Okay with adequacy
By Never teh BrideI am currently hosting houseguests in the form of my MIL and one of The Beard’s cousins. I’m sad to say that other than cleaning the house and giving up my bed, I did nothing to make them feel welcome.
I did not pull a Martha Stewart and stock a chair with water bottles, roses, and a basket o’ towels. Nor did I provide a glass of water topped by a second glass, to make things look classy AND keep the cats from dipping their paws into the agua. What else did I not to that Martha Stewart Living (which I only get because they canceled Blueprint) tells me I ought to do?
For one thing, I have not provided my in-laws with straw slippers that I embellished myself or lush bars of Savon de Marseille, like so:
I certainly did not make up a little binder with information about my town, my town’s TV stations, and a menu of the dishes I know how to cook so they can select a different breakfast each morning!
Nope, nope, nope. I mean, I’m not an entirely horrible host! I laid out some towels, made sure no one was allergic to cinnamon before putting it in the coffee, and had plenty of pillows at the ready. And, like I said, I gave up my bed! I’m just no Martha Stewart because she gets paid day in and day out to be a perfect host, while I most certainly don’t!
June 20th, 2008 at 10:32 am
NtB- Never fear. During my onslaught(s) of houseguests earlier this year, I counted myself lucky that we had sufficient supplied of toilet paper and clean towels. Heck, you gave up your bed, which is something I would probably never do.
A breakfast menu? Are they trying to get us to run boutique B&B’s. Sometimes, Ms. Stewart goes too far.
June 20th, 2008 at 3:21 pm
(perks up)
You put cinnamon in the coffee? I thought I was the only one who did that! I’m booking my ticket now! Hell, point me toward a clean towel and make sure there will be at least some sort of access to food, and I consider myself a pampered guest. Well, I do enjoy actually talking to my hosts at some point, but really, I’m pretty easy-going about this stuff. In fact, I might feel slightly intimidated by a breakfast menu and a slipper full of fancy soaps.
Just don’t house Mr. Twistie with ferrets because he’s wildly allergic. We found that out when staying once with my brother the alpaca rancher who allowed his two ferrets to be uncaged in our bedroom…whereupon two ferrets spent the night unzipping our luggage and answering calls of nature therein. Not pretty.
Guests at the fabulous Casa Twistie sleep on the sofa and are warned in advance that we have no way to keep the cat out of the room. But on the upside, they do get access to my garlic bread and homemade pies.
June 21st, 2008 at 6:49 am
Twistie, I grew up with cinnamon coffee! My parents bought the huge bulk containers of the stuff and added it in to disguise the horrible flavor of our coffee. (We had very hard water and these were the days before bottled water seemed normal.) It wasn’t until much later in life that I learned “cafe Vienna” was a fancy coffee option, not a desperate dodge to get a drinkable cuppa.
June 23rd, 2008 at 7:50 am
Right, I’m now very intrigued. How does one make this cinnamon coffee? My husband claims that the oil crisis could be solved if people simply used the coffee I make.
June 23rd, 2008 at 8:23 am
It’s easy, Emily. Just sprinkle a bit of ground cinnamon into the coffee grounds before brewing. It works with any sweet spice, really, but I just love the combination of coffee and cinnamon.
June 23rd, 2008 at 9:22 am
Merci Twistie!
June 25th, 2008 at 11:15 am
Let me echo what Twistie said, Emily. I put a sprinkle of cinnamon in my coffee every day and it gives it a certain something. We put a little less in good coffee and a little more in crap coffee.
June 27th, 2008 at 4:57 pm
Note to self: Must try cinnamon coffee.
Also, though, one easy thing to do for guests (which is very quick, but does make them feel quite special I’ve found) is to make up a small tray, like a tea tray or even a big salad bowl will work and put small things like shampoo and lotion or a toothbrush (things that someone might forget to pack) and a small pack of kleenex and a nice candle. Roll up a handtowel, plop a bottle of water in there and you have an easy welcome basket that is also very handy if your guests are not the best packers.
I love having guests come, as I live the farthest away in my family, so I do like to pamper when I can.
June 30th, 2008 at 9:15 pm
That’s a brilliant idea, Eilish. I’m thinking I can make up just such a little basket, and keep it ready to go somewhere stowed away so I can just pull it out when guests arrive. Maybe I’d dust it off a bit first…
July 6th, 2008 at 8:39 pm
A small bowl of chocolates will make up for the lack of everything else.
July 7th, 2008 at 9:34 am
So true, class-factotum. Extra points for chocolates that are nicer than one might find in the local candy shop…and for extra dark chocolates.
July 8th, 2008 at 6:46 pm
One quick note. Martha doesn’t do jack for her guests. She has a herd of staff and flunkies to do her bidding. Martha gets paid big bucks to make the rest of us feel inadequate. I’m with NtB. Clean sheets, plenty of clean towels, (OK, I keep a drawer full of hotel soap, shampoo, lotion, etc I just don’t put them in a bowl with a bow) and check for allergies. If they want fold down service, the Hilton is just down the road…