Did you know that March 20th is the United Nations International Day of Happiness? This year’s theme is “action for happiness”- it’s all about making social connections to spread happiness.  

I’ve had a pretty happy year, month and in particular week! This is March Break (our school holiday) and although I had a bit of the blues on Friday as my social media feed filled with airport check-ins and pictures of palm trees I’ve had a pretty happy week! I have really enjoyed the relaxing simplicity of time at home (aka Puerto Backyarda hahaha!). This week has shown me that happiness is truly found in spending time with really awesome people. 

Here are a few things that have made me happy this week:

1. Hand Feeding Birds



A sunny warm day, walking through the forest with a bunch of giggling children. Pretty happy day! We found these very friendly birds in Kanata on the Old Quarry Trail.

2. My Daughter’s Rainbow Loom Creations



You can’t help but smile at little creatures made entirely out of tiny elastics- although the tiny elastics that are all over my house do not make me entirely happy 😜!

3. This Guy



Unconditional love and companionship AND he looks so cute in a bow tie!

4. Popcorn

I was a “chip-oholic”. I still love chips. I want to eat chips everyday of my life. I still occasionally eat good quality chips that have been fried in avocado oil but since my local grocery store has been stocking these organic popcorn kernels, I’ve been all about popcorn! 



A few weeks ago, my family and I went to the winter farmer’s market at Landsdowne Park in Ottawa. It’s a great place to find local and/or organic products. I picked up some maple sugar knowing how great it would be on popcorn! I made my popcorn the old fashion way, on the stove, but popped the corn in coconut oil. I topped the popcorn with melted butter (Stirling Creamery Butter is the best!) and sprinkled on maple sugar and pink sea salt! Sweet and Salty! 



The next type of popcorn truly blew my mind! It was so amazing!!!! This recipe for Doritos Popcorn was so great! It’s Dairy free, Vegan and yummy! You will need:

1/2 cup unpopped popcorn kernels
2 -3 Tbsp coconut oil for popping 
1/4 cup nutritional yeast (Bob’s Redmill or you can find it at Bulk Barn)
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder or granules
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp chili powder
1/8 – 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)

2 teatspspoons salt (The recipe calls for 2 tsp but I found this way too salty!!! Try 1 tsp instead)



You can find the direction here.  I even have this fancy popcorn pot that I bought at a garage sale a few summers ago from my Mom’s neighbour. It is awesome! 



So I hope you can find a small way to celebrate International Happiness Day. The webpage has great suggestions on how you can spread happy to others.



If you do something happy, share it on social media with the hashtag #InternationalDayofHappiness – you might inspire a happier world! 

Choose happy 😀