"Enough is abundance to the wise." ~ Euripides

Growing up, our house was frequently full of company. Sunday nights after church, mother served cake and coffee to a slew of lively conversing adults who swarmed around the kitchen table. She hosted a share of parties for my friends, too. Elementary school treasure hunts in my uncle's lakeside pasture behind our Carolina home. Wiener roasts for the church youth group. Mother, when she was still living, used to say that I was the only one of us siblings who carried on the tradition. And I do! I love to entertain.

This post has been swimming through my brain tunnels for about two years now. It was about two years ago when I realized that I'd reached a juncture in my entertaining: No longer did I have to do it perfectly. No longer did I demand perfection of myself, my house, my food. Whew! It was a bit of an onion peeling process, really. Long ditched were the days that everything had to be made from scratch by me. Or that it must be all organic. Gone, the days I refused to entertain if my pad were not perfect. As I prepared to host a group of area bloggers, I surveyed the nooks and crannies of my home at a distance and concluded: Eh. The art was not in perfect but my willingness to say yes and be a hostess, no matter how imperfect. I figured the nooks and crannies of imperfection were just not important and if someone deemed them so, then that was their deal. I've hosted more gatherings than I care to count in my new condo. My guests have dined in full view of the unpacked boxes stuffing my laundry room. Eh.

Really, its so easy to entertain, and yet, so many do not. And you know what? When I go into someone's home and it's not perfect…there's clutter, dust, etc….I admire them for their authenticity amid their desire to entertain! It's about the people, not about seeming perfect. So, perfect? Bah, humbug!

These days, on a tightened budget, I have CORN. "Clean Out the Refrigerator Night" with my closet friends. I also keep staples on hand so there's always something to pull out to nibble upon and a bottle of vino waiting to be uncorked. (Mother would not approve of the beverage, of course. Afterall, we were Baptists….Back then.) I do hold to the Alexandria Stoddard standard (Living a Beautiful Life,) for even these simple gatherings. Go ahead: pull out the pretty stuff, the dishes, the silver, the crystal and delight and dine in and on their beauty. It makes it all more entertaining, visual and fun….And, as I've done so many times since moving into my condo, I host "potluck noshes." I send out an invite–a plain ol' all-text email or Facebook private message. I'll offer out some main dish that I'll prepare and let my friends and acquaintances, eager simply for the chance to unite, decide what they'll bring to add to our buffet.

Works out perfect. Everytime. Make that: imperfectly perfect.

Image: Chattanooga riverboat hotel, crystal lamp, 2010, Leisa A. Hammett, Nikkon CoolPix, copyrighted