Hi! Happy early St. Patrick’s Day. I’m thrilled to see you here.
This week on the blog I shared how I decorated our dining room fireplace for spring with paper flowers. Stay tuned for another related project on that front!
I also shared the reveal, or TADA as I like to call it, of the peg rail in our bedroom. I’m really enjoying the visual interest it adds to the space.
The Happy List is one of the ways I try to focus my media consumption on the things that inspire me instead of the things that raise my blood pressure. We all need balance. I also love, love, LOVE 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.
Enjoy the Happy List!
HAPPY
I don’t know how you could not smile if this was your breakfast nook.
If you don’t have a great place to use the color yellow in your home, you might have a place to hang some plates on the wall. I’m itching to find a small bistro table for our kitchen. The one in this photo is so pretty.
(photo: Stacy Zarin Goldberg via Martha Stewart)
LUCKY
If you’re looking for an easy St. Patrick’s Day-adjacent craft to do, try this horseshoe craft. I made it years ago. The letters are those puffy craft stickers and then I painted the entire thing gold.
I used it as a paperweight for a long time, but now it’s hanging on a wall upstairs in our home.
FUNNY BECAUSE IT’S TRUE
This Etsy sign made me laugh. Oh, how I can relate.
(image: Etsy shop Clever Contraptions)
IF YOU HADN’T BEEN THERE
Dolly Parton released this song and dedicated it to her husband, Carl Dean, who recently passed away.
She wrote on Instagram, “I fell in love with Carl Dean when I was 18 years old. We have spent 60 precious and meaningful years together. Like all great love stories, they never end. They live on in memory and song. He will always be the star of my life story, and I dedicate this song to him.”
Do not listen to this song without a tissue. I bawled my eyes out. If the video doesn’t load, watch it directly here on YouTube.
ST. PATRICK’S DAY MEAL PLAN
I am not eating corned beef and cabbage for St. Patrick’s Day. That’s not an Irish thing. It is an Irish-American thing though as it was an inexpensive meal for Irish immigrants to make back in the day.
What I will be serving is also not particularly Irish, except for one ingredient. I’m making this Guinness Mac and Cheese recipe by Lauren Lane. I don’t know if it’s good, but I’ve never made a roux with beer and St. Patrick’s Day seems like a good day to try it. There’s also bacon and potato chips on this mac and cheese. In for a penny, in for a lot of extra pounds.
By the way, I do not drink beer. The nicest thing I can say is I have never developed a taste for any of it. Apparently, I’ll cook with it though.
I’m also going to surprise my kids and make Shamrock Shakes. All the online recipes seem fairly similar, so I’ll probably just taste test my way into something that makes my mouth happy. This one got great reviews though.
Will there be vegetables with this dinner? TBD. Handy Husband says the hops in the beer count. Hahahaha!
No, they don’t.
LITTLE FREE LIBRARY
The Little Free Library just celebrated the installation of its 200,000th library! Isn’t that amazing? Little Free Library was started in 2009 and there are now libraries in 50 U.S. states, 128 countries, and 7 continents.
I love when I spot one of those in the wild. The 200,000th Little Free Library was installed in a school in Minnesota. Learn more here. If you want to start a Little Free Library, click here.
(image: Little Free Library)
KICKS
I got these New Balance tennis shoes about a month ago and I feel much cooler than I am when I’m wearing them.
The important thing for me is that they have a wide toe box, so the shoe isn’t squishing my toes and the ball of my foot has plenty of room. In terms of how cushiony they feel, I’d say they fall in the middle of that spectrum.
Today I walked an aggressive 15:14 per mile pace for 3.5 miles in these shoes without my feet complaining. I complained, but my feet were fine. Do not go for a walk with Handy Husband if you want to saunter, stroll, or meander. He doesn’t know the meaning of those words.
(image: New Balance)
CAFE CURTAINS
I’ve been seeing cafe curtains everywhere lately. I’ve been thinking about adding them to our dining room because one of the windows runs into a wall, so it makes hanging curtains tricky. Cafe curtains would skirt that issue. The only reason I haven’t, besides the fact that I like to overthink things, is it’s already the darkest room in our house.
Brooke from Nesting With Grace just added cafe curtains to her bedroom. It was one of those situations where she didn’t need privacy, but wanted to make the space feel more finished. So pretty!
(image: Nesting With Grace)
RUTH REICHL’S GRILLED CHEESE
Ruth Reichl’s grilled cheese recipe has been described as “out of control” and that’s the kind of grilled cheese energy that I’m here for.
You can get the recipe at Food 52.
(image: James Ransom via Food 52)
POETRY MOMENT
For a Student Who Used AI to Write a Paper by Joseph Fasano
Now I let it fall back
in the grasses.
I hear you. I know
this life is hard now.
I know your days are precious
on this earth.
But what are you trying
to be free of?
The living? The miraculous
task of it?
Love is for the ones who love the work.
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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