Posts Tagged ‘summertime’

Fun and Functional Outdoor Summer Party Tips

April 11th, 2019 | By Moxie Girl Team

Moxie Girl loves a summertime pool party and we have some inexpensive and creative ways to make yours a hit! Many of the items needed to implement these fun and functional tips may even be purchased at your nearest dollar store.

No Pests Allowed!

A week or so before your party is to take place, make time to do a thorough walk of your grounds and nip any pest problems in the bud. Your local hardware store can recommend products to take care of any issues you may discover and keep your party bug free!

Your guests will appreciate your thoughtfulness in having mosquito repellent available during your outdoor party – mosquitoes can be relentless during monsoon season. Moxie Girl recommends a chemical-free repellent such as Z-Shield which contains natural citronella, clove, peppermint and cedar oils.

Photo by Norwood Themes on Unsplash

Discourage flies, in particular around food service areas by cutting lemons in half and placing cloves in the flesh of each lemon half. Set the lemon halves in small dishes or candle cups, attractively placed between dishes on serving and dining tables.

BYOT*

*Towel…Bring your own towel! Unless you have a resort level stock of beach towels and would like a laundry duty for days after your party. It’s best to ask your guests to BYOT to your pool party. You may spark your guests and get them excited about bringing their own towels by making a game out of it. Consider providing a small prize for the guest who brings the funniest, cutest, or most colorful beach towel!

Speaking of towels, make sure there are plenty of places for your guests to hang their towels to dry. Retractable clotheslines are a great idea and can be useful on a regular basis for air drying your hand washables.

Photo by Lauren Fleischmann on Unsplash

Let’s Drink to That!

Liquid refreshments are a must at any party. Moxie Girl knows how to make cleanup easier, as well as reducing waste in the drink department.

Use drink dispensers with spigots for water. Guests will be able to easily serve themselves and you will not be creating a mountain of plastic bottles to be recycled – or worse, abandoned half empty around your yard. Since it is so important to stay hydrated, attract your guests to the water dispensers by offering an infused selection (or two!) as well as plain. Try these great combinations for infusions: cucumber and green grape, strawberry and fresh mint, and lemon and raspberry. Simply wash, cut and freeze the ingredients in advance and add to the fresh filtered water when filling your drink dispensers.

Moxie Girl thinks it’s a great idea to set up a “drink area” and keep dispensers, cups, ice, and napkins conveniently within reach. Consider placing a colorful plastic table cover from the dollar store underneath your drink dispensers to catch any drips or spills. Keep a sanitized cooler filled with ice for drinks and provide an ice scoop or tongs for your guests to use when making a drink.

Photo by Shubhesh Aggarwal on Unsplash

If using disposable party cups, have several Sharpie markers for party-goers to write their names on their cups, making it much easier for guests to keep track of their drinks and save on cups.

Small inflatable or durable plastic kiddie pools filled with ice make fantastic and festive open-air coolers for canned or bottled beverages. A shady spot is best for anything you are trying to keep cool, of course!

Go play!

Inflatable rafts and beach balls are pool play favorites. Quality, long-lasting inflatable pool toys can be pricey – you may want to consider some inexpensive selections just for your party. You may also invite your guests to bring their favorite pool toys to the party. Having a manual pump on hand will allow inflatable items to be quickly applied for play!

Pool “noodles” also make for a great floating fun, they don’t require air and can be found at the dollar store. Remember, none of these toys are safety devices, children should be supervised AT ALL TIMES!

Which Way to the Bathroom?

If you have a choice, select a bathroom with the shortest path through the house for your guests to use during your pool party. As always, make sure this bathroom is sparkling clean and stocked with plenty of toilet paper, hand soap, and hand towels!

Now, examine the path from the pool to the bathroom and decide if water could damage the flooring or create a slippery and unsafe situation for your guests. A protective runner or high absorbency mats are solid pre-emptive measures against mishaps!

If your backyard gala is particularly large, investigate renting a Port-a-Potty for the day. There are many reputable companies that will deliver these units clean, fresh and ready to use. Moxie girl has seen hosts decorate their rented portables with all the comforts of an indoor restroom – lighting, mirrors, fresh flowers, fancy soaps, and lotions. And once the party is over, the disposal company will haul them away for you!

Speaking of Hauling Away…

Discourage guests from abandoning their dirty dishes and other refuse around your yard and pool by making sure to have adequate, lined trash bins and clearly marked recycle bins that are easy to spot. Keep pests and odors to a minimum by using bins with lids and placing all bins away from serving and eating areas. Full liners should be replaced before they begin to overflow and hauled to an area away from the party, for permanent disposal later.

Party Patrol, Reporting for Duty!

Even hosting a party as a couple, it is easy to overlook things like the timely refilling of drink dispensers, replenishing food, emptying trash bins and freshening the restrooms. If you’ve got a few friends willing to help, put together your own “party patrol” with each member committing to periodic checks of items and areas needing attention during the event!

Photo by Paweł Czerwiński on Unsplash

We hope you found these tips useful and fun – maybe they even inspired you to begin planning your own outdoor summer party!

Moxie Girl is a local, female-owned cleaning company specializing in the care of vacation rental homes. Our team currently services nearly 120 vacation rentals in the Phoenix metro area, providing full between-guest turns, including SAME DAY cleanings for our valued clients! Vacation rental home owners, please click for a FREE CONSULTATION to find out how much easier your life can be!

Moxie Girl is always open to expanding our very supportive team, too! The nature of our business lets our Moxie Girls (and Moxie Boys!) enjoy flexible schedules that fit with their college schedules, parenting duties and other obligations, while getting and keeping fit as a Vacation Rental Assistant. There’s plenty of room for growth here, and Moxie Girl prefers to promote from within our excellent team. Interested in joining us? Click to APPLY!

 

 

Happy National Tequila Day

July 24th, 2018 | By Moxie Girl Team

 

Daydreaming about floating in the sparkling blue pool of your summer vacation rental in Phoenix, sipping an ice cold margarita and watching the sunset? You should make that happen! And if you need a reason to celebrate, it’s National Tequila Day today! Moxie Girl is here share some interesting facts about this potent spirit – and a recipe for our very own MoxieRita!

 

MoxieRita, anyone? 

Whether you are on Team Frozen or Team On-the-Rocks, if you enjoy a margarita you are not alone especially here in Arizona. Try this version – the MoxieRita  – using prickly pear syrup for a unique taste of our beautiful desert AND our favorite color!

Ingredients:

2 ounces tequila

4 ounce limeade

1 ounce prickly pear syrup

Course salt (optional) – pink if you can find it! 

Pour salt onto a small plate and moisten the rim of the margarita glass – dip the rim in the salt.

Fill a cocktail shaker with ice and pour in all liquid ingredients. Cover, shake and strain over ice into your sugar-rimmed margarita glass.

Need some reading material while you sip? How about a few fun facts about tequila?

It’s Not Just a Name

Similar to champagne vs. sparkling wine, tequila has rules for being true tequila. To be labeled as tequila, the spirit must be made in Mexico and contain at least 51% of its sugars from the blue agave plant – the Weber Blue Agave variation, to be exact. That means up to 49% of its sugars may a mixture of other agave sugars. Tequilas containing a higher percentage of the premium blue agave are considered to be superior quality, so read those labels!

We’re Surrounded by Agave – Why is Tequila so Pricey?

Many variations of the agave plant are native to the hot, dry regions of Mexico and the Southwestern United States, including Arizona.  Look around – you’ll probably spot at least one. But of course, it’s the treasured blue agave that makes tequila, tequila. Most blue agave plants take at least six years to mature, and it may be two to four years after that for the plant to be harvest-ready. One agave plant equals roughly only 3 – 4 liters of 100% tequila. And once the agave has been harvested, that’s all, folks!

The Heart of the Matter

 

It’s the center, or heart, of the agave plant which is used to make tequila.  The leaves of the giant plant are cut away and the heart is harvested and baked.  The agave juices are then extracted, fermented and distilled. The heart of a blue agave may weigh up to 200 pounds and is referred to as the “pina” because it looks like a giant pineapple when harvested. The origin of this process may be traced back to the ancient Aztecs, who favored a drink called “pulque” which also used the fermented sap of the agave.  Even what we know today as “modern” tequila dates back to the 1700s.

That Worm, Tho!

If your bottle of “tequila” came with a worm, stop right there. You’ve got yourself a bottle of mescal, not tequila. Remember the rules about blue agave percentages? While true tequila must contain at least 51% sugars from blue agave, mescal uses the same process and creates a similar spirit, but has no such requirements. The sugars in mescal may be produced using any agave plant and some mescal producers add a whole insect larva, aka “the worm”, during bottling…for flavor!

 

Ahhhh…

“Arriba, abajo al centro y para dentro – salud!”  (Up, down, to center and into – cheers!) We hope you enjoy National Tequila Day!  As always, please drink responsibly and hydrate, hydrate, HYDRATE! (Did we mention, HYDRATE?!?!) Our Arizona sun is brutal and if you’re feeling thirsty, you’re already on your way to dehydration – and nobody wants that.

Moxie Girl has valuable information to help make your summer vacation rental  a success for both vacation rental home owners and guests – in addition to smart tips for party prep, serving and clean-up for more carefree summer soirees.  Check our past blogs and don’t miss the new ones – follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest to stay up to date on everything Moxie!