Pinterest — What? Why? How?

by Sandy // September 9, 2015 // 6 Comments

Years ago, Irene was obsessed with magazines. She had stacks and stacks in the living room, basement, on the kitchen table – everywhere. She loved perusing the pages and tearing out her favourite recipes, hints and tricks, gardening ideas, decorating ideas, places to visit and things to do. Each clipping went into a folder that was marked appropriately. When we came for a weekend visit, she would pull out the “Things To Do In Kentucky” folder and flip through clippings that reminded her of interests. When I needed recipes, another folder was pulled out and rifled through.

Lots of people clipped articles from magazines and saved cherished recipes, but not everyone had folders. Some people put them on their refrigerator with magnets; some put them in a drawer; some pinned them to bulletin boards. Little reminders of things we liked, or wanted to try.

Imagine if you had a separate bulletin board for every category: one for recipes; another for gardening; yet another for places you dream about visiting.

Maybe you’re a fan that would like to keep all things Robert Redford. Maybe you’ve started quilting or canning and would like to keep everything you can find on the subject – in one, easily accessible spot. If this is appealing to you, you need to visit Pinterest.

Pinterest gives you the ability to create a virtual bulletin board (or 2, or 27 or as many as you need) where you can pin “clippings” and pictures that interest you, in groups that make sense to you. You can pin things from Pinterest, out on the internet, or upload them from your computer.

And it’s FREE!!!!

So, when you want a cocktail recipe that includes bourbon, or need an easy breakfast recipe for crowds, or need that tip on how to remove stains from silk, there’s no digging in drawers and closets and files. You don’t have to comb the internet mumbling “Where was that? I KNOW I saw it somewhere!” You just go to your Pinterest board and – voila! There it is at your fingertips! Literally!

Even better, you can view other people’s boards and pin from them. So, you know how Robin makes the best desserts ever? How Regina does all things creative? You can choose to follow them and every time they pin a recipe or new project to one of their boards, the pin will be sent to you.

If you’re looking for something specific (or non-specific), like the cheapest way to clean grout, or words of encouragement for a friend, or just a great picture of a horse, you can search on Pinterest and most likely, you’ll find just what you were looking for.

You can also “share” boards. When Jean and I are planning a trip, we share a board of restaurants, shops, hotels and sites in the area we are visiting. Whatever I pin, Jean sees and visa versa. We can even add a map of where we’re going (or where we have been).

Just as you can view other people’s boards, they can view yours. Have a board you don’t want to be seen by the entire world population? Not a problem. You can make a board “secret” so only you (or people you add) can see it.

Now you know what Pinterest is, and why you would use it. The next question is: How?

A few easy steps and you’ll be pinning like a pro!

Don’t forget to follow sistersfolly for the best pins in just about every category! Just type sistersfolly (no spaces) in the search bar to find us!

How do you use Pinterest? What tips can you share? We’d love to hear from you in the comments!

A SIMPLE GUIDE TO USING PINTEREST

Step 1: Create a Pinterest account.

Go to pinterest.com (Click the link and it will open in a new window).

A pop-up will appear for a few seconds while they build your customized feed based on your selected interests…. Just wait. It goes away.

Step 2: Create a board.

Now that you have an account, you’re ready to create a board (or 2 or 10 or more).

Your board is created!

Step 3: Follow pinners and boards that interest you.

There are a number of ways to find and follow boards that may interest you:

Search for Friends

Their boards will be displayed.

NOTE: In some cases, you may want to follow individual boards rather than all of a pinner’s boards (that’s not true for sistersfolly!) Instead of clicking on the FOLLOW button in the upper-right corner of their board, simply click the Follow at that bottom of the board you want to follow.

That’s all there is to it. You’ll start receiving new pins in your Home Feed.

Home Feed

The Home Feed will display pins you are likely to be interested in. It will include pins from boards you are following and suggestions from Pinterest based on your interests. There are 2 ways to get to your Home Feed (besides being automatically displayed when you log in).

You’re ready to start pinning!

Step 4: Pin!

Since the board I have created is All About Chocolate, I will use ‘chocolate’ in the following examples. Of course, you can search for anything!

Use the scroll bar (on the right side of the screen) to scroll through the pins. When you see one that interests you, hover the mouse over the picture until the PINIT button appears. Click PINIT.

You can edit the description, pin it to an existing board, or create a new board. Have too many boards to scroll through? Easy. Just click in the board search field and enter any letters/words in the name of your board.

ADDITIONAL TIPS:

If you click a pin, it will open up larger on your screen.
Click the X in the upper right corner to close the large version (if you use the back arrow, it will take you to the top of the previous screen. THAT gets annoying if you looked at a pin 47 feet down!)
If you click the large version, it will take you to the original website. So, the pin may not have instructions, directions, or ingredients, but the original website should.
You can not pin from Facebook.
You can download a Browser Button from Pinterest. Click the link and follow instructions for your computer/mobile device.

It adds a Pinterest button on your internet browser window so you can easily pin from the internet.

You can copy, delete or move up to 50 pins from one board to another. For example, you create a board for Chocolate. After 276 pins and lots of scrolling, you decide to put all pins for Cakes in a new Cakes board. On your original board, just click MOVE PINS then select the pins you want on your new board and MOVE them to the new Cakes board.

You can send a pin to (or receive one from) a friend on Pinterest (fellow Pinner). Just hover your mouse over the pin and click SEND in the upper right corner.

Pins sent to you will appear as a Message. Click the Pushpin icon in the upper right corner of your board to view them.

Yard Sale Diaries (127 The World’s Longest Yard Sale)

by Irene // August 23, 2015 // No Comments

We ventured out to the magnificent 127 Yard Sale, also known as the World’s Longest Yard Sale. The difference this year? My sister was in Michigan selling her house. I was on my own (sigh). I’d given up on going, but my dear, sweet husband volunteered to navigate and keep the car cool.

We packed a lot of bags, boxes (wishful thinking), some snacks and plenty of water before heading out in the early morning. It was Sunday and the last day of the sale. I was excited about what we would find. I channeled my inner American Picker as we took the Owensboro, KY exit. This has been our favorite stop in prior years and it would be somewhat predictable (Bathrooms? Check. Food? Check.) We’ve always come across some remarkable deals and met some wonderful people.

First stop: the Gallatin Fair Grounds. There were plenty of vendors, but it was more like an antique show (complete with antique store prices). And…NO ONE was haggling! Well, I was outta there.

We headed south into the “neighborhoods”. What? The streets were BARE! This was unusual! Talking to a couple of people that have done this for the past 20 years or so, I found out that many had opted out and went to the fairgrounds this year. Rain and a closed highway due to a UPS tractor-trailer running into the median on I-71 kept customers at bay.

The first purchase, a bag of curvy glass stones for a quarter! Yay! The “ice has been broken”!

On our next stop was a “Fill a Bag for $1” sale. I’m on it! Here’s what I bought for $1:

Score!

Sweating bullets, we continued on…and on. I found a pair of vintage, wood, Susan Bates knitting needles for only $2! (I vow to learn how to knit one day).

I also found this unusual oddity.

Not sure what I’ll do with this, but it’s kind of cool.

Getting hungry, Mark and I shared a hamburger that definitely would not be approved by Michelle Obama and/or our doctor. I didn’t take a photo, but imagine curly lettuce peaking out from the delicious bun, an heirloom tomato slice and a whopping, juicy burger (also peaking out of that bun).

While we were eating, Mark showed interest in some neon t shirts just at the edge of the parking lot. I purchased one for him and it is now his souvenir of our first 127 Yard Sale together.

We were sweating so much, it looked like we were caught in a rain storm. We reluctantly called it quits with dreams of next year’s Longest Yard Sale. Although our loot didn’t compare to previous years, we still had a lot of fun.

What grand finds did you purchase at the 127 Yard Sale this year?

Hearing Fluffs

by Irene // August 5, 2015 // 1 Comment

I was driving in to work and a commercial came on that was speaking of “Art Dickies”. Art Dickies? What in the world? I continued to listen and “instant cold wraps” and “effective relief from pain and swelling” were mentioned. Oh. I get it! They’re saying “Arctic Ease”!

Well, that had me thinking about mishearing. I’d always misheard, but it’s happening more these days.

I immediately thought of song lyrics. The easily misheard would include:

Queen—(We Will Rock You):
Nope: “Kicking your cat all over the place.”
Yep: “Kicking your can all over the place.”
(Queen may have been haters of animal abuse!)

Jimi Hendrix—(Purple Haze):
Awkward: “Excuse me while I kiss this guy.”
Correct but even more awkward: “Excuse me while I kiss the sky”
(It makes sense: Who kisses the entire sky?)

The Beatles—(A Day In The Life):
Nope: “I read the news today, old boy”
Yep: “I read the news today, oh boy”
(I can see this. “Old boy” sounds British, right?)

The Rolling Stones— (I Can’t Get No Satisfaction):
Me: “I can’t get no – girl reaction”
The Stones: “I can’t get no – girlie action”
(I was too young to understand what “girlie action” meant.)

These are just plain crazy:

The Who—(Who Are You?)
Sandy’s version: “Blue awning, hoo-hoo, hoo-hooo; Bluuue Awning, hoo-hoo, hoo-hoo…”
The Who’s version: “Who are you? Who, who, who, who?”
(Picture Sandy with her eyes closed and strumming an air guitar.)

The Beatles—(Across The Universe):
Perfectly reasonable: “Jackaroo Day, Oh”
The actual Gibberish: “Jai Guru Deva OM”
(Am I the only one who doesn’t understand Sanskrit?)

ELO—(Don’t Bring Me Down):
Understandable but wrong: “Don’t bring me down, Bruce!”
Really, but – What?: “Don’t bring me down, gruß!”
(This puts karaoke singers in a daze.)

The Beatles—(Michelle)
Wrong: “Michelle my bell, some day monkey play piano song, play piano song.”
Right: “Michelle, ma belle. Sont des mots qui vont très bien ensemble…”
(Only a karaoke boss or Jacques Cousteau could sing this one.)

Manfred Mann’s Earth Band—(Blinded by the Light)
Wrong on so many levels: “Blinded by the light, wrapped up like a douche when you’re rollin’ in the night”.
Shazam: “Blinded by the light, revved up like a deuce; Another runner in the night.”
(There’s nothing wrong with my hearing…everyone hears the wrong version, right?)

Dan Seals (England Dan)—(I’d Really Love to See You Tonight)
Funny: “I’m not talkin’ ’bout the linens”
Sane: “I’m not talking ’bout moving in”…”
(Too cute for me to change what I hear any time soon.)

Queen—(Bohemian Rhapsody)
Way off: “Saving his life from this warm sausage tea”
Accurate: “Spare him his life from this monstrosity”
(But I clearly heard the words “Scaramouche” and “Fandango”… go figure!)

Then there are the misheard translations from those who have learned/are learning English as a second language. Most of my relatives fit in this category. My mother referred to “roast beef” as “roast beast”. I only tried to correct her for a very short time because I grew fond of this amusing reference. My father would reverse words. We frequented Farmer Jack, a supermarket chain in Detroit. Dad referred to it as “Jack Farmer”. Again, we didn’t bother correcting him, as it just made him more charming.

Once on a visit to our home, my Uncle Pete had his first experience with that southern nuisance, the chigger. He said he had never heard of “gigolos”. Dear Uncle Pete also called earmuffs, “ear muffins”.

I also remember our Grandma Peltz used to say: “”two peas in a pot”. (hee-hee).

The Ukrainian, Dmitri, a contestant on Project Runway, referred to a “one-trick pony” as a “one-way monkey.” Again, funny and charming.

With the prominence of New Jerseyans on television, it’s no wonder subtitles aren’t incorporated for the rest of us to understand the malapropisms, mixed metaphors and odd grammar that’s used.

Teresa Giudice from The Real Housewives of New Jersey says things like, “that’s the way the ball drops.” (Or, does a ball bounce?) She also slaughters words by saying “ingredientses, stanima, and semolina (salmonella).

Sopranos writers inserted humorous abuse of the English language during a very serious plot through one of the most famous New Jerseyan characters, Tony Soprano:

“I was prostate with grief…” or “Alright, sure. Go ahead. I’m a little miffled, but yeah.”

And then there’s Joey Tribbiani from Queens (a mere 2 ½ hours from New Jersey), who would use “moo point”.

Joey: All right, Rach. The big question is, “does he like you?” All right? Because if he doesn’t like you, this is all a moo point.

Rachel: Huh. A moo point?

Joey: Yeah, it’s like a cow’s opinion. It just doesn’t matter. It’s moo.

I haven’t forgotten other celebrities like Norm Crosby, Archie Bunker, and George W. Bush who massacred the English language. I’m just running long on this post.

It didn’t take long for Sandy to provide examples when I asked her to think on my topic. Within a few days, a friend, Laverne, paid her a visit and said, “I need you to write a letter to the IRA and ask them to forgive my Dad.” Sandy thought, IRA?? Wasn’t her dad Jewish? How could he be involved in Ireland’s battle of Catholic versus Protestant? Well, Laverne really wanted the IRS to forgive her debt.

Within a day or two, Sandy said that her “almost sister-in-law, Mary Kay had a break-in where some sentimental items were stolen. Mary Kay proceeded to call her niece, Tracey, to ask her to accompany her to some local pawnshops. Rather than an answer from her niece, there was dead silence. Mary Kay explained that the police suggested these visits to the pawnshops to find some of the stolen items. Tracey burst out laughing because she heard her aunt asking her to accompany her to some “porn” shops.

There’s also “You’ve got another thing coming.” I’ve always said this and just found out it’s, “You’ve got another think coming”. Apparently this error is so egregious the Donald said, “I’d fire an employee who said, “think” for “thing” and then have them killed once they left my building.”

All this is to say it IS easy to get your wires crossed now and then, especially as we get older. You know you’ve had them. What are your strangest or funniest “mis-hearings”?

The Benefits of Drinking (Water)

by Irene // July 22, 2015 // 3 Comments

I was going through my “sale” notification emails, and surprise! There was a free app to drink more water that normally would cost $1.99. You don’t have to tell me twice. I downloaded the app and immediately texted my mother-in-law, because she loves “free” and needs to drink her water.

I opened the app and found that I should be drinking about 80 ounces of water. What? Why? I immediately contacted my best friend, Google, for answers.

It turns out that ¾ of our bodies are water. Basically, we are made of water!

The Brain is comprised of approximately 80% water. It shouldn’t be a surprise then, that drinking water and brain function are linked. Just a 2% drop of body water will cause problems with focus, short-term memory, motor skills and brain fog. This mild dehydration can cause headaches, sleep issues, fatigue, irritability and even depression.

The Digestive System when hydrated, helps us, you know, “go”, by adding fluid to the colon and bulk to stools to flush waste material out of our intestines. Staying hydrated may be more important than eating fiber for staying regular.

Kidneys are over 80% water so hydration reduces the burden on them to flush waste products and bacteria through our urinary tract.

Seniors are more at risk of dehydration as the sensation of thirst decreases with age, and their kidneys have decreased ability to concentrate urine.

Drinking water leads to frequent urination, so the fear of not having facilities nearby may lead the elderly to avoid liquids. (I know I don’t drink water after 4:30 pm so I can make it home from work without stopping at a McDonalds to use their facilities). It’s logical, right? Wrong! Drinking plenty of water throughout the day can actually help stop leakage and improve bladder control.

Observing the color of urine is an easy way to assess whether you’re properly hydrated.

Your heart is composed of 73% water. Keeping hydrated helps the heart more easily pump blood (which is 90% water), through the blood vessels to the muscles. And, it helps the muscles work efficiently. Research shows that consuming “high-energy fluids” (like soda and juice) increases the risk of death from coronary heart disease.

It could help you lose weight because drinking water before meals has you eating less. Also, the thirst mechanism is so weak that it’s often mistaken for hunger. You may not be as hungry as you think.

With plenty of water in your body, the chance of developing Arthritis lessens because there is less friction in your joints.

Rock the smile! Drinking plenty of water reduces cavities and tooth decay. Water helps produce saliva, which keeps your mouth and teeth clean.

Drinking plenty of water also helps hydrate the skin, which in turn reduces the signs of aging. What’s better than being skinny and looking young?

So how was I going to get all that water in me when I drink coffee until cocktail hour? Well, I have a cup of coffee at home and one when I get to the office. From then on, I drink water (until cocktail hour). It can get pretty boring so here are some ideas to boost your intake:

Change up the way you drink water. Use a pretty glass instead of a bottle. Change the temperature to just cooler than room temperature to drink it faster. Or, drink some of it HOT. Have a nice cup of decaf tea (caffeine robs you of water as it’s a diuretic).

Drink with a giant straw from McDonalds or a milk shake straw. This allows bigger gulps, so you drink more at a time. Plus it keeps the ice from attacking your face. Win. And. Win.

Straws can make your water drinking fun!

I just plain FORGET to drink water! To help you remember, add a drink to routines you’ve already established—after brushing your teeth or always with a meal out (added bonus: you’ll eat less and save some currency).

Let’s face it: most of us have our phones with us, so use them to your benefit. Set the timer or download a free app such as Waterlogged or Daily Water to help track, store, and analyze your water consumption.

I opt out of using the flavoring you see in stores and discovered infusing your water naturally with fruits, veggies and herbs is the way to go. Fill your pitcher to the top with ice and fruit, veggies and/or herbs. Cover with cold filtered water and let the water infuse at least 1 hour.

Find great combinations from the liquid hand soap aisle (Although I’d avoid white cotton, oatmeal and beach sand):

Lemon Mint
Mandarin Mango
Lavender Chamomile
Citrus–Lemons, limes and oranges (just make sure you don’t leave them in the water for over an hour because the rinds make the water bitter)
Lime and basil
Cucumber and Melon
Blueberry
Green Apple
Pink grapefruit

Change up your cubes! Just texture changes the experience, so instead of cubes how about crushed ice? Or buy ice-cube trays in fun shapes. Dropping some berries or grapes into your ice cube trays before filling will add flavor along with the eye-candy.

Can you imagine how pretty those ice cubes shaped to get into water bottles would look with blueberries or lavender?

Get more motivation with this:

This post is directed towards the middle-aged and older. The younger generation seem to drink their water pretty regularly. Their water bottles stick to them like fat thighs.

For all of us who drink little or no water, let’s surprise our organs with a quenching glass of water!

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