I’ve always been curious about my friend’s family traditions. Every summer Lou travels back East to visit her family on Maryland’s Eastern shore and returns with the best stories. Chickens! Crabs! Crazy FOJ stories! (FOJ is their term for the 4th of July). I love hearing about her time spent there and asked her to do a guest post. And seriously, how cute is her niece and nephew? 

Three years ago my parents purchased their dream home on the Eastern shore of Maryland. For the purpose of this post, let’s call it “The Nest”. Our home is truly a Grandparents’ dream: a compound where all the children and grandchildren can summer together. Below is a quick sketch of the property which includes: the main house for my parents (Mommom and Bopbop), two cottages for my sisters, brothers, niece and nephew and a barn which–fingers crossed– will be my sanctuary one day. I have quite the Pinterest board going so here’s to hoping! Also, I can’t forget about the chicken coop which houses 22 hens and one very loud rooster.

A typical day at The Nest begins with Thor, my nephew, checking on his crab pots off my parent’s dock. We always joke that he’s an old soul and he seriously lives off of the land during the summer. It’s incredible. Genevieve, my niece (also known as the chicken whisperer), isn’t far behind to bid good morning to the chickens. Each morning my mom prepares eggs collected from the coop and greens from the garden. We all gather in the kitchen to eat before Uncle Reeko (my brother) heads to Baltimore for work and the rest of us settle into daily life at The Nest. My sister, Beth, went to bee school and has successfully kept two thriving hives on property to increase pollination in the garden.

Our summer days are spent kayaking, paddle boarding, sailing, gardening, plying tennis, golfing and thanks to cometococo, I’ve introduced backgammon to the family. Lauren, my sister-in-law, has set up a letterpress in her cottage which is truly inspiring so stay tuned for more on that topic! We’re currently working on my stationary and I can’t wait to see the final product. Thor and Gigi are always creating masterpieces which I plan to frame in my future home.

My mother always says that life is about experiences, not things. She has always pushed us to travel, be creative, meet new people and maximize life. The Nest has allowed us to do all of this and I can’t wait until next summer. Until then I’ll be daydreaming about great cocktails, conversation, company and the amazing sunsets to get me through this hump day.