Entertaining with less stress

Ever hear of The Reluctant Entertainer? I think I first did on http://simplemom.net/ and then a friend of mine shared the actual Reluctant Entertainer book by Sandy Coughlin with me. After that I checked out the website http://reluctantentertainer.com/ and now I'm a follower. Her message, in a nutshell, is that entertaining should be fun, casual, and fulfilling. And it doesn't have to be perfect. Your house doesn't have to be spotless, the food doesn't have to be gourmet, and you don't have to lay awake the night before stressing over the details.

To be honest, at first glance I felt like her message was pretty much common sense. And in some ways it should be...but I guess we aren't always listening to that little voice inside our heads that tells us to relax and let go.

Tonight I entertained for the first time using her tips and keeping to her principles. I planned a simple meal of things that I've made before and allowed myself to enjoy the days leading up to the get-together. I was even napping just three hours before the guests arrived! Instead of barking orders and clenching my jaw I tried to enjoy the process and remember that the people that were coming over were our friends...they already like us (imagine).

...and guess what? Everyone had fun, even me, and it didn't suck every last bit of energy out of me...it was actually strangly revitalizing. Who knew entertaining could be so fun?!