Pinterest: Love it or Hate it?

The jury is still out for me. I know all of the reasons people "love" Pinterest. It's great for organizing ideas, finding recipes, decorating your existing (or dream) home, crafting with/for your kids, etc.


But are any of you like me? Does Pinterest make you feel inadequate? Have you had any major Pinterest "flops" like I have? Two examples. My first Pinterest flop was a "great" cheesy penne chicken blah blah blah recipe. One hour, five pots and pans, and a soupy sloshy mess later...I was cursing Pinterest. Second example. Anyone else try the oh, so chic and adorable striped Easter eggs? I did. They looked like garbage. They were the most hideous Easter eggs I've seen. Now, maybe I can't blame Pinterest. Maybe the penne chicken recipe called for whole milk and I used 1%. Maybe the Easter egg craft called for electrical tape and I used painter's tape. Maybe those were my fault.


I still feel that Pinterest, although trying to be helpful, makes me feel like I don't do enough cute crafts with Landen. It makes me feel like I don't have enough clever organizational solutions in my home. It makes me feel like I haven't properly preserved Landen's precious artwork from daycare, or decorated my house in a really thoughtful and innovative way, or made the best, easiest, most delicious food out there. 


Does this only happen to over-achievers like me who want to do it all and do it all correctly, the first time? Maybe. Maybe, I need to let go of Pinterest a bit and only use it for idea pin boards - like Landen's 2nd birthday party. Maybe I shouldn't check out what others are pinning. Because when I do, my mind assumes that all of the pinners I'm following are actually DOING all of those cute, crafty, clever things that I'm just pinning and not actually doing much of. I know that this is not 100% true, but I can't get my over-achieving self to admit it.


A possible solution to this dilemma might be a "like/dislike" symbol (like Pandora) for people that have actually tried these things. 


I'll tell you what I would give a BIG thumbs up to: tonight's dinner. Here's what you need. Crock pot, frozen chicken tenders, block of cream cheese, can of Rotel or some salsa, black beans or pinto beans, can of corn (optional - I didn't). Turn on the crock pot for a few hours. The original blog said 6-8 hours. I cooked for maybe three on high last night and it was fine/cooked through. We heated it for dinner tonight and put into some whole wheat tortillas. Delicious. I will warn you, it looks absolutely disgusting (so good luck getting your picky kids to eat it), but it tastes fantastic. 


And THIS is why the jury is still out for me on my opinion of Pinterest. After a total flop - like ugly Easter eggs, Pinterest comes back with an amazing and super-easy dinner like tonight.

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter, everyone! We couldn't be happier with the way our weekend turned out. We were able to see family and friends from Friday night on through Sunday, and we filled ourselves to the brim with tasty food too! Landen slept great and was in good spirits all weekend and even made it through Easter mass. She really enjoyed finding Easter eggs around the living room this morning. We held a pre- and post-mass hunt since she liked it so much. I thought I'd share a few pictures from our day.

With Nana and cousin Michelle's dog Caesar this afternoon.

Having fun outside despite the windy day.

Easter pinata time! She needed a little guidance from daddy at first, but then she knew exactly what to do!

Love this one...

On her second turn, she thought she'd tap it from the bottom to see if that would work.

Landen wasn't the one to break it open, but she sure did collect a lot of candy. Here she's showing off her prize. :)