Weekend Awareness: Entertaining and Time with Friends

This week I hosted a small group of friends for an UsborneChildren’s Books party.  My friend Jenny is a new consultant, and I wanted to help her get up and running.  (I also happen to be a big fan of the book line, and it was a great excuse for me to add to our library!)

I set the date with Jenny, and invited some friends…and then, frankly, I started to dread it a little bit.

When would I have time to clean the house?

When would I have time to prepare the munchies?

What if no one could come?

I did my best to set aside those reservations, and I started to plan.

I decided to work around a theme…”Dive into a Good Book”.  My mind began to spin (in a good way) with visions of beach-y décor and a flight of sweet and savory dips.   

[Get it?  Dive into a book…dive into dips?  Perhaps it was a bit of a stretch, but it made me chuckle.]

While it was a bit of a feat to do some cleaning and straightening downstairs (especially since our girlies came down with a virus early in the week), and I had a couple of late nights getting everything prepped and ready…

…I had so much fun!

There’s definitely something really energizing about seeing things come together…the yummy dips, the fish-shaped bowls, and the beach towel and sand bucket spread on my kitchen island…

…and of course, time spent with friends – especially propped around my countertops, the heart of my home – makes my heart sing.

This week, I’m reminding myself – challenging myself to remain AWARE – of how much I enjoy some casual entertaining. 

Yes, it’s work.  But, it doesn’t have to be perfect.  (I didn’t catch a single person on Thursday night checking the bottoms of my chairs for lint!) 

And it’s so much fun to break from the norm…challenge some creative juices…and appreciate time with friends.