Pinning Away

Have you heard about Pinterest? It's one of my more recent Internet obsessions, and while I'm hesitant to sign up for one more thing, Pinterest is totally worth it. It's invitation only, but requesting an invitation is easy and I got my invite in a week. So do it. Today.

Source: apartmenttherapy.com via Katie on Pinterest

With Pinterest, you can easily "pin" inspiration photos from around the web to your boards. You can install a "Pin It" button in your browser's toolbar and next time you see something drool worthy you can save it to one of your boards. You can follow others and their boards and re-pin items you like. Basically, it's photo porn for those with an affinity for interior design, art and fashion.

Source: ohdeedoh.com via Farrah on Pinterest

You can follow my boards and pins here.

Lately

+ Our big housewarming party was a success. Having 40 of our friends and funny running the house was overwhelming, but it's always nice to have so many of the people you love in one spot. Especially if there's beer and corn hole.

+ September 6 was our second wedding anniversary. Sadly, our dinner and a movie plans were disrupted by a plumbing situation (We spent the next four days living by a "If it's yellow let it mellow" policy. Boo. But now we have a plumber that we like so call me if you need one in the Louisville area.) so we opted for Arby's and Netflix instead. Tomorrow night is the fourth anniversary of our first date so something nicer than Arby's might be in order.

+ In addition to the plumbing meltdown, our dishwasher is a fire hazard and no longer in use. The fire hazard was located while someone was trying to fix the dishwasher's leak for the fourth time. Fortunately (and unlike the plumbing situation), this is covered by our home warranty. Now if I can only decide on a new dishwasher.

+ Despite the past two items, we've reached our savings goal to get rid of the blue carpet in the living room and dining room and get some hardwood floors. Now to specifically pick the floors.

+ Lee's sister is engaged! *happy dance*

+ In two months and two days my cell phone contract will be up and when I renew I'm getting an iPhone 4 to replace my boring, not-cool, normal phone. I'm ridiculously excited. Please send app suggestions. Specifically I'll need a good Twitter app and a good note-taking app and perhaps a separate grocery list app.

+ It's college football season, the sport world's tasty appetizer before the main course arrives. The main course being college basketball of course. Go Cats!

+ I've been playing with my blog layout (again!) so if you're reading this in a reader and you haven't actually visited lately you may want to.

+ I just discovered this last night and kind of love it.

Best. Idol. Performance. Ever.

I'm ridiculously obsessed with Lee and Crystal singing Falling Slowly on Idol last night. They're my favorites this season and I already loved the song, but really. I can't stop listening to this. Amazing.


And while you're watching YouTube videos. I love this too. But in a different way.

Week in Review: 3/26

Caitlin and I started photoblogging at 1000 miles between so come visit!

I discovered I Love Charts and it is awesome.

Jenn now does Take Five Fridays. It's pretty much the same as the Week in Review, except it's all recipes all the time.

A wonderful post from Little Brown Pen on travel and what makes a place really special.

I've been reflecting on my frustration with wanting a house and not finding a house and wondering how much less frustrated I might be if I didn't spend so much time at home decorating blogs looking at things like this adorable workspace, this cheapo kitchen reno, or this cottage. But I love my decorating blogs and will not leave them.

I have a new favorite YouTube video.

Happy weekend! We're looking at a house tonight and then my parents are coming in tomorrow night for Palm Sunday mass on Sunday morning. We have bagpipes on Palm Sunday so I'm very excited! Also, Go Cats!

11/13: Week in Review

 I subscribe to 212 blogs/news sources/miscellany in my Google Reader. Two hundred twelve. I feel like that's a lot. I don't what to compare it to. How many do you subscribe to? Is 212 normal? It's still a lot. So I've decided that Fridays should be "Week in Review" days where I share some blog, Twitter, YouTube goodness from the ridiculous amount of blog reading I do. And maybe some photos.


I got a new Twitter background at ava7 patterns and it is awesome.

Handmade holiday gifts don't get much easier than the hot drink mix.


A much-needed tutorial on bows from Elise Blaha.

I love What I Wore and am so excited that Jessica got engaged and is starting a wedding blog.

I love me some fake Jane Austen news!

These are some keyword search results for this blog. I'm glad I could be helpful with food expiration issues.
 


If you are a twenty-something blogger and like to do good things, you might like this.



I am a huge fan of Kentucky Sports Radio and I am so happy that they now have a lady blogger and she seems to think along the same lines as I do.

Tour Etsy headquarters. Because you didn't want to work there enough already.

I was thinking about trying to wing a journal/planner cover a couple months ago, but a tutorial is much nicer.

I also have a bit of an announcement. I have been a slightly closeted Taylor Swift fan for some time now. Lately, like I since I borrowed a couple CDs from my sister and saw her rock out the SNL, I can't keep it inside any longer. I really love me some Taylor Swift.

Meemz

New Internet obsession: Rocketboom. In particular: Know Your Meme.

Rocketboom is an awesome Internet news show, but they have a section, Know Your Meme, that explains popular memes. Apparently I've missed out on a lot because I don't know what half of these are, but now we can all learn together! It's all quite entertaining.

I already knew a bit about this one, but oh how I love it!

A Plethora of Internet Awesome

One of my favorite things about working in advertising is that I can watch funny commercials on YouTube and it's "research"! (Technically, these videos are normally in blog posts from advertising blogs so I find them when I am actually reading industry news so it's totally legit.) Today I have found some pretty funny stuff.

Not a commercial, but Craig Ferguson blaming advertising for creating the Jonas Brothers. Sorry, world. (found via The Denver Egotist)



The next two are from Adrants. The first is the story of my life with subtitles; the second is a beautiful tribute. Dwight Shrute's new title should be "Assistant to the Magician's Assistant."

I'm a Carnivore for Polyvore

I'm not sure that headline really makes sense. I mean, you can't eat Polyvore, but if you could I would. Anyway...

I just found my new most favorite site ever (for this week): Polyvore.

Polyvore allows users to create their own fashion spreads using clothes from stores across the price spectrum, from Forever 21 to Alexander McQueen. So while you're shopping for clothes and you click on a cute top, it will show you the other items that users have paired it with. Exactly what I've always wanted clothing websites to do! And of course, you can go in and pair things together to make an ensemble! There is so much to love here!!!

It's also a fabulous place to get ideas. For someone who can be a little retarded when it comes to color combinations and being creative with fashion (Which I'm working on because my clothes are very dull. Jeans and top everyday. One of three different pairs of earrings. My wedding bling. That's about it.) (Actually I can be pretty dull on most decor and fashion fronts, as I frequently discuss, most recently here.)

I've played around with it some (Okay, a lot.) and here's my first two creations! Ta da! They might not seem like much, but so much more fun than what I wear everyday!

Summer Shopping by KatieEarley featuring American Eagle Outfitters

Fun with Leggings by KatieEarley featuring KaTang shoulder bags

And of course, all items were priced under $50 because I'm budget friendly.

Now go forth and Polyvore! You can post your creations in comments!!

I Feel So Popular

A couple weeks ago my dear friend Caitlin invited me to write a guest post for her blog on my beloved Jane Austen. Since we have been real-life best friends from back before when blogs were cool (Actually there wasn't ever Facebook then! Gosh I feel old. When I started college (7 dorm rooms down from Caitlin) in September 2002, there was no Facebook.), this wasn't too surprising because we're obviously each other's biggest fans. However, Hannah from Journal of a Rock Angel liked my post so much she asked to repost it! I feel so popular! I'm also a huge dork. Anyway, just go check out Hannah's blog and read my thoughts on Jane again. (If you want. I mean, how can you tire of her? I can't!) Thanks Hannah!

In other English dork news, I'm loving this:

The Real Flava' of Love

So last night Lee and I were eating dinner (I had cooked some chicken (With this recipe but I just put the sauce on the chicken in a skillet.) with corn on the cob and green beans (sauteed with garlic salt and butter, a recipe I stole from Jenn). Yummy!) Anyways, we were talking and Lee (He is so cute!) said, "This is the real Flava of Love" (as opposed to this Flava). Aww... :)



In other sweet news, just in case you live under a rock and haven't seen this awesomeness yet...


Caitlin, how much would I have had to pay you to do that?! ;)

I'm on a Boat

In case you haven't noticed (here) I spend some time planning things in my non-existent house. The other day I was wandering Etsy's blog and found an interview with an artist who has a print that I want to base my non-existent son's nursery on. (I spend a lot of time planning for non-existent things.) It's a beach scene that says "If you want to know how much I love you count the waves." Beautiful.

I was telling Lee about this and how we could do a whole nautical thing around the print and it would be awesome. Lee's response?

"Then our baby could be in his crib and say, "I'm on a boat!"

Yes, the "I'm on a boat" featured below. I showed it to Lee last week and have not heard the end of "flippy-floppies." I must admit though, I love it too, and really want to ride around on a boat with this gem blaring from the speakers, while I wear my flippy-floppies.

And on the Fourth of July They Signed It

Happy Fourth of July! Do you have any special holiday traditions? I always try to watch some Schoolhouse Rock and 1776 because I'm a huge dork. Lee's hoping to squeeze in a History Channel special on the secret lives of the Founding Fathers.

Yay for democracy and freedom!

Happy [insert holiday here]!

Various recent birthdays have returned my attention to someecards.com. I have long used someecards for all my free ecards but I hadn't visited in awhile and forgot how delightfully wonderful and vulgar it was!

My Masterpiece

So I have this thing with Jane Austen and I'm active with the local region of JASNA. We're having a Jane Austen Festival next month and I somehow volunteered to make a video to promote the event.

Do I have any video making skills? No.
Have I ever operated a video-making device whose primary purpose is not to take photos? No.
Do I know how to use any video editing software? No, but I firmly believe that if I can use Adobe Photoshop then I can do anything (except Adobe Illustrator.)

Despite these many setbacks, last night I had some friends over to make this little video. I'm sure it will make you all want to reserve your space for tea this instant!

Randomly Found Internet Things

I was at AdRants today, one of my favorite blogs for doing "work research" and found a couple very interesting things.

I was very intrigued by the Tide Total Care commercial and it's promises, only to later by horrifically sticker-shocked when I went to go purchase it at Walmart. One should never be sticker-shocked in Walmart. Apparently though, it's just as good as another type of Tide at half the price, which works as well as the All Small and Mighty I've been using since college. Tide, you have lost my trust; Tim Gunn, never!

I watch The Bachelor and The Bachelorette, so on many levels I feel that I can't judge this. And I respect arranged marriages as a cultural institution as long as everyone's a willing participant and not 12. But arranged marriage realty TV? I'm not surprised it's on Fox and CBS.

Sarcasm + Cooking = Cooking for Assholes. Brilliant. (I don't think this had any relation to AdRants, but was found today.)

Color Crazy

It's that time again where I decide to change the look of my blog! Woohoo! This is only for the 5th time or so. I think I like the header (today anyways) and now it's just a question of colors. Suggestions welcome.

This is what I started with, but felt it was too summery and bright.

This is where I am as of posting.


Found this neato video of someone making art for the cover of the New Yorker on his iPhone. If only I was that artistic...

Death and Doom

I worry a lot sometimes. I'll have moments where I will just start to become very concerned about what will I do if I die. Okay, well clearly I won't be doing much of anything (other than getting fitted for my angel wings, fingers crossed! Actually, God probably already knows what size I need. I mean, He's God. Anyways...). But what about if Lee dies! Or what would Lee do if I die?! The nearby Arby's and Papa John's would benefit tremendously, but that would still suck! And sometimes during these thoughts, I wonder, what will happen to my or Lee's Facebook. Or my blog.

Seriously.

I've seen Facebook walls turn into nice memorials for the deceased. But I wonder, will that stay there forever? What if some people wanted to see my Facebook memorial who weren't already on Facebook or my friend, how could I accept their friendship since all my secret passwords have died with me. What if I needed to be untagged from some photos after death so my memorial is more...appropriate. How will I cancel any of Lee's video game memberships? Or notify the rest of the guild? (Yes, my husband is super cool.)

Call me crazy, but apparently other people have thought about this, web developer people, and there is a solution. Enter Legacy Locker.

You can keep all your passwords to anything here and when you die they will pass on to a beneficiary. You can also type up a Legacy Letter as a final message to your e-mail contacts. (Creepy. Please don't put me on your final e-mail. Somethings are really best said on paper.)

It seems a little crazy -- and I know this is terribly morbid (Maybe it's the clouds and the boil water advisory. Grr.) -- but this isn't a horrible idea. Of course this information could be typed out on paper and placed in a safety deposit box too. Perhaps the real audience for this are those with online businesses and regular online transactions. Like if you have an Etsy shop and people keep buying things but you can't fulfill those orders because no one knows the password and you're dead. That's a much bigger problem than Lee not showing up for his dungeon raid.

Let's close on a positive, shall we? From KSR's Twitter on May 8:

Explaining My Issues

Last week I posted about how I waste my time doing things that really, if I think about it, I probably don't want to do. I don't want to play as many computer card games as I play. I don't even want to Facebook stalk as much as I Facebook stalk. However, these things tend to suck my time away by their magical powers.

Actually though, there are no magical powers involoved in this. It's all in my brain. I love it when science prooves that there are reasons for my nonsense. And apparently, with practice, I can fight the magnetic draw of Facebook and spider solitaire. For help fighting your own battle against lame distractions, read this.

I Almost Choked on my Yogurt

Decorating Style Extravaganza!!

Thanks to one of my new favorite blogs, I discovered a variety of online quizzes regarding my decorating style. These quizzes are much better than the lame ones on Facebook so I encourage this as a top-notch means of procrastination.

Sproost says I'm 33% Traditional Country, 33% Nantucket Style and 34% Wine Country.

Ikea says I'm Country Antique, which breaks down to 60% Country, 40% Scandinavian and 0% Modern.

MyDeco says I'm Funky Modern. Kind of contradicts the previous two, but oh well.

I do think it's kind of funny how I like "country" styles yet I actually do not like the country at all. (Other than a weakness for ducks and the British countryside. In Britain, the country makes me think of Jane. In America, it just makes me think of ticks.) I'm a city girl, with a weakness for whicker.