Wait - Do I Hate Hosting Now?

Don’t share this with any home decor magazines because I’d be out of a small but essential revenue stream for my small business and family, but these days I cringe at the idea of hosting.

It’s not our space— I designed it with hosting in mind.
It’s not the people— I (generally) love people.
It’s not the food— Adam always concocts something tasty.

Italy, Spring 2023

I stepped out of my comfort zone when I agreed to host a group trip to Italy.

Venice, Italy. Photo by Alyson Morgan (@alysonsimplygrows). Luggage by SteamLine.

I’d never met any of the attendees in person.
I don’t speak Italian.
I’ve spent the majority of my weekdays for the past fifteen years mostly alone.
I’m wretched at small talk.
I get anxious over logistics.
And I don’t like to go anywhere without my kids and pups, let alone travel thousands of miles away from them.

Como, Italy. Photo by Alyson Morgan (@alysonsimplygrows). Collapsible travel bottle by Stojo.

But, on the flip side, now that we’ve settled into our new cottage and are discovering new routines in our household and business, this feels like such a season of change. 

Restructuring.
Unlearning.
Relearning.
Evolution. 

Lake Como

And, thankfully, the setup of this trip was such that I didn’t have to sweat the logistics, or make small talk. Instead, there were deep and joyful connections, paired with the vibrant backdrop of Italy and Trova Tourism’s mindfully curated adventures. 

Bellagio, Italy

Despite initially planning on visiting France (since many folks who read this blog are interested in our @tinyfrenchfarmhouse journey), I decided to pivot and focus on Italy instead, as the itinerary sang to me given the overlap with my lifestyle.

Bike rides, long strolls, boat rides along waterways— all of this resonated with my family’s day-to-day existence. And on that note, my first group trip clearly had to include Venice, Italy— the town that inspired Venice, California, where our family resided for over a decade.

My small business and online presence were, for years, centered upon small space living along canoe-filled waterways under the warm sun that dries lines of laundry dangling from every awkward corner available.

So the visit to Venice, Italy was not only a feast for the eyes, but it was also a feast for my heart. 

Venice, Italy. Photo by Alyson Morgan (@alysonsimplygrows). Luggage by SteamLine.

Our group activities included the following:

• Milan City Cycle Tour

• Cooking Demonstration with a Milano Chef

• Lake Como Tour

• Bellagio Lakeside Village Visit

• Boat Ride from Bellagio to Tremezzo

• Franciacorta Sparkling Wine Tour and Tasting

• Venice City Tour

• Gondola Ride on the Canals

• Burano Boat Tour & Stroll

(Click here to view the full itinerary / details.)

Burano

Venice

While the sights were stunning and the trip well-orchestrated, what meant the most to me were the friendships forged. It was an honor and joy to be joined by author, photographer and herbalist Alyson Morgan, as well as ten absolutely delightful, like-minded, and kind-hearted travelers, along with our exceptional guide. 

They say that all good things must come to an end, and while the trip is indeed over I’m thinking that this good thing might just need to evolve and happen again. 

… Alyson and I are currently pondering the possibilities together… 

In the meantime, I’m just so glad I said yes to this.

Photo by Alyson Morgan (@alysonsimplygrows)

Pictured in this post: My travel water bottle from Stojo, and my favorite SteamLine Luggage carry-on case, which was the perfect size for our week in Italy. When at the cottage, I use our SteamLine pieces as decor in order to maximize their functionality and further enjoy their beauty. SteamLine has a refurbishment program, and they offer a collection composed of naturally renewable + sustainably-sourced rattan, and recycled synthetic leather.

Let's go to Italy... together!

From April 23 - April 29 of 2023, I’ll be hosting a trip to Italy! Want to join me?

View the details + itinerary and/or book to join here!

I was initially considering a group trip to France (and perhaps one day we’ll do so!), but the itinerary for the Italian trip sang to me and ultimately won me over. It offers so many activities that remind me of our life in California, but with all the rich culture, history and architecture of Europe.

Activities Included:

• Milan City Cycle Tour

• Cooking Class with a Milano Chef

• Lake Como Tour

• Bellagio Lakeside Village Visit

• Boat Ride from Bellagio to Tremezzo

• Franciacorta Sparkling Wine Tour and Tasting

• Venetian Water Taxi

• Venice City Tour

• Gondola Ride on the Canals

• Islands of Venice Boat Tour

Other Inclusions:

• Double occupancy in 4-star hotels

• Local Guide throughout trip

• All city transfers

• Arrival airport transfer (until 5 pm on first day)

Additionally, I’ve secured a collection of mindfully curated gifts for attendees, featuring some of my favorite goods for travel from:

• Vintner's Daughter

• Steamline Luggage

• Stojo

• Branch Basics

(More details on the gifts later.)

Benvenuti in Italia!

Traditional Yet Informal Holiday Hosting

I can’t remember the last time we hosted… perhaps late November of 2019? Regardless, I’m eager to get back to it. In the meantime, I’m resharing this informal-meets-traditional tablescape I created for Food52 during a live broadcast, in the hopes it’ll provide some ideas for folks who are entertaining in small spaces this holiday season:

A Traditional-Meets-Informal Holiday Table

As a way of showcasing some informal-meets-traditional tablescape ideas for this holiday season during which we’ll be sheltering-in-place, Food52 invited me to do LIVE broadcast in which I styled this lil’ vintage garden table at the cottage for their online community. Photos below:

(Click here to view the IGTV LIVE video via Food52.)

Housing a Crowd Without Overcrowding

How we navigated overnight hosting + holiday decor + rainy weather realities in our tiny house with three adults, one wild toddler, and two active 40-lb dogs over this past week.

There are just three rooms in our miniature home— the bedroom, the bathroom, and the main room. The main room is divided by a low wall into two sections: the kitchen and the living space. The living space is about 10’ x 12’ and operates daily as our sitting room, my full-time office, a play space, and an entryway. However, this compact rectangle also multitasks as a guest room, a dining room, and a pop-up office when needed. (Read about hosting overnight guests in a tiny home, here.)

For the past week, we hosted one of our closest friends (Emily) here at the Cottage. She is the greatest houseguest and the most delightful person in general, so it was an absolute joy to have her here for every precious minute. (She’s one of my nearest and dearest, and was included in my book’s dedication.) But the logistics of her stay in our home could’ve easily become a mess for a variety of reasons...

Between having a sixth being in our small home for a decent stretch of time, accommodating her corresponding luggage (2 carry-ons), our holiday tree, and the rain that kept us all within under 400 sqft for the first part of her vacation (and ensured muddy paw-prints and wet pup hair during the subsequent days), there was a lot going on in the 10’ x 12’ from which I’m writing this post. (Read about the downside of rain and our tiny house, here.)

But with a few adjustments that required minimal effort, the week breezed by too quickly. While we enjoyed many lil’ adventures (a trip to the museum, a paddle on the canals while neighbors decorated bridges overhead for the holidays, bike and scooter rides around Venice, dining out, visits to local shops, reunions with old friends, holiday parties, and strolls down the beaches), I actually wish she could’ve stayed longer.

Here’s how we navigated overnight hosting + holiday decor + rainy weather realities as three adults, one wild toddler, and two active 40-lb dogs in our tiny house: 

Rolling, Collapsible & Nesting Furnishings/Accessories 

Since moving into the Cottage over 7 years ago, we’ve had the same rattan storage trunk coffee table, and the same white folding dining table. Last month, I decided to make finally make some changes to those pieces to better accommodate our current lifestyle and tastes. 

We once needed the storage trunk in order to store our guest bed sheets and throw blankets, but I donated almost all of our spare linens and eliminated the need for that extra storage space. We now keep any throws out on the couch (either folded up or spread over the cushions), and the basic guest bed linens fold up tight and fit within the pillowcase, which I now stash in a protective bag under our bed.

In place of the trunk, we now have a vintage, rolling basket-style table, which I found via @ShopSupermarché. I love this piece for so many reasons beyond its unique appearance. It’s easy to scoot around the house, it offers a perfectly contained play surface for West, and its narrow, metal legs free up the floor in our living room, making the space look bigger.

I can easily roll this new piece of furniture beneath my workspace without removing my desk chair.

Even with the coffee table tucked under my desk, I can nest West’s rolling “Strolley” (which contains his ever-changing collection of library books) and maintain immediate access to everything.

A camping style stool was a perfect luggage stand and kept Emily’s carry-on bags off the ground, making it easier for her to organize and reach her belongings within a dedicated space.

Our new (pre-used) metal folding dining table that I found at a local garden center is longer yet narrower than our previous collapsible dining table, so it offers all the surface space needed for meals while simultaneously freeing up inches to navigate the rest of the room.

We brought in West’s apple baskets of toys/activities from the play porch, as we do whenever it rains. They are easy to slide into spare inches, cavities,  and corners around the Cottage.

His drawstring toy-storage play-mat kept little toys contained, and is a breeze to cinch up and hang on the wall.

Extra Guest Bed Considerations 

We didn’t want to make and remove Emily’s bed (aka our built-in couch) every day, but we still needed to use the sofa. Due to the rain, I was worried her linens would get destroyed by the dogs and West, who is a big fan of climbing on everything. As such, we draped a large flax Gathre Mat (which we cut into 2 pieces) over the cushions/bedding to keep everything looking relatively normal while also offering protection from mud, pet hair and paw prints, toy truck tires, and chalk-covered hands. Thankfully, the mats functioned as intended.

Blank Space at the Entryway and In the Bathroom

Having zero entry space beyond your front door can be rough in rainy conditions. But we make it work with a machine-washable woven bath mat that we fold horizontally in half. When not in use, I keep it in our bathroom vanity. When in use, it’s basically an interior doormat and boot tray. Our door-mounted key rack temporarily holds a quick-dry travel towel, which we use to wipe down the dogs after walks. It also accommodates umbrellas when needed, as they simply drip down onto the mat until we’ve removed our boots and are able to relocate umbrellas to the shower to dry off there. These adjustments to our 12-inch “entryway” took up none of Emily’s space. (Plus Adam was in Florida for 2 days during Emily’s stay, which helped ease the rain gear build-up.)

In the bathroom, we temporarily cleared a shelf for Emily’s toiletries, and added an extra s-hook to our branch towel rack for her towels. This allowed us to manage rain-soaked clothing and gear, as well as West’s cloth diaper hanging hamper, without cramping the space or consuming the blank space needed for everyone’s daily routines. 

Above left: The bathroom cubby we cleared for Emily (aka “Shmoo”). Above right: Sophee before we added the Gathre Mat to the guest bed to keep the pup prints + hairs off of it.

Carefully Considered Holiday Decor

We have a 4.5’-tall holiday tree, which we displayed on a slim, tall accent table / plant stand and placed by my desk. It makes the entire main room of our small house look plenty festive. Other than that (and a throw pillow cover), we have no additional holiday decor within the living space. Thanks to the absence of decorative trinkets and seasonal tabletop accents, Emily had the surface space she needed for her things, West had room to play with his toys and scatter his books, and the pups could still romp around per usual— all within the warm glow of the tree’s twinkle lights. 

Come back, Emily— we miss you. (And West keeps opening the pocket door and calling out for his “Auntie Shmoo.”)

Small Space Hosting via Parachute

Parachute is one of my favorite local companies. Based a block off Venice Beach on the cutest little walk-street, they make the most luxurious bedding basics. I've worked with this company several times in the past, from styling photoshoots to designing their Abbot Kinney pop-up storefront in summer 2015. 

Jump to their blog to see some of my small space hosting tips!