Happy List: #386

Hello, hello! It is delightful to see you here. Welcome!

I hope you’ve had a decent week with more ups than downs. On the blog, it felt particularly jam-packed.

I wrote about the quick curb appeal project of adding faux windows to our garage. What I love about this project beside the low cost was that when I change my mind (and I will), I can simply remove the window magnets and go about my day. No effort required to put it back to the way it was.

I also wrote about the new-to-us drink table I placed next to the bench in our kitchen. I’ve noticed that the drink table gets repositioned often as someone settles into place to drink their coffee or tea. It makes me feel good that this solution is working for us.

In case this is your first time here, I purposefully keep the Happy List focused on the lighter side of life in the hopes that this is a soft place for you to land when the news can be overwhelming. I absolutely welcome the opportunity to connect with you and hear what you’re doing and how you’re feeling. If you want to reach out, you can always comment on this blog post or email me here. You can also reach out on Instagram or Facebook.

Enjoy the Happy List!

BEDROOM BALCONY

Do you have a balcony off your bedroom? Is it dreamy?

If we ever build an addition onto our house, I’d love to incorporate a bedroom balcony, or, at least, an exterior entrance to a patio.

(image: T.S. Adams Studio, Architects via Houzz)

P.S. Our house isn’t very “aging in place” friendly due to all of the stairs. That’s partly why we’re so focused on improving our strength, bone density, and balance with weightlifting. We also dream about building an owner’s suite on the main level of our house and expanding the kitchen at the same time. This would also allow us to more easily accommodate multi-generational living should that become our reality. We’ll see what happens! The future has yet to be written.

MISSING MAPS

If you want an at-home volunteer opportunity, Handy Husband recommends Missing Maps. This initiative was founded by the American and British Red Cross and aims to map areas of the world that are literally missing from maps. These improved maps help rescue organizations know how to serve the world’s poorest, most remote areas in the event of disaster.

Armchair mapping volunteers spend their time looking at maps and simply identifying if they spot a structure on a satellite photo. This helps volunteer organizations know if they need to send rescue teams to a remote location or not. Handy Husband has signed up multiple times to do this volunteer task through his work and really enjoys it. It’s easy, but also feels like he’s making a difference.

(Every employee at his company spends a certain number of hours per month on volunteer tasks.)

This video explains how it works. If it doesn’t load here, watch it directly on YouTube. You can also visit Missing Maps to learn more and get started.

3-D CAT BED

Where are my cat lovers at? This one is for you.

Paws Love makes a 3-D cat bed that makes it look like your cat is sitting inside a famous painting. I can’t even stand the cuteness.

(image: Paws Love)

SHED GOALS

This is the cutest shed. That scalloped trim!

See more photos of this property over at Cottages and Bungalows. There are so many details to take in.

(image: Cottages and Bungalows)

JAW DROPPED

This isn’t “happy,” but it is wildly interesting. I am reading Brad Meltzer’s non-fiction book, The JFK Conspiracy about a plot to assassinate JFK right after he won the election that did not work.

This reads like a fiction book, so it’s not dry at all. The first four chapters had my jaw dropping with the connections to famous people and the heroic details of Kennedy’s military shipwreck. Handy Husband kept saying, “Why are you gasping?” I replied, “Because this is blowing my mind.”

(image: Amazon)

P.S. I learned about the book while listening to an interview with Brad Meltzer on Sharon McMahon’s podcast, Here’s Where It Gets Interesting. The entire interview was fascinating and also covers his viral commencement address.

POP OF RED

I think this might be an AI-generated image because Southern Living did not give it a photo credit. I’m also not sure how a hanging basket stays upright without a third cord.

Critical thinking aside, there’s an idea in here that could be cool if you pull on it a little more. Pun intended. (Hahaha! I crack myself up.) I do like the unexpected pop of red on the pulley too.

(image: via Southern Living)

BALD EAGLE UPDATE

The eagles, Jackie and Shadow, ended up with two chicks and they are now named! The names were selected through a contest. The bigger chick is Sunny and the smaller chick is Gizmo.

Here’s the livestream of the nest. If the video doesn’t load, you can watch it on YouTube.

You can also get written updates in this Google doc.

COCONUT CAKE

I’m not typically a cake person. I’d much rather have pie or cookies. However, I wanted to jump into my computer screen when I saw this Coconut Cake over at Sally’s Baking Addiction.

The cake part itself looks delicious texture-wise. Will someone bake this for me?

(image: Sally’s Baking Addiction)

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

“What if you wake up some day, and you’re 65 or 75, and you never got your novel or memoir written; or you didn’t go swimming in warm pools or oceans because your thighs were jiggly or you had a nice big comfortable tummy; or you were just so strung out on perfectionism and people-pleasing that you forgot to have a big juicy creative life, of imagination and radical silliness and staring off into space like when you were a kid? It’s going to break your heart. Don’t let this happen.” – Anne Lamott

Thank you for reading today’s Happy List.

Be good to yourself and others this weekend.

I’ll see you back here on Monday.

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