Woohoo, your Simple Hospitality FUN MAIL has arrived! 📬
Hello, First name / dear friend–
This month’s Fun Mail feels extra special—it’s The Golden Newsletter! ✨ Fun Mail No. 16 is arriving on October 16, which also happens to be my 70th birthday. What a gift to celebrate this milestone with you today!
I’ve been reflecting a lot this birthday month. As my husband will attest, I’m the girl that doesn’t just celebrate my birthday or even birthday week…it’s got to be birthday month!! :) I love October with all my heart and it’s so wonderful that I was born in the fall to add to the specialness of it for me.
Gratitude fills my heart for the years I’ve been given, for the people who have shaped me, and for the privilege of writing Simple Hospitality. My book was a dream long stirring in me, and stepping out in faith to write it has been one of the legacies I treasure most. And while I celebrate what’s behind, I’m also looking forward with hope for what God still has ahead.
I can’t thank you enough for the friends who replied to my September newsletter sharing some of their big dreams!!
Let me share some pictures of the precious little people in our lives. This is the VERY first picture of all six of them with us earlier this year in the mountains. And, the picture below is Scott and I with their wonderful parents! What a blessing it is to have been given the gift of grandchildren.
📖 Featured at The Greystone Inn
An unexpected gift this season: Simple Hospitality was featured in the fall newsletter of The Greystone Inn as one of their recommended autumn reads. I’m so honored they shared it with their guests! This book continues to open such meaningful doors and conversations. If you’d like to peek, I shared the feature on Instagram, link to post here.
🍂 Autumn Invitations from the Book
Last month's newsletter we shared some Back-to-School ideas. Today, I wanted to share some fall hospitality ideas. Fall has its own rhythm of warmth and welcome. Two invitations from Simple Hospitality that feel especially fitting this season/time of year:
Invitation 8: Creative Kindness (p. 41) — Cooler days are the perfect time to bring a little extra thoughtfulness into someone’s world. Bake pumpkin bread for a neighbor, tuck a handwritten note into a child’s lunchbox, or surprise a friend and leave flowers by their doorstep. Autumn’s slower pace makes room for simple, creative gestures of care.
Invitation 43: Share the Stories of Your Holiday Traditions (pp. 173–174) — As the holidays draw closer, take time this fall to reflect on your own family traditions and the stories that shaped them. Share one around the table with friends or children—these stories carry warmth, identity, and connection.
Both are easy to embrace as the weather cools and days shorten, reminding us again that hospitality doesn’t have to be complicated—it just needs to be offered.
🎃 Recipe to Try: Pumpkin Dessert Ring
If October had a flavor, it might just be this recipe. The Pumpkin Dessert Ring has long been a family favorite—rich with fall spices, easy to serve, and perfect for gatherings. It’s one I’ve brought over the years to church potlucks, neighborhood fall parties, or simply to share around the table at home.
It’s kinda funny, because I was given this recipe (and probably 15 others) from another hygienist I worked with before we married. She gave me a collection of her favorite recipes as part of a bridal shower gift. I’m embarrassed to say, I waited at least 10 years before I even tried this recipe. But, once I did…I never looked back with using this each fall!! So many friends have requested this and I always love sharing it. To me, that’s the greatest compliment someone can give you. I hope you try it, and don’t be like me and wait the ten years!!
And if you try it this fall, I’d love to hear how it turns out for you!
Inspired by Simple Hospitality and in honor of National Do Something Nice Day, this post shares five simple, practical ways to let kindness become part of your everyday rhythm—no dinner party required. 💛
This month I’m delighted to highlight Betty J’s Florist. They’ve reordered Simple Hospitality several times for their beautiful gift shop, and each visit with them reminds me of the kindness at the heart of small businesses. Once, when I stopped by, they even gave me a card with their payment (which felt so fitting, since I’m definitely a “card person”myself!). It’s a joy to partner with them and see the book make its home in their lovely space just down the road from us.
A Gentle Invitation
As I celebrate this milestone birthday today, I’m reminded that kindness, like birthdays, is worth celebrating every chance we get. Thank you for being part of this journey with me—for reading, sharing, and living out your own simple hospitality.
And if you’ve been meaning to reply to one of these emails, consider this your little nudge (and my birthday wish!) 💛 Hearing from you—your stories, reflections, or even just a quick hello—means more to me than you know. I love connecting with the friends of this newsletter!
WITH GRATITUDE,
P.S. Did you know? All proceeds from my book, Simple Hospitality, go directly to support the new Orlando Health Children’s Pavilion—a place of hope, healing, and care for families in our community. Thank you for helping make a difference with every book you gift and share.
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If someone forwarded it to you—welcome! I'm so glad you're here. My name is Jennifer Boyd, and I recently published Simple Hospitality: An Invitation to Add Kindness to Your Everyday Life, a dream 25 years in the making. In both my book and newsletter, I share the heart behind hospitality—simple ways to bring kindness and connection into everyday life.
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