We returned home to Connecticut yesterday after spending a full month on Nantucket. What an amazing month it was! One of our incredible camp counselors-turned-babysitters said it best: “During your last week on Nantucket, every day feels like a Sunday.” That sentiment couldn’t have resonated more.

And yet, by our two-week countdown — our halfway point — I was already doing the reverse math on how many days we had left. Such a pessimistic way to be, I know. But there’s something about this island that makes me dream of it when I’m not there, and makes me sad every single time I leave…even when I know I’ll be back in just a couple of weeks!

We’ve never spent this much consecutive time on the island. I wasn’t sure how my family would do (I knew I’d be fine). My kids arrived without any friends on island (but they made many!), my husband loves being in Connecticut, where all our friends are and all the conveniences of our primary home are. I was nervous they might get antsy or want to head back, but that wasn’t the case.

This is our second summer since we bought our home. Last summer we did a lot of back and forth - with shorter trips. We were living out of suitcases and it never felt long enough to really settle in, so we decided to try one month this summer, with the hope of next summer going all-in!

With all the time away in a new environment, I actually learned a lot about myself. Specifically, what I need more of in my life, and a few goals for holding on to a little bit of that Nantucket "magic" even when I'm not here.

Here's what I learned:

1. I need less stress in my life, and I’m intentionally going to make that happen.

2. I really am a homebody and an introvert.

3. Removing the noise and schedules of life makes magic happen.

Let’s Talk About Stress

I launched my business six years ago and every day since has been a grind. I work 365 days a year in some capacity — every holiday, every “vacation” day included. It’s par for the course as a business owner. I love my business and I’m endlessly grateful for its success, but the constant 70+ hour work weeks take their toll. My life is my family — my kids and my husband — and my work takes up nearly almost all of the remaining time. There’s not a lot left over.

I’d genuinely intended to take a couple of full days off during our month on Nantucket. But that didn’t happen, because work didn’t stop just because I was on Nantucket. But, some days were lighter than usual allowing us to enjoy a family dinner out or a 5 pm trip to the beach. On the busier days, when the only break I got was dropping off or picking up my kids from camp, I could still sit outside with my laptop in a beautiful spot, or smell the beach down the road from my office zoom call, and let the breeze carry that scent through the open windows. Those moments were grounding and a great reminder of where I was…my happy place.

Island life forced us to slow down and I did things I normally don’t such as, a daily walk to the beach while on a work call (which is incredible), bike rides with the kids after dinner, al fresco dinners at home most nights. It made me realize there are small daily habits I need to force myself to keep — getting outside more, even in the dead of winter when it’s cold, because breathing fresh air matters. And taking as many calls as I can away from a screen, walking instead. I’m going to actively try to do both. I just think it’s so much better for my nervous system to be outdoors!

Confirmed: I’m a Homebody (and an Introvert)

My Nantucket looks pretty different from what you typically see of the island on social media. Nantucket by Design was happening during our stay this year — and since I own a home on the island and run a design business, it felt like an event made for someone like me. The week was packed with panels, pop-ups, parties and people. I went to just two events, the ones that interested me most, and skipped everything else. Even though I probably should have attended more (for my business), I genuinely didn’t want to. I’m happiest in my little slice of heaven (our home) with my family. For me, events and networking actually take away from what I love about being on island, which is retreating into this quiet, almost anonymous world where we get to just be a family in our bubble in Surfside — often not leaving a two-mile radius. That’s my favorite scene.

We love spending time at home. It’s simple and there’s something wholesome about it on Nantucket - afternoons by the pool after a day at the beach, the kids swing on the tree swing while my husband and I look on from our rocking chairs on the front porch with coffee or wine. Give me a Liberty puzzle any day — I will happily disappear into one for four hours. It’s a bit of an obsession. Those days are my most favorite kinds!

This month confirmed that even though I consider myself extremely outgoing, I am an introvert, because I am truly happiest when I’m with just my family, and at home.

The Magic of No Schedule

I loved having time away from social commitments this month. It was freeing, and genuinely recharging. Weekends with nothing scheduled — no birthday parties, no dance auditions, no playdates — felt like such a gift. Back in Connecticut we host quite a bit. We host friends and families with kids, large family gatherings, multiple overnight guests - and even hosting in it’s simplest form, say another family of four for dinner is work, especially coming off an exhausting week. Here, it was totally different. Other than one week of family guests, we intentionally cleared the books and did not host. That allowed us to meet and make some wonderful new island friends through the girls’ camps. We’re excited to build more of a community here! Our weekends stayed spontaneous and open. We’d sit at the pool until around 11am on a lazy morning and just ask each other, what do we want to do today? Beach? Town? Bike ride? Having that freedom is something I really cherished!

One night we decided to go to the Dreamland Drive In to see the new Minions movie. I haven’t been to a drive in since I was a little girl. It was so much fun. The girls absolutely loved it!

We noticed the shift in our daughters too. They have separate rooms in Connecticut and on Nantucket; but there’s also a bunk room. They gravitated toward sharing the bunk for most of the month and loved it! They’re twelve months and two weeks apart, and their once effortless friendship has been drifting lately into more of a typical sibling rivalry. They are so close in age that they’re often sharing friends, in the same camp group, but they need their own space sometimes. The fact that they chose, on their own, to share a room made us so happy! Hearing their laughter upstairs after we said goodnight was the greatest. Our eleven year old golden doodle, George, slept in the bunk room with them. It was really so precious!

Every morning whenI got up with Freddy, our puppy, he’d run up the stairs to the bunk room and jump on the bed to wake everyone up. It was so cute until he started doing it up 5:45 am!

I think what this month confirmed is that I truly enjoy and appreciate a quieter slower life — and that’s not really reflective of the pace of my actual life. My calendar in Connecticut is hectic - packed with work, social commitments, and travel - and honestly, it works against a lot of what brings me real joy and peace. This month was such an eye-opening experience. Now I just need to figure out how to bring more of that peace into my life year-round.

Until then, we’ll be Connecticut for a couple of weeks, then back to the island in August to finish out summer before the kids go back to school. Why does summer always go so fast!?

I hope you area all enjoying a relaxing and beautiful summer, friends!

Warmly from the coast,

Meg