Pinterest Addicted

You may remember last fall that we had a bunch of collegiate women stay at our house while their choir was on tour. While we were chatting around my kitchen table, one of the girls started talking about pinterest. I asked what it was, and all of a sudden laptops were being unpacked - all the girls had pinterest. And I knew at first look, I would become totally, completely obsessed with this site.

If you haven't been on pinterest.com, it's a by-invitation (hello, trendy factor) online "pin" board, where you organize photo-links on to your "boards" (think inspiration collages). And it's highly addictive, especially for a person like me who would probably list "home" as one of my hobbies. If I type in "craftsman," I'm instantly linked (without having to google search) to beautiful bungalow eye-candy, decorating tips, landscaping.... And the recipes! There is so much food p@rn that a person almost feels gluttonous by viewing.

Frankly, I cheat at pinterest. The point is to scour the internet for your own muses and lusts and post your own projects from your own blog (or post things from blogs and catalogs that inspire you), but I live vicariously through the pinterest community by "repinning" (borrowing someone else's pin and putting it on my page). I'm also so lazy that I barely ever change captions, even when the link's caption is something like "I took these to my son's school and all the 3rd graders love them!"

But I have tried some of the things that I see on pinterest - I made a Christmas tree display out of ornaments and a cupcake stand that I already owned. I've made zucchini boats, and one heck of a butternut squash pizza that a friend posted. And I've filled up a whole "Health and Wellness" board full of inspiring quotes because the actual workouts that people post look really, really tough.

In a way, my addiction to pinterest may be changing my life.

However, while I could sing the virtues of pinterest day and night, there are some not so positive things that I have noticed about pinterest trends. If you are a pinner, maybe you've noticed these too. If you are not a pinner, perhaps you will be scared off by my list and fear pinterest (that's probably for the better). If you're still unclear about what pinterest is, maybe just click back to Facebook now and wait for my next un-pin-related blog, since this will not adequately describe the wonder of pinterest.

Without further adieu --  Things I have noticed about pinterest:

1) People on pinterest love to read - or at least love the idea of reading. It seems like everyone wants a reading nook. Reading nooks are awesome. However, I'm not sure how everyone seems to be inspired by the reading nook made out of a closet. It begs one very central question: how, how on earth does anyone on this planet have an extra closet? And specifically, how is that closet big enough to fit furniture in if it is indeed your extra? My house has exactly 4 closets. None are large enough for an armchair, let alone a stinking couch. And even if they were big enough for a couch, I would a) not be interested in trying to lodge large furniture into a small place and b) I'd figure out things to store there. Reading can be done in the living room, folks.

Yeah, they put a couch in a closet:

2) There is an awesome website called polyvore.com where -- you remember the scene from Clueless when Cher chooses her clothes from her online database?? -- you can create and save outfits from a dream closet filled with Prada and Fendi and Chanel and Gucci. This is awesome. Unfortunately, all the creations you see on pinterest have jeans as the selected bottom half attire. I have nothing against jeans. I just want to know what portion of the population gets to wear designer clothes with jeans every day. I only wear jeans 3x a week (Friday, Saturday, Sunday afternoon) unless I'm on vacation (yikes! I don't have enough jeans!). So if I were going to build an outfit with a $1,200 purse and Louboutins, personally, I'd pair it with a skirt or black pants or something that I could wear to an occasion (because I'd be classy and have occasions to go to).

But instead, all I see is this:

Where do you go when you wear this outfit? Lunch at a hipster caj bistro on a Tuesday afternoon in the City? I want that life.

(And now I'm slowly understanding the jeans phenomenon...)

3) Which brings me to this oddity: jeans are either paired with crazy high heels, Toms, or Steve Madden tribal sandals. Toms are awesome, as are the sandals...but do they go with awesome clothes? Uh..no, not really. So who seriously can walk in all those heels? Is there something in the middle?

4) There is an obsession on pinterest with chalkboard paint. Clearly anyone who wants to paint a surface in their home with chalkboard paint has never been a teacher in a low-budget institution where some old fogey faculty member is convinced that the sky will fall if we have smart boards or gasp, wipe off boards (yes, I've clearly been such in a faculty meeting - not at the institution where I work, thankfully). Chalk boards are the devil, people. They smear, and chalk on your hands is the worst feeling ever. Worst. And while I previously mentioned that half my wardrobe includes black pants, I did not mention how there is nothing cooler than walking around half your day with chalk smudges on your @$$. No way am I painting my walls, my fridge, my cabinets, picture frames...and certainly not any plates (okay - that has GOT to be a health hazard to serve food off of something that was just painted like that!).

Yet I did pin this - at least it's outside:

5) There is a lot of cute stuff for kids on pinterest. That's because (as I've learned by a little clicking) 50% of the pinners on pinterest are mormon housewives whose husbands are young versions of republican presidential candidates. These beautiful, stay-at-home and wildly energetic 24 year olds have 4 beautiful, energetic blonde children that are wonderfully behaved, home schooled with exciting and creative projects, and wear the most darling clothes that are partially DIY but mostly haute couture (think you're jealous now? They also get their own planet). The other 50% of pinners are collegiate females who are now just realizing that with this economy, their careers, and trend of delaying marriage, freezing their eggs might just be the smartest thing a girl can do in her 20s.

Because of these two widely varied audiences, it seems that there is a lot of "future inspiration" aka "pretending" going on between the links on pinterest. Pretend weddings, pretend houses, pretend nurseries (I'm very guilty of the latter two...and have speculated about putting together a wedding board called "Vow Renewal" or something just so I can relive the fun of planning with no pressure).

In the interest of full disclosure, here's one of the pins I have from my "Someday" board. Doesn't it look like something from anthropologie? My imaginary child would play with that stuffed camel for hours:

6) Regarding children's nurseries - I've heard that you're not supposed to hang things above the crib. Nor are you supposed to have all sorts of crazy bedding in the crib. Wouldn't someone who is designing a nursery consider these things? Additionally, I dare you to try to find a pinterest photo of a nursery that doesn't have white trim on the walls (read earlier posts about the removal of white paint from the trim of the former nursery that is my master bedroom) and that lacks a chandelier. Why does an infant need a chandelier?

7) My last observation has to do with DIY projects. There are five items that are upcycled with reckless abandon on pinterest. These items are mason jars (since my grandma canned, I'm SO into this!), pennies, rubber mats, toilet paper rolls, and wood pallets. I will not discuss the painting and dissembling of antique furniture because that is so incredibly wrong that there are no words. I will also not discuss all the things you can do with a mason jar, because I support the resurgence of mason jars (including all brands, such as Ball). So I will turn my attention first to pennies.

Would you like a really disgusting and dirty floor? Look no further:

Has anyone who makes the wood pallet furniture ever seen a wood pallet before? They're made out of rough, crappy wood. Growing up, a friend of mine fell through the deck that her dad had made out of wood pallets. It's not great wood, people. Kudos for repurposing, but let the pallets do the work they were made to do - your kids will get enough splinters in their lifetime without your help. Plus, this stuff is just kinda ugly. Why not put your couch on cinder blocks? It's kindof the same effect.

Rubber mats are heavy. I just want to know how hanging this on your wall is accomplished (maybe I just don't understand because I have plaster walls):

And finally, yes - this is gorgeous -- but it's made of toilet paper rolls. Are we taking "green" just a little too far? Toilet paper rolls are cardboard. They can be recycled. We recycle ours...and they do not go on the walls.

This post has taken long enough, so I'm going to sign off. Enjoy pinning - I need to go look for a quinoa recipe for dinner tomorrow.

A New Year and No Snow

It has to be addressed: I have a blog about living in the Midwest, it's winter, and we're about to take our Christmas lights down - yet there are no snowy, glowing photos of my house this year. And it's not because I was lazy and somehow missed the moment. There has been no snow. And there's none forecasted. No big storms, no flurries, no nothing. I wore my fleece jacket to work today...shoot, we might be in shorts and tanks by February at this rate. Truth be told, I hate being cold. But I love being inside when it's snowing, and more than that, I love the unexpected joy of a snow day (since I work in education but do work summers, this is my one seasonal job perk, and I fully embrace it). I miss the snow.

Moving on.

Andrew and I celebrated the New Year this year with a fantastic party. Our house was the first stop of a Progressive Dinner with three other couples. Appetizers are my hands down favorite thing to make, so I made my three "signature" apps - bacon wrapped stuffed dates, brandy and macadamia nut brie with apples and pears, and bruschetta. I put the bruschetta on ciabatta rolls, which made them a ton more party friendly (note to myself in the future). About 20 minutes before our guests were to arrive, the pre-heating oven started smelling like lighter fluid. We searched the internet, and about 15 posts said that it was nothing, and another 15 screamed "CALL THE GAS COMPANY!" So, we called the gas company. The gas folks told us to evacuate our home, so we bundled up the kitties and stowed them in the car (remember my previous statement about the weather - there were no freezing kitties), and waited at our wonderfully understanding next door neighbor's house until we got the all clear. Turns out, the oven sucked up the fumes from the wood conditioner I'd been wiping the cabinets down with - it was nothing. But we also found out that our house has surprisingly low CO2 levels and that none of our gas lines are leaking, and received several compliments from the poor guy who was working New Year's about our basement rennovations. Bless him.

Luckily, all of our guests were running late (yes, I've managed to find friends who operate on my same time table - I love it!) and so the delay with the oven did not trivialize the outcome of the evening. It was a very impressive spread across the three houses, and the best New Year's I've celebrated in many years. Even though I tend to be an old lady when it comes to bedtime, we managed to keep the party going with booze and board games until about 3am. It was epic.

As the days of 2011 started dwindling, I realized that I was nervous about 2012. In many ways, 2011 was a comeback year for our household. I started a job that I love, we finished the biggest house-related project that we've wanted to do since moving in, and for the first time I can remember since somwhere during of college, I've felt a true sense of comfort that I'm right where I need to be in life. I don't have any plans that I'm rushing toward, and there aren't any signs flashing in the sky that say "LIFE IS GOING TO CHANGE -- RIGHT NOW! SO HOLD ON!" I feel really rooted. My marriage is happy, my family is happy, the kitties are happy...we're doing good on all counts.

That should feel good, right? Right. But since I tend to be a little pessimistic in nature - and because I thrive on making plans - 2012 scared me a little. Will there be something that yanks at my roots? Oh, probably. What happens if I don't make a plan to work toward? Chaos, clearly.

So after confiding all of this in Andrew, I decided to make one hell of a New Year's resolution. I wrote it all out on my computer. Frankly, I'd have to look it up to remember everything. But I remember enough bits and pieces to have a pretty cohesive vision for 2012. It goes something like this:
1. Maximize my time by waking up earlier and better. Be more productive in the morning so I have more time to play in the afternoon/evening.
2. With my new-found free time, get moving. Do the things I enjoy, including: working out regularly, riding my bike, taking walks, and get back into horseback riding.
3. Eat better: make more time to make meals in, and continue making a commitment to local, fresh, real food.
4. Continue to grow relationships: enjoy my marriage, my family, and my friendships.
5. Quit procrastinating (ha!)
6. Complete the following: a quilt, a road race...and some other stuff that I currently can't remember.

There was actually a #7 but I can't remember it...because no one can ever remember groups of 7 (try naming the 7 dwarfs or 7 deadly sins...I dare ya)

Take that, 2012...I have plans for you.