This post is sponsored by Crust Gourmet Pizzas.

The Man and I love entertaining (as you may have figured out by now). Sometimes though, during busy times it’s easy to be put off by the time and effort required.

I admit I also have a tendency to get caught up in the menu planning, cooking and cleaning instead of simply focusing on what’s truly important: sharing a meal in our home with friends.

So when Crust invited me to host a pizza night I jumped at the chance to try out a new style (for me) of entertaining.

In the spirit of the no-fuss entertaining, instead of setting the table I simply placed all of the servingware and drinks on the table for guests to help themselves. It creates a much more relaxed atmosphere, don’t you think?

I did pick up a cheap bunch of dried flowers at the supermarket (couldn’t resist) but apart from that I relied on the tried-and-true effect of tealight candles to set the mood.

It was kind of strange actually being able to relax and have a drink with our guests instead of fussing around in the kitchen!

The food arrived and it looked just as appetising as the pictures – how often can you say that about takeaway food?

The salad dressing and pasta garnish were in separate little containers so everything looked fresh (and a bit fancy).

Our friends (who are quite the foodies I might add) agreed the pizzas were really tasty. The favourites were the pesto chicken and white prosciutto pizzas.

The blackforest crumble dessert pizza with salted caramel ice cream (phwoar!) was the perfect way to end the meal.

Thanks to the team at Crust Norwood for our awesome instant dinner party!

I can definitely see takeaway gourmet pizza being an excellent option for simple (yet impressive) weeknight entertaining.

What’s your entertaining style? Does all the cooking and work put you off entertaining?

Disclosure: I was compensated by Crust for writing this review. Opinions are my own.

How are we today, friends? I’m still recovering from my huge weekend at Bowerbird Bazaar – no stamina now since I turned 29 on Saturday

I wanted to tell you about an awesome project I’ve been working on and have just released. Called the Clever Hello Club, it’s a greeting card subscription service where you receive two of my Akimbo cards each month.

Some will be seasonal and others will be for life’s occasions, both big and little. I love having a stash of cards ready to go for any occasion because I hate that last-minute dash to the shops before a party, don’t you?

You can choose from either a 6 or 12 month subscription for yourself or as a gift (ahemmothersdayahem). And because I know you’re spread all over the world, I’m not charging any more for international shipping (you can’t say I don’t look after you!).

I’m currently taking orders for the first shipment which will go out in June. Join us in the Clever Hello Club!

A sneaky second post today to let you know about my new article over on Scoutie Girl.

It will actually be my last regular guest post, which is a shame because I’ve really enjoyed writing them. Ultimately, though, I realised that it wasn’t contributing to my blog goals and in order to achieve them I needed to trim some of the ‘extras’.

If you’re still interested in some of the topics I covered, do let me know and I’ll do my best to tackle them but in a way that’s more in keeping with Atypical Type A.

Click over to read the full post!

This post may be a little late for my local friends but it’s perfect for our Northern Hemisphere counterparts!

Head over to Scoutie Girl to read the full post. I hope you like it!

I don’t normally post on the weekend but I just wanted to pop in quickly to tell you something.

If you haven’t already heard, Google Reader is being phased out so if you (like me) use it to keep up with all your fave blogs, you’ll need to find an alternative. I signed up for Feedly this week and am LOVING it. Its beautiful and intuitive interface leaves Reader looking really daggy and clunky. I’ve also heard good things about Bloglovin’.

With that in mind, I thought I’d give you an update on how you can subscribe to Atypical Type A.

Subscribe with Bloglovin‘

Subscribe by RSS

Subscribe by email (or use the sign-up box in the sidebar)

Anything that I’ve forgotten that you’d like me to provide the link for?

What’s your favourite method or app for reading blogs?

I normally talk about my fave technology lifestyle tips on my Tooling Around column over on Scoutie Girl. But there is such a thing as too much. We’re now filling every spare or ‘wasted’ moment with checking our phones, updating our status and checking email.

Today, I’m challenging you (and myself) to not fill those empty moments. Simply relax and enjoy the breathing space it provides in your day.

Read the full post and let me know how you go!

Inspired by our trip, I thought I’d make this instalment of Tooling Around all about working while travelling. Although most of the tips apply to any kind of travel, whether you have a business or not.

Read the whole article here.

I’m not one for New Year’s resolutions, however January is a great time to consider your plans and goals for the year, don’t you think?

With that in mind, my first Scoutie Girl post for the year is all about defining your goals (business or otherwise) and some tricks to help you find the time to achieve them.

You can read the post here.

My goals for 2013 you ask? This is by no means a comprehensive list, but here are a couple of things:

• Edit our overseas photos and create an album (February)
• Launch the Atypical Type A redesign and shop (March)
• Finally renovate the bathroom (Easter break)
• Do something special to celebrate The Man’s and my ten years (!) together (August)
• Do up the porch and front garden (September)

Plus many, many plans I have for the business!

How about you? What’s on your agenda for 2013?

Operation Packing is in full swing over here. But as we get closer to the departure date, it’s not just our suitcases that we need to get ready. As I mentioned the other day, we’re having a housesitter so we don’t need to worry about things like the mail and perishable foods before we leave, but of course we will need to change the linens and make sure the house is in a tidy state.

The required jobs for you will depend on how long you are going away for, whether you have pets and whether you’re having a housesitter, so just cross out any that don’t apply to you. Why not laminate it and re-use it before every holiday?

Download the checklist here.

P.S. Sorry if you were expecting lots of Christmas posts this month, with us going away there’s no decorating here this year. Guest posts will begin on Monday 17th December, starting with some last-minute festive ideas, followed by everything you need for some new year decorating.