snippets of the weekend 8.28.2023

Friday we finally went to lunch, which I've been wanting to do for months. It was a cluster with no money for tip and no MAC cards and we had to go back twice LOL. But it was good! Solid weather day. I strolled Asbury for a bit after while MFD drove home to get the forgotten MAC card and cash. An afternoon layabout and reading, and an evening walk down to the bay rounded it out.

Saturday was our last official summer season checkout (two rentals in Sept) and we were the cleaners. Friends, it was a fucking crime scene. The End. Fam arrived as we were finishing up. Tomato sandwiches and beach soon after. 

Sunday I did some walking chores to the hardware and corner store, and it was a slow and easy start. An earlier beach day, a delicious Sunday dinner a la Mindy and Maureen with lovely company of Patty and Ray, and a ride down Ocean Drive with views of our wedding spot clear as day from the bridge.

The destination was Sea Isle, where we remembered my mother in law in the place she loved the best, where we all spent a lot of time with her. Her best friend supplied the roses and bubbles, and it was a beautiful night. 

We were treated to a gorgeous sunset on the way home, and we closed out the day with ice cream cake from A La Mode for Aly's 18th. Happy birthday Aly! 

weekending reels on Instagram - current favorite weekend look back mode.

TWTW - the late June one

Friday It was the work week from hell and at the end of it I took a long walk, ordered dinner, and read a book pretty much in its entirety, staying up to finish.

Saturday I slept in until 8 then had a typical summer Saturday: turnover hauling 2389429348 bags of bedding laundry to the car, and doing my tasks before and after my cleaning crew came through. The folks leaving were great and I hope they return. I did some cushion cleaning and tried to battle driveway sand and lost as usual. I hit the beach for a few hours to read after that and ordered dinner from Boyar's. MFD and the old dogs arrived around 10 and I finished book two of the weekend.

Sunday I was at the beach by 9 after painting my nails OPI I Just Can't Cope-acabana and Spare Me a French Quarter?). I got a bowl for breakfast and it was delicious. MFD joined me around 11 and we stayed until 1:30 then came back to lay around and escape the humidity. I finished my third book of the weekend. We took B and B to Dog Beach to cap off the weekend. I found a fishing knife on our walk which MFD will keep for fishing and of course had to photograph it to document we found it and the date in case it comes up in a future murder investigation. My murder book reading knowledge is put to good use all the time. 

Another busy work week ahead, my Dad & Carol move out of the last parental home I lived in before I lived on my own, and we're already coming into the freaking Fourth. How?

Happy happy birthday to my brother-in-law Marcus Aurelius today. 

How was yours?

TWTW - the one with the dads

Friday My brain was stuck in neutral after an 11 hour workday Thursday and two morning meetings, so instead of spinning my wheels I flexed time and hit the beach for two hours. I also got a slice of pizza and some soap oh and left my phone on a fucking boardwalk bench THEN hit two stores THEN set up my beach chair so I had to sprint back with no shoes on and hope it was there. It was.  After work I walked the boards on an errand for Aubrey, then walked down to see the sunset. I stayed up until 1 to finish my book.

Saturday I slept in until 8. The people checking out thought checkout was 11 and that threw everything off. We managed to get them out then MFD painted the door and frame their dog damaged and got the new TV we brought from Philly up and running. I swapped out shower curtains and all bedding and someone clearly had some sort of HiC and I had to pull the whole mattress on the top bunk down. It was a lot. We were doing stuff from about 10:40 - 3 since our people coming in were arriving late. I'm thankful we knew that or I would have had a nervous breakdown.

MFD went fishing in the afternoon, and I went to Boyar's to get a few things for a salad and smiled at the Juneteenth greetings along the way, then  rode my bike to the library to drop off and pick up books. I made chicken leg quarters in the air fryer, painted my nails, showered, unboxed Ben's barkbox (he is always so happy and grateful), then walked up to the beach and boards with MFD for a little ice cream. 

Sunday I was on the beach with a book and coffee by 8:30. The sun was insane. Back to the house to walk dogs and load up the car and hit the road before 11. Gus pooped in my damn car but thankfully we were not moving yet so easy cleanup and major disaster averted. I got home and did some laundry, read, rested, made your standard old school cold taco dip, and headed to Aubrey's parents. We have a nice Father's Day gathering with the two families every year and I always enjoy it. This year we tried the TikTok watermelon and mustard phenomenon. It was fine! Home by 8 and I fell asleep on the couch and didn't go upstairs until 5 am. 

Happy 65th to my Mom! Her birthday was Saturday. I dropped cards for her birthday and Rich's Father's Day off at lunch today before hightailing it home for a call.

Today is Prime Day, and even as I move away from Amazon, I always recommend the Kindle Paperwhite for people like me who must wear polarized sunglasses and/or read outside a lot both in sun and shade. It is the only e-reader I can use like that. It's $80 for prime day and normally $130.

Crushed under work deadlines this week. Hopefully see you Thursday! See you on Instagram until then, mainly in stories, which I like to remind myself and others that I said I'd never do and now I do daily.

TWTW - the one sliding into summer

Friday My first shore commute snafu of the summer season - I was going to leave before work, then at noon. I left at 3 and there were accidents and bullshit all the way and it took me almost three hours. I ended up taking the back roads after I finally made it over the Walt Whitman, and I haven't done that in years.  It's a much more enjoyable ride. I got food from Boyar's and was super jazzed to find my pre-ordered copy of The Afrominimalist's Guide to Living With Less by Christine Platt had arrived. It's officially out today or tomorrow. I was up reading until about 12:30. I had Bruce and Mae alone and it was weird for all of us. I never split Bruce and Ben. They were suspect. 

Saturday I slept in and had a leisurely morning. I made hard boiled eggs and did some organizing. Guests left and I headed up in the house to do my turnover tasks before our cleaning crew came. MFD arrived at about 10:30 and joined me in the house then took care of outside cleanup. I saved a highlight for vacation rental ownership stuff on Instagram and will probably try to share a little more about that this summer, primarily on Saturdays which is when we do turnover. It's something not super usual so I figured why not.

We went down to the North End but the wind was wild and the only thing biting were crabs. The island is coming into full bloom and it is glorious. I was hangry so we had lunch at Sand House Kitchen on Beach Road. It's a new restaurant, but the location and bones are the shack I used to get  hotdogs, sodas, and french fries at on North Street Beach when I was a kid. It feels the same in the shade LOL. The food was good, we split dirty fries with crab meat and cheese and I had a calamari po boy. When we got home I did my nails (9th & Maxwell eggplant, Essie suits you swell topped with OPI rainbows a go go on the pointer fingers). 

We went up to the boardwalk for a stroll and MFD was on a headband buying binge, for "us" even though only one of us wears them now. We tried Ocean's South End Pizza which is new this year and it was two thumbs up from both of us. It was a nice night capped off with a big bucket of Johnson's buttered popcorn.

Sunday I was up a little around 6 then slept until 9:30 and it was amazing. MFD got breakfast sandwiches from Boyar's (mine came with cheese even though I asked for none, anyone else out there a no cheese on most sandwiches person?). I stopped by the library to pick up holds. Parking next to a pickup of surfboards is definitely not something that happens in the city. We went back to the North End and it was much nicer wind-wise. I finished a book and we were back home lounging by 3. After a long walk the dogs were tired out. I brought them all home with me around 7:30 and got all the trash out. 

This week is set up to be busy on the work front and on the home front as I try to get some shit done. 

Let's do it!

How to be a good vacation renter

With more and more people going the VRBO/AirBnB route for rentals, the end of our second season renting out our shore house with 98% great renters for the past two summers, and a conversation with Lauren about what makes a good renter, I figured why not. We have had truly awesome people stay in our house and are very lucky. They have taught me so much. Selfishly, I'd also like to know what you have liked or didn't like about interacting with owners you've rented homes with on VRBO or the like as I am still finding my way around that. Deal?

Some of you are probably like fuck you I'm paying that's how I'm a good renter to which I would respond yesthankyouandgoodday. But if you're curious beyond that, here are some ways to be a good vacation renter.

1. Read everything the owner sends you. If your owner is like me, I can guarantee you the answer to 90% of the questions you will have is in the info packet. If they send you nothing, ask if they have info about the house that they typically send out. But if something is not covered...

2. Ask questions.  It is best to go into a rental situation with the appropriate level of expectation. It will also let the owner know what they have omitted and should include in the future.

3. Let the owner know if something is wrong or broken when you arrive or goes wrong/breaks while you're there. Chances are they have a very short window of time between you and the next guest to address any problems so while no one ever wants a problem, it is a relief when someone contacts you about it immediately and doesn't wait until check out to tell you. If it's something that needs to be fixed immediately, it will surely improve your vacation to have it taken care of. If it's just broken but not impeding on your time, you will be doing the owner a huge favor by preparing them. 

4. Treat it like your home....unless you eat in bedrooms. Don't eat in bedrooms. Seriously. Just...don't. Otherwise, relax in it and be comfortable in it but also know you can't go a day at home without wiping your kid's peanut butter and jelly off the dining room table so you shouldn't go more than a day without doing that in your vacation home either. If a light bulb burns out out or remote batteries die, change them (all good owners will leave some for you). If your dog makes a mess or your kid writes on the wall, clean it up. Put the trash and recycles out on the days indicated. It's a home, not a hotel. If you don't want to lift a finger and would like someone wiping up after you, you belong in a hotel, not someone's home. Knowing that it is a home and not a hotel with full service and not expecting full service will serve both parties well. 

5. If you like something, say something, and the reverse. I do little things like leave travel size stuff/fresh bag of coffee/some paper goods/etc for people, and it's good to know if those things are worth it since it means money out of my pocket. It's also good to know if it bothers someone for some reason. Do the pillows suck in a bedroom? Please tell me. All feedback is good feedback even if it's not super specific. 

6. Trust is a two way street. Renting through one of these sites requires you to trust the owner, yes, but it also requires the owner to trust you. Go with your gut but don't be weird. Do not rent from anyone who does not have a phone number and email attached to their listing. Expect to share your email, address, and phone number with the owner. 

7. Do not act like you are the first person to ever rent a house. When I think about the houses I've rented, I cringe at one incident in particular where I was a total special snowflake. It was my first time using VRBO and our first time bringing the dogs to a rental. That was the last place we rented at the shore since the offer we put in on our shore house was submitted and accepted during that vacation. The owner called me and reassured me on the phone. That is so not usual and I actually emailed her after our first season here and apologized for being needy as fuck a year before. 

While we're on the subject of vacation rentals, I would like all renters to know that VRBO/Homeaway is pulling some shit and they're asking renters to pay for it. If you're planning on renting via VRBO, know that you can still book direct through an owner to avoid their booking fee. They've just made it very hard to do so. They've also screwed up a few auto quotes so check your itemized quote when you do pay through them.

What have you liked or disliked about dealing with owners through VRBO or AirBnB?

I can't sign off without wishing my Gussie a happy 12th birthday. 

Or without sharing more links of organizations that will be helping on the ground in Texas. 

Houston food bank: http://www.houstonfoodbank.org/donate/
Corpus Christi food bank: http://www.foodbankcc.com/
Galveston food bank: http://www.galvestoncountyfoodbank.org/
The Texas Diaper Bank: http://www.texasdiaperbank.org/
SPCA of Texas: https://www.spca.org/news_hurricane-harvey
Coalition for the Homeless: https://www.homelesshouston.org/take-action/donate/
Portlight, which helps people with disabilities: http://www.portlight.org/home.html

I'm linking up with Lauren & Bre for their Add it to my list linkup, which they're doing the last Tuesday of every month.