As many of you know, I recently moved into my dream home, a 100 year old Denver Bungalow. I have been having a ball decorating, organizing, and rekindling a real passion I have-entertaining.
One problem. I love entertaining and I hate housecleaning. And, when you are a recovering perfectionist and forget that cleaning, decorating, and making vegetarian lasagna all takes more than an hour, the result is a lot of self-induced stress. My first dinner party was nothing short of-well rather long as the food wasn’t ready, the wine wasn’t cold, and we never did quite get the fire going…
Something had to give, either the entertaining or the housecleaning because I found it impossible to get both in, at least right now. So I let go of having to dust, scrub, and shine every nook and cranny of my 100 year old house and relaxed the white glove standards I wanted, but didn’t have time or energy to pursue.
And guess what? Everyone had a good time anyway, especially me. The meal was on time, the wine was chilled and the hostess was present and rested, instead of exhausted. Just another opportunity to let go of what doesn’t serve….
January 2, 2009 at 9:15 pm |
Diane, Just visited your website and it is wonderful. This is actually the first time I have ever replied to anything like this. I loved your confessions of a recovering perfectionist. As you know me well, you know that I too have had this distasteful trait…. but now I work diligently to remeber that people come over to see me not my home!! I love your inspiring words! Keep up the great work. Lisa Diederich
February 6, 2009 at 1:09 am |
Thanks for writing Lisa! It takes a perfectionist to know one!