Dana Burland

What a weekend for weather, am I right? I ran around Reed’s Lake on Saturday morning with Cam and a friend. It felt amazing. The rest of our weekend was quiet. Actually, very quiet as we don’t have a TV plugged in due to the construction . I stumbled across a simple recipe on Instagram that looked so good I had to make it. I haven’t really made it yet—I made the sauce and all that’s left is assembly. And you know what? That sauce is so freaking good I’m sharing this recipe with you anyway. Bam. Roasted Red Pepper Quinoa Bowls Inspired by Pinch Of Yum Ingredients 1 jar of roasted red peppers 2 cloves of minced garlic 1 handful of almonds a splash of lemon juice a drizzle of olive oil quinoa red onion cucumber feta cheese Directions In a food processor or blender puree the roasted red peppers, garlic, almonds, lemon juice and olive oil. DONE. This would be amazing on pasta, chicken, fish, whatever, but for me it’s going on quinoa. Combine quinoa and whatever toppi...

Our home is currently a construction zone as we’re getting our fireplace retiled. Would you like to see progress? Here’s what the fireplace looked like when we bought the house. Green marble, shiny gold fireplace doors, white craftsman-style mantel, and a hearth step. When we first walked through the house it was the one big thing we both looked at each other and said, oh yeah, we want to change that. Behind the green tile and drywall was floor to ceiling brick, and below the step was solid concrete. I’m so glad we weren’t home while the jackhammering of that step happened! We plan to mount a TV above the fireplace and originally planned to hide the TV cords behind the drywall. Floor to ceiling brick foiled our plan, so we’ll need to get creative with cord hiders. I’m so happy with the lower, simplified mantel! The room is very small so this feels like a nice compromise will let my dream of add lights and garland for the holidays come true. Some of...

We took C up north to spend the weekend with family at my aunt's chalet. While the (big) boys skied my mom and I took C out to lunch and to sit and chat over coffee. Fewer things sound more luxurious to this new mom as sitting to chat over coffee. The weekend was fun, relaxing and full of giggles but I think my favorite part was the brief moment we propped C up in the bunk bed I slept in while on vacation as a kid. What a weird and amazing coming full circle moment.

Today my little boy is six months old. Today I’m six months into mothering. The grander story is always him, but this is my blog and I’m focusing on me. He should be the one to decide if he wants to share that he found butternut squash baby food to be nasty versus his future employer finding that out via a Google search because his mom blogged about it. I’m now simultaneously laugh-crying at the idea of my six month old having a FUTURE EMPLOYER. Six months into mothering I’m learning to be calm and confident. We’ve established some excellent routines that not only keep me organized and attentive to my babe, but also opened recharging “me” time. A good example is in our fridge. Ben and I both needed a better hearty weekday breakfast option. One Sunday afternoon I scrambled 12 eggs, cooked a pack of bacon and roasted a big tray of potatoes. After mixing them all together I topped tortillas with a hefty serving spoonful and rolled them up. They’re hardly a culinary masterpiece but...

We have a black upholstered bench in our living room I got for a steal from my company’s friends and family sale about a year ago. We love the bench, but weren’t wild of its silver legs. Last week I impulsively decided to replace them. Within ten minutes of the initial idea I had ordered four wood midcentury modern legs from an Etsy shop in Washington. I’d been patting myself on the back for the idea all week eagerly awaiting they’re scheduled arrival date. I waited impatiently for them but instead of receiving them I received a text late on Friday from the owner of our old house notifying me that a package had arrived with my name on it. Oops. Went too fast. Didn’t change or check my address on Etsy. Saturday we drove to the house to pick up the larger-than-expected package. Man, these must be heavy legs, I thought. Two minutes later I had opened the box in the car to investigate my treasure and found TWENTY FOUR legs. Oops! Went too fast! Ordered FOUR SETS of SIX legs. ...

I was in the shower Saturday when Cameron started whirling around*. Ben was cleaning up the kitchen so my brother, who was visiting, held Cam and tried to sooth him. What a trooper Uncle E was. It’s not easy managing an upset babe. By the time I could help Cam had settled and curled up on E’s chest. A few minutes later he was asleep. It was a well-deserved win for a patient uncle, and among a lot of fun and chill time, it was one of my favorite parts of his visit this past weekend. *The “whirl arounds” are our term for hissy fits.

Oh man am I sad to see 2017 go. In January we were just sharing our exciting baby-expecting news, and now we have a 5-month-old who we ADORE, a new house and overall a very much shifted outlook on life. I imagine 2018 will also be great. We have weddings of dear friends to attend, home projects we’re excited to tackle, babe milestones to witness and 365 days of who knows what else. Here’s what we were up to this year: JANUARY Baby is coming! We slowly shared the news with family and friends. I had coworkers in town from across the globe and we met the cutest little dog of all time. FEBRUARY Baby is still coming! We told coworkers this month and went to a MSU basketball game with friends. MARCH We ran a 5K , traveled home and found out that baby that’s coming is a boy ! APRIL Bub’s room is coming along . We went to a MSU spring football game, took a bunch of baby classes, researched all the STUFF we needed and visited daycares. MAY We went up north -- twice...