Hospitality 3.0

M. has moved back into an apartment and out of our guest room, the best residence of choice for being between leases. Today I decided to put it back together and do a bit of cleaning. (Ewww... does anyone else have children who don't believe in doorknobs and instead grime up door edges and door frames?) I try (emphasis on try, it doesn't always happen) to have it made up and ready in case of emergency guests.

As I was cleaning, I realized that having your life in upheaval, means that practicing hospitality definitely takes a backseat. There haven't been a lot of guests around here for a while, dinner or overnight. That makes me a bit sad because I do love inviting people for dinner and having house guests. One of the very best things about living in the Big Ugly House is that we have a dedicated guest room. It has allowed us to welcome a wide variety of guests for both short and longer term stays. 

I realize that this may be a room of the house I haven't really shared before, so since it is now clean and orderly, I thought I'd take advantage of it and take some pictures.

This hallway is on the other side of the butler's pantry from the kitchen. The stairs down go to the basement, then next door is the guest bathroom, and straight ahead is the guestroom.


From the doorway.


The other side of the room.


It has a lovely view of our neighbor's beautiful garden. It's a nice perk because looking out the other side of the house, into our own yard, is not quite so lovely a view. We're just not terrific gardeners.


And I love these so much I wanted to share them, too. They are three little framed paintings that I bought in Vietnam. The top is the One Pillar Pagoda in Hanoi and the other two are street scenes. They make me happy.


The title of this post has an added 3.0 at the end because I discovered that I've already written two posts titled, "Hospitality". Here are some links to past posts about hospitality. Some were from our time hosting a young mother and her two children, which lasted for 18 months. Maybe some time in the future I will write about that, but I'm still not at a point where I can. I only mention it for newer readers who might not be aware of who I was talking about in some.

Who You Are When Nobody's Looking
Radical Hospitality
Hospitality
Hospitality  (See?)

So all this to say, you friends who live far away... come and visit! I have room for you! Chicago is fun to visit. Let me know when you'll be here.

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