This summer came and went and I have no idea how or where. I had so many blog post ideas and instead of diligently keeping up with the pace of the blog, I ended up taking a summer off. In addition to having a baby this year and then returning to work after a 13-week leave, I then started a new job in July, and, well, life can be overwhelming sometimes. So instead of adding pressure to my life, I decided to focus on what matters most: family time and work. That does not mean that I didn’t put some effort into #thecozycottage though! So here’s what I did this summer.

We took our first family vacation! I had a week off between jobs, the week of July 1 with the July 4 holiday, and we drove up to Vermont. We wanted something easy, affordable, didn’t require a plane ride because baby doesn’t have all his vaccines yet, somewhere neither of us had been before, and preferably a place we could bring the dog. We stayed in Warren, VT, for five days, wandered lots of walking paths, went to swimming holes, and just enjoyed several days of concentrated time together.

A room in our house underwent even more changes. As I wrote here at the beginning of the year, we got rid of our dining room and it became a second living room. It worked really well for us for months and has turned into the spot where we hang out the most with baby. But it’s kind of a hazard! The bar cart and all of its glassware and that beautiful marble end table with some seriously pointy edges would be incredibly painful if and when he crashed into them once he starts to crawl. So we babyproofed a little. We put the bar cart and marble table away for now and are slowly changing up this room. I’d like to paint it and change up the shelving unit and whatever else comes to mind at some point in the near future. More on this room as it evolves…

Now, if you’re thinking, where did all the alcohol go, don’t you worry! I created a bar in the kitchen, taking a glass-front cabinet that we used to store whatever fit in there and turned it into the new bar. I wanted to give it a little “wow” factor so I covered the back of the shelves within the wooden cabinet and the other areas in copper contact paper. Too be honest, the DIY job is terrible, but I like the overall effect of the copper. It clearly distinguishes this part of the kitchen from everything else. Speaking of the kitchen, remember when I painted it salmon peach?

We spent a lot of time enjoying what free time we had hanging out at the cozy cottage. We didn’t BBQ much and barely used the firepit. Was it even summer if we barely summered? I don’t know but we did enjoy the outside as much as possible!

Speaking of the outside, the backyard is undergoing a slight renovation of sorts. I’ll share more on that next. I plan to enjoy the lsat week of summer as much as possible. Hope you can do the same!