Things I'm Pinning, 4

Consider this the "random" version of my Pinterest posts. I've done food & baby, but today I'm just listing the miscellaneous things I've loved from around the web lately.

Gosh, I'd love for this to be my kitchen. Open shelving, bright colors, lots of vintage Pyrex. Awesome!

Here's a good teaching idea. Instead of having one Pinterest board for education stuff, I've separated them into three categories: literacy, management, and fun projects/ideas. There are SO many awesome ideas out there!

This story is incredibly beautiful. What a testimony! "I almost fell into the trap of “why me?” Bitterness tried to grab me like a thief. But over and over I was reminded, yes, why NOT you? Have I ever gone hungry? Have I ever been unloved for even one minute? Have I ever been truly alone? No. Never. I have always been given more than I deserve. Because I deserve death."

Love this blogger & her sweet perspective on the differences between first and second children.

If I created a dream guest room, it'd look kinda like this.

Plus! A beautiful post to "Teachers Everywhere"

Things I'm Pinning, 3

A while back I wrote a "Things I'm Pinning: baby version" post.

Today's variation is all about food. Here are some yummy things I've Pinned lately.

You guys! Roast a whole chicken in your crock pot. Please! It was so easy, so tender, and so not filled with the extra stuff that's on those rotisserie chickens already made at the store.

These pancakes were on my Fab4 weekend menu. Mine turned out a bit less fluffy than the picture shows (probably because I added a little extra flour and buttermilk so the proportions weren't exactly what the recipe called for...) and I didn't add blueberries, but they were a hit. Making them again. 

I haven't tried this recipe yet, but it's from one of my favorite bloggers, so I'm sure it'll be delish. Summer drinks, here I come!

My weekly menu has been made and these sweet potato burgers are on it. Yum!

 

Summer desserts, here I come. Look at these! Are they healthier than ice cream? Maybe. Definitely cheaper.

(Please note: none of these photos are mine. They 're all directly from Pinterest. The links are to my pins, which in turn are linked to the sites where these pictures and recipes can be found!)

the state of my skin

My skin flared up this fall for the first time in years (since college, actually!). I tried using mild soap (Cetaphil) and a prescription acne medication but it wasn't making any noticeable change, and I was getting super frustrated (who has horrible acne at age 28?! argh!!!). In the past I've taken two rounds of Accutane, which is hardcore medicine for cystic acne. At my age, with our prescription coverage, I wasn't willing to try it again.

But. Somewhere in my Pinterest ramblings, I stumbled upon this article, which claimed to heal cystic acne with a combination of castor oil and olive oil. I was ready to try anything at that point & castor oil is pretty cheap compared to my former prescriptions.(I got mine for 8 bucks at Whole Foods.)

I follow the author's recommendation for acne-prone skin and treat my face every night. I don't do anything in the morning or after exercising besides rinse my face. (Note: the oil doesn't make my skin greasy at all, because the process involves basically steaming your face with a hot washcloth before wiping off the oils. Read the article for the exact rundown.)

The good news: My scars are fading. The left side of my face had some serious scarring from previous acne outbreaks and the combination of oils softened my skin, left it smoother, and lessened some of the nasty dark purple-ish marks.

Bummer news: My acne this week is worse than it's been in the last six months, in terms of number of breakouts. I'm not giving up because I haven't found any better solutions, but I'm disappointed that my skin is still this bad when I'm two years away from being 30.

The lighting in these iPad photos is bad, but I think they give a little glimpse into how the scars are healing:

Early January, 2013

Mid-February, 2013

Here's the left side, which started out really scarred:

 So, would you try this? Am I the only late-20-something who suffers this way?!

things I'm pinning, 2

In the last couple months, we've found out that 3 (three!!!) of our friends are having babies in September. Even though 2 of the 3 will be born & raised in NY state, many miles away, I've already brainstormed (and pinned!) some sweet baby things I might give them/their parents.

So consider this the "things I'm pinning" baby version:

This app for your iPhone can capture kids' art work. Awesome!

A helpful, wise post on helping babies establish sleep routines.

Helping kids develop as readers. Near & dear to my teacher heart!

LOVE this tutorial for a simple baby mobile.

A sweet, peaceful baby's room.

 

Sometimes I hate IKEA, but this list is fun.

things I'm pinning, 1

This sangria looks amazing! Is it summer yet?

I should probably make this "skinny" taco dip. Recipe courtesy of my co-worker, via Pinterest.

Wouldn't this be a fun kid birthday gift? 

I'd love to decorate my house like this.

Made this chocolate cake with PB frosting a couple weeks ago & it was so good, I'm making it again on Saturday.

Wanna follow me on Pinterest? I find lots of cool stuff :)