Maureen Johnson, Pinterest, Dallas

• The Bug picked out Lincoln Logs with his birthday money. He's such a little builder.
• Do you see the wrinkles in my rug in that picture? Does anyone have any ideas on how to stop the rug from wrinkling? It's driving me insane. I've tried to weight it down with the furniture, but no dice.
• Maureen Johnson talks about photoshop and advertising. "Altering the image creates something truly and profoundly OTHER. It creates the unattainable, which means you have the endless carrot and stick."
• This is an absolutely wonderful post on Motherhood. Seriously. Especially if you've struggled in those first few months.
• I love Pinterest, I really do, but I'm starting to wonder just where all these crafters are getting all their pretty thrifted wool sweaters (my thrift store has a nice selection of pilly acrylic ones) and decent used furniture. At some point there's going to be more play kitchens made from bedside tables than there are bedside tables.
• On Tuesday I had coffee with a new friend. It was terrific. I can't wait to do it again.
• Trish and Andi are agitating for me to drive through Dallas on my way from Alabama to South Dakota later this summer. This is only possible if I find a place to spend the night in the middle of Kansas, or southern Nebraska. Suggestions?
• I did not get the perfect job. I was very confident that I would when I applied. I'm pretty bummed. However, I'm now suspending the search for the perfect part time job until after the summer.

What I Read This Week (and other Bookish Thoughts):

• Speaking of Andi, she's persuaded me to pick Outlander back up.  I haven't yet, but any day now.
• My library copy of Insurgent came in, and I hope to start it today.
• My library still doesn't even have The Last Boyfriend: Book Two of the Inn BoonsBoro Trilogy in the system and it's making me crazy. I keep walking past it in the store and hovering over the link on Amazon.
• I read Midnight Bayouby Nora Roberts in two long sittings this week. It was good, but the ending was very rushed and left me unsatisfied. You can find more thoughts on it here.
• Last night I finised up First Comes Marriage by Mary Balogh. I'm pretty sure I've read another Balogh, but I couldn't tell you what. This one was quite good. If I had a complaint it would be that the heroine is a tad too philosophically introspective. I might write more on it later.
• I'm also lugging around The Digital Mom Handbook: How to Blog, Vlog, Tweet, and Facebook Your Way to a Dream Career at Home, because it can't hurt to read it, right?