Fortunate February Continues

A Valentine's beverage, a colorful bird house, dance music, & downloads.

I have a list of local parks I’ve been working through.¹

Yesterday, I got to cross one off during a Galentine’s coffee/walk with my friend. As we were strolling along, talking working-mom life, I spotted a little turquoise and magenta bird house someone had stuck in the trees. Fun color amidst the winter trees.

I also let my kiddo search for lost socks in Narnia.²

I wish I got to do this when I was little! I am tempted to hunt down an industrial size washing machine just so I can make my dream come true. I mean, they had them in Paddington 2, so the must exist, right…?

Butter tests have begun!

Amidst confusing allegations about Kerrygold’s foil packaging³ my household began to wonder why our staple butter was not wrapped in waxed paper, like other butters.…Naturally, I leaned into my professional analytic skills to test other butters and record the results. Tests for texture, flavor, and mouth feel are being conducted.

Meanwhile, Europeans are laughing at our “European Style”⁴ but ter, because nowhere in Europe will you encounter “American Style” butter… For good reason.

The first four butters we’re testing

I’m using a placard to remind us which butter we are trying

One of my local coffee houses texted me with this intriguing latte idea.

I had no choice but to experiment! My low-carb, non-alcoholic recipe is as follows.

I think I got pretty close, though I am no latte⁵ artist, and my low-carb, zero-sugar diet prohibited me from trying the drink as it was originally designed.

This was a good catalyst for purchasing freeze-dried strawberry powder; another item for which I have many ideas!!!

The Most Recent Scrawlrbox included Marabu Alcohol Markers.

I’ve talked a little bit about alcohol markers before. So, you may remember that I am a fan of Copic Sketch for their superior blending/layering capabilities and their brush tips. That said, I’m not sure the Marabu markers got a fair chance.

The marker paper that Scrawlrbox provided behaved like yupo paper (a synthetic paper that does not absorb ink), making the markers streak instead of blend. The benefit of the paper is that you can use rubbing alcohol the same way you would use water to remove or blend ink with water-based materials, so I did a little cleanup.

Juicy Oranges (2026) | Alcohol Markers

I’ll have to try them with different paper to see how I really get on with them.

From your Music Concierge

We’re dancing this week….

1. It’s a Lie by PLGRMS (2020)

   Spotify has been suggesting songs from this EP for months. They’re all “okay” — somewhere adjacent to Glass Animals and not quite as mellow as XX — but here’s the song that finally caught me.⁶ It’s the perfect track to drop deep in a late night DJ session. Something for those drunken hours where you aren’t ready to leave because your body hasn’t fully paid the price of your heart. If you’ve ever clubbed, you know what I mean….

2. Lights Off by St Lucia (2025)

   Come on baby | Take my hand, away we go

3. EDUCATION by Lights (2026)

   New album from the Canadian pop star. Looking forward to digging into it….

Last week I mentioned designing my own assets to help with reframing.

It’s been a great aesthetic activity for tackling lists and maintaining positivity. As I faced another difficult work week, I wanted a morning activity to focus on good things. So I created a “Things I have going for me today” print out.

Click to expand and download to print.

Most people are struggling with something (or several somethings) that become all-consuming, stripping away both time and energy. I found that doing this exercise each day, making myself fill each box — even if I had to grasp at straws to think of good things — I always came up with something to be grateful for, something positive. And that grounded me in tough moments; I just had to take a breath & look back at my list.

I’m sharing it here, in case it would be helpful for you too. ❤️

Here’s the blank refrigerator list, also.

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In case you missed them, you might like:

1. It’s one of my whimsical journal lists from 2024, like my Nashville BBQ bracket.

2. Old reference from back when Family Guy was awesome.

3. Class action lawsuit was dismissed.

4. Last time I was in Europe, to the great amusement of my coworkers, I carted home several sticks of Isigny Ste-Mère butter. Most American's don’t taste the flavorless travesty of American butter. But I do.

5. I initially made a version with almond milk (best low-carb option for a latte), but found I preferred the drink as an Americano with a small bit of cream.

6. Ironically (or un-ironically given the title of the column) the lowest-played track according to Spotify.