Author: Taylor

Mediocre Coffee Days

January 23, 2020 January 31, 2020by Taylor

My husband and I drove to pick up coffee together before work a few days ago. This hasn't been our usual morning flow lately, but it was dreary outside and we had a couple of gift cards from Christmas, so we thought it would be a nice way to start the day together. The coffee shop nearest to us doesn't have a drive through, so we ended up going to a further location that does. It really doesn't save any time, but does save us from having to unbuckle and re-buckle a squirmy, under-the-weather toddler who REALLY wants to be free from the car seat. The coffee was too hot to drink immediately, so I waited to drink it until I got home. The venture was poorly planned, which seems to have become the "norm" for any spontaneous outing we've attempted since having our son. There was a long line, we hit construction traffic, and my husband ended up running late to work; but we had a good conversation and had a little bit of quiet time before the day really started. Even by the time we got home, the coffee was still too hot, so I set it on the TV console and carried on with parenting duties. I didn't think about it again for another hour, when I was trapped nursing my son in the next room, trying to get him to take a nap while simultaneously falling asleep myself. My coffee, still sitting on the console, was likely at a drinkable temperature by that point, and may have even needed reheating. Desperately hopeful, I started to rush into the nap by moving through the motions - read the book, nurse the baby, and lay him in his bed - so that I could enjoy what was sure…

DIY Custom Fireplace Hearth Cover

October 4, 2019 October 4, 2019by Taylor

Babyproofing is in full swing at our home! Our little bud started taking his first steps a few weeks ago, and he is moving fast. We originally had our living room set up with my old couch and our sectional pushed together to make a giant couch-jail for the baby, which was meant to be a temporary solution to delay the inevitable babyproofing overhaul. After three months, we moved the small couch into our formal dining room and created a little gated playroom to give our baby a little more space for play and walking in a safe environment. One of the things we weren't sure exactly how to babyproof is our fireplace. Once our baby began walking, we became worried about him hitting his head or breaking a tooth on the hearth, so I decided to make a little cushion to cover the top of it. While I consider myself somewhat skilled in DIY projects in general, I've only taken one sewing class. But I have an upholstery stapler, a glue gun, and a stubborn will to babyproof the thing. We ended up finishing this in about two hours, after baby had gone to bed. I've had a couple of friends ask how we made this, so I decided to write up a quick little tutorial for anyone interested (Hi, Mom!). The Project: Tools used: Wood Craft Board from LowesOld Memory foam Mattress TopperUpholstery Fabric from Joanne's Sharpie SawSand paper Glue Gun Upholstery Stapler I measured the length and width of the fireplace, then went to our local hardware store to see what plywood boards they had in stock. I originally expected to be buying something that would be too big, and having them cut off about a foot and a half, but I ended up finding a 16"x72"…

Finding Community

September 3, 2019 January 24, 2020by Taylor

Life with a new baby has been both exhausting and exhilarating - one day I'm counting the minutes until the day is over, and I can drag my tired body into bed; the next, I'm watching my baby notice something new, elated by the way the light falls through the leaves on a sunny day. Through the days and months, I've started to find a rhythm within this new life of mine. Motherhood felt like such a strange concept until they handed me my small, squishy newborn. I never really connected with my baby in the womb in the way that a lot of women do. I worried a lot about loss, brought on by the too-recent grief of losing my brother. When my baby was finally handed to me, those nine months of resistance vanished. He was mine, and I was his. The newborn phase, though incredibly difficult, was not lonely. My husband was able to take a few weeks of vacation initially, then worked from our home for at least a few days a week for almost two months. I sometimes refer to the first weeks after our baby was born as "The Red Weeks." We were awake at all hours of the day, and at night we kept a salt lamp in our room for a soft glow so we could keep an eye on the baby through the night. The red light nearly drove my poor husband (who sleeps best in pitch black) to the brink of insanity. Most of my own memories from that time have a soft pink glow to them, hazy and warm. My husband playing guitar for our son. For a long time (too long, really) I didn't feel comfortable leaving the house on my own: packing the car with everything the…

2019 Midyear Updates

July 24, 2019 July 24, 2019by Taylor

2018 has come and gone, as has half of 2019. I currently have 10 drafted posts, in various stages of completion; and instead of working on one of those, I am starting a new post from scratch. It is what it is! So here I am, in the middle of my messy, beautiful life. I'm meeting myself where I am, starting over, and hoping for the best on another fresh start. This is the first night in over eight months that I've dedicated to writing, and I feel overwhelmed with everything that I want to say in such a short amount of time. Update 1: I had a baby! You read that right! Our little guy was born in November. It feels like yesterday and also a hundred years ago! He's amazing and wonderful, and he's also incredibly busy. Does anyone remember what it's like to sleep an entire night anymore? I sure don't. We're a little over eight months into parenthood, and it has been a whir and blur of love, emotions, stress, and absolute joy. Some days are amazing, and some days I count the seconds until I'm able to drag my body into bed. Today has been a little more of the latter. I'm sure that my future posts will be very baby-centric, and I'm excited to share an entirely new part of my life with you! Update 2: I'm on a career hiatus I've been really nervous about posting publicly that I have decided to put my technical writing career on hold. Admitting it to the world (even just the small portion of the world that happens to read this post) made it more "real" to me. The fact is, I ended my last writing contract just before becoming pregnant. I didn't intend for SAHM (stay-at-home…

Asparagus, Tomato, and Egg Breakfast Sandwich

August 10, 2018 August 10, 2018by Taylor

This is a quick post for today. I'm currently working on building out more of my own recipes to share, and I am working on getting more recipes posted more frequently. As far as my pregnancy cravings are concerned, I have basically reverted back to eating like I did when I was a kid. That being said, I've started making a lot of breakfast sandwiches, and this recipe is one of my favorites. I used to make it in the mornings before school or work. It travels well, so I would end up eating it in the car on the way wherever I was going. I'd all but forgotten about it until I made too much roasted asparagus one night recently and had a lot of leftovers. My husband isn't crazy about asparagus in the mornings, but I love it. Einstein Bagels used to sell something very similar to this, so I am fairly certain that there are more "asparagus in the morning" people out there. Let me know if you are one!

Oh, Baby!

May 24, 2018 June 29, 2018by Taylor

We have announced to friends and family, and we thought it was about time to announce the good news to the rest of the world: We're having a baby! Project Baby has begun: The Yellow Rosebud is getting a new content creator, and our family is growing by two tiny feet! On Easter, we gave each of our families a card with a picture of the ultrasound inside of it. Each of our family members reacted in the way we expected - My mom cried, and John's mom literally jumped for joy, but my dad had the best reaction of all: "What kind of gift card is that?" Baby is due in the middle of November, according to doctor's projections! So we should be celebrating Thanksgiving and Christmas with a tiny human this year! Gender Reveal: We're 20 weeks along with a little..... BOY! Over Memorial Day weekend, we had a gender reveal party with our friends and family. John and I were able to find out that baby was a boy about three or four weeks beforehand - we couldn't wait until the party to find out, and I'm so glad we knew going in! As much as I love the idea of surprises, I really don't enjoy being surprised. We got a lot of unwanted opinions for being the only ones at the party to know the gender, but in the end, my anxiety was lessened by having an intimate gender reveal with John ahead of time. Last week, we had an ultrasound done, and we were able to see our little guy in action! (And yep, he's still a boy!) During the ultrasound, he was yawning, hiccuping, and moving his hands all over. It's a really strange feeling to know that there is a little person growing…

Hearty Vegetable-Bean Soup

April 6, 2018 April 6, 2018by Taylor

I have always loved vegetables. My very favorite after-school snack was cut cucumber, tomatoes, and carrots with a little bit of ranch dressing. While my friends would hide their broccoli under piles of cheese, I went back for second helpings of Brussels sprouts and asparagus. The same does not apply to my husband! Since we've been on a vegetarian diet, I've been making a lot of vegetable soup. This particular recipe is really easy, and it turns out well no matter how many times I've thought I messed it up. As long as you get all the ingredients in the pot and simmer long enough for everything to cook through, you're going to have a pretty good soup. This recipe tends to pop up on our home menu at least every other week, and it makes a great lunch for the week! It keeps us full because of the extra protein in the beans and lentils, but is still really healthy and gets all those veggies in. I actually like to put a little bit of apple cider vinegar in my soup before I eat it, to make it more like a borstch. (My family did this all the time when I was growing up, and now I can't eat vegetable soup without it!) Let me know what modifications you made that worked best for you and your family!

FeBrewary – A Comprehensive Overview of Cold Brew Coffee

February 23, 2018 March 1, 2018by Taylor

For a long time, I sat on the sidelines just outside of "coffee drinker" territory. I watched, both amazed and horrified, as my friends poured cup after cup of the acidic, bitter liquid. To me, they looked a bit crazed when they talked about the stuff, and I just didn't "get it." That is, until cold brew came into my life, bringing me one step closer to coffee-enlightenment. I like to think of cold brew as "beginner's coffee," and the gateway to coffee addiction. One of the first few things that drew me to cold brew coffee was the lack of acidity. (Yes, coffee aficionados, the lack of acidity! One of the great wonders of a perfectly balanced cup of coffee, I know. Bear with me!) If you are like me, you may have experienced the joyous wonder that is post-coffee stomach pain. Cold brew finally allowed me to enjoy a full cup of coffee without immediately reaching for the Nexium. These days, coffee and I get on great. I don't go anywhere without first having a cup of the good stuff, sometimes even two or three if I'm feeling particularly crazy (read: exhausted, crazed). Cold brew steeps in cold water for anywhere from 12-24 hrs (depending on a few factors, which we'll get to in a second.) This process limits the acidity that normally comes from the hot brewing method. This is one of the biggest differences between regular iced coffee and cold brew - iced coffee is just that regular cup of coffee poured over ice, cold brew is actually steeped in the cold water for a longer period of time. If you are the kind of person (like me) who enjoys their coffee particularly sweet and creamy, cold brew gets you there with a fraction of the sugar…

Internal Balance – Starting at the Dinner Table

February 10, 2018 March 1, 2018by Taylor

In my last post, I wrote about my word of the year - balance - and why creating balance has become an important part of my life. In this post, I'd like to talk a little bit about my food philosophy, and how that has changed and evolved somewhat recently. Speaking honestly, I have been a little reluctant to post this. I don't feel like I'm an authority figure on any kind of diet plan, and I didn't want to be the girl singing praises for the new thing she only just started yesterday... So here I am, several months in, writing this post to remind myself why this is important to me on days when it might be hard. Through self-examination and a lot of long conversations with friends and family, I transitioned to a vegetarian diet during the fall, and am now in the first stages of transitioning to a vegan/plant-based lifestyle. For years, I've struggled with finding a diet that works well for me. I'm from a meat-and-potatoes kind of family, but I've always had a lot of moral quandaries when it comes to eating animals. For one, I consider myself an animal advocate in all aspects in my life. I have two dogs and two cats that we've gotten through rescue groups in our area, (Did I mention that we added two kittens to our family in December?) and animal welfare is something that has always been important to me. At an old corporate job, I was notorious for running late in the mornings because I was always picking up stray dogs or helping turtles cross the road. Additionally, I can't claim ignorance when it comes to the ways that food is produced. Sure, there are a lot of local farmers doing a great job of…

2018 – Resolutions, Goals, & Motivations

February 1, 2018 March 1, 2018by Taylor

Like many people I know, I have a hard time sticking to my New Year's resolutions. Each year, my resolutions are generally the same: exercise more, eat healthier, lose weight, etc. Every once in a while, I'll throw in something a little more specific: I'll challenge myself to write more, worry less, do more yoga, or focus more on whatever hobby I've picked up. Year after year, I find myself falling behind in these endeavors. I'll be diligent for a few weeks, maybe even a few months, but my interest levels will start to wane and I will focus on other things. My resolutions tend to focus around something physical that I've struggled with for years, something that my brain thinks it can self-transform by writing down on a piece of paper and forgetting by February. Half way through the year, I'll realize that I haven't run a mile in the last five weeks, and try to pick back up. This cycle leads to me feeling frustrated with myself, and generally creates more stress than goal-setting is meant to cause. There's been a trend over the last few years of people forgoing unattainable goals and physical aspirations for an inspirational word or phrase by which to live through the year. The first time I'd heard about it was in a church service, and the intention behind it really resonated with me. Resolutions are typically based on who we no longer want to be. We make them because we want to break that habit. By changing the way we interact with the idea of resolutions, we can manipulate the way we think about change itself. Rather than placing a specific goal as your trophy for the year, you use the word or phrase as a lens through which you should view any situation…