apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I would add hors d'oeuvres you can put out with little effort but store well (cheese/crackers, olives/prosciutto/french bread/parmesan, frozen appetizers, etc.) and a few bottles of wine.

extra light bulbs; enough dishwasher soap; bar mops for keeping the counters clean without using paper towels; soap & toiletries kits, including toothbrushes, for guest bath (Martha idea: pocket in a folded handtowel); shoe trays or mudroom mats. extra umbrellas. bandaids.

a whole lotta coffee and creamer. my family is made up of coffeehounds, and it's the worst when the coffee run out or someone takes the last of the half and half!!

I always buy a small Hickory Farms gift pack (sometimes more). It serves three purposes.

1. Emergency appetizer

2. Emergency gift

3. Awesome post-Christmas snack if not needed for #1 or #2

http://www.hickoryfarms.com/

For music, I just depend on our satellite TV service -- we have DISH, so we get Sirius channels, plus a few exclusive to DISH. I had drinks with a friend last week at his house, and he had DIRECT's XM service playing in the background.

Everything on the list is great. My bf is the coffeehound from hell, and if we run out of half & half or, God forbid, coffee, he loses his cookies.

Zune playlists, tons of holiday playlists all free for the holidays

I stock up on tea and dry ingredients for baking (flour, sugar etc).

ditto the "store well" appetizer recommendation: crackers, anything that might fit on a relish tray (pickles, olives, etc.), frozen appetizers. World Market is a great source for pickled items.