Alright, so here are my personal rules when it comes to crossing the threshold into somebody else's home, whether for a night, for a weekend, or for more:
Rule #1: Come Bearing Gifts. Never enter someone else's home without something in hand. Anything. (If you totally space on picking something up in advance, stop into a bakery, florist, or wine shop on the way over; food, flowers and alcohol may not be terribly original, but they are always appreciated.)
Here is the thing about having a baby, take two: You’re the same amount of “excited”…but how all that excitement gets expressed is a little different. A little toned-down. Mostly because you just don’t have the time or energy to run around scouting a million different stroller options, picking up a carrier in that exact color you wanted, setting up a nursery straight out of a Pinterest board, and throwing a huge, fancy shower…but also because you realize that honestly, when it comes down to it, those aren’t the things that really matter. They’re fun, of course, and they’re an important part of gearing up for the excitement that is welcoming a new member of your family. But they aren’t everything.
This time around, I wanted to celebrate our little girl, but I didn’t want all the fuss associated with a shower. I didn’t want gifts, I didn’t want to dress up (or make my friends pour themselves into dresses on a Sunday afternoon), and I certainly didn’t want to make it about me; been there, done that, and it was wonderful the first time around…but any more would feel super weird. More than anything, I wanted a celebration of spring and the friendships I’ve made here – friendships that I know are going to carry me through the coming months.
My solution: a Sprinkle.
When I first moved to LA, I found an apartment right off of the Sunset Strip and a job at an upscale-ish pizza place called Cheebo (the phonetic spelling of the Italian word for "food"). It wasn't too bad of a job - the food was pretty reasonably priced and lunchtime-focused, which meant that tips were only okay, but I liked my coworkers and really liked the staff meal that we got at the end of every shift. The part of it that I hated was when my manager asked me to work the brunch shift, because the brunch shift involved fresh-squeezed orange juice…and you know what's a major pain to make?
Fresh-squeezed orange juice. If you have never done this, let me tell you: you have no idea how many pieces of fruit it takes to make your teeny, tiny four-dollar glass of Vitamin C.
I think working at Cheebo gave me a bit of juice-making PTSD, because never since have I been enamored of the idea of fresh-squeezing my own anythings…but pregnancy does weird stuff, like make you all of a sudden need fresh lemonade RIGHT NOW.
I have a lot of glasses. Moroccan tea glasses, blue-dyed water jars, stemless wine glasses, mismatched floral teacups...even a crazy Mason Jar Wine Chalice complete with little beach souvenirs embedded in the stem (it's true). I like trolling around home furnishings stores, yard sales and thrift stores for cool specimens, and over the years my glasses have become sort of a collection; I worry less about owning "full sets" than making sure that I love (and use) every single one.
But my absolute favorite ones - the glasses I use more than any others, for everything from my morning grapefruit juice to water to wine at a casual dinner - are my tiny, gold-trimmed glasses (a gift from my aunt, who found them at a swap meet in Canada). It's mostly the size and shape - they hold just the right amount of whatever it is that I want to drink, are so delicate and pretty that they look great incorporated into pretty much any tablescape, and are low enough that they're tough to tip over. I love them so much and use them so often, in fact, that I'm starting to get worried that despite their relative stability...I will break them, because that is the kind of thing that I do. Frequently.
When we were in Ikea last weekend (our second trip in two weeks, this time to pick up the bed-slats-that-do-not-come-in-the-package-with-the-bed) these rainbow glasses made me do an actual double take: love the size, love the shape, love the colors (springtime!). And at $1.99 each I figured I could pick up a few, and not have a tragedy on my hands should one shatter.
I LOVE this. For a last-minute holiday gift, for a hostess gift, for a just-because gift…for anything. And for fun - because it is so much fun, both to put together and (presumably) to receive (I gave these baskets to the friends who stopped over on Sunday afternoon for some cookie-decorating with their kids).
