When we were kids, we took a two-week family vacation each year, usually in August. The first week, we went to my Uncle George and Aunt Betty’s home in midland South Carolina. The second week we would spend at Myrtle Beach. I was young enough then and old enough now that I don’t remember everything. But last year at our family reunion, my sister drove us by my uncle’s old house and I immediately recognized it. I hadn’t seen that house in well over 40 years, but I knew it by heart.
More than simply the house, I remember the feeling of those vacations. My Aunt Betty was always a wonderful hostess. My uncle would often have to work, but the evenings were always fun with the adults relaxing together (including my uncle) and the kids largely having little-kid adventures. During the day, my aunt often had fun things for us all to do. We would go to their lake house and hang out in their boat or go shopping at a large shopping mall (always a treat for a little girl from the rural wilds of WNY). Dinners were always fabulous home-cooked meals served with that southern hospitality only a girl raised in the south could provide.
The impact of those vacations has gone wide and deep. As adults, my sisters and I have each taken pieces of those trips to incorporate into our own lives. My sister who lives on a lake is constantly hosting people all summer long and has perfected my Aunt Betty’s easygoing hosting style. My other sister and her family love a beach vacation and manage to take one every few years. Me? I fell in love with decorating and creating warm, safe and comfortable spaces from both my mom and Aunt Betty. That idea of casual, chic and comfortable? Born somewhere between our house and Aunt Betty and Uncle George’s lake house.
Starting this weekend, my bestie and her husband are coming for five days. Honestly? I can’t wait. First, we are both excited for the company – they are some of our best friends and we always have a good time together. But second? I’m gonna get to practice my “Aunt Betty style”. I’ve got some good, easy-to-prepare meals planned, wine in the wine fridge and the time off of work to simply relax and enjoy. By Saturday afternoon, I will also have a clean house, fresh sheets on the guest bed and a nicely mowed lawn, which will reduce the homemaking burdens while I’m here. There is wood for the campfire, a planned hiking trip to Watkins Glen and enough fun and interesting things to do that I can make this a trip that we all remember (and want to repeat).
It’s time, methinks, to practice what was. And if I’m lucky, it will be a “what is” more often. Beyond just an annual or biennial vacation and more of that lifestyle I keep talking about.
Here’s the deal: lately, I’ve been working a lot of hours and a little overwhelmed. Living in four professional headspaces has meant that when the day is done, transitioning to home where there are meals to cook, groceries to buy, a house to clean and a yard to mow has meant that I haven’t had a chance to either let my mind rest or my soul to find its happy spot. Instead, life has felt incredibly rushed. And all of this doesn’t even count having the landscaper working on our front ditches, the garden to get in and the deck that needs built. At this point, we are both underwater. But as our family’s chief happiness officer, I’m a bit on the hook to change things.
This upcoming week is a great opportunity to do just that. The landscapers are finished and tomatoes, the last of the garden plants to go in, get planted today. I’m also about to head out to mow and trim, meaning that we won’t need to do that all next week. Dinner is at our local craft beer brewhouse and tomorrow’s docket is all about cleaning the house and making the wild mushroom and duck gumbo for Sunday’s dinner. If the plan comes together, not only will everything be all set for Sunday afternoon when guests arrive, but I’ll have had two fully immersed days focusing on home. That alone will be enough to reset the field.
I’m looking forward to this week ahead in a way that brings together so much of what I truly love in this world. First, there are the friends and how fabulous it is that they would spend some of their vacation time with us. And then, there is the opportunity to be off work and in that space where I’m only about our lives here at home. (If friends weren’t here, I can honestly say that I wouldn’t have the personal fortitude to decline a meeting because I couldn’t justify the selfishness of taking time for just myself.) And finally, there is the channeling of my Aunt Betty and that aspirational desire I have to just make house and home everything I have always wanted it to be.
For one week, I get to live the best, sunniest, shiniest part of my life. Even mowing the grass feels like a part of that sunny-shiny side. And I’m grateful for it. I’m grateful for the women of the older generation who really did teach me how it’s done – particularly my mom and Aunt Betty. I’m grateful for the support of my husband who helped me to make this choice to start my microbusiness and was willing to go above and beyond (for years now) to make that happen for us. I’m grateful for my sisters and the lessons we learned together and that we all repeatedly demonstrate to the other. I’m grateful for a beautiful week ahead as summer has finally arrived. I’m grateful for all of the work that we have put into this house and yard so it is comfortable to have guests. And most of all, I’m grateful for two amazing friends who are traveling nearly 12 hours to be here.
Bring it on! It’s time for some fun – Aunt Betty style.
The Yuppie Homesteader 