve got a pint of ice cream for your party and don’t want to bother scooping it out of the container, just cut it into slices!
4. The wife & I don’t smoke. But obviously, many of our friends do…so we have about six or seven small buckets filled with sand that we place all around the backyard for the smokers to use. I always end up having to pick up butts around the yard the following day, but it’s gotten better over the years as we’ve added more buckets.
5. We always have a keg or two at our party, and we use the plastic cups that we’ve accumulated from years of Logger games for our guests. Rather than create a bunch of unnecessary rubbish/recycling from red solo cups. One simple thing we do is to put a few Sharpies on the kegerator so people can write their name on their cup so the hopefully don’t lose it.
6. Rather than asking people to “chip in” for the costs associated with hosting, we started doing a 50/50 a few years ago and it’s been extremely successful. Just make sure you get a permit. (lulz)