Entertainment & Fun

Project by: Sabrina Soto Location: Studio City, California Designer Sabrina Soto (of HGTV fame) converted her garage into a bright, breezy workspace that boasts air conditioning, a wall-sized pinboard, a to-die-for pegboard, acres of cabinet space, and a garage door that allows her to let in fresh air and natural light—perfect for photoshoots!

You know that feeling when you’re on a first date or you’re meeting someone new and they ask you what your hobbies are? Unless you’re proudly dedicated to something like painting or playing a sport or an instrument, there’s this moment where you wonder “What are my hobbies?” as if you’ve suddenly forgotten all the things you like to do in your spare time. The good news is, you can change that.

Meeting new people should be a fun experience, but making small talk feels more like a chore than anything. Going to parties, seeing distant family over the holidays, talking to new people at bars—they all can become daunting and super emotionally draining after a while. Sometimes it’s so hard to know what to say, you just don’t want to say anything.

When Amelia, who runs the design business Urban Cottage NYC, moved into her 490 square foot Hell’s Kitchen studio apartment, she was ready to live small. What she wasn’t willing to do was give up the feeling of having different rooms. “I still wanted to feel like I had a real dining room, where friends could hang out, or where I could write or sew or do projects while watching TV,” she writes. As you can see from her house tour, she totally aced the furniture placement.

Navigating a party doesn’t require a map—just a little bit of charm. And know this: If you’re not born with social finesse, it’s certainly something you can borrow. The next time you find yourself in a conversation that you need to dip out of—for a drink, a bathroom break, or just to take a breath—use one of these lines. We tapped a panel of entertaining experts in order to lend you some of their secrets for making a graceful exit from a tight circle.

A “signature cocktail” sounds like the stuff of a fussy wedding reception, not a simple Sunday dinner party. But as a host at home, having a signature drink just means that you have a delicious and easy-to-mix recipe at the ready to whip up a tasty, boozy sip for anyone who needs it. So what will your signature drink be? It should be something that, first of all, you like to drink.

Whether you’re hosting a dinner party, a small pre-bar-hopping cocktail hour or even ordering in some take out for a lazy sunday with friends, there’s a simple secret to making the most of the day: Have a snack on the table as soon as the first guest arrives. It doesn’t have to be anything elaborate—even just a small bowl of chips or nuts will get the job done.

The short answer? Yes—Millennials do make the worst houseguests, according to a recent study from HomeAdvisor. But the reality behind it is a little more nuanced than it seems. In the study, 2,000 people in the U.S. were asked to confess both their biggest pet peeves and their worst houseguest habits, from a list of 27 bad behaviors. Each generation—Millennials, Gen Xers and Baby Boomers—had a slightly different take on what bothered them most.

Say you’re at a soiree with pink champagne cocktails and more guacamole than you know what to do with, and you find yourself yawning between all the mingling. Or maybe you’re standing in front of your bathroom mirror — applying the night’s lipstick — and it dawns on you that getting into a taxi cab and legging it across town is the last thing you want to be doing that night.

Getting together with friends shouldn’t be a fussy affair. If all you have the time and energy to do is send out an email, then offer to host a potluck dinner at your place and get the gang together for a night. Being the potluck host doesn’t let you off the hook completely, but it’s a heck of a lot easier than cooking for a crowd. The first step to a potluck is sending out the (informal) invitations. And the modern way to do that is online.

The Birthday Problem paradox suggests that if you put 23 people into a room, there’s a 50 percent chance that two of them share the same birthday (and that probability jumps to 99 percent chance with just 60 people). The math is based on the assumption that every date out of the 365 days a year is equally likely for a birthday, but apparently that theory is way off.

Wondering why birthdays and babies always seem to reach a fever pitch as summer turns to fall? According to data collected by the New York Times, September 16th is the most popular birthday for babies born between 1973 and 1999. Actually, all 10 of the top 10 birthdays fall in September. And August isn’t too far behind in the rankings. → See all the birth date data: How Common is Your Birthday? Why? Your guess is as good as mine.

Like getting out of bed without your knees cracking, making friends is something that gets tougher as you get older. But here’s the thing: Everybody’s out there looking for new friends. Yep, even that really cool, funny gal you met at the supermarket checkout. So how do you go from small talk about kale to your first friend date? It’s as easy as 1-2-3: One of you has got to plant the seed that it might be fun to meet outside of the checkout line.

Was one of your resolutions this year to connect more? (That’s smart of you). Whether you’re new to a city, trying to find new friends or need to network more for your career, the task can seem Herculean if you know you won’t know many (or any) people at the event you want to attend.

If you feel like you’re getting invited out to your friends’ houses less and less, it might not be you — maybe it’s just a sign of the times. According to the New York Times, house parties are a thing of the past. They’ve identified statistics that seem to show that these days, people host gatherings at their homes less and less — but why? First, some dire numbers: the amount of high school seniors who have a never attended a party has climbed to 41.

How many people can you host at once? Two? 10? You’re probably counting sofa cushions right now in your head. The reality is, the “right” number of living room seats is different for everyone, and largely dependent on the amount of space you have available.

Ah, the ’90s. If you find yourself longing for inflatable furniture, Jnco jeans and the Delia*s catalog (which is back!), might we suggest a little journey down memory lane with these 10 music videos from the 1990’s–one for every year. From grunge to hip-hop to boy band pop hit machines, here are the music videos that totally capture the style of the ’90s. We can shut the list down right now.

Your definition of what it means to be a good host will more than likely change a few times over the course of your lifetime. If you’re at that stage of life when everyone around you seems to be having babies, you might want to consider changing things up a bit — not only to be a better host, but also to protect your favorite things from being broken, squished, or colored on.

Writer and editor Melanie Warner Spencer’s apartment in Uptown New Orleans is filled with charm, but no guest bedroom. So she’s come up with a way to transform her dining area into an inviting space a guest would actually want to stay in — and has tips and ideas you could steal for your own home.

Want your guests sinking into your living room furniture cushions to soak up each other’s delightful conversation instead of crowding in your kitchen or awkwardly standing around? Focus on your seating arrangements and add these six elements to make future entertaining in your home smooth, cozy and natural. Guests don’t want to shimmy through tight squeezes or step over stools to get to seating. They want it to feel like getting cozy is natural and easy to find.

If your couch is sagging under the weight of too many surfers this summer, you may need a refresh on the basics of guest/host protocol. Read on for our take on when to welcome guests into your home and how to just say no. Disclaimer: It’s your home, so you’re free to invite (or not invite) anyone, regardless of what we think. But, if you’re looking for a few suggested guidelines, here you go.

When we moved from Atlanta to Tallahassee, we were glad to discover that our new location was an ideal spot for friends from Georgia to come over for a little getaway. With some of the country’s top beaches just a couple of hours away from us, friends love to come and visit for a few days of catching up and catching some sun and surf. Here are a few ways I’ve found to make everyone feel welcome and comfortable. Have sleeping arrangements ready before guests arrive.

I sometimes wonder if the guest room is, like the formal dining room, going the way of the Dodo. With people living smaller by choice and necessity, an entire room dedicated to overnight guests is a luxury you don’t see as often as you once did. These days, extra rooms tend to be home offices, if they exist at all. But people will want to go visiting, won’t they? As someone who has made my home away from my native country, I’m used to having people come and stay.

Between high school and college I went to school in England and stayed often with a family in London. The parents, Tim and Caroline Gladstone, were the kindest and best hosts I’ve ever encountered. Whenever I rang their doorbell, Caroline would greet me, welcome me right in the door with my dirty backpack from the train station or airport, and ask me whether I wanted to eat first or wash up.

A party can be equally intimidating to guests (wear the right outfit, provide sparkling conversation, know somebody beyond the host) as it is for the host (play the right music, serve the right food/drinks, invite the right mix of people), but nothing says “come as you are” like an invitation to a sleepover party! Why should you host a slumber party immediately, and why should you accept an invitation to a slumber party immediately? Let’s count the ways.

It doesn’t take a ton of time or money to create this memorable photo wall for your party that can serve both as a decoration and an activity for your guests. We had a small gathering of family members for my daughter’s first birthday, and I put together this photo wall as the visual focal point of the party. I printed out 75 4×6 photos documenting the past year of her life and arranged them on a wall.

Last month, air quality regulators in Southern California approved the first-ever restrictions on the summer-lovin’ bonfires that have come to define our coastline. Luckily for Angelenos, the restrictions don’t affect the only two beaches in the county where public bonfires are still legal: Dockweiler and Cabrillo. Let the beach BBQs commence!

Summer’s outdoor entertaining calls for keeping drinks cool, but budget options aren’t all that attractive. Ashley from Shanty 2 Chic turned a basic styrofoam cooler into a stylish solution that doesn’t diminish your décor. Looking for a weekend project that will up the ante on your patio parties? Check out this after:Ashley put together this country chic cooler stand with $50 in supplies and some power tool basics.

As we approach the final days of the January Cure, the celebratory get-together is looming larger in my mind. I enjoy hosting, but there are still usually stressors and worries involved, even when I’m hosting my dearest friends. As I prepare for the big night, I’m going to keep a few things in mind to eliminate that worry and to help me make the most of it.• Your guests will be as relaxed as you are.

Looking through all the Small Cool entries this month has me pining for the small space I used to inhabit — I loved it so much, but I don’t miss the challenge of hosting overnight guests in such a small house. We had one bathroom and one bedroom, and frequent houseguests that would often stay for two or three nights — sometimes more. While we love to host family and friends and put them up when they visit, it can pose a real challenge to keep everyone happy, healthy, and sane.

There’s nothing worse than being at someone’s home and not being able to find an extra roll of toilet paper when it’s needed. Check out our list of things to do before company comes for 10 ideas that will help make your guests’ stay memorable for all the right reasons. Over the years there are little things we’ve noticed while attending parties (and hosting our own) that make guests feel more comfortable while they’re in your space.

I was raised to believe in the old-fashioned, inherent thoughtfulness of the hand-written note. In fact, “Santa” still leaves thank-you notes in my stocking every Christmas so that I have no excuse not to write them. I am 30. However, when it comes to party invitations, I have to admit I always go online. With features like guest tracking, easy one-click RSVPs, and pot-luck sign ups, it’s easy for both my guests and me to plan for the event!

So apparently we have piñata fever around these parts. We just can’t help it. They’re perfect for a party, a backyard get together, or could even be a fun way to pick summer chores (who says they can’t come pouring out amongst other things?) for little ones, but sometimes we’re not into all that sugar. Here are a few non-food ideas instead!1. Bubbles: You can find small packages of bubbles (check with wedding supplies) that won’t weigh things down too much!2.