You don't have to leave home to have an adventure. Just invite your neighbor to dinner.
Some of the best stories are difficult to live through at the time. Here are some lessons I’ve learned from my guests.
Dear Hillary, I want to tell you about my favorite coffee mug. I bought it about 10 years ago from the Anthropologie store in Southlake, Texas. It has the loveliest variations of blue, painted onto its flower shaped bowl. The handle is so thin it makes people nervous, but it is just the right size and width to slip my […]
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Pool Party Season We’ve been doing quite a bit of backyard hosting this summer. I have something called “Pool Guilt”. I have the pool and I know others don’t and so I compulsively invite people over to swim. Sometimes as one group leaves, another one arrives. Along with the work, it’s lots of fun. It makes for a very social […]
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She said, “My 40th birthday is in three weeks and I want you to throw me a party.” This is because we are good friends and good friends can make very clear demands. I hope you have a good friend or two yourself. The only thing I didn’t like about the idea is that I hadn’t thought of it. A […]
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Whether you love it or hate it, another family holiday is coming. Many of my friends discuss long and awkward dinners with family members they hardly know. They dread holidays and the obligation to connect with these disconnected relatives. They feel miserable and a bit empty when it ends. In any situation you can’t just get out of, seek to […]
Read moreHosting doesn’t always happen at home. I recently hosted a group of squirrely girls in a cabin for one week. It was one of those experiences where you try to remember what you were thinking when you decided to take part, several times during the actual trip. But then after the trip, you decide it was a good experience. Here’s […]
Read more“Guests are like fish; after three days they begin to smell.” Great Grandma That poor woman missed out! Guests come for lots of different reasons but today, I’m focusing on people who just need someplace safe to be. Do you plan to host someone for three weeks or more? Here’s how to set yourself up for success. Have a […]
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Even after years of living in Texas, visiting has taught me some new things. I thought I’d share them. We can all learn together. If your parents have a flock of chickens, they’ll likely have a few roosters. If they have a few roosters and you have a few children, they’re bound to meet. This won’t be a happy time, […]
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Here’s a purely hypothetical situation. Let’s say you’re a guest and you’ve arrived after a long journey. You’re tired. You and your mate have had no rest or privacy nor much comfort at all for days on end. You’re shown to your guest room and you wearily begin to prepare for bed. Innocently enough, you happen to notice the silhouette […]
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My husband and I started giving up our room to our parents this year. The choice has been a practical one for us as well as a tangible way to express our love for them. It unexpectedly taught us a great deal about what our other guests experience when they stay with us. If your guests stay in a common […]
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It sometimes seems odd that the master suite of many homes is about the size of a studio apartment, yet only one or two people stay in it while the guests are given a tiny room or a collection of several couches and cushions. This can seem like the most convenient arrangement for a hardworking host, but then the host […]
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