I love to host. Parties, dinners, editing marathons with my photographer girlfriends - you name it, I want to host it at my home. 

Our home isn't anything extraordinary, but I hope it's cozy. I hope all who visit leave feeling a little more loved and rested. This is why I insisted on hosting my own birthday party a couple months ago. Four of my very best girlfriends and I enjoyed too many snacks, sweets and spirits - but it was a great time. My girls give me such a hard time that I always seem to have food for entertaining on hand. I usually laugh it off, but got to thinking, they might be right.

So here I am, breaking down how I do a charcuterie, or as my clearly fancy self calls it; "Snack Dinner".

The cake, candied nuts and macarons are the only things I didn't already have on hand, but I'll list out the other items as well.
From Costco:
Hard Salami
Colby Jack Slices
Green Grapes
Seasoned Almonds
Cauliflower "Hummus"
Cocktail Cucumbers
Chocolate Covered Raisins

From my normal grocery store I had:
Raspberries
Baby Carrots
Pepperoni
Pretzel Thins and other snack crackers

I think presentation always makes things look "nicer" than they really are. For this party, I skipped the bulky serving dishes, and laid out parchment paper. The tiny white bowls were impulse purchases a few years ago at Pier 1, the bigger white bowls were in my Corningware set we got before we were married, and the clear Pyrex bowls were from Nick's bachelor days. I stacked and piled all the various items all over in little groups.

It isn't perfect, or fancy but hosting CAN be easy. Raid your pantry, and see what you can throw on the kitchen island!