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Oh hello! Welcome to the first official post of the Mostess with Miss Jones! I'm happy you're here. My goal, as always, is to inspire and to help you create an amazing occasion/event/party with real budgets, timelines, and ideas made for real people who work full-time jobs. Today's post is more of a mini-occasion, but aren't those the best? Making an ordinary day a beautiful occasion is my idea of fun. Here's how I created a “Welcome Home Happy Hour” on a quick turnaround and budget.
For the last few weeks, my husband has been travelling all over the place – Chicago, Boston, and Ireland (on a boys' trip – can you believe he went without me?!). In the middle of those trips, I also had a work trip to New Orleans. It's safe to say we haven't seen a lot of each other these last few months. I knew that when Mr. Jones arrived home from Ireland, he'd be tired, hungry, and frazzled from weeks of travel. I also knew that I wanted to make his arrival home something special. And, by the time I had the idea to surprise Mr. Jones with something special, I had about 8 hours to prepare. So, the idea of an easy but special happy hour came to mind.
Using my trusty four-step formula, I knew I could pull it off.
Step 1: Picture
The first step in my process for planning any kind of occasion is to picture what the end result will look like. What is the end goal of the effort? What memories or vibes are you trying to create? Are you celebrating? Having a laid-back dinner? Think through it, how do you want it to feel? For this Welcome Home Happy Hour, I wanted something that was low-effort and felt like a treat to Mr. Jones. I wanted him to walk in the door of the house, see the spread/set-up in the kitchen, and feel like he was in for a treat. And of course, be happy to see me!
Step 2: Plan
Now that I had a general idea of what I was going for, how could I accomplish it in 8 hours? Given the tight timeline, I had to be intentional on how I got this done. But first, I needed to decide what I was even going to make for his arrival! I definitely didn’t have time to cook much, so it needed to be simple. I also have this handy little server which inspired me to grab a few of Mr. Jones’ favorite little snacks to fill it, like olives, Marcona almonds, and a little antipasto mix.
I also knew that I wanted to have a home-cooked dinner, but it had to be easy enough to require no prep or de-thawing beforehand. I chose to go with his all-time favorite dinner, Chicken Vesuvio (a classic Chicago dish for my Chicago-native husband). It’s an Italian chicken and pan-fried potato dish that is basically covered in Italian seasoning and finished with peas on top. It also includes white wine and lemon juice/zest – aka all the good stuff! We love Jeff Mauro’s recipe from his cookbook Come on Over. I highly recommend setting out all the ingredients in little bowls so you aren’t scrambling once you actually start cooking!
Finally, I knew a bottle of champagne would be the cherry on top of his homecoming. With all this in mind, I made an action plan.
Step 3: Prep
Now that I had a grocery list, I needed to look at my day as a whole. Other than grocery shopping, what else did I need to achieve during the day? On this day, I definitely needed to clean the kitchen, and also needed to run a few other errands. I always look for ways to streamline my day. So, I relied on good ol’ grocery delivery to do the heavy lifting for me. By eliminating this task from my day, I was able to find time to get my home ready and do the other things I needed to do that day.
I also thought about my timeline. For example, how long will it take to do the prep work for dinner so I’m not trying to handle raw chicken when Mr. Jones gets home? I specifically chose this recipe because I knew I could get all the prep work done and be present to have a glass of champagne and hear stories once he arrived! I worked backwards from when Mr. Jones was arriving, and my rough timeline went something like this:
- 7:00 – Mr. Jones is home!
- 6:45 – set out snacks and put chilled champagne in ice bucket, and turn on music
- 6:00 – dinner prep
- 5:45 – set up bowls for snacks, champagne glasses, champagne bucket
- 5:00 – 5:45 – scan room for messes
- 2:00 – 5:00 – run other errands
- 1:00 – 2:00 – grocery delivery window
I always try to give myself plenty of extra time in my rough timeline in case something pops up and I get held up somewhere. For example, I set my grocery delivery extra early in case that store was out of something and I needed to grab it while running other errands. In this case, the grocery store was out of the fancy almonds Mr. Jones likes, so I had to pick some up while I was out.
And, one of my errands was to stop at my parents’ house, and I couldn’t help but notice their peonies were in full bloom! I grabbed a couple to add to the presentation.
Once I was back at home, I set out each ingredient for the Chicken Vesuvio in little bowls, so I could focus on Mr. Jones once he arrived. I set out everything, including the cookware, and I even went ahead and seasoned the chicken so finishing cooking would be a breeze.
Step 4: Party!
I was able to stick to my plan with plenty of time to spare, which gave myself a few minutes to get ready for the arrival. I set out the snack into the dishes, turned on a romantic and fun oldies playlist, and checked the lighting around the room to make sure it was cozy and warm. For me, when the music starts, the party begins – even if it is just a party for two!
The best part – Mr. Jones’ reaction did not disappoint. He was so happy to be home, and so excited to see all his favorite snacks and dinner being prepared. Little does he know how quickly this all came together and required such little prep work. The only thing I even “cooked” was the dinner, which I finished while he told me all about his travels. The olives, antipasto, and nuts came right out of a package, and I just put the bottle of champagne into an ice bucket I’m pretty sure came from my grandmother’s basement. Putting all these items into cute serving dishes made it look like I put in way more time and effort.
I hope this post inspires you to surprise one of your loved ones when they come home for a trip! A full printable timeline and grocery list is coming soon to make it even easier for you to do this too! Cheers!
