Luxury is found in the details…

Way back in 1993, I was in the eighth grade and became fast friends with a girl whose parents owned the most beautiful boutique hotel in all of New Smyrna Beach.

It didn’t take long for her parents to put me to work as a turndown maid, setting the rooms for the evening as hotel guests ventured down to dinner in the property’s world class restaurant.

Mind you, I was just a poor kid with proud hillbilly roots, so the concept of coming in from dinner to chocolates on my pillow was beyond anything I could conceptualize. But, oh how I embraced it. I mean, why not? It was just a piece of chocolate on a pillow- nothing monetarily wild- but so inexplicably posh.

It wasn’t just the chocolates…it was the gentle tidying of the guests’ traces of busyness as they were in and out of their rooms throughout the day- the pool, the beach, the beach cruiser bicycle rides- just a tidy reset from me.

And the details…

The bedding turned down welcomingly for an embracing night of rest with plush robes placed at the foot for easy access. Fresh strawberries on the table with iced inexpensive champagne in a silver bucket, the alarm clock radio humming low classical music, fresh snack crackers in a basket, dimmed lights and most memorable, the toilet paper folded into a perfect point.

It was then that I learned luxury is found in the details. After all, this beautiful hotel began as a hunting and fishing lodge back in the late 1800s. It wasn’t a brand new state of the art modern shiny gold penny. It was a charming, well-tended and loved, three story pink hotel nestled on the corner of the Intracoastal Waterway and the town’s flagship road which served as a driveway for visitors to the Atlantic Ocean.

The wooden floors creaked below your feet, you could sometimes hear other guests through the walls, the ringing of the drawbridge outside the window- although endearing- could wake you in the middle of the night. But the details. The details wrapped you in a luxurious hug. And you knew you were well taken care of.

I’ve carried this very first job within me throughout my lifetime…always noticing the details in the things I produced, touched and shared. My husband calls my attention to detail my ‘standard’ and is exceptionally supportive of the fact that I’m simply an ‘all or nothing’ kinda girl in everything I do.

Like all things, this can be a blessing and a curse. And in the case of my blog, my attention to detail has been a bit of a curse, as I have so many wonderful stories drafted to share with you, yet they are piled up for an editing room that only exists in my brain.

Mockingbird Sings is still here…just trying to make my words pretty as I share my stories with you.

Because luxury is found in the details…

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