The Pressure to Pin

I should open this post with a big disclaimer that it is somewhat opinionated. Bare with me, okay?

First of all, I LOVE Pinterest. I am on it all the time looking for recipes, home design ideas and DIY tips. It is a spectacular resource that I am thrilled to have, capeesh?  I even have a little button over on the right side of this page to follow me on Pinterest, so I am absolutely an advocate of the site! I just find the trend that the site has started to be an interesting topic of discussion, that is all. Having said all of that, is there anyone else out there that feels like it has completely changed the game for the modern day woman?

What do I mean by this? Well, to be specific, I remember the days when my lady friends and I got together and one of us would swing by a convenient store to grab a bag of chips and dip and a cheap bottle of wine- easy, peasy. Nowadays, woman can’t really get together without spending hours in the kitchen baking some extravagant type of dessert that has some design on it that ties into the theme of the evening. It is like there is a Martha Stewart to-be in every single kitchen in America! Men should start writing thank you letters to the CEO of Pinterest now.

Better yet, I feel so badly (or jealous of) anyone who got married pre-Pinterest. I can’t even imagine what it was like to be a bride without the wedding section of the site. I literally would spend hours on end during our wedding planning process pinning every single post, while adding a mountain full of pressure to myself to execute each of them. Looking back, I oddly feel resentful of Pinterest for making me feel so inadequate, ha! I know – that sounds a little crazy, but remember the days when you booked a venue, ordered a cake, DJ, and florist? Dream on if you think it is that easy now. You’ve got to have the stamina of a young Jennifer Lopez in The Wedding Planner to live up to Pinterest’s expectations.

And my last point (or rant)… home décor. As I’ve mentioned previously, I love to decorate. There is nothing more fun to me than bringing a new feel to a room.  In the pre-Pinterest days, I actually thought I had some idea as to what I was doing, but now I just feel like a complete amateur. Even when I post pictures of my home on this blog, I think to myself that they are definitely not Pinterest-worthy. I timidly post them to my Pinterest home section, fearful that some Martha Jr. out there is laughing at me. You’ve got to make your own curtains, have a color scheme in every bathroom and have a laundry room that someone would want to live in just to compete. Again, too much pressure!

So what the heck is the conclusion to this ever-so-annoying rant of mine? I guess I just want to put it out there to all my fellow Martha Stewart to-bes that I'm letting go of the pressure. Don’t get me wrong, let’s all keep pinning away and stepping up our game, but without the added pressure and expectations to be a top-rated chef, wedding planner and interior designer wrapped into one full-time working woman!

I think I’ll start the movement by inviting my friends over for a night at which everyone is required to bring a bag of chips and dip from a local convenient store and the cheapest bottle of wine they can find. The theme will be No Baked Goods Allowed.

Have a great day and remember Pinterest is a website, not a way of life. (Gosh, I hope Pinterest never sees this blog).

Cheers!