Happy List: #138 – A Pretty Happy Home

Hello!

Tonight we are going on a full moon hike with a bunch of strangers. Here’s hoping ~~this isn’t creepy~~ it isn’t cloudy!

Monday on the blog was a fun one. I shared before and after photos of our music room. I think I’m done talking about that room for awhile! I’m not sure which room I will yak your ear off about next though. Although, if you’ve been following on my Instagram stories you’ll know I am painting a new room. And I’m not painting it white!

On Wednesday, I shared a story about how and why we removed the garden bed in our backyard. Don’t we have the most generous neighbors?

Here’s the Happy List!

METAL ROOSTER TRASHCAN

For any farmhouse decor lovers out there, you need this metal trashcan from Wayfair. It is 6.5 gallon, so not big enough for a kitchen, but perfect for any other spot you want hide your garbage in style.

If that’s not a life goal, I don’t know what is!

I’ve gone down the rabbit hole of trash cans because I currently have an unsightly trash situation in my kitchen that I don’t know how to deal with that doesn’t involve demolishing the entire space and starting over.

LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL

This song, sung by Keb’ Mo’ is not new, but it has been on repeat lately. You can’t listen to it and not tap your feet. Something about his voice and the ukulele.

I especially like the chorus and how that last line can put your problems into context.

Life is beautiful, life is wonderous
Every star above shining just for us
Life is beautiful, on a stormy night
Somewhere in the world the sun is shining bright

OBSCURE TYPES OF CUTLERY

I feel like I’ve missed out on some culinary experiences because I’ve never needed a ladle for my mustard.

I’ve never eaten ice cream with a fork.

I don’t have muddler just for chocolate!!!!

I certainly don’t have a serving spoon that must only be used for cucumbers.

(image: Ian Palmer for Veranda)

I have had one of those comb thingies though, but I thought it was for lice removal not cake breaking. Silly me. By the way, I had to google cake breaking. That tool is used specifically for slicing angel food cake. Makes sense now.

Learn more about obscure cutlery pieces from this article in Veranda.

12-PACK LED CANDLES

I recently got these LED candles for the non-working fireplace in our master bedroom and I am like a kid in a candy store about this purchase. They look so neat all lit up and they flicker like a real candle would.

I can turn them on and off with a remote! I think that’s the most exciting part.

The candles don’t come with batteries though, so take that into account. We use rechargeable batteries, which have been, by far, one of our best investments.

Maybe I should take pictures of that fireplace for you.

30 MINUTE INDIAN PUMPKIN BUTTER CHICKPEAS

I made this dish from Half Baked Harvest for myself and Handy Husband last Friday and it was SO TASTY. I didn’t even think I liked chickpeas all that much. Wrong.

My kids don’t enjoy curry, so this dish was lost on them. They had rotisserie chicken.

I made homemade naan bread to go with it and it made the meal. The kids did scarf up the naan bread though!

(image: H alf Baked Harvest)

BRICK FLOORS

I’m just a girl convinced her home needs a room with a brick floor.

And I will keep showing you pictures until I get one. This home is in the portfolio of G.P. Schafer Architects. I lost several minutes of my life perusing their portfolio and I have no regrets.

(image: G.P. Schafer Architects)

As a side note, it would be a lot easier to have the floor of my dreams if 15 layers of flooring and floor leveling compound weren’t standing in my way. You know?

I exaggerate. It’s more like 3 layers of flooring and the leveling compound.

CANDY CORN MIX

Of all the foods I have ~~slaved over~~ cooked for my family over the years, I think this candy corn mix is their favorite. I’m not going to reflect too much on that sentence or it might depress me and this is a Happy List!

Do you make something similar too?

Our concoction is a mix of candy corn, honey roasted peanuts and honey roasted cashews.

Interestingly enough, this mix is not a temptation for me, so I’m okay with having it around.

Even more interesting, by the time the jar is only 1/4 full, there won’t be any candy corn left in the jar. Weird, right?

TRAVEL IS A COMMA

I read this article where Samantha Brown, host of ‘Places to Love’ on PBS is quoted as saying, “Travel is about commas, not exclamation points.” That’s how I feel about a lot of the experiences we’ve had when traveling.

Brown goes on to say, “Travel shows today have moved toward an over-the-top, unattainable type of travel. A travel full of superlatives: the top five things you have to do. It has to be bucket list level to even be worth it. Everyone thinks travel is about exclamation points, but travel is about the commas; the comma is where a culture and people express themselves. Commas are where we allow ourselves to breathe, to observe, and that’s the travel that I love.”

I remember visiting a well-regarded art museum in Luxembourg. The kids discovered a room in the museum full of beanbags. We were the only people there and they didn’t want to leave the beanbag room.