This one's all about food.

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When people come to visit us we have a somewhat predetermined way to show them around. We sight see based on where we can eat. It was like this is New York too. We come up with super yummy places we want our guests to try and then we figure out what’s close by that would be interesting to see. For instance, in New York we would always want to take people to Shake Shack. If they had never before been to New York we would first go and spend a couple hours in the morning at the Natural History Museum and then head across the street to Shake Shack. Of course the museum step would be skipped had they previously been. There was always a standard list of places we would want to take people, Tom’s for breakfast, Absolute for bagels, Junior’s for dinner and cheesecake.

So far things here are shaping up to be the same. We plan visits around where we want to take people to eat. Personally I think it is a great way to experience a new city. For many places the food really defines the culture and the people. In Honolulu that is definitely the case. The food you get here is unique to Hawaii and it’s hard to find the same food on the mainland.  Lau Lau and kalua pork at Yama’s, pan-fried pork chops at Side Street, kim chee fried rice at Home Bar, plate lunches at Rainbow Drive-In. Oh and shave ice at Dis n Dat. 

Basically anyone planning on visiting us can expect to experience Hawaii through food. With a little beach time thrown in for good measure.

I really love Pinterest but...(part 2)

Moving right along, here is part 2.

My next grievance: impossible-to-do-by-yourself crafts. This is a serious problem. Pinterest has given the false hope to many that they too can do what Martha Stewart does. The truth is even Martha Stewart doesn’t do all those silly crafts by herself. She has a massive staff that has every possible tool at their fingertips. They have endless supplies that allow them to do and then redo projects until it looks just right at which point pictures are blasted out of a perfect looking topiary made with fresh wildflowers only found in Outer Mongolia.

I feel I should be fair and include a disclaimer that I don't craft and I am by no means a crafty person. That said I just want to look out for all those who do enjoy gettin' their craft on.

There are some really great blogs out there that chronicle the sometimes epic fails of people trying pins. My favorites are craftfail.com and pintester.com. If you want a good laugh or you want to see what happens when normal people try and tackle some seemly simple pins check them out.

This pin is a great example.

In conjecture with this subject is the endless supply of re-purposing pins.  People try and re-purpse everyday items like t-shirts and not so everyday items like wooden pallets. Because we can all go out and pick up a pallet and turn it into a desk chair. I totally get wanting to be able to continue to use something that isn't quite ready to be thrown out but there are only so many ways you can re-purpose something before it be comes obscene.

For this next pet peeve I will freely admit that this is just me and they way I like to use Pinterest. I can't stand pins that go nowhere. This is what happens when people blindly repin something without first clicking through to see if there is an original post. Often people repin a picture that is just that, a picture. When someone follows the pin it takes you to some tumblr or wordpress site that just has other pictures on it and no words. What's the point of the pin if it doesn't take you somewhere helpful? I clicked through one pin the other day that took me to a yahoo! image search for Mexican Food. I was really hoping for a recipe guys!

I really don't feel like this is the way to use Pinterest. I understand the point of wanting to keep track of good ideas and such but what happens when you decide you want to actually do something you've pinned. You're sunk, that's what happens.

I really love Pinterest but...(part 1)

So I had a really long post about all the things that drive me crazy about Pinterest but I've decided to break it up into a few smaller posts. Here we start with part 1.

I really enjoy Pinterest. Ask my husband. I’m especially hooked on the food/recipe pins. I think food pins represent 85% of my personal pins.

I have noticed a few things about Pinterest though, things that really bug me. Before I get into those I should remind you, my readers, that everything I saw in this post represents my own opinions. If you're offended you can read a different blog, I don't care.
  

My heart aches...try this instead.

My number one personal vexation, Pillsbury. Every time I see recipe using a Pillsbury product a little part of me dies. Some day when no one but a select few know how to make donuts or crescent rolls from scratch we can all blame Pillsbury. My hope is that the general population will realize before that that just because something is “quick” and “easy” doesn’t give you the go ahead to sacrifice flavor and the joy of making something. Along this same vein it is not ok to roll whatever you want up in a crescent roll.  Just because you can doesn't mean you should. Chicken salad belongs between two slices of good quality bread, not rolled up and baked in who knows what. Making bread or dough isn’t rocket science. It is incredibly fulfilling and there is nothing more satisfying that pulling out a freshly baked loaf of bread and enjoying the first slice slathered in butter.

Stay tuned, next we look at the evil crafting side of Pinterest and people who don't actually know how to use Pinterest...