When the witching hour replaces happy hour: After emerging from the newborn haze, I felt like I had to re-learn or refine some of my social (and general life) skills. Mainly, the art of entertaining while also taking care of a tiny human. Who knew it would be so exhausting?

I’ve always been a little scatterbrained (can we call it creative?) and now that my attention is consumed by a crazy little boy, I’m at a whole different level of distracted most of the time. But, I love having people over when I can get it together! And I’ve been lucky enough to learn from my mom, the ultimate hostess, over the years! She’s always throwing together events, hosting large groups of people and cooking homemade-everything in the midst of it all.

Of course, doing it all isn’t always realistic! But I’ve certainly picked up on a few valuable tips from my mom. Number one? Make a plan and have fun with it. Make sure that you choose recipes you trust and that can be prepped ahead of time to reduce stress. Cultivating community is important and it doesn’t have to be high-maintenance or all consuming to have friends or family over. Sometimes, pizza is totally the answer.

Other days, you can make an impressive line-up, like the following menu, and still have time to relax beforehand with a glass of wine. It all comes down to prepping items and utilizing shortcuts — like rotisserie chicken, store-bought salsa and cake mix. Amen.

Apps:Chips, salsa and pomegranate guacamole (recipe below!)

Dinner: Chicken avocado enchiladas

Dessert: Snickerdoodle bundt cake