Hello! Welcome to this week’s Happy List. I’m so glad you made time in your day to be here.
This week on the blog I shared the pantry organization tricks that work for us. Will they work for you? I don’t know. Organization is a “choose your own adventure” sort of thing.
I also shared the sweet 2×4 hearts we made for Valentine’s Day. I’m a big fan of projects that use what we already have and let me tell you, we have a lot of wood scraps.
Once again, thank you for being here. Don’t be a stranger. We like talking to you! If you want to connect with us or ask a question, you can always comment on this blog post or send an email here. You can also reach out on Instagram or Facebook.
Enjoy this week’s Happy List!
I’D LIVE HERE
I’d pinch myself if I got to live here. What a magical space.
More pictures of this home by Patrick Ahearn Architects can be found here.
(image: Patrick Ahearn Architect via Town and Country Living)
GREATEST WORDPLAY PUZZLE
Have you heard of the Scrabblegram? The Guardian describes it like this. “The Scrabblegram is a form of constrained writing in which you must write a piece of text that uses all 100 tiles in an English Scrabble set, and no other letters. The blank tiles must be used, and as per the rules can be any letter.”
David Cohen wrote this Scrabblegram in 1997. “A clown jumps above a trapeze arc over one hundred eighty degrees out into midair quite unaware of his exiting billfold and keys.”
Sounds like a fun challenge! If you don’t have a Scrabble game at home, you can try to make a Scrabblegram online for free here. (This little game was super handy because it tells you which letters you have left to use and which ones you need to get rid of.)
(image: Flickr upload by McGeddon to Wikimedia)
WARM AND TOASTY
If I had a fireplace in my bathroom, I’d probably never leave it.
This home featured in House and Garden UK is gorgeous. I stared at the pantry and bedroom pictures for far too long. Check it out here.
(image: Mark Anthony Fox for House and Garden UK)
RETRO SOCKS
I cannot explain women’s fashion to you but I do know these retro striped socks are popular right now. My teen would love these.
(image: Amazon)
PLANT STAND
Check out this new plant stand from IKEA. Now imagine it painted to look like brass.
This plant stand is for indoor and outdoor use. I probably wouldn’t paint it if I was using it outside though.
WHERE DOES FAT GO?
Where does fat go when you lose weight? I thought we turned it into energy, but that’s not quite right.
The short answer is you breathe fat out as carbon dioxide. WHAT? When you exercise, fat is broken down into its most basic chemical compounds and excreted through either sweat, urine, or carbon dioxide. Over 80% comes out as carbon dioxide. The lungs are the primary excretory organ for fat.
Learn more about it at the British Medical Journal or at MIT Technology Review.
(image: Ruben Meerman and Andrew Brown via BMJ)
QUILTED GIFT TAGS
Drop everything and go over to the Country Road 407 blog to check out the quilted gift tags. This is a gift tag I would keep forever.
(image: Country Road 407)
CORD ORGANIZATION
These little magnetic silicone ties would have come in handy the other day when I was trying to organize one billion and one cords. Why do we need to keep so many cords in a drawer? It’s a mystery to me.
(image: Amazon)
GARLIC ROSEMARY HERB FOCACCIA
I don’t recall ever making focaccia bread before this week. What have I been doing with my life?
I tried this recipe from Sally’s Baking Addiction this week. It wasn’t hard at all to make! The make ahead nature of this bread works well for our busy nights when we’re shuttling kids to and from activities. Plus, this recipe made A LOT! You could easily serve this up at a party.
(image: Sally’s Baking Addiction)
P.S. I didn’t bake mine quite as long as the recipe said to…just watched until it started to get brown on top. My kids think I should try and make a cinnamon sugar version.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
The following Twitter (now X) post is a couple of years old but I think about it often. UpWorthy rounded up some of the responses to this post and it’s worth a read whether you initially agree or not. If nothing else, it will make you think about the differences between being nice and kind and maybe how we all can be both.
So often, we West Coasters think that showing *sympathy* or feeling *empathy* is an act of kindness. Sadly, it’s really just a nice act. Kindness is making sure the baby has a hat. (s/o to breenewsome and BlackAmazon)
When you translate this to institutions or policy, you’ll see alot of nice words being used, & West Coast liberals/radicals are really good at *sounding* nice. But I’ve seen organizers & activists from other places get frustrated because nothing happens after ALOT of talk.
Thank you for reading today’s Happy List.
Be good to yourself and others this week.
I’ll see you back here on Monday.
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