Disclaimer: This got way longer than I thought….it’s more in the informational category so not so exciting! Feel free to skip in hopes that there will be something more interesting coming soon!

Since I just posted our guest round up I figured it may be a good time to do a random “guesthouse” post.  As I have mentioned before, this past yr in Bern we have hosted 24 guests! I have kind of made it my personal goal to get good at it. I really want people to come, relax and feel like they have a great time on their vacation. We have learned as we have gone and as we close this season of guests I feel like we have learned a few things that I thought I would pass along.

1. Prepping the house for guests

I start the preparation days in advance!! Not meaning that I work and work for days in advance, but that I spread it out so that I am not completely exhausted when our guests arrive.  I used to save the cleaning for the day before because I wanted it to be nice when they arrived. But I soon discovered that this house is way too big to try to do in one day. (we couldn’t have so many guests without this kind of space so it is a bonus)  I now have kind of a system where I do fresh linens a few days out and then follow it with different jobs that can be done ahead. I save the floors and dusting for the evening before. And then there is the fact that I used to think I could do it all myself but I have succumbed to the reality and now I have Seth on board to help me!

Now that I have a system I can devote more time that last day before to getting to the grocery store and doing some baking. Oh yea, and then once the guests arrive I let them know that I would rather spend time with them than clean. I maintain as best I can but I don’t stress. I mainly tidy and occasionally sweep if it is in desperate need, but otherwise I just let it go and enjoy the visitors.

Quick confession: I don’t iron sheets, even when I pull them out and toss them into a ball onto the bed. Both of my grandmother’s are gasping right now but I figured it was better to be honest. Sheets will be clean, but very wrinkled around here!

2. Meal Planning

I always contact our guests before they arrive to see if there is anything they can’t eat or have allergies to. Then I plan the meals, trying to accommodate as much as possible!  It’s tough cooking for a crowd and I have learned that not everyone will like every meal but I do try to pick things with our guests in mind. I always have the meals planned but not necessarily for a particular day. For instance, I know that whatever day we decide to day trip meals need to be simple or hot in the crock pot when we return. Our favorite group meals for the year have been Ina Garten’s Macaroni and Cheese,  Gina’s Barbacoa Beef that we use for burrito bowls and a recipe I got from my sister-in-law, Stephanie, for French dip sandwiches. They are all easy to make and make a cozy dinner for a crowd.

Some things I always have on hand that I can make the day before…

Refrigerator bran muffins….the ones I wrote about here. They are an easy thing to keep in the fridge, I bake them up as people want them. So far they have been a hit and everyone is thankful for something healthy in the middle of their travels.

Tomato Basil Soup… knock off of La Madeline’s. I realized I have never posted this in the past so this will be coming soon! Most guests arrive in time for lunch (or breakfast their time) so I normally make a soup the night before and serve it with Bern Zopf bread, salami and cheeses. Everyone is always eager to have something Swiss so it is an easy way to get it in when they first arrive!

Something seasonal and homemade….having guests gives me the excuse to have something yummy around. I don’t often bake treats when it’s just us here so when guests come it’s fun to have something out of the ordinary. In February when the O’Leary chicas came I made those Valentine’s whoopie pies, they were fun for Valentine’s Day but also a fun memory of making devil dogs at Annie’s house!  When my parents came it was peach season so I made some Butterscotch peaches! This time around I made Southern Living’s Apple Cream Cheese Coffee Cake which isn’t on their website yet but I am sure you have seen it on the cover of their magazine last month! It was super yummy and people snacked on it and had it with coffee throughout the week. I also enlisted Jackson to make some fall M&M cookie bars to stow away for snacking.

This guy is the Guesthouse assistant, he is always the best welcomer, conversationalist and entertainer! As we left last week to run an errand I called for Jackson who was lagging behind. When I turned to see what was holding him up I overheard him saying  “bye guys, do you have everything you need before we go?”.  We have all learned a lot about hospitality this year!

3. Ring a ling

After a few rounds of guests got lost here and there and didn’t have a way to call us easily we decided to invest in a chargeable phone. It was cheap and easy and it has made it so nice to stay in touch. There would be no need for this in the US obviously but overseas this has been great. It got comical this summer when guests were so close together that they would have to take the phone back and mail it to the next guest so they would have it when they arrived in Zurich. It made train station pickups so much better!

4. Little basket

Before guests arrive I put a few snacks in their room as well as check to see that they have the Bern map and some other brochures from previous guests. Most of our friends and family are jetlagged so I make sure they have something for when they wake up at 2 AM starving and thirsty.  It’s a goal to have the wireless password written down in the room but that hasn’t happened yet.

5. Activities

So far our guests have not been lacking for things to do. It has been especially nice in the summer festival season. There is always something going on.  Nearly everything is about an hour away, or 15 mins away if it’s in Bern. I have a feeling we would have not seen nearly as much if it wasn’t for our guests.  If our guests have any plans for a day trip by train I try to strategically plan it for about midway through their trip. that allows me to get the house back into livable shape and allows my boys to get a breather day for naps, in hopes that they will refresh and be kind hosts for the remainder of the stay!

These are likely all things you all do too!  I tried to pack it with recipes and such to make it useful! If you happen to be guests in the Spring maybe we will have it running like a well-oiled machine!

Over the last few weeks Seth and I have been frustrated at best as we have looked at the housing market in the DC/ NOVA area. Our tentative plan has been to aim homeward, back to the US for a time. Buy a house…which we have never done. And make it our home. That is still our plan. Not sure even after all of our frugality and saving that we will get very far but that is beside the point. I still want to make my wish list of what I would love in a home. Because it’s fun to dream.

Hardwood floors

A kitchen with windows…since I spend most of my time in the kitchen

bead boarding…somewhere in the house.

Enough space for our family to grow…no hints here. I am not pregnant and likely won’t be anytime soon. After being in this large house I would much prefer a smaller place…much smaller. But still one where everyone can have their own space when they need it.

A room for guests.

Closets….we currently have no closets in our room. My clothes pile builds throughout the week because I HATE having to go down the hall to hang things.

A master bathroom…currently, we are in a house with plenty of bathrooms but our bathroom is shared with the boys. Which means it is filled with all things kid. It works for us now but I wouldn’t mind not sharing that space.  I try to take a bath whenever I clean the tub, before the boys even get a chance to take a bath.

A yard with a garden. My thumb is more sage green than Kelly green. I would love to have a garden but I am also aware that that might fall more on a miracle list not a wish list.

A fireplace with a pretty mantel

A front door step that is screaming for a big pot of seasonal flowers

A dining room that can fit friends and family!

A girl can dream

“wait, you didn’t hear about how we bought two trees this yr?”

Let me tell you the story because I have certainly told everyone else already.

You see we got really excited about Christmas so the weekend after Thanksgiving we went out and bought our tree. It was just like people told us it would be here. Beautiful but a little scraggly on the top. We decorated it and made it look so pretty. Daddy watered it but then mommy left town on a girls trip. For some reason the tree stopped drinking water. Mommy was so sad to come home and find it almost dead. It was 3 weeks before Christmas and the tree was dead. It wasn’t pretty and that was sad but the reason we had to throw it out was that our special ornaments started to fall off the tree. Crazy, huh? We have tile floors so they were breaking. Oh my!

So, mommy decided to go ahead and put up an artificial tree but daddy decided that he really liked the real tree and that it may be our only other Swiss tree (since we may get to go home for Christmas next year!!!). That next Sat mommy and daddy loaded us up and drove us up the mountain to find the tree farmer (no more hardware store trees for us). He had cut beautiful trees just the day before. We picked the best tree in the bunch and loaded it up!

We headed home with our tree and tried to set it up just right. The trunk looked a little funny because the farmer shaved off the outside of the trunk at the bottom. I don’t think he knew that that meant it couldn’t soak up any water. Oh my! So our pretty tree was fresh and green for about a week before it started getting dry! It hung on until Christmas but mommy kept telling people not to get too close because all of the needles were falling off.

Now I know you may be thinking that my mommy and daddy are a bit crazy. I sometimes think that. But I can tell you that our tree was really pretty and we enjoyed it so much! We wish all of you could have been here to enjoy it too.(oh and our friends bought a tree at the farm on the same day and their’s died too! so it  wasn’t daddy’s watering technique)

Currently both dead trees are in our atrium collecting snow until the especially assigned tree trash day!