Dorothy Got it Right.

10 Muirfield Circle. The backyard. My favorite spot.

There's no place like home.

I am contentedly sitting inside my beautiful house in Wheaton, IL, contemplating how blessed I am to have a job that allows me to work from home, wherever my home might be on a given day (whether that's Santa Monica, Malibu, San Francisco, Dallas, Chicago or Ghana). It's so nice to be home. I haven't been here since Christmastime. Home is the only place where I can truly relax; having had the privilege of exploring Wheaton throughout my teenage years, there's not much left in this city that I feel like I need to do. Instead, I can just be.

While at home, I can:

Spend delicious amounts of time with Mom and Dad.
Watch endless episodes of House and America's Next Top Model.
Have Starbucks waiting for me on the breakfast counter in the morning.
Enjoy home-cooked meals.
Spend evenings drinking Blue Moon beer or red wine by the outdoor fireplace, one of my most favorite places in the world.
Have friends stop by to catch up while sitting by the aforementioned fireplace.
Order (and consume) too much pizza from Taylor Street.
TiVo my favorite shows, a luxury not afforded to me at my great apartment in Santa Monica.
Sleep. A lot. Maybe too much.
Take trips to Target, Nordstrom, Anthropologie and Barnes & Noble.
Get a manicure and a hair cut.
Read long-lost books that have been re-discovered on my bookshelves, in addition to Mom's back issues of People and Self.

Hang out on the floral couch in the family room for far too long and not feel bad about it for one minute.
Reminisce about the good 'ole days at Wheaton Warrenville South High School.
Know how blessed I am by evaluating where I've been and where I'm going.

Chicago in the fall. Sitting by the outdoor fireplace is amongst my favorite pastimes.