Hello, I am Cedar. I am a vintage loving wife and mama. I cook, (occasionally) clean, thrift, paint, and in my spare time, blog. I have a little bit of all of that here. Please leave me a comment to say hello or drop me an e-mail if you have any questions!
I have been feeling terribly uninspired when it comes to blogging, though I promise to change that soon. I miss my blogging friends.
I have been reading a ton. I have finished nine books this month alone. NINE. I think that is more than I read all of last year. (By the way, is anyone else on Good Reads?)
Lucy is growing so, so quickly. She will be nine months next week. How did this happen? Nine months is almost a year. My little newborn is almost a toddler. She is just days away from walking, has seven teeth (number seven poked through last night), says mama, dada, key (kitty), and knows many other words. She loves reading, chasing cats, bananas, and exploring. She has a ton of energy and some days I struggle to keep up with her.
One of the most exciting things about our new condo is that we have outdoor space. It really isn’t much (really, it is only 18×11 feet of earth), but it is enough to grow some veggies. Last week I picked out and ordered a bunch of heirloom seeds from Seed Savers Exchange; broccoli, cauliflower, leeks, onions, shelling peas, spinach, kale and beets. I already have some carrot seeds which I am going to plant as well.
Next weekend we are going to build a huge raised vegetable bed, so I can get these cool weather veggies in the ground and growing.
I have been laying a bit low from the computer lately. To be perfectly honest, this is the first time I have turned on my computer since the New Year. I may have been on sooner, but I bought a Kindle last week with my Christmas money and have been reading for days. I started and finished the Hunger Games series, which I absolutely adored. I would love to hear what you are reading, or read (and loved) recently. I really need some suggestions.
Up until the New Year I was thinking about whether or not to make New Years resolutions. Last year was the first year I have made them, and honestly, it was kind of pointless. I am always trying to improve my life for the better, why make resolutions specifically for the New Year? So, I didn’t make any. I do have plans though, I want to spend even more time loving and laughing with my family, maybe whip out a few paintings, read lots of books, cook more, etc, etc. I wouldn’t call those resolutions though, they have been on my to-do list forever.
Christmas in our house was beautiful. I, along with my brother and sister-in-law cooked the feast. We opened presents, told stories, laughed, drank, and were merry.
As much as I love Christmas every year, there is such a big sigh of relief after the dinner is done, the presents are opened, and everyone has gone home. I love my crazy family, but my favorite moments are between Russ, Lucy and I. Whether it is an afternoon playing or a late night waking, I live for these moments now. As a child I remember thinking the day after Christmas was the saddest day of the year. Now I think it is a joyous day because we return to our normal, which is absolutely all I can ask for.
I hope you all had a beautiful holiday. I guess these are the only pictures I will be sharing, since the camera I am currently using is a pile of poo.
So I woke up Friday morning realizing that this was the last weekend before Christmas. Now it is Sunday, no more weekends before Christmas.
I had a huge list of things I wanted to accomplish or finish before Christmas. It was stressing me out. I am hosting my first Christmas this year, and though it will be a small and casual affair, there is much to be done.
We have been in this home for almost two months, and I have yet to finish painting our living room. I wanted to finish that.
I need to hem the drapes we bought, because currently the extra foot and a half of fabric is piled on the floor, covered in cat hair.
I wanted to make some canned goods to give out as gifts. (This just seems laughable now)
I started some stuffed dolls, which I wanted to wrap up and send out to friends…oh yeah, and finish first.
I need to clear out the boxes from the spare bedroom so my brother and sister-in-law have a place to sleep when the come.
I wanted to do so much. Today though, after a few angry grunts to Russ about how I couldn’t get anything done, I decided to throw away the list. Sure, I do still need to clean that bedroom, but if nothing else gets done (I think) I am okay with that.
I saw a snow wall made with cotton balls on Pinterest a few weeks back and decided I would make my own. I didn’t even click through the link (or save it for that matter), because it is such an easy little project. It sure does make the room look lovely and festive. I haven’t yet found any art I like for our dining room, so this will be the perfect backdrop (and the wall won’t look bare!) for our Christmas dinner.
All you need is a needle, thread, cotton balls (2-3 per strand), and something to secure it to the wall (I used a dot of wall putty for each string). I used about five feet of thread for each strand, though you really can make them whatever length you like.
I started by pulling off a small piece of cotton and balling it up in my hand. I then threaded the needle through it from top to bottom, then again from bottom to top. Make a not with the two pieces of thread and trim the short end so it doesn’t show.
The remaining cotton balls I wove the thread through three times, so the thread ended up coming out the top. I used varying sizes of cotton to create the look I wanted, as well as staggering the placement of the cotton balls. Easiest craft project ever!
Another Instagram outfit post! I took Lucy to the library this morning for baby story time. She loves going, we sing songs and she gets to play with other babies. I love seeing her interact with other little ones.
Lucy had her first taste of Indian food this evening. A few days ago I made some aloo gobi and left the salt out of her portion. She absolutely loved it! When I first started giving her food we were doing the purees. I really didn’t like how it was going, I felt like I was stuffing food down her throat and she was never happy about it. After doing some research into baby led weaning (as suggested by one of my readers) I decided to give it a shot (for those who don’t know, it is pretty much letting baby feed themselves from the start). It has been going so well. While most of the food ends up on the floor, it is nice to see her enjoying eating and doing it at her own pace.
Outfits: Everything but my hat thrifted (H&M) and Lucy’s leggings (Target)
Thank you all for the sweet birthday wishes. I had a fabulous, and very relaxed day. I spent the day with my favorite little lady, didn’t clean dishes, and walked around a lake. I really couldn’t have asked for more. Here are some fun links for this lovely Friday.
