Happy List: #327

Hello! Welcome to the last Happy List of 2023. I’m glad you’re here.

This week on the blog we took a tour through history and discovered that our house was built before Christmas trees were a tradition in the United States. That tidbit blew my mind. I also got a little contemplative and shared some thoughts I’ve had about this season.

As always, thank you for reading this blog.

I cannot emphasize enough how happy it makes us to share this space on the internet with you. If you like what you read here and want to give us a gift this Christmas, please share the blog or one of our social media posts with your friends. That would make our day!

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Enjoy this week’s Happy List!

DOOR ADORE

I was casually scrolling through an article on Domino and this picture with the most amazing cabinet doors stopped me in my scroll. It does not surprise me that this home is in France.

See more pictures here.

(image: via Domino)

COUNTDOWN BALLOONS

This DIY New Year’s Eve balloon idea from Studio DIY is so cute.

I looked on Amazon to see if they sell a ready-made version of this and they do (here), but it’s not as good as this.

(image: Mary Costa Photography for Studio DIY)

DIY VICTORIAN TINSEL

Remind me next year that I want to try making this Victorian tin tinsel. You just need a drill, a roll of aluminum wire, and pliers. Totally doable.

The drill was an ingenious part of the process. Dans le Lakehouse has the best tutorial. Check it out here.

(image: Dans le Lakehouse)

EGGNOG MYSTERY

Where did eggnog get its name? The egg part is self-explanatory but the nog part is not.

It could have come from the word noggin. A noggin was a drinking cup before it became slang for head. In the 1600s, people began using the word noggin to describe a “modest quantity of liquor,” so maybe that’s where the term began.

There’s also a theory that eggnog is a combination of egg and grog.

Talk about a mystery for the ages. Learn more here. You can decide what is most likely.

P.S. Handy Husband is a BIG fan of eggnog, as evidenced by the current collection in our refrigerator. He’ll drink it straight or put it in his coffee for creamer. One of our kids adds it to chai tea. I am not a fan of eggnog…it’s too thick for me.

JADEITE

All of you who collect jadeite must be living your best lives during Christmas. The decorating possibilities!

Look at this cabinet filled with jadeite. Simply gorgeous. I loved every single picture of this home, especially the library ladder. Check it out in this Cottages and Bungalows article.

(image: via Cottages and Bungalows)

CINNAMON SUGAR PRETZELS

I bought the ingredients to make these Cinnamon Sugar Pretzels from Nesting With Grace today.  I just needed pretzels. Ha! Everything else is in my pantry and probably yours too.

This seemed like a fun, delicious, and quick snack to make for the kids. Get the recipe here.

(image: Nesting With Grace)

POETRY MOMENT

Why Write Love Poetry in a Burning World by Katie Farris

To train myself to find in the midst of hell
what isn’t hell.

The body bald
cancerous but still
beautiful enough to
imagine living the body
washing the body
replacing a loose front
porch step the body chewing
what it takes to keep a body
going-

This scene has a tune
a language I can read a door
I cannot close I stand
within its wedge
a shield.

Why write love poetry in a burning world?
To train myself in the midst of a burning world
to offer poems of love to a burning world.

Thank you for reading today’s Happy List.

Be good to yourself and others this weekend. This Christmas. 

I’ll see you back here on Monday.

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