Golf Ball Pumpkins
How does a non-golfing family end up with a bucket of golf balls? I imagine it’s the usual way. We scavenged for them. In our version of “I Spy” we search the beach at low tide for golf balls hidden under rocks. At the top of the cliffs above the beach there is a park and it seems some golfers like hitting balls into the ocean. Naughty, naughty. Collecting the golf balls is great fun, but I needed something to do with the growing collection other than take up an expensive hobby play golf. My daughter and her friends transformed the first bunch into emojis. That project was super cute, but…
Happy List: #37
How is it September already? Except for the last week before school started, out summer FLEW by. This week I shared how I repurposed denim belt loops into hanging loops for my kitchen towels. Â This project was life changing, I tell ya! On Wednesday I shared a story about how accidentally renting a dorm room instead of hotel room got my kids excited for college life. Also (potentially) life changing. Here are a few of the random things that made me smile this week. GET IN MY BELLY Tis the season for pumpkin everything! While I’m indifferent to pumpkin (don’t hold it against me), I’m a fan of Michael from…
How I Accidentally Got My Kids Excited for College
It’s the first day of school (WOOHOO!!!), so it seems like an appropriate time to share this story of how I accidentally got my kids excited for college. Come to find out, August is probably the busiest month for tourism in Ireland. It’s quite possible there are more tourists on the island than there are residents. At least it sure feels that way. Dang tourists. (Oh, wait. I’m practically a tourist myself. Never mind. Tourists are the BEST! Except when you don’t walk fast and I have places to be.) Anyway. Let’s just pretend I didn’t tell you how I really feel. My dad and The Junk Whisperer made plans…
Repurposing Denim Belt Loops to Hang Towels
I recently read a New York Times article entitled 5 Cheap(ish) Things That Could Disproportionately Improve Your Life. I’m ALL about improving my life on the cheap(ish). The author, Tim Herrera, wrote this: “I never would’ve thought a thin, black, six-foot iPhone charging cable would change my life. Yet here we are, and that magic cable is the Amazon Basics lightning-to-USB iPhone charging cable (also available in micro-USB). This little wonder of PVC and copper wiring solves an irritatingly modern non-problem problem: the three-foot leash that is the stock charging cable usually bundled with most smartphones. Cue the tiny violin. But once you’re able to roam just a little farther,…
Happy List: #36
Hello! I loved seeing all your pictures on social media regarding the eclipse. We watched a live TV feed of the eclipse from Oregon while we ate dinner. Wish we could have seen it in person, but happy it prompted some interesting dinner conversation. This week I shared some of what we bought while in the United States. Expat life is interesting – especially as it affects our retail habits. I also shared a super easy way to corral the millions of hair bands you might have in your bathroom drawers. Here’s what else caught my interest this week. DRIFTWOOD SCULPTURES I haven’t collected any driftwood, but now I have…
Two Easy Ways to Corral Hair Bands
I can open a drawer a million times and the mess doesn’t bother me. At least not enough for me to do anything about it. And then… I can’t explain it. Something snaps. I find myself saying to no one in particular, “what kind of animals live in this house? Why is this drawer such a gross disaster?” I have a silverware tray in a bathroom drawer to organize my daughter’s hair stuff. As you can see, it’s working super well. *sigh* Handy Husband’s idea for organizing this drawer was short hair. That idea was met by an epic level of eye rolling by our 10-year-old daughter. *sigh* Thank goodness…
What I Bought While in the United States
Confession time! I can’t remember the last time I’ve looked in someone’s medicine cabinet, but I’m sure I have. I love going for a walk at night and looking in someone’s window to see how they’ve decorated. I promise I’m not standing in their flower beds. It’s all legit slow-walking from the sidewalk, I swear! To equalize things, even though I will never be in 99.999% of your homes or flowerbeds, I thought you might like to know what I bought during my visit to the U.S. after living in Ireland for a year. It is juicy, scintillating stuff. Of that I can definitely not promise you. Here are the…
Happy List: #35
Hello, everyone! How the heck are you? Ready for Monday’s eclipse? Sadly, I’ll have to live that one vicariously through social media! We are not in the path for optimal viewing. We do live in an optimal area for traveling though! This week was all about Ireland. I detailed what to do (or not do) in Galway. I also basically insisted that you put the Cliffs of Moher on your Travel Bucket List (TBL). You do have a TBL, don’t you? Mine is still pretty long – there are a lot of cool places in the world! I’m having trouble prioritizing where I’d like to travel next. While I’m figuring…
Visiting Ireland: The Cliffs of Moher and Aran Islands (with kids)
I can’t believe we waited over a year to see Ireland’s #2 tourist spot, the Cliffs of Moher. The #1 tourist spot in Ireland, by the numbers, is the Guinness Storehouse. Tourists have their priorities! As much as we enjoyed the Guinness Storehouse, the Cliffs of Moher just might be my favorite spot in all of Ireland. So far. When visiting the Cliffs of Moher, most people will home base out of the city of Galway. I wrote about visiting Galway here. It’s not a big city, so you can hit all of the high points in a day, maybe a day and a half. That leaves plenty of time…
Visiting Ireland: Galway With kids
Over the past year we have spent long weekends here and there visiting different parts of Ireland. Every place we visit is new and exciting for our family – it’s a perk of moving to a new country! Our kids are 7 and 10 and they are definitely becoming seasoned travelers. Last weekend we finally made our way from Dublin over to the beautiful city of Galway. Galway has a population of approximately 80,000 people. It is also the home of National University of Ireland Galway (NUI Galway). Approximately 17,000 students attend university at NUI Galway each year. LOCATION Galway is located on the west coast of Ireland. The River…
