to make it feel festive in our dorm room freshman year in college, my roommate and i put up twinkly lights along the perimeter of the ceiling. thank goodness we didn’t have to pay a utility bill because i’m fairly certain we were responsible for pepperdine’s higher monthly gas and electric fee that year. also, it was always about ten degrees hotter in the room than the entire suite.

but watt usage and small sauna aside, the twinkly lights helped us both feel a little more at home. something about their faint glow was comforting at a time when nothing seemed to feel known. of course, slowly but surely, the jitters of freshman year were replaced with confidence. but even when we felt more at ease in our nine-month beach side bungalow, we kept them burning, almost to remind ourselves of how far we’d come. they were our “adult night lights.” and even when things were stressful and papers were due and i was still dateless for my sorority formal, once i’d enter through the door in E suite of dorm 8 and see the twinkly lights aglow, i found momentary peace.

now that i have a home of my own, it has always been a dream of mine to recreate that scene from my freshman year dorm. except now that i’m responsible for the electric bill, i opted for a more economical placement -outside on my back patio, where we can turn them on as needed. this past weekend, S and i worked together to screw in hooks and lace strands of clear globe lights along the perimeter of the patio eaves. between shifting around the full-size ladder in the tiny space and ensuring that neither of us fell and/or broke something -neither a limb nor one of the glass bulbs -the endeavor felt more like a personal victory than the completion of a task on a long-list of honey dos. regardless, my patio feels a little more festive this time of year. and even if the brush with fall we experienced this past week is fleeting and it’ll be another few weeks before S and i can enjoy an evening coffee on the patio under the glow of our twinkly lights, simply knowing they are out there, reminding me of a simpler season of life, brings a huge smile to my face.

product details:

twinkly lights || target room essentials