Author: Faith

The books I haven’t read

I’m fairly obstinate when it comes to books. Once I start a book I usually hang in until the end no matter how bad it gets. I was an English major so I pride myself on my good reading habits. And it just bothers me not to finish things.

So it’s with not a little bit of shame that I’ve been watching N read The Cairo Trilogy every night before bed lately. I ordered the book a few years ago because I was interested in the subject matter: a Muslim family in Cairo during British occupation (and because the author Naguib Mahfouz won the Nobel Prize). I spent a few weeks trying to get through it but I kept getting bogged down. After a couple months of picking it up and putting it down again I conceded defeat and moved on to something else. N seems to be enjoying it though.

A couple of years ago I watched the movie Master and Commander and really liked it so I picked up the book. I remember it being good but the sailing jargon and politics sort of lost me. I can’t exactly remember why I stopped reading it but I want to finish it someday. The series is supposed to be fantastic.

And lastly, Middlemarch. Again, it’s a really great book but I lost steam about a third of the way through. I think it was another case of right book, wrong time. I’m definitely going to pick it back up again.

Well, there you have it–a list of my weaknesses as a book lover.

How about you–are there any books you’ve started to read but couldn’t quite finish?

Cutest Salad Ever

When I was in WA I went shopping in Koreatown and picked up a few fun kitchen toys. These Japanese fruit/vegetable cutters were among my booty. Over the weekend we made a couple green salads and I thought it would be a good time to try them out.

It was fun using the cutters to punch flower shapes out of carrot and cucumber slices (my 3 year-old niece was especially enchanted) and we ended up with the cutest salad ever.

I looked around online and found the cutters for sale here (but I’ve never heard of this site so caveat emptor).

Babies!

Prepare yourself for some serious cuteness. I’m really looking forward to seeing this movie. (And I like the Sufjan Stevens’ song used in the trailer.)

My brother-and-sister-in-law Ken and Mindy are arriving tonight to stay the weekend so I’m off to do one last round of house-tidying. My niece A is turning one today so we have her party to go to tonight and then a family dinner on Sunday. Our weekend is shaping up to be a little crazy but it should be lots of fun too.

Spice Cabinet: Update 3

I made some good progress at woodworking last night. My friend Kristin is taking the class with me but she was sick so I was on my own.

I finished cutting the dadoes into the sides of the cabinet for the shelves and the back of the cabinet.

This is how the cabinet will fit together. It still needs to be glued.

Sanded smooth the diamond panel for the door.

I was a little disappointed I didn’t get the cabinet glued up last night but it should be pretty easy to clamp it up first thing next week. It will be nice to see it come together next week.

(Spice Cabinet updates 1 and 2 are here and here.)

Geek Chic

I have a dress watch but lately I find myself preferring to wear cheap digital watches. Life with a toddler and having hobbies like woodworking don’t mix well with wearing a nice watch everyday. And I also like being able to use my watch as a stopwatch and alarm.

My current watch is getting pretty busted so I took a quick look around for other options and I found these. All of these are around $25 except for the green one which is $45.

I’m having a hard time deciding which one I like best. How about you–do you like one in particular?
1.Blue Casio Pop Tone Watch 2.White Casio Pop Tone Watch
3.Red Casio Pop Tone Watch 4.Orange Casio Square Watch
5. Green Datamat Watch 6.White Calculator Watch

A Dirty Little Secret

I’m a little embarrassed about it, but I still bathe E in the sink even though he’s almost two-and-a-half. Granted, I special ordered this deep sink when we were finishing our bathroom because I thought it would be handy for bathing babies/puppies. I like how E’s up at waist level and how I save water compared to filling a tub. But I do think it’s starting to become a tight squeeze.

It seems a little weird to me that he still bathes in the sink but I’m probably being hypersensitive. As long as I switch to the bath tub before he’s three his psyche should survive without any permanent damage, right? (That’s what I’m telling myself, anyway.)

When Blogs Collide: Group Edition

So my friend Elaine (who I met via our blogs) and her friend Meg organized a local blogger meet-up for Saturday. When Elaine invited me I said I would go even though I’m kind of shy and had the vague feeling I wouldn’t fit in (the crowd was mostly stylish college-age fashion bloggers or talented sewing bloggers). But I like hanging out with Elaine and meeting people with similar interests so I steadied my nerves and went (but dragged a patient N along for support).

(Thanks to Meg for the photo.)

There were about 20 people there so we didn’t get a chance to get to know everyone. We sat at a table with Elaine, Meg, and Heather (and their husbands) and sisters Megan, Adrien, and Shannon. I also got the chance to say hi to Susan whom I’ve been wanting to meet. Her and her husband are finishing up upholstering a 9-foot long couch (!) and so we chatted about that and woodworking.

I think it went pretty well. And afterward N and I went and saw The Ghost Writer which I mostly liked (I had some issues with certain plot points.) N reviewed the movie it here.

If you’re interested, here’s a list of attendees’ blogs: allthisknavery.wordpress.com, cindeelou.blogspot.com, clothedmuch.blogspot.com, feathersflights.blogspot.com, freshbrownies.blogspot.com, freshlypicked.blogspot.com, gangsterpixie.blogspot.com, thedicksonseverafter.blogspot.com, thesecondhandlife.com, oncewomacks.blogspot.com, and uberchicforcheap.blogspot.com.