My Design Style Is a Little Bit Funky
I NEVER take those ‘just for fun’ online surveys. Especially not the ones on Facebook that ‘just for fun’ take all your data and your friends’ data and sell it. Thanks Facebook! Real swell of you. Anyway. I digress. I’m a loyal reader of The Lettered Cottage blog. I love Layla’s cottage style. Last week she took a HomeGoods ‘define your style’ quiz and shared her results. I got sucked into the hype folks. I was ripe for the quiz taking because I’m having a style “crisis.” OH NO! The horror! Say it isn’t so! Yep. Furniture I bought pre-kids and 6 homes ago is finally not working for me…
Happy List: #68
Hello, everyone! How the heck are you? I hope your week has been fantastic! If you missed it, on Monday I shared how awesome I am at teaching my kids life skills. I hope you read that sentence with the hefty dose of sarcasm that was intended. On Wednesday and without any sarcasm (I think?) I shared what to do and see if you only have one day to spend in Berlin, Germany. It’s not nearly enough time, but we made the most of it! Here is this week’s Happy List! STARS ARE JUST LIKE US I couldn’t love Jennifer Garner more than I do right now. Read the caption.…
Travel: One Day in Berlin with Kids
One day in any city is never enough, but sometimes a quirk in your travel plans presents an opportunity. For us, it was one day in Berlin or zero days in Berlin. Of course we’ll take the one day! Especially since it meant being able to see friends. The biggest thing I learned? We need to go back! Getting Into Berlin from the Airport Getting from the Berlin Airport into the city involves either taking a taxi or a bus. We took the bus. And then the train. And then walked to our hotel. Figuring out the bus and train situation was not impossible – we did it after all,…
Teaching Kids Life Skills Takes ALL The Patience
Here’s the thing about parenting. You have to teach your kids stuff. WHAT?!?! And not just the basics like walking, talking and avoiding yellow snow. Practical, fend-for-yourself things too. If you don’t, they’ll never have the life skills to live on their own. Let THAT sink in. But here’s the thing people don’t want to say – especially online where we all have a tendency to put our best foot forward. My life is super-duper perfect, by the way. Patiently waiting three lifetimes EVERY SINGLE MORNING while your kid ties his or her shoes (or insert any other thing here) is excruciatingly painful. Especially since you know that shoelace is…
Happy List: #67
We’re ending the week in my part of the world with an Irish HEATWAVE! Seriously, folks. 65 degrees Fahrenheit is about as warm as it gets on this little island – even in the summer. Based on the number of people I’ve seen sunbathing on the beach, I’d say quite a few people called in “sick” to work this week. Sick of winter, if you want to get specific! On Monday I shared my leather wrapped rock paperweight. I’m kind of obsessed with it! Wednesday on the blog was all about two-handle kitchen faucets. They are pretty, but I don’t understand why they are practical. Feel free to weigh in…
I Just Don’t Understand: Two-Handle Kitchen Faucets
Let’s talk about something I just don’t understand. Genuinely don’t understand. Maybe one of you can clue me in. Let me know what I’m missing. I have seen tons of gorgeous pictures floating around blog-land and HGTV of kitchens with two-handle kitchen faucets. Like this Kingston one from Home Depot. It looks pretty. There’s no doubt about that. But why is a two-handle kitchen faucet a good idea from a practical standpoint? In order to get an ideal temperature that’s not scalding hot, you have to adjust both the hot water AND the cold water handle. (image: Kohler) Doesn’t this make cleaning up extra difficult? Especially if both your hands…
Leather Wrapped Rock Paperweight
Editor’s Note: Late last week hackers redirected all my website traffic to spammy sites. It’s a horrible feeling and a mess to fix! I apologize if you tried to visit this site and weren’t able to do so. Huge thanks to Handy Husband for tackling the problem and kicking them off my happy place! I’d be lost without him! I have a crush. A style crush. Lately, thanks to Instagram, I have found inspiration in the spaces created by Studio McGee. If the name doesn’t sound familiar, you might recognize the fantasy kitchen they designed for HGTV. No biggie, right? (image: Studio McGee) Studio McGee is a small company started in…
Happy List: #66
Happy Friday the 13th!! I’m back in action after some time off for Easter Break. As much as I enjoy lazy mornings, I am glad to be back to our routine this week. On Monday I shared all the things I learned about kids throwing paint. Oops – what I meant to say was kids creating art with eggshells filled with paint. On Wednesday I shared our trip to an Irish prison museum. You just never know what you’re going to get when you come here, do you? Also, on a housekeeping note, I’ve been organizing my 4 years of blog content. It took me what felt like 10 years…
Visiting Ireland: Kilmainham Gaol Museum
When we arrived at Kilmainham Gaol Museum on the west side of Dublin, we were greeted at a big imposing door by a stout-looking Irish man with grey hair. He looked at me and with all seriousness said, “Ah! I see you’ve brought us some long-term guests!” My kids stared at the man and then slowly looked at me like, “He’s joking, right mom? RIGHT?!?!” Have I mentioned that Kilmainham Gaol is a prison? Technically, it WAS a prison. Kilmainham Gaol opened in 1796 on a site known as Gallows Hill. If that doesn’t set the stage for an 18th century prison, I don’t know what does. WHY YOU SHOULD…
Egg Painting
On the list of superficial worst nightmares, kids throwing paint ranks pretty high for me. Twenty kids ages 4 to 11 filling eggshells with paint and throwing the eggs (hopefully) at a canvas? What could possibly go wrong?!?! Oh, I could think of one or a million things! Especially when I saw there was a bottle of glitter paint. Now there’s paint AND glitter? I am not ashamed to say it was one of those ‘back slowly away and let the other moms handle it’ kind of moments. As you can tell, egg painting was not my idea. This is why I am thankful for braver, more creative, more patient…
