Happy List: #381

Hello! Welcome to this week’s Happy List! I’m glad you’re here.

We made it to March, folks! What a relief. Spring is coming.

This week on the blog, I shared the Easter eggs I made with temporary tattoos. They are the prettiest Easter eggs I’ve ever crafted.

I also was feeling optimistic about making it through the bulk of winter and shared how the plants I’ve been overwintering have fared. Mixed bag, folks. It was a mixed bag.

The Happy List is one of the ways I try to focus on the beautiful and inspirational things in the world. It’s better for my mental health than doom-scrolling. Funny how that works! I enjoy sharing what creatively inspires me and/or what made me smile this week. I also appreciate the opportunity to connect with you and hear what you’re doing and how you’re feeling. If you want to reach out, you can always comment on this blog post or email me here. You can also reach out on Instagram or Facebook.

Here’s what you came for: The Happy List!

THE PRETTIEST ROOF

Do you think the world would be a kinder, gentler place to live if more houses had terra cotta ridge caps like this one in the U.K.?

I mean, it’s worth a try, right?

More photos of this dreamy home can be found at House and Garden UK.

(image: photo by Chris Horwood for House and Garden UK)

GOOD NEWS

UNICEF released some numbers reporting their success in investing in children around the world.

This made me tear up a little, knowing that somewhere in the world, a child’s life was improved. It might have been improved in a way we take for granted in our communities (child marriage, I’m looking at you). It’s a great reminder that there’s still a lot of important work left to be done in the world, and if we are able to help, we should.

• Since 1990, annual under-five child mortality has declined by 60 percent

• Safe water is available to 2.1 billion more people compared to 20 years ago

• In the past 25 years around 1.9 million deaths and 4 million HIV infections have been averted among pregnant women and children

• Over 68 million child marriages have been prevented in the last 25 years

• 23 million more girls finish high school each year compared to a decade ago

• Vaccines have saved 154 million lives in the last 50 years

You can see the entire report here.

POP OF COLOR

Overlook whether or not this vignette is your style and focus on the pop of color on the bottom of the shelves. I’ve never seen that before! What a clever, unexpected way to add color and personality to a room.

You can bet your paintbrush that I want to do this someday.

More pictures of this colorful home in Stockholm can be found at The Nordroom.

(image: styling by Yngfalk and photography by Jahnson for Historiska Hem via The Nordroom)

SLEEP SURVEY

IKEA surveyed over 55,000 people around the world on their sleep habits. I cannot speak to how sound their survey methodology was, so take it with a grain of salt, but the results were eye-opening.

For instance, 37% of people in India take a sleep aid…the highest in the word according to this survey.

1 in 10 babies in the Middle Eastern markets surveyed were conceived on an IKEA bed compared to 6% worldwide. They do note that this is an approximate calculation based on the timing of bed purchases. This transparency in their survey methodology made me chuckle. The market share, though!

Read the entire survey here. It’s a good time and a light read.

P.S. This is not an IKEA bed.

BALD EAGLE NEST LIVESTREAM

Jackie, a bald eagle, is once again sitting on a nest of three eggs in California. Jackie and Shadow’s eggs have not hatched in recent years, so the entire world has been on pins and needles, hoping they have success this time.

As of the morning of 3/6, two chicks hatched! Woohoo! There’s a Google Doc that details what’s happening. Make sure you read it before asking a question.

It is kind of soothing to watch the live stream of the nest. The last time I watched, 68,000 others were too! Jackie has been snowed on this week. Shadow brings her fish. The chicks are little grey fluff balls. They are just doing their thing, and it’s beautiful to watch.

If the YouTube video doesn’t load below, watch it directly here.

HEAVY DUTY

I’m going to speak in hypotheticals now.

Hypothetically speaking, if your husband breaks a pair of nail clippers and in frustration says, “I need some man-sized nail clippers,” then I have a suggestion for you.

I present the largest, heaviest-duty set of nail clippers and some other instruments of torture we’ve ever owned. Put it in his Easter basket.

You’re welcome.

P.S. You can use my thumb for a size reference.
P.P.S. I’m not saying the above situation happened or didn’t happen. Maybe it could have happened. I have an active imagination. Some things are best left unknown.

HOMEMADE GLAZED DOUGHNUTS

One thing that’s not to be left unknown is this confession. I’ve never made fried doughnuts. The Pioneer Woman has me 92.6% convinced that I need to remedy this oversight. This is particularly impressive because doughnuts don’t usually tempt me.

What do you guys think? Should I throw cholesterol to the wind and try it once?

(image: The Pioneer Woman)

P.S. I read this entire blog post instead of skipping to the recipe itself because Ree is really funny. I appreciate that she has not tempered that part of herself as she’s become famous.

POETRY MOMENT

This poem struck me deep in the feelings.

Atlas by UA Fanthrope

There is a kind of love called maintenance
Which stores the WD40 and knows when to use it;

Which checks the insurance, and doesn’t forget
The milkman; which remembers to plant bulbs;

Which answers letters; which knows the way
The money goes; which deals with dentists

And Road Fund Tax and meeting trains,
And postcards to the lonely; which upholds

The permanently rickety elaborate
Structures of living, which is Atlas.

And maintenance is the sensible side of love,
Which knows what time and weather are doing
To my brickwork; insulates my faulty wiring;
Laughs at my dryrotten jokes; remembers
My need for gloss and grouting; which keeps
My suspect edifice upright in air,
As Atlas did the sky.

– from Safe as Houses (Peterloo Poets, 1995)

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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