The Essential Essential-less Guide to Summer

In the UK, around this time of year, the press go mad for summer ‘entertaining’, and no I don’t mean Punch and Judy shows or donkey rides along the beach. This one’s for the adults, surprisingly. We’re constantly being told what ‘entertaining’ essentials are required to throw the perfect summer party. Delia tells us ‘how to get it right’ and follows up with a breakdown of ‘summer entertaining advice’ to ensure a ‘magical dinner’. Now I know the British aren’t known for their laissez-faire attitude but surely this is getting a bit ridiculous? Inviting friends over for food and a few drinks doesn’t require this level of angst.

If we explore this British preoccupation a bit further, perhaps our dinner-party woes stem from the belief that we must ‘host’ the party and in doing so ‘perform’ the role of perfect host/hostess. Generally guests are asked to bring themselves and a token bottle of wine, leaving the hosts to do the rest. In Italy, guests will often bring a contribution to the meal itself - no matter how small. When friends or family (NB never ‘guests’) are invited over for a meal in the summer, everyone brings something special that they’ve cooked. Chairs are pulled up, tables placed under trees and the food laid out for people to help themselves to (wine included!) The enjoyment comes from tucking into each other’s goodies and the opportunity to catch up over delicious food and wine (now this is an essential!). Entertainment doesn’t come into it. The role of the guests is to create the merry-making. Otherwise, why else would you invite them? Delia, I know you're the hostess with the mostess but really... you need to get some new friends.

Blonde in Florence goes on Tour (with ‘The Mama’ in tow)

Take one look at this year’s red carpet and you’ll see that far from being un-cool for travelling with The Mama, I’m bang on trend. As mum (sorry I meant sister – doesn’t look a day over 30) proudly told me the other night, whilst reading an article in the Times (I later found said article neatly cut out, highlighted and put on my bed), the latest must-have accessory for any girl/guy-about-town is ‘mama’. It appears that I needn’t hide behind dark glasses and bury myself in a book (note to self – do not take Bridget Jones). Instead I can positively bask in the knowledge that I’m simply doing as contemporary British women do… keeping it in the family. Admittedly the Italians might not bat an eyelid at this leap of faith but for us Brits this should be seen as a sign of positive progress.

And so I embark on a week’s holiday in Morocco with the Scissors Sisters number one hit reverberating in my ears: ‘Take your mama out all night…” (headphones in ears, mama mouthing at me to turn the music down).

Tick Tock

It’s my 26th Birthday on Friday. Not exactly a huge deal but in the deep recesses of my mind, I’ve been toying with time-lines. This time in 25 years, I’ll be celebrating my 50th. I’m nearer the ‘30’ mile stone than the ‘20’ and in two days time, I will have to relinquish my right to a ‘young person’s rail card’. It seems that 26 is a sign of significant maturity in the UK (yes I’m back from Florence – my sensible older alter-ego got the better of me).

Robert Kennedy states that youth is ‘a temper of the will, a quality of imagination, a predominance of courage over timidity, of the appetite for adventure over the life of ease.’ With this echoing in my ears, it appears that I’ve certainly gone to the dark side. In a few months time I will be ‘glamping’ – camping but with a glamorous veneer. It involves the fun of being outdoors and sharing with your ‘mates’ but with the pleasures of domesticity. Basically it’s camping’s older, more sensible twin. No fear of ‘head colds’ for me, I will be tucked up in double-duvets and Egyptian cotton sheets.

After reading an article in The Times yesterday on how to grow old gracefully (nothing wrong with reading around the subject!) I’ve since invested in a book called ‘What French Women Know: About Love, Sex, and Other Matters of the Heart and Mind’. Yes, I may be verging on the eccentric for indulging my mind, at the age of 25/26, with these rambling lines of thought but I’m a perfectionist and the Mediterranean women seem to have this ageing process all wrapped up. Italian men positively adore the ‘older woman’ and if I want to end up in this bracket, I need to crack their secret before it’s too late… It’s all about being ahead of the game (it appears organization comes with ageing too).