The Office

I have officially worked at my current job for a full year now. I love my job, I really do. I mean, yeah sometimes I get bored and spend most of the day catching up on blog-reading and flickr-looking, but I love it. There are about 30 people in my office and after a year, I feel like I can finally appreciate shows like The Office, and even Office Space. Don't get me wrong, it's not that bad or anything. But we've got our fair share of quirky, hilarious people. Like the guy who keeps calling me Diane, or the woman (make that women) with the super cackly loud laugh, or the people who kept their halloween candy stashed away in a filing cabinet and only told certain people where it was. Yeah, I get it now. And then, and then, there was Secret Santa last week. Let's just say, some people didn't give their Secret Santa gifts, and there was a bit of a scandal. (For the record, I opposed the name Secret Santa and and lobbying for something more secular next year-we'll see how that pans out).

Anyways, in addition to Secret Santa, someone also organized a Gift Exchange with the theme "comfort." To my own disappointment, I didn't go too handmade for the Secret Santa gifts I gave (except for the jar of homemade hot cocoa mix- more on that later). My recipient has a very different style than me, so that's just how it goes (oh crap- does that mean I broke the pledge? I hope not, I didn't mean to). Well, I hope I made up for it with my Gift Exchange gift. It's the pieced pillow from Last Minute Patchwork and Quilted Gifts. Let me just say this: this was a super fun and simple project. I only wish that I had bought more of those pillowforms that were on sale at JoAnn's a few weeks ago, because this was a great project. I guess we know what else is getting added on to my "post-holiday project list." {The only thing I would modify about it would be that there's no way to remove the cover, I might have to try something like this next time}.

This wouldn't really be my first choice of fabrics for my own house, but I think my recipient will like it. It seems like her style. I bought this pink "mod paisley" over the summer thinking it would turn into a skirt. And then, when I got home, I thought- this is kind of a cute pattern, but I would never actually wear it. So I'm glad I found a use for it. And the blue is flannel (it's also backed in this same fabric)-what could be more "comfort"-able than a flannel pillow?