Snowed In

I'm sitting on my couch right now listening to the sleet hit against the side of the house. After waking up to a very messy storm, I decided to work from home today. I always like the idea of being able to work from home - getting to wear sweats, fewer office distractions, no meetings, etc. - but when I actually do work from home I find myself easily distracted, very bored from lack of interaction with co-workers, and a tad unprofessional as I return emails in my slippers and undone hair shoved into a sloppy ponytail. I guess there is just something about the office environment that makes me feel more productive. I worked through the morning, but then felt my motivation start to wane after lunch. Seemed like a good time to create a new blog post and catch up on some blog reading.

Since I last posted, I have been back to the New England Mobile Book Fair again. I just can't get enough. Although this time I did go with a purpose in mind. Lately, I have been inspired by various craft blogs I read occasionally, and decided it was time to break out my mother's old sewing machine and put it to good use. I figured what better place to search for sewing books than at the New England Mobile Book Fair, since it's so huge and seems to have everything under the sun.

I picked up a copy of Amy Butler's In Stitches. Her book has a ton of great ideas and several patterns are included, making it easy for those of us just getting back into sewing after a fifteen year hiatus. Her fabrics are gorgeous too; the pretty pictures alone convinced me to buy the book. I managed to complete her bedside organizer project shown here. Made a few mistakes along the way, but all in all not a bad first attempt. The organizer has magazine pockets, an i-pod pocket, cd pocket, pen and pencil pockets, and a pocket for eyeglasses. It attaches to the bed with a long canvas flap placed between the mattress and box spring. Pretty nifty. I'm already envisioing homemade Christmas gifts this year.

Speaking of crafts (hmmm...maybe I should start my own craft blog - for now I guess I'll just have to include my craft posts with my book posts!), I visited Paper Source recently and picked up a paper flower making kit and a Valentine's Day paper fortune cookie kit. The paper flowers were a little more involved than I had anticipated, but still a fun project. The fortune cookies were easier, although I didn't have the required hole puncher, so I had to improvise with some tape.

More random information includes the eggless chocolate chip walnut banana bread I made. The only reason I went for eggless is that we had no eggs in the fridge and I was not about to make any attempts to actually drive to a store in this weather. Apple sauce was the substitute and the bread came out very yummy. I would definitely use this recipe again.

Enough craft and baking talk, now back to books. Right now I'm reading Cornelia Funke's Inkheart, which is absolutely perfect for this kind of weather. I became immersed as soon as I started reading it. Meggie and her father Mo are both bibliophile's and Mo has a unique ability to bring stories to life as he reads them aloud. Meggie and her father soon find themselves held hostage by a group of characters Mo inadvertently brought out of a story. Truly a charming read, I'm looking forward to picking up the sequel once I am done.

This month we're reading Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert for my book club. I've heard good things about this one, but haven't started it yet. Has anyone else read it and care to comment on it?

Ok, must put in another two or three hours of work now before I can officially call it a day. Ugh.