Monday, February 28, 2011

Add One More Must to My Web Routine...

I have a new addiction and it goes by the name of Pinterest. You may have seen the little icon I added to the left there on my blog last week. This website allows me to "pin" pictures I find during my googling, blog reading, or website discovering all in one place. I can organize my pins onto different boards, so that I can keep my project inspirations separate from pictures I just think are lovely.



But my favorite part? I can set it up to be notified every time someone likes my taste enough to repin one of my pins onto their own board(s). I am loving it so much. It's like having a stranger come up to you and tell you he/she likes your shoes. AND it happens hourly (some days).

Though it is very affirming to my self-esteem, it has the added benefit of being a very handy replacement for simply bookmarking blog posts, recipes, or pictures I like.  Not only can I access my Pinterest account from any computer, organize my boards and pins very easily, but I am also constantly inspired by others' pins and boards too.

We're even using a board for my sister's wedding registry. This way she can post things from multiple websites all in one place. (We plan to have people add a comment to the item if they purchase it so she won't end up with accidental duplicates.)

Monday, February 21, 2011

There's Nothing Like the Internet to Make You Feel Inferior

Until I started blogging, I thought of myself as pretty clever and talented. I believed I was an excellent writer and among the highest percentage of crafty people. Then I started reading blogs. And damn, there are some FANTASTIC blogs out there in the ether. My bubble of delusion has been burst.

Crafty people who put my crafting to shame, like Jessica of How About Orange and Amy of eat, drink, chic.

Writers whose prose sparkles in comparison to mine, like Lyn of another damn life and Persephone of What Possessed Me (seriously P's travel writing is unbelievably fantastic).

People who are so creative and funny, it must ooze from their veins like Molly of Catalog Living and Rhett & Link (see below).



And decorators who have the most sophisticated visions like Paul of Sweet Paul and Sweet Paul Magazine (Spring Issue coming soon!)

Sure, I have some talent, but my amateur skills pale in comparison to so many people out there. (I tell myself that many of them are making a living from their particular phenomenal talents, but it's not always true.)

Thursday, February 17, 2011

I ♥ U


In honor of Valentine's week...a short list of some things I love.

Photo by Maggie





2. Collaboration Songs




3. Artistic Talent 



4.  Paper Crafts: Calendar of the Month projects


5. Good Recipes: Homemade CheezIts

Friday, February 11, 2011

Tucked in with Some Reading

Sometimes nothing warms your heart quite like the cool dry wit of the English...

From The Last Stand of Major Pettigrew: A Novel  by Helen Simonson 

"Yes, she's been gone some six years now, " he said. "Funny really, it seems like both an eternity and the blink of an eye all at the same time."
"It is very dislocating," she said. Her crisp enunciation, so lacking among many of his village neighbors, struck him with the purity of a well-tuned bell. '"Sometimes my husband feels as close to me as you are now, and sometimes I am quite alone in the universe," she added.

America wielded her huge power in the world with a brash confidence that reminded him of a toddler who has got hold of a hammer.

"Look here, it's all very tidy and convenient to see the world in black and white," said the Major, trying to soften his tone slightly. "It's a particular passion of young men eager to sweep away their dusty elders." He stopped to organize his thoughts into some statement short enough for a youthful attention span. "However, philosophical rigidity is usually combined with a complete lack of education or real-world experience, and it is often augmented with strange haircuts and an aversion to bathing. Not in your case, of course-you are very neat.'"
"You are very strange," he said. "Are you saying it is wrong, stupid to try to live a life of faith?"
"No, I think it is admirable," said the Major. "But I think a life of faith must start with remembering that humility is the first virtue before God."

"But I must ask you, do you really understand what it means to be in love with an unsuitable woman?" "My dear boy," said the Major. "Is there really any other kind?"

Dancing, the Major thought, was a strange thing. He had forgotten how this vaguely pleasant exercise and social obligation could become something electric when the right woman stepped into his arms. Now he could understand why the waltz had once been as frowned upon as the wild gyrations that today's young people called dance. He felt that he existed only in the gliding circle they made, parting the other dancers like water. There was no room beyond her smiling eyes; there were no people beyond the two of them. He felt the small of her back and her smooth palm under his hands and his body felt a charge that made him stand taller and spin faster than he would have ever thought possible.

"I have no idea what I hope to accomplish. I only know that I must try to see her. That's what love is about, Roger. It's when a woman drives all lucid thought from your head; when you are unable to contrive romantic stratagems, and the usual manipulations fail you; when all your carefully laid plans have no meaning and all you can do is stand mute in her presence. You hope she takes pity on you and drops a few words of kindness into the vacuum of your mind." 

I love this book.

Monday, February 7, 2011

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

The Big Sister Privilege

As the oldest sister of three girls in my family, being the big sister has meant a lot of different things growing up. It has meant that I have parented (way too enthusiastically, according to my mother and probably my sisters), I have protected, I have led, I have supported, and I have learned the exact ways to infuriate my sisters. In recent years it means I have become good at smoothing things out, helping iron out family worries and calming angry siblings down (until it comes to me, and then sometimes it falls apart).

It seems like a good preparation to be a parent; I definitely have that same pride when either of my sisters succeed and the same worry and sadness when they have to deal with hardship and heartbreak. It's better than being a parent though because I know I can count on them for the same things they get from me; someone to commiserate on the jackassery of my husband or boss, torture about every embarrassing thing I ever did or wore growing up, and unquestionable love even when I am the worst version of me.


They will never unfriend me, lose my number, or experience a major life event without me being the first to know. I have only one friend for whom this can be said, but I have two sisters for whom this will never change, no matter what I do.