6 Easy Ways to Get Ready for Guests When You're Exhausted

Deconstruct the Appetizers

Spooning filling into hollowed-out loaves of bread or tiny taco shells, or neatly arranging chopped tomatoes over toasted bread, looks lovely, but it also sucks up valuable I-could-be-sitting-on-the-couch-with-my-feet-up time. Instead, create DIY stations: Put out a bowl of spinach dip with slices of baguette, taco dip with scoop-shaped tortilla chips, or bruschetta with pita chips, and let your guests do the assembling.