Christmas Tree 2016
It’s hard to wrap my mind around how fast time flies. We’ve been in Ireland almost 6 months. We’re getting ready to celebrate our first Christmas in this beautiful country. I’m convinced that the true beauty of Ireland is not its scenery, but in the spirit of the people who have welcomed us with open arms. Now, let me segue out of the mushy stuff into some practical matters. We downsized DRASTICALLY when we moved from the United States to Ireland. I cannot emphasize how drastically. Have-no-furniture-to-sit-on drastically. One of the things left behind in the downsizing was our fake Christmas tree. Haters can hate, but I am firmly in the fake…
My Christmas Decor Hacks
I’m not sure if hack is the right word. How about here are three of my favorite Christmas decor work-arounds? ALTERNATIVE TO GARLAND Don’t have the time, patience, space or money for a Christmas garland? No worries. Free greenery clippings from your yard, or the neighbor’s yard, or the park (can you do that??) placed in a shallow bowl can achieve a similar effect. DON’T HAVE STOCKING HANGERS? NO PROBLEM. I do have Christmas stocking hangers, but one of them is broken and I haven’t found anything else I like better for hanging our Christmas stockings. Last year we used hooks screwed into the bottom of the mantel. That won’t work this year and…
Happy List #9: Christmas Crackers – You Can’t Eat Them
Nine days until Christmas! Are you ready? Am I ready? *insert hysterical laughter here* Uh, let’s not talk about it. Instead, let’s talk about what’s on my Happy List this week. WORK-LIFE BALANCE? Work-life balance is the unicorn of the grown-up world. To my surprise and skepticism, apparently, this unicorn a work-life balance does exist in Denmark. We are planning a trip to this fascinating country soon, so I was curious to read all about why Denmark is a great place to live and work. It cracked me up that the author thought her husband lost his job because he was coming home so early each day! In fact, it was quite the opposite.…
Christmas in the Foyer Part 2: The Wall I Never Show You
It’s important to take pictures you see online or in magazines with a grain pound of salt. You only see certain angles at specific times of day. You don’t see what’s 2 inches outside of the cropped photo. In the case of my blog, there’s an entire wall I’m pretty certain I’ve never shown you. Or at least I haven’t shown it to you since we moved in. That’s because it’s not the star of the show. It does work hard though. It holds coats and shoes and sometimes mail. (Or “post” as people in Ireland call mail.) This wall is immediately to the right of the front door. It…
Christmas Mantel – Peace
I brought my scrap wood dove out of storage for the Christmas season. He’s fragile, but resilient. He just needed a little time and some wood glue to pull himself back together. Before long he was flying high above our Christmas mantel again representing peace, hope and love. As Christmas approaches and world events unfold, peace has been on my mind lately. Having peace doesn’t mean that we never disagree. Having peace doesn’t mean that there are never endings. Peace stems from the ultimate realization – a belief at the very center of one’s core – that as human beings far more binds us together than tears us apart. That there must be…
Happy List #8
It feels like the first week of December flew by! This week I shared pictures of our foyer decked out for Christmas and some images of how retailers in Ireland are getting into the Christmas spirit. I’ve been busy over on Instagram too! Here’s what’s on my Happy List this week… GIRLFRIEND GETAWAYS IN EACH OF THE 50 STATES Personally, I think my girlfriends should schedule their getaways in Ireland. With me. But, if you insist on relaxing without me, here are some getaway ideas from Country Living. The one shown below is from my home state of Oregon. Not too shabby, right? (image via) FORGET FANCY ENTERTAINING Some of my best…
Christmas in the Foyer
Last weekend we pulled the Christmas boxes down from the attic. All three of them and a wreath box. Even after culling out over half of my Christmas decorations in preparation for our overseas move, it still feels like Christmas vomited all over my house. Why is it that decorating a tree and putting up a few festive touches means that the entire house is destroyed in the process? After I took the kids to school on Monday, I returned and tidied up one area. The foyer. Don’t foyers look so much better without the stuff that actually goes in a foyer? Backpacks, jackets, shoes…so many shoes. I even dusted the Christmas glitter off…
Living in Ireland: Christmas in Retail
For my friends and family living in the United States, I thought it would be fun to show you how Irish retailers are getting into the Christmas spirit this season. These are photos I’ve snapped with my phone while I’m out and about – sometimes in the store, sometimes just window shopping. Please excuse the glare, the awkward angles and the occasional appearance of my reflection. Meadows and Byrne is a Pottery Barn-like store. I will take one of everything. Meadows and Byrne is an Irish company with 12 stores around the country. This is a store window in a men’s suit shop that I walk past quite regularly, but…
Happy List #7: Let’s Not Stress Out
How are you? It’s December! Or, as my kids put it, time to start the chocolate advent calendar! They’ve been counting down the days until they can start counting down the days until Christmas, so this has been an exciting week. Here’s what’s on my Happy List today: POSITIVE FASHION FOR KIDS Free To Be Kids is a Seattle-based company and I love what they stand for. From their site: “We celebrate intelligence and grit in our girls because their worth is based on so much more than just their cuteness. We celebrate kindness in our boys because they’re more than just troublemakers and athletes…At Free to Be Kids, we believe passionately that both…
How to Reshape a Flexible Woven Plastic Basket
This is a story about Target…which I just found out ships to Ireland. And my world is complete. Do you hear angels singing? I’m pretty sure the angels are singing. Anyway, this isn’t a story about Target. It is a story about a basket I purchased at Target though. A basket that the movers CRUSHED in a box along with my hopes and dreams. Kidding. Hopes and dreams were intact. I just needed to add that for dramatic effect. I stalked this basket for a good long while at Target. When your daughter’s room is decorated in lavender, gray and navy, you need this basket. However, I’m too cheap to pay $12…
