Letting go of perfection. This one’s hard and also has a lot to do with vulnerability. I think it takes practice and I think there’s many things we can do to work on letting go of perfection. Inviting others over into our home naturally gives us many opportunities for them to see the real us, how we really live, and our family life. And if you’re like most of us, our lives are full of imperfection. For me there’s this ideal that’s always floating around, something I’m always striving for, and sometimes I reach it, but not often. There’s a moment during the year where I make the perfect meal, or I get caught up on a portion of my life, or I have the perfect morning routine, or I'm the perfect mother, or the perfect wife. But those are just moments. If I thought every moment of ever day should be filled with these perfect moments, it would be feel incredibly unattainable and discouraging. If you spend the evening with someone else, they’re going to see your … [Read more...]

Lets start by choosing hospitality over a clean home or the perfectly curated meal. Those things are the icing on the cake, but the substance of hospitality is inviting others in and caring from them while they are with you. There is an element of vulnerability that can be linked to embracing hospitality, and the good news is, the more often we practice hospitality, that vulnerability muscle will have a chance to develop. When we invite people into our home, especially if we’re just starting out, we need to keep things as simple as possible. My garage and mudroom are my catch all and where I stack things when guests come over. Straightening up with baskets and having a place to stack all the stuff is a great way to clean up for guests. Especially if you have little ones where there’s constant clutter, make it easy by straightening up the majority of the stuff 5 to 10 minutes before guests arrive. Always remember that your guest care more about connecting with you than … [Read more...]

"The heart of hospitality is about creating space for someone to feel seen and heard and loved.  It's about declaring your table a safe zone, a place of warmth and nourishments." Shauna Niequist Why do we invite others into our home?  We invite them in to serve, to love, to connect, to create relationships.  To hear and to be heard, to discuss, to share, to relate, to agree, to disagree.  We nourish each other through food and drink, through laughter and whispered "me toos,"  through celebration and grief. I can't wait to spend the next few weeks talking about hospitality.  I will share my ideas on the how to and the what, where, when, but I wanted to start the conversation by sharing the why.  Because really, it can be the simplest of plans to create the space in your life to connect with others.  We don't need to overcomplicate it, we just need to create the space to make it happen.  Lets invite others in and create space for them in our lives. … [Read more...]