Hello! Welcome to today’s Happy List. I’m so glad you could join me here.
This week on the blog I rounded up the prettiest tablet or cookbook holders that you could keep out on your counter all the time.
I also shared an interesting story about St. Valentine and the unlikely place he turned up.
As always, thank you for being here. Don’t be a stranger. We like talking to you! If you want to connect with us or ask a question, you can always comment on this blog post or send an email here. You can also reach out on Instagram or Facebook.
Enjoy this week’s Happy List!
MOUNTAIN ESCAPE
I’d love to relax at Sarah Richardson’s mountain house.
The combination of black and natural wood is perfection. See more pictures of this space here.
(image: Janis Nicolay for Sarah Richarson Design)
PIANO SCULPTURE
Artist Maskull Lasserre has created a sculpture with a carved octopus joining two pianos together. My jaw dropped when I saw this picture.
The sculpture took him 2,000 hours and two pianos to create. Learn more and see close-up pictures at My Modern Met.
(image: Maskull Lasserre via My Modern Met)
SCALLOPED NOTEPAD
A pretty notepad with scalloped edges? Take all my money, Rifle Paper Co. This is in my cart for a friend.
(image: Rifle Paper Co.)
KITCHEN LOVE
I poured over the details of this kitchen by Moore House Design this week. It appears simple but a lot is going on there. I also like how the fridge is built into the wall instead of built with cabinets around it.
See more photos from all of the angles here.
(image: photo by Erin Mcginn | Moore House Design | via Desire to Inspire
Olympic Medals
The 2024 Olympic medals will contain a piece of the actual Eiffel Tower. How cool is that?
When repairs are done on the tower, metal gets saved, so that’s why a piece of the Eiffel Tower could be placed in the medals. Someone was thinking ahead!
(image: Olympic Games)
We’ve had the pleasure of touring the Eiffel Tower. I’ll never forget it and all of those stairs.
SHOE LOVE
I won’t be training for the Olympics, in case you were wondering, but I did get new tennis shoes.
Imagine me feeling sorry for myself because I was at the podiatrist’s office. (I’m fine.) Then two nurses complimented my new shoes and I decided the podiatrist’s office was amazing! It doesn’t take much to turn my day around.
I got these tan Altras for our daily walks and they were comfy right out of the box.
(image: Amazon)
ARE BLUEBERRIES BLUE?
Blueberries are not blue in the way fruit typically gets its color. Meaning, they do not have blue pigment.
Blueberries seem blue to our eyes because of their waxy coating. The waxy coating contains “nanostructures that scatter blue and ultraviolet light while absorbing all other wavelengths on the light spectrum.” This gives them a structural color that we see as blue. (source)
You can read more about this and why blue pigment is not a thing in nature here.
45 MINUTE WHITE WREATH
Leslie from My 100-Year-Old Home always has amazing crafty ideas.
Her 45-Minute White Wreath is so pretty. The white flowers on the wreath are made from a pretty common item, but I won’t spoil the surprise. (It’s not coffee filters.)
I also love that she’s realistic about the timeframe of the craft instead of calling it “quick and easy.”
Get the tutorial here.
(image: My 100 Year Old Home)
POETRY MOMENT
For the New Year, 1981 by Denise Levertov
I have a small grain of hope-
one small crystal that gleams
clear colors out of transparency.
I need more.
I break off a fragment to send you.
Please take
this grain of a grain of hope
so that mine won’t shrink.
Please share your fragment
so that yours will grow.
Only so, by division,
will hope increase,
like a clump of irises, which will cease to flower
unless you distribute
the clustered roots, unlikely source-
clumsy and earth-covered- of grace.
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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