What Does HOME Mean to You?
Hi friend,
Home is a beautiful word to me. Is it to you? Even though home can often mean full garbage pails and dog-hair littering the floor, much more than that, it is a place of belonging. That is, after all, what makes it a home — a place where one can tuck their feet into wool slippers, light the first of the autumn fires, hang their hat, and belong. Here, my toothbrush sits by the bathroom sink, my growing children are tucked into their beds, and I have a sense of purpose about the work to be done.
Today, that purpose looks like feeding my sourdough starter and making an extra batch of bagels for the weekend ahead. In our two-week absence from the cottage, the weather dipped dramatically and we came home to snow-covered mountains and wilted tomato plants. After feeding my sourdough starter, the next order of business is always to put a pot of a simple chicken broth on the stove. I let it simmer away, filling the corners of our chilly with the promise of homemade chicken soup. It delights.
While the broth simmers, I begin to gather up the last of the gardens vegetables to fill the harvest table. The collard greens and kale are especially good after the first frost. Tomorrow, I’ll go to the market, and return with squash and (hopefully) some chestnuts. This time of year, apples, onions, parsnips, garlic, and dark leafy greens will reign supreme. I feel eager to step into the cooking season ahead, actively looking forward to braised meats, plates of olive-oil drenched beans, crispy sage pastas, and roasted pumpkin. I feel ready to keep it very simple.
I also feel ready to cozy up and curate the season ahead, focusing on caring well for what we have been blessed with. Being away always inspires me to say thank you to our home upon my return. I say this by lighting new candles, building fires, taking care of small projects that have been needing my attention (like a bit of peeling wallpaper), sweeping off the porch, and making sure that I always know what’s for dinner. These small, simple acts are gifts for our cottage and for those of us who call it home.
But most importantly, home means getting to wrap my arms around four people who call me Mom. The moment I arrive, my nose is nuzzled into the tops of their heads, as if their smell assures me all is well. (I have to smell the teenager’s shoulders now, as we stand eye-to-eye, but that’s no matter. I can smell them just the same.)
I hope you find home to be as beautiful a word as I do in this moment. I think a vase of dried flower pods, a quick sweep, and a pot of soup is just what the doctor ordered.
Not to escape life, but to collect little pieces of it.
Even though we just wrapped up Che Vita 2025, we’re already looking forward to meeting more guests in Umbria, Italy next April. If you’re interested or have specific questions, please let me know easily right here. I’ll reach out to you personally and can email or call you to answer your questions, whichever you prefer. If you’re curious about our Italian Getaway, please don’t hesitate to let me know and we can see if it’s the right fit for you.
Something hearty…
This past week, on a special evening, I made supper for our guests. They were invited to help chop and prepare, and their many hands made light work. While they chopped, I prepared three pans full of this wonderful, traditional Umbrian dish, and it was a huge success! So much so that when I returned to the villa the next day, even the leftovers had been devoured. It’s simple but satisfying, as so many Umbrian dishes are.
This dish is hearty food done right! I love serving it to guests — it’s eye-catching and fragrant, but couldn’t be more humble in origins. Use your favorite link sausages here — any flavor will do. The only trick is to have crusty bread and a good bottle of wine on hand.
One-Pan Sausage and Bean Bake
Ingredients:
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
1 cup wine
1 small onion, peeled and chopped
4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
6 cups cooked beans, preferably cannellini or other large bean
3 tablespoons tomato paste
¼ cup balsamic vinegar
20 sage leaves
¼ teaspoon fennel seeds
6 large Italian sausages
¼ teaspoon dried rosemary
Salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
In a large bowl, combine the oil, wine, onion, garlic, beans, tomato paste, vinegar, sage, and fennel. Use your hands to combine the mixture very well, taking care to ensure the tomato paste is coating the beans evenly and all the spices are distributed evenly.
Transfer the beans to a standard 9x13 baking dish, spreading evenly. Nestle the sausages on top of the beans and sprinkle with the rosemary, salt, and pepper.
Cover the baking dish with foil or a lid. Bake for 25 minutes. Remove the cover and continue to bake for an additional 5-7 minutes, until the sausages are golden.
Let’s dance!
Brain: off.
We gave our getaway guests the opportunity to join Stuart for a painting class. Only one guest had any sort of art experience, but to our surprise, every single guest wanted to participate. Stu set up a table for them in the gardens, surrounded by fresh air and singing birds. He’d set each guest up with a very simple, three-color palette of watercolor paints from a special supplier in Italy and instructed them on the basics of painting with watercolors.
The guest spent two hours with him, reluctantly coming back up to the villa when I called them up for lunch, and each showcasing their own artistic version of the lemon still-life that Stuart had set up for them to paint.
Naturally, I paid close attention to their responses after the class. Did they like it? Should we keep including it in our getaway schedule? They absolutely roared with delight.
They loved it.
The common sentiments were obvious:
“I didn’t know I could do that!”
“Spending time painting shut my noisy brain off.”
Instead of worrying about work, schedules, travel plans, budgets, or [fill in the blank], the guests were able to drop their stress levels and be fully present in the simple task at hand. Paint the lemon. Though I joke their brain turned “off,” what was actually happening was that new parts of their brain were turning “on.”
“That was a full nervous system reset!” one guest shared with me. “I’d like to have done it many more times this week!” Many guests shared that they would continue painting with the new paint set at home. Success!
So, in case you’re in need of a way to turn your own brain off, perhaps give it a try as well? A few paints, a brush, and a willingness to play are all that’s required.
“Listen —
you weren’t put on this planet to watch other people make
Pancakes on TikTok
While your own skillet sits cold.
No.
Your body, your lungs, your ridiculous heart —
Are begging are participation.
So be the kind of person who takes karaoke seriously.
Make your kids roll their eyes because you prayed out loud
Like it mattered.
Enjoy the bonus French fry at the bottom of the bag.
Swoon over a dog’s ear flapping out the ar window.
I mean have you smelled your kid’s hair lately? It’s divine.
Trade garage codes with your neighbor/Forgive your parents/
And thank God every single day
That you don’t have to run the mile for time in gym class
Anymore.
Use your imagination for best-case scenarios/
And doodling on a window that your breath fogged up on a cold morning.
Be content and ambitious at the same time.
Because this isn’t rehearsal.
This is the show.
And our achingly beautiful God
Is begging you
To say, “Here I am —
Send me.”
A Season of Beauty
Welcome in! I wanted this season in our store, Limone, to feel like it was beckoning you inside with beauty and comfort. A brand-new candle line sets the tone with gentle fragrance and this new speckled, beautiful mug ensures you can keep your hands warm while you enjoy new Italian tea. Textiles, ranging from artisanal napkins to tablecloths and alpaca throw blankets, add a layer of warmth to your space. Here are a few of the items available just for the season ahead!
You can browse all the limited-time stock in our Autumn Collection right here. Whether you’re shopping for your own home or picking out something special for a gift, we know you’ll find something beautiful in Limone.
A Note of Encouragement
I carry a notebook with me almost everywhere I go. Knowing this, and knowing I would be taking many notes over our trip, Georgia wrote this note of encouragement in one of the margins. I found it on the plane. It filled my heart and helped prepare me for the wonderful work ahead. Teenagers can be absolutely wonderful.
Note to self: write more notes to others! However small and insignificant they seem.
That’s what home means to me this week. What does it mean to you? Let me know in the comments!
