Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Scene of the Blog Featuring Dawn of She Is Too Fond of Books!


This week is rather special for me because I get to shine the spotlight on a book blogger I've known for quite a while now. Have you ever had the fortune of coming in contact with Dawn and her blog, She Is Too Fond of Books? If you haven't, I sincerely hope that you stop by soon and say hello.

I first met Dawn at LibraryThing, and a few months after that, she gave me my first gig as a guest blogger on her feature Spotlight on Bookstores. I enjoy reading her blog for many reasons... like her kitchen haiku, for example. Dawn is one of the most caring and helpful book bloggers I know, and if you haven't ever visited her blog, please, please, please do it soon!

Now is the time I step back into the shadows and let Dawn show off her creative space. Take it away, Dawn! (If you'd like to see any of the photos full size, just click on it.)

My laptop sits on my kitchen desk during the day. This is the hub of the house! After I shower and do “round one” of waking up kids in the morning, I stumble downstairs around 6:50 to make coffee and turn on the laptop. I usually have time to check email before the pot is finished brewing. I don’t generally write blog posts or read much online during the day, but the laptop is always on for email, twitter, my calendar, and contacts.



I really wanted to “stage” the desk for these photos – clean up all the paper on the horizontal surfaces, tidy the cubbies above the desk (one for each kid, J and I get two each), pop a vase of flowers next to the laptop. Instead, I did a quick stacking of the paper clutter – honesty is the best policy after all, and any of my IRL friends would call me out on the falsehood of the neat and tidy desk!

From left on the desk: magazine holder with catalogs; big pile of papers – mail, notes to answer, articles I’ve clipped from the newspaper or magazines, permission slips to sign, etc. (I know exactly what’s in that scary-looking pile, and can put my fingers on the paper I need instantly, really!); electric pencil sharpener (because I was fed up with the kids using the manual kind that leave shavings everywhere!); mug of bookmarks; laptop, pencil/pen basket; tissue box; book rack my daughter made in camp (these are books I’ve read but not yet reviewed).



While I often unplug the laptop to blog on the family room sofa in the evening, this chair and ottoman are my quiet place for reading. Since I’m right-handed, I use the windowsill as a table for a glass of … something. The photos above the chair are early pics of my four grandparents. The living room is my family history room, with photos, maps, and personal mementos. This is the chair I was sitting in early one morning when the house starting BOOMing.



I love these photos! I can just see Dawn seated there in the middle of her busy kitchen, and her reading space is wonderful. The chair and ottoman look very comfortable and are perfectly positioned by the window, and I love the old family photos on the wall. Thank you so very much for showing us your blogging and reading spaces, Dawn. We really appreciate this glimpse into your life!

Who will be featured next Wednesday on Scene of the Blog? Stop by, and you'll find out!

30 comments:

  1. Wonderful, wonderful settings. I hope one day to have a desk in my kitchen for the exact same reason -- wonderful to be able to blog in the middle of it all.

    Your quite spot by the window with your grandparents watching over you looks like heaven. (booms and everything!)

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  2. I'm impressed that you thought you might want to stage your desk. Looks pretty organized and neat to me! Love your comfy chair and ottoman pic.

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  3. What a gorgeous desk!! Everything looks so organized. I blog in the middle of all the hubbub too. But your quiet space is excellent too. I can just see you relaxing in your chair, reading a great book.

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  4. Dawn's desk looks pretty darn organized to me! I love her space!

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  5. I can relate to the panic when the house boomed. We live near bluestone quarries which were closed when we moved here. Then they reopened and the first time someone used dynamite, the whole house shook. I was scared right out of my socks. :)

    I'm very impressed with the classy blogging spot. I have a beautiful desk too but can't find it under all the chaos.

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  6. I love that Dawn has a kitchen desk! It looks like the perfect spot to me. :) The reading spot is cozy and inviting. And Dawn's 'boom' story is hilarious!! But better safe than sorry, right? LOL

    Very nice post!

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  7. I love this feature and I love Dawn's desk. I have always wanted a kitchen desk, but we've just never bought a house that included one. And...the chair and photos are lovely. Looks very comfy.

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  8. Dawn, I absolutely love your spaces...the kitchen area is gorgeous. I can see why you would have your laptop set up there! And I agree - that chair looks like the perfect place to curl up with a good book. Thanks for sharing!

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  9. Dawn I love your desk and where you read looks so comfy.

    I have said that the next house we move into will have a kitchen desk.

    Thanks for sharing Dawn.

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  10. Yay for featuring Dawn - I LOVE her blog! :)

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  11. That pile of paper is nothing like what I thought it would be...I was expecting the Leaning Tower of Pisa!

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  12. You've got a lovely workspace set up for yourself there! I particularly like your big chair and ottoman. I can imagine that's a wonderful place to read.

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  13. That house is many many times more organized than mine.

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  14. Loved this feature :) Thanks for sharing! Can't wait to come back next week.

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  15. I had a feeling that Dawn blogs in her kitchen. Such a gorgeous "office." I enjoy reading Dawn's blog because it's like visiting with a friend. She shares so much of herself and her family on her blog. She's a very generous person. Thanks for spotlighting She Is Too Fond Of Books.

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  16. Dawn thank you for letting us have a peek at your life! :)

    I love how you have your reading chair by a window. I can't wait until we get our home a bit more furnished and I can find a good spot for a reading chair.

    Great spotlight, Cathy!

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  17. Moms tend to blog in or near the kitchen so we can keep an eye on things :-). Dawn has a great blogging space - thanks for letting us see it!

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  18. So jealous of the desk in the kitchen--although my desk is just out of the kitchen and is often such a big mess I wouldn't want to have to look at it that much more. Love the reading spot. I need to make myself a place like that.

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  19. Thanks, everyone, for your wonderful comments! I delayed sending a picture to Cathy, wanting to really tidy up the desk area; finally, I couldn't put it off any longer.

    Yes, I'll admit that I spent about an hour tidying all those papers before I took the picture. I filed several, acted on some, and recycled many. The funny thing is, if you put off paperwork, sometimes you find it doesn't need to be done after all (not so with taxes ... don't take that remark as advice to not file your US taxes by midnight tomorrow!)

    Cathy, thank you so much for hosting my blogging and reading spaces here ... I'll look forward to seeing who's featured next week!

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  20. Dawn your house is beautiful, and I would love for my papers to look that organized! (It would take me more than an hour to tidy - maybe more like a week!)

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  21. Cathy - I just noticed that if I moved the floor lamp to the other side of the chair, and popped some tulips on my tray table, my cozy reading spot would look like Debra DeWit's "The End of Winter."

    Fun coincidence! ... especially since it's finally the end of winter and we're welcoming spring here.

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  22. Beautiful desk, it's nice to see where you work from! I wish you had left your desk messy though, you're making me look bad!

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  23. I love to see a blogger's space. It's so personal. As a mom of two kids, I can see the benefit to blogging from the kitchen. It's usually centrally located and from mine, I can hear the kids throughout the entire house.

    I also love the reading chair!

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  24. Lynne-- Thanks so much for stopping by. I'm glad you enjoy Scene of the Blog!

    Dawn-- That is a fun coincidence. I wanted to say that your reading space looked familiar somehow. I just didn't realize I'd seen it in the sidebar art! LOL

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  25. Callisat - maybe I should send Cathy an updated pic of my desk on 'a bad hair day' :)

    Ti - Moms have those 'spider sensors' ... I swear I can hear my kids whispering behind closed doors.

    Cathy - thanks again for hosting me and my space, and for all your kind comments!

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  26. What a wonderful space in the room that you probably use the most with all those kids. I like that you cleaned up the desk, but only sort of. I think those are neater piles than mine.

    Now I want to know what is in everyone's cubby!

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  27. I love that desk. I also love that some people use desks. My laptop just follows me around the apartment.

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  28. My sister-in-law has a kitchen desk almost as nice as yours (those shelves above are great!) and I've envied her ability to put her hands on the many papers the kids bring home.

    On the other hand, I don't need to be in the kitchen any more than I already am.

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  29. Serena - the piles of paper ebb and flow; the only time they're GONE is if we're having "guests" (as opposed to friends and family) and I stash the papers in a bag in the pantry. That's a mess to sort out after a dinner party!

    Michelle - I'm sitting on our family room sofa with my laptop right now, watching a ballgame on TV :)

    Jeanne - It's so true - I spend most of my waking hours in the kitchen :(

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  30. Those are the kind of reading/blogging spaces I'd want if I had a big house. They look so cozy. Btw, the BOOM post...HILARIOUS!

    --Anna
    Diary of an Eccentric

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