Happy List: #175
Happy Friday, folks! We have plans this weekend that will completely disrupt our routine. Can you believe it? Actually, I can hardly believe I said yes. I’m turning soft during this pandemic! We are hopefully getting not one, but two kittens from a neighbor. *Crossing fingers this all works out. Otherwise, my kids will be devastated.* The compromise we made is that the cats will be outdoor cats with the task of prowling the property for rodents. We need all the help we can get on this front. Let it be known that I said our last cat (when we lived in Georgia) would be an outdoor cat and the…
Bus Stop Gardening Station
Gardening stations or potting benches come in all shapes and sizes, but the bus stop gardening station I have to show you today is pretty darn clever. I’m throwing “bus stop” in quotation marks for the moment because this bus stop gardening station is not made from an actual bus stop, but it looks like it could have been. Behold! I take zero credit for this clever idea. It’s not even on my property. This is a Junk Whisperer project. If you’re an original reader around here, you’ll know I’ve featured several Junk Whisperer projects over the years. Who is this mysterious Junk Whisperer and how can we learn her…
8 Satisfying Things I’m Enjoying This Summer
I don’t know about you, but I’m spending an inordinate amount of time at home these days, so today I’m sharing eight satisfying things I’m enjoying this summer. I’ve always said it is the little things that make me happy and that’s even more true right now. Eight Satisfying Things #1: Bug Zapper I don’t know if there really are more bugs outside this summer or if we are just hyperaware of the number of bugs pestering us, particularly while we are swimming. Handy Husband ordered this ultraviolet bug zapper and thinks it is the best thing ever. I’m not joking. Find a person who looks at you the way…
Happy List: #174
Hello, friends! Is it sweltering where you live? New Jersey has been taking summer very seriously this past week. Can’t wait to get my electric bill. Not! This week I shared two new blog posts. The first one was a well researched (sarcasm alert) feature on why you should wear a vintage watch even if it doesn’t work. The second blog post was an update on the decorating in my son’s farmhouse-style bedroom. On Facebook and Instagram I like to keep things random. Actually, that’s just my life, so it is what is is, but I’d love to connect with you there too. This week I’ve shared some behind-the-scenes of how we actually…
Farmhouse Style Boy’s Room
I have a farmhouse style boy’s room to show you today! Woo to the hoo! I sure hope you enjoy seeing rooms in my house evolve over time because I don’t think I’m a “grand reveal, this room is finished” kind of gal. I mean, I still haven’t purchased any curtains for our Colonial Farmhouse. You can’t possibly finish a room without window treatments, right? Do you know what else would really finish a room off? Electrical outlets on each wall. Maybe a light switch? But, hey. Let’s not get bogged down in the practicalities. I’d much rather discuss decorating progress in my son’s room. As someone pointed out to…
Wear the Vintage Watch
I have some advice for all of you non-watch wearers. Wear the vintage watch – even if it doesn’t work. All of you watch wearers are probably gasping in horror right now. Wear a watch that doesn’t work? What kind of nonsensical advice is this? I actually tried to find statistics on how many people wear watches every day so that I would know how many of you were gasping in horror. I know you come here for fact-based, bias-free reporting, after all. Well, friends. The numbers were all across the board and then I got frustrated, so let me just sum up my observations on this very important topic.…
Happy List: #173
Hello, hello! How the heck are you? I don’t ask unless I really want to know, so lay it on me. You can tell me in the comments or send me a message on Facebook or Instagram. I’ve been distracted while writing this post because I can see a mimosa tree out my window. It is an invasive, but beautifully flowering tree with delicate pink flowers. I’m watching three butterflies flit around the tree’s blossoms with the enthusiasm of a kid at an all-you-can eat dessert buffet. It’s like I have my own little slice of paradise here in New Jersey. I never thought I’d type paradise and New Jersey in…
The Magic of Living in the Moment
Editor’s Note: I originally wrote this post 3 years ago. However, I’ve been trying to spend less time on my phone lately. Or at least be more intentional with the time I do spend on my phone. So far, the least amount of average time I’ve spent on my phone per day is 2 hours. Most of that is work-related, but plenty of it is simply idle scrolling, which doesn’t bring a whole lot of added value to my life. Since this topic has been on my mind and there are a whole bunch of new readers in the last 3 years (thank you!), I thought it would be a…
Painted Black Doors in our Colonial Farmhouse
Today I’m going to take you on a journey to the places in my home that now have painted black doors. Buckle up, buttercup because there’s a twist at the end of this story that you probably won’t guess! Our Colonial Farmhouse has 19 doors. 26 doors if you count the closets. 29 doors if you count the unnecessary doors we removed. Every single door is different. Even if the doors look similar, they aren’t the same exact size or finish. Some of the doors are painted. Some are stained. I won’t paint a stained door in this particular house. I can’t. It would physically cause me pain. If I…
Happy List: #172
Hi! I’m writing this post during the middle of a hot, muggy summer thunderstorm. Perhaps the reason why New Jersey is called the garden state is that all the summer rain keeps things really green? This week I shared all the different ways I used wooden soda crates to organize items around our house. I also wrote about the word halcyon and what it means to me. Here’s the Happy List! KITCHEN SIMPLICITY Scenes like this one make me wonder if we’ve made kitchens too complicated? Or can you only get away with this if it is a vacation home? Although, by that argument, I could use more vacation vibes…
