Happy List #26: I SURVIVED Edition

TGIF! Finally!

Some of my friends are celebrating the last day of school. Or, as I like to say, the last day of packing school lunches! I love seeing all of those first and last day of school pictures pop up in my social media feeds!

You guys know I crack myself up right? I’m not even ashamed to say that! This week I shared a funny story about the new vegetable my husband hates. Celeriac. Have you had it? It’s delicious.

I also shared an awesome craft, which I’ve aptly called emoji golf balls. My daughter and her friends had so much fun making these. If you have some extra golf balls lying around and don’t know what to do with them – try this project!

Here is what’s giving me all the happy feels this week:

I SURVIVED, THANKS FOR ASKING
Last weekend I mentioned we were doing back-to-back sleepovers for my children’s birthdays. Some of you asked me how it went. I think this sums it up…

I joke. I joke! Sort of. Not really.

The kids all had a blast though. That’s the important thing.

If you need me, I’ll be at the salon getting all my new grey hair covered.

ADVICE FOR MY KIDS

I’ve included the following song on my list this week even though it’s a bit sad. What can I say? I’m a sucker for a sad song with a bit of wisdom.

The line in the song that gets me is “we got the life that we wanted, not the love that we need.”

Particularly as my children are growing up in a social media-ridden world, I want them to take this concept to heart. It is easy to look at the curated version of what our “friends” post on social media and think there is something lacking in our lives.

In other words, we don’t have the fanciest things, the biggest home, the smartest kids, the best swimsuit figure, the coolest job, the most glamorous vacations, etc. You can have all those “things” and still not be happy because the love part is missing. I really want my kids to take that advice to heart when they grow up and choose a person with whom to spend their life.

COOLEST RENTAL HOME EVER

This home was designed with inspiration from the cartoon Tom and Jerry and is located in Bangkok. Now, Bangkok is NOT on my Travel Bucket List, but my kids would LOVE for us to rent this home. In fact, I’d kind of like to rent this home.

“White nets are spread across the five levels of the 4,682-square-foot house like hammocks and trampolines, so users can hang, hide, climb, and tumble along interiors that look and feel like an indoor playground.”

Anyone else wondering how much their homeowner’s insurance is???

Photo courtesy of Wison Tungthunya

Read more about it on Dwell.

GOOD SUMMER READ

I heard all the buzz about HBO’s new show Big Little Lies, so I decided to read the book. The book is always better, right?

Oh. My. Word. (No reading pun intended.) If you’ve ever been a PTA mom or have done everything in your power to avoid being a PTA mom, you will SO get this book. It’s hilarious and just a tad bit scary how Liane Moriarty nails the stereotypes.

Thankfully, no one ever died at any PTA functions I’ve ever attended though. I’ll leave it at that.

If you like any of Shondra Rhimes’ TV shows, you’ll love this book. Basically, it’s like candy for your brain. It’s the perfect summer beach read.

CLOUD BREAD

Has anyone tried cloud bread? Or heard of it?

Cloud bread is NOT bread. It is a bread alternative made with egg whites, cream of tartar, egg yolks and full-fat dairy like cream cheese or yogurt. It’s pretty much carb free.

But how about the taste?

I loved it when Epicurious answered the question, “is cloud bread delicious?” “No, not really. Our food director Rhoda Boone described it as, “A little worse than a rice cake.” Food editor Kat Sacks said she could see eating them if you were “really, really desperate for something resembling carbohydrates.” HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Oh, that review made my day!

Bottom line, if you try it, TELL ME!!! I think I’ll stick with regular bread and exercise, thank you very much.
Picture and the full article from Epicurious can be found here.

STAY IN A CONVERTED CHURCH

AirBnB is full of gems. Elle Decor recently shared a list of converted churches you can rent from their site. Yes, churches!

Like this one in Chicago, which was originally built in 1888. Those beams!

Or this one in Australia, which has a really, really cool interior.

By the way, Australia IS on my Travel Bucket List.

I’ve always thought it would be cool to convert a church into a home. Except old churches are often situated on busy streets, which makes the location less than ideal for me.

BUILT-IN SEATING 

How do you feel about this kitchen set up? Bench seating built into the back of the kitchen island with the table right there?

I’m on the fence…

Image via Becki Owens

On the plus side, my kids wouldn’t even have to get up to clear the table. Wait…I don’t need to encourage them to be lazy.

On the downside, the throw pillows would be a disaster. Only people who never sit there would have throw pillows placed there. In fairness, this set up is possible without pillows and cushions.

BLACK SINK: YAY OR NAY?

Would you install a black sink in your kitchen? I’d have to go with yes, mainly because I had an espresso-colored granite sink once and loved it.

It wasn’t as cool as this sink though. Hubba, hubba!

(Image credit: Domino)

Depending on the material the sink was made of, the only thing that would make me nervous would be hard water spots. My granite sink (this one from Home Depot) was prone to those and I had to oil it with baby oil to bring it back to normal.

More black sink eye candy can be found here.

SUMMER

Summer showed up in Dublin this week! It hit 72 degrees Fahrenheit. That’s about as warm as it gets here, folks. But it has been absolutely perfect!

Winter will probably be back this weekend, so we have been spending every spare moment outside soaking up the Vitamin D.

That’s it from my part of this beautiful world! Happy Weekend, everyone!

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