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    Gratitude

    Hi, friends! I’m taking time off the blog this week for Thanksgiving Break. Before I do, I want to thank each of you for all the kindness you’ve shown our family this year. Even though what I share here is but a small snippet of our lives, it is a little scary to release those words into the wild three times a week. So, thank you for all your kind thoughts. Thank you for those times when you bit your tongue. Thank you for your ideas. But most of all, thank you for the time you share with me each week. Before I go, here is a poem by Lucy…

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    Labor Day 2020

    Happy Labor Day 2020! I had planned on a new project post for you today, but this weekend we had a “critical error” on the website. This is what I get for running an “update.” Thankfully, we had a FaceTime date with friends to distract me from the website not allowing me to do anything except gaze wistfully upon it. The distraction worked! We stayed up way too late laughing until we cried. Today, while I wish we were doing something exciting like playing at the beach, I am going to try and fix the last of the problems. Please cross your fingers for me that Wednesday’s regularly scheduled blog…

  • colonial farmhouse flower bed staycation
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    A Poem and Another Staycation Week

    It’s another staycation week for our crew! I’m not sure how our quiet summer has zipped by so quickly. I feel like our days have been full, but not necessarily busy. I rather like it. I don’t know what we will be doing this week. Probably trying to decide if I’m buying school supplies or not buying school supplies. Ha! But seriously. Before I leave you to your own devices this week, I thought I’d share a poem I’ve enjoyed lately from Emily Dickinson. As imperceptibly as Grief The Summer lapsed away — Too imperceptible at last To seem like Perfidy — A Quietness distilled As Twilight long begun, Or…

  • 4th of july balls
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    Vacation Week

    It’s vacation week for our family! Well, staycation week. We aren’t going anywhere. We were supposed to be on a plane to visit family, but all of our summer travel was cancelled. Quarantine travel rules between states make leaving New Jersey tricky. Plus, it didn’t seem like a good way to show our love by living in the state with the second highest number of Covid-19 cases and then traveling on a plane to visit people who are considered high risk. I’m showing my love by staying away and that feels strange. I’m holding onto hope that things will get better because I miss everyone! This week we are going…

  • english cottage stairs via the boardroom on the happy list
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    Happy List: #149

    Woohoo! We made it to Friday, folks. Barely. I had THE BEST weekend with my friend. Only three things broke in the house while she was here. So that was a win. What were the items? Our boiler (the was an expensive repair), our granite counter (I’m trying to baby along a crack until we remodel), and the toilet (I fixed that all by myself after a trip to Home Depot). Moral of this story, come visit us. It is great. Hospitality as its finest. Stuff breaks, but we promise to fix it. If we can’t, we’ll serve you drinks. Shoot, even if we can fix it we’ll serve you…

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    Would I Make It Again: Homemade Ginger Ale with Fresh Ginger

    Ginger ale is one beverage that I never, ever considered making at home. It didn’t even dawn on me that you could. Or should. Or would! But I did. The idea started on a somewhat typical Friday night. I had cooked a package of bacon. Why bacon on a Friday night? Why not?! We had company visiting us for the weekend. Handy Husband was on bartender duty. The adult beverage of choice that evening was a Moscow Mule. This drink is made with ginger beer, lime and vodka. I had purchased a few different varieties of ginger beer and ginger ale for Handy Husband to use to mix these drinks.…

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    Out Exploring This Week

    This week I will be out and about exploring. Handy Husband is taking some time off work, so I am too! I’m not sure what we are going to do yet. I’m currently baking bread and listening to a thunderstorm, but if the weather cooperates I might do more of this… Or maybe we’ll hit up a museum or a hiking trail. I’ve got a big playground, figuratively-speaking, to explore! On a housekeeping note, did you know I have a shop page where I keep a round-up of favorite items I’ve either mentioned on the blog, am currently loving/using, and/or will be mentioning on the blog. These shop pages are…

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    Spring Break and an Irish Blessing

    I hope you had a lovely Easter. Here’s an Irish blessing to start your week: May love and laughter light your days, and warm your heart and home. May good and faithful friends be yours, wherever you may roam. May peace and plenty bless your world with joy that long endures. May all life’s passing seasons bring the best to you and yours! I’m hopping off the blog this week to spend time with Handy Husband and the kiddos. If we end up doing anything exciting, I’ll be sure and post it on Instagram. Have a happy week! Share this:

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    Don’t Freak Out! Website Changes!

    Hello my favorite people! I’m popping in today to say don’t freak out because the website looks different. I’m the only one who needs to be freaking out! I was trying to add/improve functionality for my mobile readers behind-the-scenes and well, one thing led to another and I pushed the pretty flashing button that said “activate.” It turns out that button changed how everything looked! Why can’t I have one of those buttons when I’m trying to get ready in the morning? I’m not sure if the site is staying this way or not. I need to work out a bunch of bugs, which is my least favorite thing to…

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    Happy New Year!

    Hello, hello! I hope you had a fun time ringing in (or sleeping through) the New Year! If you’ve been following me on Instagram (@aprettyhapppyhome) you’ll know we are off on a grand adventure. It has been our quest while living in Ireland to see as much of Europe as we can. In this trip alone we will cross three more countries off our list. We won’t have time to do a deep dive into each of the areas we are visiting, but the highlights are pretty fantastic! I’m taking a break from blogging this week to continue with our adventures. I’ll be back next week to tell you all…