The following is an article from Ina Garten's book, Barefoot Contessa at Home. It was reprinted in House Beautiful a few years ago and PLEASE, forgive me for not knowing which one. I keep this article in my cleaning/cooking control journal on my kitchen counter and am afraid to lose it.(what if there's a fire? :) I think you'll love her thoughts on nesting and entertaining as much as I. She puts into words something we all feel.
So, here it is:
"Something smells really good!" my husband, Jeffrey exclaims every Friday when he walks in the door. Most weeks, Jeffrey has been around the world and back and when he walks in that door, I want him to feel that he's really home. What he doesn't realize is that what feels very casual is, in fact, quite deliberate: the music is playing, all the lights are on, there are flowers everywhere, and chicken and onions are roasting in the oven.
I didn't always know how to do all that. It took time and lots of experiementation. Over the 38 years we've been married, I've tried everything-the good, the bad, and the ugly. But, I've evolved a style that seems to work for me. I like knowing that there are twenty new magazines on the coffee table, delicous French teas in the pantry, and expensive bubble baths next to the tub. A good home should gather you up in its arms like a warm cashmere blanket, soothe your hurt feelings, and prepare you to go back out into that big bad world tomorrow, all ready to fight the dragons.
I'm basically a nester. All day long, I feel as though I'm batting back the baseballs that are being hurled at me: decisions to make, places to go, cranky people to deal with...and when I come home, I want my house to feel serene and beautiful, like the way you feel when you get into a bed piled high with down pillows; you're safe.
Sounds like Eden, right? minus the long line of animals waiting to be named.
Later, in the same article, she says:
What really makes a house or apartment feel like home? For me, it's good music, great smells from the kitchen, pretty flowers, and a quiet, relaxed atmosphere. Sure, it has to make Jeffrey and me comfortable, but equally important, it has to make my friends want to drop by. It's often said that first impressions count when you're meeting someone new, and I think it's the same for a house. How people feel when they walk in the door really sets the mood. I want to appeal to all their senses. When they walk through the house, I want them to smell something delicious, even if it's as simple as freshly brewing coffee. They see things that are beautiful: orange tulips, antique rugs, and an antique coatrack on which to hang their coats. They hear good music and, most important of all, they feel my warm embrace, which I hope makes them feel right at home."
This is a type of hospitality that I aspire to even on ordinary days, and one which my mother, Bethel, has developed over the years. (Even her name speaks of a spiritual nesting place: House of God!)
My dad will often call from his cell phone as he leaves the hospital after an exhausting day of nine hours on his feet, head bowed over his patient, and hands making tiny meticulous movements. With that call, my mom goes into action. She puts Norah Jones on the ipod speaker, sets the table with a candle and with dinner, already in progress, (she's been roasting a lot of root vegetables lately: Yum.), she welcomes dad home.
There is joy in his arrival...always joy. She recently told me that she consciously decided early on in their marriage to always have joy when he came home: a kiss, a smile, and when we were kids, she taught us to run to the door and see who could jump in dad's arms first. Sometimes mom would race us and get there first.
To me, these are images of peace, love, grace and of course, joy. I believe that every decision in our lives, is a decision toward or away from God...and that nesting itself can make our homes into places of "Your Kingdom Come," and reflections of the Eden God intended.
