I am featuring this pretty water carafe and tumbler because its rightful place is on a bedside table, perhaps in your guest room. Yes, it is upon us! The holiday season lurks and the delicate dance between guest and host will soon commence. Lucille Ball sums up the complexity when she says of her cousin Ernie, "He stayed overnight with us for a couple of weeks once." 

This weekend, I'm staying in my favorite guest room at the home of a girlfriend who has her master's degree in hospitality from that famous ivy league school, Emily Post University. Her spare bedroom has a roomy four-poster bed with soft linens and a variety of pillows -- some feather, some anti-allergic. There's a bookcase loaded with chick lit. The attached bathroom, which I think is the penultimate feature of a stellar guest room, contains an array of soapy delights I'd never buy for myself. She stocks her pantry with my favorite tea (P.G. Tibbs) and sugar cubes that are a little smaller than the ones we have in Wisconsin but they still work.  

To be deserving of such a warm welcome, I try to do my part. I corral my hair away from the drain of the shower and sink. I don't mess with the thermostat despite the hot flashes. I strip the bed before I leave. 

In the whole guest-host equation, what do you offer? Do you have pet peeves? Horror stories? I'd love to hear them in the comments. (You can comment anonymously, FYI.)

And of course, all the links below have to do with this tricky scene: 

• Are you the type to fling open your front door generously to the whole world? I love these options when there aren't enough beds to go around. The list should have mentioned hammocks.

• Been shopping for a murphy bed forever. This might be it! So ingenious! (:46 in the video)

• This etiquette column is so diverting. I love the way the columnist is rather quick to judge. Advice columns deploying too much tact are boring.

• Here's a nice guest room.

• Another one here.

• In Iran, hospitality can be tricky to navigate because of a tradition called 'taarof'. It continues to flummox my American mother. Here's an interesting post that explains it.

• A database of all pop culture moments in media, music, literature, television, advertising, and even video gaming that fall under the category "The Thing That Would Not Leave."

• Perfect gift for the hostess!

Photo of pink carafe and tumbler by Renn Kuhnen. Information to purchase it here.