Little Dinner Party & Utilizing a Guarantee

Let me actually start with the guarantee. I am actually not good at using them. I hate taking something back when it doesn't work, unless it is a large purchase, but one last week was far too annoying to not do something about it. I had bought flowers at Sam's Club on Saturday for our dinner party. And as you can see from when I posted about it, there are flowers on the table. That's due to a little something I call improvising. The hydrangeas were fine and lovely. The tulips on the other hand, not so much. I opened them and there was mold on the bottom of the stems and almost every single stem was weakened at some point and unable to support the bud. I had to trim them all down really short and just lay them in the hopper vase. Looked ok though, right?

Well, I know Sam's has a 7 day policy on their flowers, so I called and they said I could bring them back. So I did just that and got my refund on Saturday. Although, I ended up spending it right back by getting more flowers. My hydrangeas still looked great, but lonely...so I bought them some friends. And it worked out just great since we were having Carl's parents over for dinner. And speaking of which....here are those details.



We had a few items leftover from last Saturday that I wanted to use up, and my inlaws are always up for a dinner, so we had them over.

Menu:
Cheese, Cracker and Grape Plate
Savory Sauteed Green Beans & Tomatoes
Tuscan Cheese Potato Bake
Laughing Cow Chicken (which looks so much fancier than it sounds!)
(and I skipped dessert as my father-in-law was recently diagnosed with diabetes, and I didn't want to tempt him!)

So I got to use up a few items from last Saturday and have a really delicious, spur of the moment dinner. We took the time to talk to them about their Hawaii trip too and get some tips!

As for the dinner, it doesn't take much planning. If you are nervous to host guests, try just one couple, and preferably people you are really comfortable with. Perhaps ask them to bring a dish or appetizer to lighten your load and to let them be part of the fun as well. Start small, and you'll be hosting big, fancy parties in no time!