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More Musings

Janet Loewenstein — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 04:48:09 +0000

A week before Christmas we had a highly unusual snowfall, almost 2′. To get that amount all at once is fairly rare out here; to get it before Christmas is almost unheard of. Not that it wasn’t pretty, it’s just not that much fun to deal with.

Wellfleet's December blizzard

Ok, that doesn’t look so bad does it? Nah. But you can’t really tell from the photo just how much of the white stuff is on the ground.

This might give you a better idea:

The courtyard behind the house after the blizzard

Are ya gettin’ the idea? The cold weather stuck around for almost a week, and so did the snow. Temperatures did finally start to creep back up above freezing on Thursday and we had highs in the low 40’s & 50’s for three days, so it’s pretty much gone now. It did make for a white Christmas, the first one in the ten years I’ve lived here, so that’s good.

Speaking of Christmas, I hope everyone had a good one. A good friend invited me over to her house for Christmas dinner with family & friends, which was lovely. I made a chocolate-orange poundcake to bring, a recipe that could use a little more tweaking but was still pretty darned good. I also made sparkling cranberries. Those were just on a whim, a friend had sent a link to the recipe, they looked gorgeous & easy plus I had fresh cranberries in my refrigerator. I’ve gotta tell you, they were really good. Here’s a picture:

Sparkling Cranberries

Can you imagine a more perfect addition to a holiday table? The best part is they can accompany food or just be eaten as a snack. They are kind of addictive, though, so watch out!

Guest-wise, things have been fairly quiet around here. Thanksgiving was busy followed by a totally dead weekend, then I had a stretch of about 8 days where there were guests every night and then nothing the following weekend. That’s not so unusual, though. The period between the holidays is often one of the slowest of the year and I’m fine with that. I have a few guests this week and then we’ll see what the final holiday weekend of the year brings.

Here’s wishing everyone a happy, healthy and safe New Year. See you in 2010!

Laugh Therapy

Janet Loewenstein — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 16:48:00 +0000

Have you ever noticed how much better you feel after a good belly laugh? I’m talking about the kind where you just can’t control yourself and where tears come out of your eyes. A laugh like that just seems to release a lot of stress and suddenly whatever was bothering me seems a lot less difficult.

I have found a number of websites that make me laugh on occasion, but none so consistently as this site. Go spend a little time there, it’s like a mini-vacation. Just one warning: don’t have anything in your mouth when you open the site or I guarantee it will wind up on the screen.

Six Word Memoir

Janet Loewenstein — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 15:45:00 +0000

I just returned from my annual February trip to NYC. It was great, I saw a lot of friends and ate some good food. On my way out of the City yesterday I was listening to WNYC and the Leonard Lopate show. I used to listen to him a lot when I was living in Brooklyn and home on weekdays (read: unemployed). His show was always a bright spot in my day.

Yesterday’s show centered around a contest to write a personal memoir in six words. It was surprisingly interesting and it inspired me to come up with my own. Here it is:
Living a life I didn’t expect.

Me/We

Janet Loewenstein — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 01:33:00 +0000

I’m having a bit of trouble with pronouns lately. It took me years of conscious effort to learn to use we and us when speaking of the business because my husband, quite rightly, wished to feel included. Now that he is no longer part of the business, I find that the habit is thoroughly ingrained and I catch myself using the plural where the singular is now correct. This is one of the odd, unexpected consequences of splitting up, I guess.

On a lighter note, reservations are definitely coming in for the summer so I’m cautiously optimistic about the season. If anyone out there is considering staying with me this summer, making reservations early is advised. That is particularly true if you are tied to specific dates for an event or anniversary, or for any time in August.

Breaking the News

Janet Loewenstein — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 04:17:00 +0000

Now that the holidays have passed and apparently despite the economy, people are beginning to think about summer travel plans. Among those people are some of our repeat guests, particularly the ones who come every year. They are the ones who know they need to reserve early in order to get the dates and/or room they want. Because we have established something very close to a friendship with these frequent repeat guests, every one of them, in their call or email, asks me how I am and then asks about Adam. As difficult as it is, I’d rather tell them up front about the split than skirt the issue and have to deal with it during their stay, possibly in front of other guests. Adam has been a strong and constant presence here, making breakfast at least two days a week and interacting with guests. They like him every bit as much as they like me. His absence, and his skill as a storyteller, will not go unnoticed.

It’s an awkward thing, telling people about the divorce. I’ve almost gotten good at saying the words, but I’ve had some practice and time to get used to the idea. For someone just hearing it I think it’s harder. I frequently hear “I don’t know what to say.” That makes me sad, but it’s honest and I appreciate that. Several people have told me they’ve been through it themselves, which is surprisingly reassuring. I see them with their current spouse and I see how devoted they are to that person and it gives me hope for a future relationship. Not that I’m wallowing in sorrow or actively searching for anyone new in my life, but is good to see that happiness with another person can be achieved. That is something I will never get tired of.

One of my absolute favorite couples arrived for a stay about a week after Adam moved out. When they arrived, my assistant Nancy was covering check-ins and I was at my weekly riding lesson. By the time I got back, the husband had dropped his wife off at the seminar she was attending, so I knocked on their room door to at least greet him in person. The third sentence out of his mouth was “And where is Adam?” Ouch. I knew it was coming, but this was the first time I’d had to actually do this.

“He’s not living here anymore” I told him, and I was literally choking back tears. Adam & I both love this couple, we even exchange gifts with them. And then he told me the oddest thing.

“Ah,” he said. “I had a dream the other night that we got here and Adam wasn’t here.”

I was speechless. Fortunately, he was not. And he broke the news to his wife, who I didn’t see until the next morning. They were very supportive. I knew they also wanted to see Adam and I knew that Adam was going to feel uncomfortable about seeing people after they were told what was going on, but I did make sure he came to see them before they left and I think all three of them were happy that I did. But that doesn’t change the fact that it’s awkward all the way around and it will continue to be so for a while.

To 2008

Janet Loewenstein — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 01:41:00 +0000

I bid you adieu, farewell, adios.

It’s been a year of ups and downs like most, but it’s also been probably the most difficult year of my adult life. I am not sorry to see the end of it.

Here’s to a better 2009. Happy New Year, everyone.

Social Networking

Janet Loewenstein — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 20:35:00 +0000

I joined Facebook back in June. I did it because the owner of the Post Secret site started a page there and I wanted access to it. I put up a bare-bones profile, did a couple of searches and “friended” a couple of people. Then I pretty much left it alone on the theory that this was largely a site for the under-30 crowd. Until about five weeks ago. Then, all of a sudden I started getting messages and friend requests as a bunch of my old friends from high school and college – and I mean at least a dozen people, all over 45 – joined the site and started searching for people. I’ve reconnected with a number of them now. With some I’ve exchanged just a message or two, with others I feel like I’ve really resumed a long-dormant friendship. It couldn’t have come at a better time.

As a side benefit, Facebook is now allowing people to set up pages for their businesses. I’ve done one for the inn. I’m not sure if I’ll see a benefit from it, but at the moment it’s free and it can’t hurt. It may help me draw in a younger generation of B&B goers.

I also recently joined Linked In. That site is more for business networking. There is some overlap between the friends I’ve found there and the ones on Facebook, but I’ve found a number of people on Linked In who have probably never considered joining Facebook.

If you’ve been getting invitations to join either of these sites, take a chance and do it. You might be surprised at who you find there. Be warned, though, both can be a bit of a time-suck if you let them.

Yes We Did

Janet Loewenstein — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 14:40:00 +0000

My favorite photo, so far, from this election.

These two people have a long, difficult road ahead of them. This country is quite a mess.

I’m keeping my fingers crossed that he is as good as the speech he gave last night.

Change of Season, Season of Change

Janet Loewenstein — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 01:50:00 +0000

It’s hard to believe it’s Labor Day already. Another summer, gone. Not that I expect business to slow down much, but the pace of life usually does after this weekend.

This summer has both flown and dragged by. The inn, and I, are going through some transitions. My husband and partner, Adam, and I are getting divorced. He will be moving out some time in October. That means I will need to find help to do some of the things Adam has done here over the years and to that end I have hired and am training an assistant innkeeper. She will take over the two breakfast shifts per week that Adam has been doing and cover check ins some afternoons so I can get out and do the shopping, another of Adam’s jobs, and take care of any personal appointments. So that’s one piece of the puzzle. There are many others I’m still figuring out.

Although I am sad and sometimes terrified, I do see the possibilities for positive change in all this. For one thing, I have someone to whom I can delegate certain things. Adam was a partner and would not have been a good choice to delegate some of my projects to, since he considered them my projects. Already Nancy has helped me with two small things that I have been wanting to get done but have been unable to motivate myself to do, even though I had everything I needed to do them. And over the winter I’ll have her work with me to improve organization in my kitchen and office.

Adam and I have made every effort to keep this all behind the scenes. We’re much more sad than angry about the whole thing and we want our guests to have the relaxing vacation they came here for. So far, from the comments in our guest book, we seem to have been successful. I hope arriving guests who read this don’t get weirded out by it. The plan is to continue to provide the hospitality we’ve become known for.

I’m more concerned about the guests who have been here before, some of whom come every year. It will be difficult telling them, but I suppose it’ll get easier with practice. Wish me luck.

Back and Busy

Janet Loewenstein — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 03:47:00 +0000

I had a great vacation, an unprecedented almost two weeks away from the inn. Adam, unfortunately, had to head back after less than a week to finish some projects he had to deliver. He has a custom furniture business in addition to being my partner in the B&B and he’s got quite a few projects in his shop at the moment. We also had guests coming in for the weekend, so he was going to be taking care of them as well.

While in New York we were able to see some good friends, eat great food and see a show. Our plans for dinner at Gramercy Tavern didn’t work out, it turns out that we couldn’t get a reservation for any time between 6:00 and 9:30 on a Tuesday evening! Adam even spoke to them that afternoon and they’d had no cancellations. Hard to believe. Instead we took a chance and wound up at Tabla instead. It was lovely. We spent the day on Tuesday going to museums. We started at the Transit Museum, which I’d always wanted to see, then headed uptown to the Guggenheim to see this exhibit. If you’re in New York between now and the end of May, go see it. Afterward we headed across the park to the American Museum of Natural History. Adam has done a lot of work there over the years and he knows most of the exhibit department staff. I know a few of them, in particular a guy I worked with at my first job in NYC who now works as the project manager there. Adam & I went to the Water exhibit and the Butterfly Conservatory, then we met Dean at a bar on Columbus Ave. for drinks and to catch up. Did I mention that Adam built the Butterfly exhibit ten years ago? Pretty cool, huh?

Thursday 2/28 was the final concert in a series of three at Madison Square Garden that I really, really wanted to see: Steve Winwood and Eric Clapton. I didn’t have tickets but figured what the heck, I’d go down to the Garden and see if anyone had a couple of extras they were willing to sell. I’ve done this before with Broadway shows and it works just fine. I was a bit surprised at the number and general sleaziness of the scalpers outside MSG, but New York’s Finest were doing a decent job of keeping them a good distance from the entrances. Since I don’t look anything like a scalper, I positioned myself near one entrance and quietly asked people as they went by if they had extra tickets. After about 15 minutes a gentleman turned at my question and asked “Are they for you?” I assured him they were and he handed me two tickets (a friend was meeting me there). I asked him how much and he said “I just want to give them to someone who will enjoy the concert.” I looked at the tickets, they had a $250 face value. Holy sh*t. And they were legit (yes, people sell counterfeit tickets) – my friend and I got in no problem. These seats were on the floor. Right next to the mixing board. Aside from 10th row center, this is the best place to be. The concert was just incredible. I felt like the luckiest person in the world that night.

The last few days of my vacation were spent in Maryland at The Brampton Inn, hanging out with some innkeeper friends. We ate & drank well, traded horror stories of renovations and furnace melt-downs, shopped and had a lot of laughs. Danielle and Michael, our hosts, gave us a tour of their gorgeous property, including the two new luxury rental cottages they’re building. It was wonderful and affirming to be with other people living this crazy life.

I got back on 3/6 to a busy weekend and two old friends visiting. There are still winter projects to do and paperwork to organize. I’m back to it in full force but I’ll try to post again soon.