To say we’re all having a rough time right now would be a serious understatement. But I’m determined to keep my blog light in this now very heavy world, and so I’m not going to go into what we’re all struggling with in too much detail. I mean, you know it all anyway already, and there’s no use in me rehashing facts and figures. Personally, I can only read the news once per day to stay informed, and then I need to spend the rest of my day focusing on the things I can control, instead of the things that could potentially make my anxiety spiral out of control.

As for myself, I am currently working remotely. It’s sad but also a nice little reprieve from the day to day grind of teaching. The one plus is that I was already a homebody before this started. I liked going to restaurants, the theater and the occasional movie but other than that I preferred the comfort of my house anyway. So working from home (or really from my sister’s, where I am hiding out for however long this quarantine period ends up being), isn’t really much of a struggle for me. I’ve got sewing projects, I’ve got movies, I’ve got food supplies.

So I thought that today it would be nice to go over what I’ve been doing to pass the time (other than the obvious binge watching), or what I’m planning for the next couple of weeks. We’ll start with the silly.

Rereading the Baby-Sitter’s Club Series

On a whim the other day, I purchased the first six Baby-Sitters Club books for my Kindle. No idea what sparked it, perhaps the need for something comforting from my childhood or perhaps knowing it was a light-hearted way to pass the time without worrying. I read these religiously from about ages eight to probably like thirteen or fourteen. Possibly even later. I adored the characters and the silly stories. So I’m revisiting them, and am thinking of doing a post series on them, I just haven’t figured out how I want to format them yet. Book-by-book seems a bit excessive.

At the time of this writing, I am already one and a half books into this project and boy do I have some comments. The thing about revisiting childhood things is that you can suddenly point out everything that’s wrong with the plots as an adult! But I don’t care, it’s still really fun!

Other General Reading

Of course, I also have tons of other books on the horizon, some print books and a lot of Kindle books. I just figured out how to borrow ebooks from the Brooklyn Public Library so I should be set for some time. I’ve already read seven books in March (granted one was that first BSC book so I don’t know if that should technically count as it took me approximately one hour of time – but a book’s a book!).

Sewing Projects

Obviously there would be sewing. I have a couple of projects to work on. I couldn’t bring everything with me, but I managed to bring enough to keep me busy for a while.

First up (for posting, don’t know what order I’ll end up doing the posts in yet) is the Sew Over it Penny dress. This bumblebee viscose twill is from Blackbird Fabrics. I got it nearly a year ago I think, so I thought it time to finally use it! This will be my third Penny dress.

Then we have a new Chalk and Notch Fringe dress. The fabric, a viscose from Sew Over It, is also something I’ve had lying around for quite some time. When I was deciding what projects to take with me, I tried to grab things that I’ve had the longest. This will be my second Fringe dress.

Next up we have Sew Over It Lea in this beautiful viscose, again from Blackbird Fabrics. This was the exception to my “old fabric” rule. This fabric actually arrived the day before I came upstate. But I’ve been really wanting to make a second Lea for a while, so this seemed like a good opportunity.

Of the unstarted projects, this fabric is for a new Lizzie Skirt (also Sew Over It). It will be my second Lizzie. I loved my first one and have been wanting to make more but just haven’t had time.

Then, I have two works-in-progress that I brought (not pictured): my Colette Patterns Wren Dress and my Sew Over It Georgie dress. I think I have enough to keep me busy for a while!

Workouts

I’m hoping to use this time to get myself back into shape (and not gain a ton of weight from the near constant eating that’s been happening). Again, I’ve always preferred at home workouts, so now I need to start using them again! I’ll be returning to my roots of The Firm and then adding some other stuff in for variety. I don’t have my full weight set here but I’ll make due. I bought some 3-5-8 pound dumbbells to keep at my sister’s last year so at least that’s something.

More Blogging?

This one has a question mark. I may up the number of times I week I provide content over here, but I am not sure yet. All depends on how busy I get with the remote learning and I don’t want to force content either. In this crazy time I think it’s important to know your limits and its okay for life to move slower right now. I’m planning to stick to the Tuesday/Friday posting schedule for now, but I won’t make any commitments beyond that. But don’t be surprised if you see some extra posts every now and then though! Sadly I won’t be at the theater any time soon, but I’ll be watching movies and doing a whole slew of other things and will be ready to provide recommendations!

Hope everyone is staying well and hanging in there!