Hello! Welcome to this week’s Happy List, and Happy Mother’s Day to those celebrating.
Consider this your reminder that Mother’s Day is on Sunday. I had the perk of seeing my oldest child last week (she’s away at college), and she gave me an early Mother’s Day gift – the flowers at the top of today’s blog post. It’s the first time I won’t be with both of my children on Mother’s Day, and that feels weird. I’m not even super into that holiday and it feels weird. Part of how life changes, I suppose.
This week on the blog, I shared the Push Pin Travel Globe I made. I haven’t done such a simple, but rewarding craft in a long time. I love that I was able to take something that I already owned and made it even better.
I also shared how maple seedlings make their own sunscreen and showed you the 4 trees we are trying to grow. They are just seedlings now, but hope springs eternal that we can keep them alive.
As always, thank you for spending a moment of your day here. The Happy List is meant to be a bright spot in your day and mine. It is filled with things that caught my eye this week or inspired me in some way. I hope they do the same for you. If you’d like to reach out, and I hope you do, please comment on this blog post or email me here. You can also direct message me on Instagram or Facebook. (P.S. I am much better at answering emails and Instagram DMs than I am at anything on Facebook.)
Here’s the Happy List!
MUDROOM IDEA
I know this photo is staged, but don’t you think kid backpacks and a million shoes piled on the floor would still look good in this beautiful, color-drenched mudroom by Ann Lane Home?
I’d love to know if there are storage areas on the opposite side of the room because I’d need it to hide a few million coats, shoes, grocery bags, etc.
Notice the light shade on the ceiling light is rattan. Could I make one from a basket? The wheels are turning here.
(image: Peak Visuals | design: Ann Lane Home | via The Cottage Journal)
REALITY SHOW
Perhaps some silly fun is what we all need right now.
To that end, if (that’s a BIG if) I was going to get into a juicy reality show, it would be the drama surrounding the penguins at the Kyoto Aquarium. The aquarium has released a penguin relationship chart detailing how all the penguins are connected including love triangles, enemies, committed couples, infidelity, friendships, and more.
The only way this differs from a soap opera is no one comes back to life or has a secret twin. Yet.
To see a full scale version of the chart so you can read it, visit the Kyoto Aquarium’s site.
(image: Kyoto Aquarium)
A BRIGHT GIFT IDEA
Treat yourself or someone else to a set of my favorite mason jar lid solar lights for Mother’s Day. You should know by now, when I like something, I really like it. These solar lids with their attached fairy lights bring me so much joy. I keep them out in weather, so the lids have patina now.
I did have the good fortune or maybe it was bad fortune of being up at 3a.m. the other night and noticed the solar lights were still on. No clue on how long they stay on after a cloudy day, but if I’m up at 3a.m. again, I can let you know.
EMBROIDERED HANDKERCHIEF
Loved this idea of an embroidered handkerchief from Tiana’s Closet. I’d probably use the idea for a cloth napkin.
(image: Tiana’s Closet)
AMERICAN EXCHANGE PROJECT
“American Exchange Project, the country’s first free intercultural domestic exchange program, invites graduating high school seniors to stay with host families in communities dissimilar to their own as a way to foster empathy and combat division,” according to this article in Nice News.
What a neat idea! The two-week program is completely free. You can apply to be a part of the exchange, be a host family, or support the program financially here.
(image: courtesy of American Exchange Project via Nice News)
HANDMADE NECKLACE
If you need a last minute Mother’s Day gift idea, this is probably a necklace that only a mother can love, which makes it perfect. My son made this washer necklace when he was five. It’s three washers layered together and strung on a leather cord. They are painted with fingernail polish.
I still wear it. I’m not kidding you. I wore it last week, and it still makes my now teenage son light up when he sees it.
CARNITAS
I made this carnitas recipe from Recipe Tin Eats last week, and it hit the spot. It was super flavorful, and I love an easy slow cooker recipe.
It’s hard for us to eat 2 pounds of meat, even multiple days in a row, so I portion it out and freeze leftovers for quick meals later.
(image: Recipe Tin Eats)
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
“The best thing for being sad… is to learn something. That is the only thing that never fails. You may grow old and trembling in your anatomies, you may lie awake at night listening to the disorder of your veins, you may miss your only love, you may see the world about you devastated by evil lunatics, or know your honor trampled in the sewers of baser minds. There is only one thing for it then — to learn. Learn why the world wags and what wags it. That is the only thing which the mind can never exhaust, never alienate, never be tortured by, never fear or distrust, and never dream of regretting.”
– T.H. White (source)
Thank you for reading this week’s Happy List.
Be good to yourself and others this weekend.
I’ll see you back here on Monday.
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