Martha Stewart out of prison

Homemaking maven Martha Stewart arrived at her sprawling estate in New York early Friday for the home detention phase of her sentence after spending five months in a West Virginia prison.

Wearing a poncho and jeans, a slimmed-down Stewart was released shortly after midnight from the women's prison in Alderson, W. Va., where she had been serving time for lying about a stock sale.

She smiled and waved to supporters as she and her daughter, Alexis, boarded a private jet to take them home.

"The experience of the past five months ... has been life altering and life affirming," Stewart wrote on her web site.

"Someday, I hope to have the chance to talk more about all that has happened, the extraordinary people I have met here and all that I have learned."

Stewart, 63, will be confined to her home on the 62-hectare estate in Westchester County for five months. She'll be allowed to leave for 48 hours per week for her job.

She'll have to wear an electronic bracelet for authorities to monitor her movements, but she can collect her $1 million salary and host parties, as long as no criminals are invited.

"My heart is filled with joy at the prospect of the warm embraces of my family, friends and colleagues. Certainly, there is no place like home," she said in her statement.

Stewart was convicted of obstructing justice and lying to the government last year stemming from a 2001 sale of close to 4,000 shares of the biotechnology company ImClone Systems Inc., run by her longtime friend Sam Waksal.