That's... 'Pin'teresting...

I have something to admit.
I am a shameless addict.

A week or so back, I noticed certain posts on Facebook beginning to appear. They notified me that certain people were 'pinning' things.

Confused, I decided to look in to it.
And that is when it happened. I took my first dose of Pinterest.

And now, pretty sure I'm never going to be able to stop.
I won't go to rehab. You can't make me!

It doesn't help that my job is an enabler. I can only stare at the closet door in front of me or click my pen so many times before I develop a twitch.

So, instead (to keep me alert and active) I scroll through pages and pages of Pinterest pins. If you are unfamiliar with how Pinterest works, let me educate you.

Copied directly from their website:
"Pinterest is a virtual pinboard. Pinterest allows you to organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web. You can browse pinboards created by other people to discover new things and get inspiration from people who share your interests. People use pinboards to plan their weddings, decorate their homes, and share their favorite recipes."

So it's like a giant collaboration of photos that provide inspiration for whatever you're in to.

What they neglect to mention is that people use Pinterest to waste gigantic amounts of time. But if you enjoy wasting the time, is it really time wasted?...

Regardless, it has really gotten me into a crafty mood.For some time now, I've wanted to refashion a sewing chest I was given as a 7-year-old for Christmas. I hate to bash Mom *cough* I mean Santa, but even then it looked dated.

Seriously, there are no words to describe my distaste for the combination of forest green and what appears to be a piece of medieval tapestry.

So instead of taking my daily afternoon nap (it was a tough decision), I decided to whip out my scrap fabric, spray paint, glue gun and get crackin'.

Okay, okay. So I still fit in a short nap. The paint needed time to dry...
But I also finished my now ridiculously fabulous sewing basket.

It was no where near as intensive as I imagined it'd be. All I had to do was pop out the lid and dismember the pieces. (I watch a lot of SVU. Can you tell?...)

Then I taped the sections I didn't want to be painted and started spraying. While that was setting, I re-covered the padded lid with a zebra print that has hot pink accents.

It's freakin' hot. Not gonna lie.

Then all I had to do was put it back together, hot glue gun at the ready.

I did make a small whoopsie when painting the wooden insert tray.
Word to the wise, do not cut corners when taping off sections. Because when I removed the newspaper, there were some ugly black stains on the fabric lining.
 

Never fear, I don't sweat the small stuff.
I quickly found a piece of hot pink leopard material which I lined the offending compartment with.

And I actually like it better than I did before. Yay for happy accidents!

But can you believe it, I didn't stop there.
I've seen many of variation of this, and I've always wanted to try it.

So I did.

I absolutely love how it turned out!
I found the three plates and two candlesticks at the D.I. The top smallest one is completely white with a cool shape/design, the middle one is black with white polka-dots (obviously) and the third is a simple black IKEA plate.

I couldn't get a picture that makes it look proportional (as it is in real life) so you're just gonna have to believe me when I say that it looks perfect.

I have it sitting as a centerpiece on my kitchen table, just waiting to be filled with some sort of tasty goodness.

So that was my productiveness as of yesterday. Hopefully the girls who gave me strange looks as they passed by while I crouched in my grungies spray painting in the stairwell won't judge me to harshly.

Heck, like I care.

I'm way excited for my next project.
If you know me, you know of my affinity for everything Scrabble.

A while back, I found a ghetto Scrabble board at the D.I. that still had all of the pieces. I bought it so that I wouldn't have to steal my parents' set, but within months it was Christmas and Santa brought me the brand-spankin'-new Diamond edition complete with swivel game board, raised edge tile slots and shiny black letter pieces.

I couldn't decide what to do with the thrifted game, so it's just been sitting in my game closet. That is, I couldn't decide until I was browsing through Pinterest (again) and kept coming across engagement photos and crafts containing those little Scrabble letter tiles.

And that is when I had an epiphany.

I am going to glue all of the old tiles to pieces of magnet and...

wait for it...

stick them on my fridge!!!
Then Lacy-Hacy with be able to spell obscenities with ease and leisure!
It's brilliant I say!

I'll let you know how they turn out.

Are You a Rotten Banana?...

Do you remember when I mentioned the game Bananagrams in my last birthday post?

I'm sure you probably don't, considering that post was a small novel (novella?...) which, for all intents and purposes, was most likely put in the blog vomit category by the majority of you.

Regardless, Banangrams is my new favorite. I carry it around in my purse everyday just waiting for the opportunity to break it out and whoop some unsuspecting relative, friend or stranger.

The object of the game is to create your own personal Scrabble board of sorts, continually adding letter tiles as the round commences until they run out. At this point, the first person to use their final tile in connecting a variety of words in crossword fashion, wins the game.

However, if the players scan the supposed winner's tiles and find an incomplete or incorrect word, that player is deemed the 'rotten banana' and must return all their tiles to the center of the table while the remaining players continue the game until someone else can produce an acceptable arrangement.

I love games that allow you to banish players...

During play, several punny 'banana' terms are used such as 'split' to start the game, 'peel' to alert the group to their obligation to draw another tile and 'dump' to allow a player to swap one of his bad tiles for three potential good ones.

Actually, how does the word 'dump' apply to the word 'banana'?...
I'm not sure I want you to answer that.

Word to the wise: if you are inherently talented with the ability to form words quickly and effectively, allowing you to yell 'peel' 40 consecutive times, you will be tarred and feathered.

In any event, it is an addicting good time.

Perhaps my favorite element is the little banana pouch that the letters come packaged in. It's just so cute... I'm gonna die!

But the best news of all is that the company who created Bananagrams has come out with other letter games revolving around fruit! I have yet to play Appleletters or Pairs in Pears, but oh I plan to. Very soon.

My only concerns are: will I be still able to tote my already massive purse once it contains all of these fruit pouches? Are they worth their weight? Am I a crazy person?

I'm here to answer: probably, most definitely and yes.

How to Spell 'Insanity'.

Playing Scrabble with my family is equivalent to mental suicide.
("Don't be such a drama queen!")

I am not even lying. They're all bat-crap-crazy.

No seriously.
My brain literally wants to step off a chair and hang itself.

Here's how it inevitably goes down.

Mom: "Who wants to play a game?"
Gem: "Corin will only play if we do Scrabble."
Dad: "How else will she control her unquenchable desire for complete domination?"
Mom: "Corin, do you want to play Scrabble?"

Me: "No."

Dad: "Someone take that girl's temperature!"
Gem: "Am I sleeping?" *pinch* "Ow." *pinch* "Ow!"
Mom: "Why not?"

Me: "Because I'm busy."

Mom: "Are you telling me that after I came out here specifically to enjoy you guys' company when I've been sick in bed all day and have had my meals fed to me on a tray and have watched 182 hours of Larkrise to Candleford and..." *two hours pass* "it all comes down to the fact that you don't love me, do you."

Me: -seated at table-

Mom: "How many tiles do I draw?"

Gem: "Seven."

Mom: "Six?"

Dad: "Seven."

Gem: "Pick a tile to see who goes first. Ha! I got 'A'!"

Dad: "N".

Mom: "I got an 'A' too!"

Gem: "No. You have to pick one tile first then take seven."

Mom: "Why does no one tell me the rules?"

Gem: "I go first then and get a double word score. Heh-heh."

Mom: "Wait! Why?"

Gem: "Because it's on a pink square. Pink squares give you a double word score."

Mom: "So you can spell things diagonally?!!"

Gem: "NO. Mom. Only down or from left to right."

Mom: "How many tiles do I need again?"

Me: *whimpers*

Mom: "This tile's blank."

Gem: "That means it's a wild."

Mom: "So it can be whatever I want it to be?!"

Gem: "You have to decide what it is then it stays that letter."

Dad: "But you can replace it with the actual letter if you have it."

Mom: "Okay then! I'll take it!"

Gem: "No. No. No. You have to use it during the same turn."

Mom: "What!!! Why doesn't anyone ever tell me the rules?!"

Dad: "Is this really so painful?"

Me: I'm surrounded by idiots."

Mom: "Whose turn is it?"

Gem: "Dad's."

*2 seconds pass*

Mom: "Kay, my turn right?"

Dad: "I'm still thinking."

Gem: "How do you spell 'violet'?"

Dad: "Look up 'J-E-R-O-A-M."

Gem: "G-E-R..."

Dad: "No. J-E-R-O-A-M."

Mom: "A-O-M?"

Gem: "J-E-O-R-A-M?"

Mom: "Wait. I think he said J-E-O-R-O-A-M."

Dad: "J-E-R-O-A-M!!!"

...

Gem: "Sorry. Not a word."

Mom: "Hold on. You guys are looking up random words?..."

Gem: "If it's in the Scrabble dictionary online, it counts."

Mom: "That's not fair. It shouldn't count."

Dad: "That's how we play."

Gem: "BOO-YAH. That'll be 92 points for me."

Dad: "How is that?!!"

Gem: "I used up all of my tiles. You get fifty bonus points whenever that happens."

Mom: "WHAAAAATTTT!!!!???? Why did no one tell me this!!?"

Me: "FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY! ARE YOU TELLING ME THAT YOU REALLY COULD HAVE USED ALL OF YOUR TILES IN A SINGLE TURN BY NOW?"

Mom: "I could have that first round. Probably."
...
Dad: "What do I do if I can't spell anything?"
Gem: "Swap some of your tiles from the bag."
Dad: "How many?"
Gem: "As many as you'd like."
Mom: "I think I'll do that too."
Gem: "Hold on mom. You have to put some back. You're only supposed to have seven."
Mom: "Wait, what? How do I know which ones to put back. Are you sure that's right?"

Corin: "MOM. You're supposed to have seven. ALWAYS seven. Seven, seven, seven, seven, seven, seven, seven, SEVEN. SEVEN.

Dad: "I think I'm gonna have to go with 'piddly'."
 Mom: "Is it my turn?"

Me: "Piddly...?"

Dad: "Look it up."
Gem: "Oh wow. Apparently it's a word."
Dad: "Do you have a problem with that?"

Me: "Only that it degrades the very name of Scrabble."

Mom: "My turn, right?"
Dad: "I'm still thinking?"
Gem: "Whose turn is it?"
Mom: "Dad's. Geez. Don't you pay attention?"

Kudos to Allie of Hyperbole and a Half for the superb graphics.

I Won't Say It.

Okay. Maybe I will say it.
I'm in love.

His name is Mr. Maraschino.
Cherry, that is.

Me n' him. We go way back. See, we both love virgin Pina Coladas. That's where the attraction started.

Of course, he loves sitting in the deliciousness and I love drinking the deliciousness.

All minor details.

Know what else I love? Scrabble. The game of the Gods.
Know what I love even more? Earning back the Scrabble glory/bragging rights from my brother-in-law after that unfortunate incident in December.

If anyone asks, I let him win.

Either way, Scrabble marathon contestants are becoming increasingly sparse. I must be a formidable opponent. Heh, heh.

Thus, when my coworker Em suggested we have a tourney during down time at the office, I couldn't believe my ears! I can still hear the Hallelujah chorus.

Needless to say, I successfully dominated round one (though, technically, we are both considered 'experts' for passing 200 pts. each). Round two will commence following lunch. Better be on your game, Em, cuz' I am on FI-YAH. *that says 'fire', mom*

May I just say that this brings joy to my heart? Especially when Em spelled 'urethra'. Impressive. (Too bad she didn't see my '40 pt.' wonder word comin'. Namely. 'Quack'. Bow down before me.) Yup. We spell body parts. Some more savory than others... *you know what I'm talkin' bout'*

What can I say? We're a club. We're a group.
We can be a secret society.
And no one else can join, unless they wear funny hats.

Of course, as President of said secret society, I can wear whatever I want. Such as the ear warmer headband I made with 'help' from my sisters. (I may very well be murdered for the quotation marks around that word. Look for my obituary in the Sunday paper. It won't be all sappy and lame like the rest of them. But that's a musing for a different day.)

And for a close up on the exquisite flower design...

*Shut up, Gem. There are plenty of petals.*

Can we spell 'S-N-A-Z-Z-Y'?
Why yes we can.
We Scrabble.