Entertain With Style & Love

With a feminine heart that yearns to serve and nurture, mothers see their homes not just as a roof over their family’s heads. Instead, homes also become the place to gather, celebrate, converse; an abode that offers comfort and restfulness in times of increasing uncertainty and worry. There are only a few things more satisfying to a woman than providing respite for her loved ones in the forms of coffee sessions, dinner conversations, and weekend brunches. Every woman falls in love with the image of people gathered ‘round the table, smiling and dining within the four walls of the home she has built.

But let’s face it: not everyone is born a Martha Stewart, right? Sometimes, entertaining dear family and friends can seem like a daunting task reserved only for those with an abundance of time and resources. We think, ‘I cannot cook to save my life! I don’t know where to get pretty tabletop decors! I simply have no help!’ Here’s the good news, mamas: when we entertain, we don’t have to whip up a three-course meal like Ina Garten or design our dining rooms akin to those glorifying homes on Pinterest...

Life & StyleDeanne BanaresMarch 8, 2017Entertaining, Tablescape, Decor, Food, Homemade, Housewife, MotherComment

The Thrill Of Monotony

I stumble out of bed with my head disheveled from odd dreams, my eyes squinting from the sunlight. Another dawn, another flip on the calendar, yet it’s the same old, same old story for me.

To Do List: Do the grocery (didn’t I just buy cereals and bread?). Schedule a general cleaning session for the apartment (because no matter how much I clean, it’s still not spic and span). Buy the medicines and toiletries my husband needs (what was it again?). Buy a frame for this painting (this room needs an art piece)…

It goes on and on and on. Facing the long list is daunting but my mind will go haywire if I don’t spill the many contents of it into something else.

I move seamlessly from errand to errand. After almost two years of being a housewife, I know where to go, whom to talk to, how much it costs. A rhythm has been established. But you know what else? Boredom, repetitiveness, ordinary. I move seamlessly, yet reluctantly. I move efficiently, yet unenthusiastically...

MarriageDeanne BanaresMarch 1, 2017Housewife, Errands, Vocation, Love, Service Comments

Redefining Housewife

It's a secret that's been kept from all of us: it's a dangerous world in there. It's not a 9-5, it's not one where I clock in and clock out. It's a place where everything becomes obscure and uncertain. There are no deadlines, no grades to mark my levels of achievement, no ladder to shift up or down. No one told me this before I said yes. No one told me that the my own home becomes a blank canvas once I claim ownership over it, once I slip that special ring into my finger.

It's a dangerous world in there. Because if I had my way, if it was only my own life, idleness could probably take its peak. Imagine having absolutely no clients to please, no papers to read, no margins to work towards. It's just me and whole a lot of space. Okay, and Netflix, and books, and food delivery, and the Internet. I don't know what that is to you but it looks like a whole lot of binging...

MarriageDeanne BanaresMarch 14, 2016Housewife, Home, Marriage, Lessons, Service Comments

Setting the Stage

Pin this, pin that. Like this, like that. I curate my Pinterest board and Instagram likes similar to a designer about to launch a new collection. The images have to inspire, have to spark. Entertaining photos make up a majority of the pie. Having my own home (or 60 square meters of space) means I have my own playground, my own canvas. It means I can decorate, entertain, create without abandon. I search and search for pretty things, dainty things, fun things to fill the table with. It still gets to me where stylists get all those stuff (a tree stump? glittered tablecloths? lavender sprigs?) but I guess what I find will do for now...

Life & StyleDeanne BanaresFebruary 16, 2016Domesticity, Entertaining, Cooking, Decorating, Housewife Comments