How I Used AI to Successfully Hire a Contractor
I recently used AI to hire a contractor, or rather, help me hire a contractor, and that’s the kind of assistance I could used to. Finding a good contractor – any contractor, really – is so hard. One unfortunate universal human experience seems to be that homeowners have a hard time finding and hiring good contractors. We all have stories. Ugh. So. Many. Stories. I needed to hire a painter to paint the trim along our roofline. It was a small job square footage-wise and it was all 30-feet in the air. Plus, there might be some rot to deal with. “Super fun,” said no one. I had been ghosted…
Repaired Gable Return on a Greek Revival
Did you know gable returns are a defining feature of Greek Revival-style architecture in the United States? We recently repaired a gable return on our Greek Revival, which ended up being a doozy of a project, so we’ve gotten an up close and personal look at this stylistic architectural feature. While not universal, gable returns are commonly found on Greek Revival-style homes built in the United States between 1830 and 1860. Gable returns or eave returns, as they are sometimes called, are an extension of the roof trim or cornice that turn the corner at the bottom of the gable. They are purely decorative for homes built in the U.S.,…
Happy List: #434
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…
Maple Seedlings Make Their Own Sunscreen & 4 Trees We’re Growing
Seedling maple trees have a cool trick to protect their fragile new leaves from the sun. They can make their own “sunscreen.” Are you kidding me? I wish I could do that. I learned that cool fact this week after riding the rollercoaster of “will it or won’t it live” for a volunteer maple tree we’ve been watching grow. The emotional investment is getting out of hand. The Maple Tree’s Origin Story In the summer of 2025, we noticed a maple tree was growing out of a potted fern we had on our deck. This wasn’t completely unexpected since there is a giant maple tree in our backyard. What was…
How To Make a DIY Push Pin Travel Globe
Don’t spend money on a cork travel globe to document your travels. Let me show you how to make a DIY Push Pin Travel Globe by upcycling a thrift store globe. It’s one of the easiest crafts I’ve ever done, and such a fun way to document your travel adventures! Items Needed To Make a DIY Push Pin Travel Globe Globe made of cardboard or paper mâché. It cannot be plastic or metal. Map pins (multi-colored pack | wood pins) Hammer Tiny nail (to create a pilot hole) How To Make a DIY Push Pin Travel Globe Step 1: Select your push pins or map pins. Map pins come in…
Happy List: #433
Hello! Happy May Day! I cannot believe we have made it to May already, but I’m glad we are here. It was a big week on the blog, mainly because we finished our Basement Workshop Repointing Project! I hope you’ll check out how the space turned out. Now we have to work up the motivation to start something else. I also shared a new word I learned: jollifier. I’d love to know what jollifiers you have in your home or life. 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…
What Jollifiers Do You Have In Your Home?
“What jollifiers do you have in your home?” Joanna Goddard recently asked on her site, A Cup of Jo. Oh, my heart! That word! Jollifiers. It’s so fun, and should definitely be added to our daily lexicon. Jollifiers, as defined by Goddard, are small objects around your home that bring you joy or make you smile when you see them. I’ve been thinking about what jollifiers I have around my home. I’m at the stage of life where I’m getting pickier and pickier about what I bring into my home, so I have a baseline affection for almost everything here. Ha! However, if you forced me to choose, here are…
Basement Workshop Repointing: Part 9, The Reveal
Today is the big TADA! This is the finale of our Basement Workshop Repointing Project series and the grand reveal of how the finished space turned out! I’m using a lot of exclamation points because I’m very happy that we’ve checked another project off the list. Sure, I added ten more projects to the list in the time it took us to finish this one, but that’s the “perk” of homeownership! Why We Were Repointing Our Stone Foundation If you’re new here (welcome!), we’ve been repointing the stone foundation in our basement workshop, which is the oldest section of our house dating back to the 1780s. If you’re keeping track,…
Happy List: #432
Why, hello! Welcome to this week’s Happy List. What a pleasure it is to see you here. This week on the blog, I shared that we finished something! It was a big milestone to finish repointing the stone foundation walls (finally!) in our basement workshop. Stay tuned for the finale of that series. There’s still one thing left to do. I also shared 10 Fun and Thoughtful Graduation Gift Ideas in case you’re shopping for a graduate like we are. Our kids are not in a graduation year, but there are others in our orbit that have reached this milestone. It’s so exciting for them. As always, thank you for…
10 Fun and Thoughtful Graduation Gift Ideas
Graduation season is just around the corner. I was shopping for a graduation gift last night, and thought you might like to see the fun and thoughtful gift ideas I found for graduates. Now, let’s keep it real. I have had one child who has graduated from high school, and I can tell you, cash is the item kids need and want the most. Truly. However, my daughter did receive some jewelry to commemorate the accomplishment, and she wears that jewelry almost daily. It’s something she can keep forever, and a sweet memento of that snapshot in time. There’s a time and place for cash, gift cards, and physical gifts.…
