And what a year it’s been!

This little site has done a lot of changing since her last birthday. And like all things, she will continue to evolve. In that evolution, I feel like a lot of my stricter boundaries are breaking down, with a loss of formality that I find liberating. I see a transformation from a mostly professional endeavor, to a more personal, shared experience. I imagine less structure. I imagine more intimacy. I’ll probably post less frequently. I know we’ll have a lot of fun!

And speaking of that, I had so much fun putting together my 20s retrospective, that I thought I’d do the same for this last year here on Bonzai. So without further ado, here are some of the highlights from our second year:

February

In February I finally found my vegan White Whale – the perfect rich and creamy Alfredo sauce. I shared my carpet cleaning recipe and my liquid dishwasher detergent recipe, both of which are superstars in the DIY home cleaning repertoire. We learned how to make newspaper seed pots for the upcoming planting season, and I was nominated for the rikrak Handmade Olympics. At the end of the month, 9+ months pregnant, I put the site on baby watch!

March

At the very beginning of March I went into labor. (!!!) A few days later I introduced you to my first son, Waits Rebhal. I took a few weeks off from blogging, popping in at the end of the month to say hello and welcome in the spring with the first Farmer’s Market!


April

I pretty much disappeared into motherhood – and who can blame me?! However, I did post an important Mini Mission that’s really worth a visit if you’re a relatively new reader.


May

In May I returned to the blogosphere refreshed and impassioned anew! I posted a kombucha hack for growing your own mother, just in the nick of time before the elixir was pulled from store shelves all across America. I shared my new natural hair regimen and my new favorite green beverage. And somehow, despite my sleep deprivation and a newborn to cuddle, I managed to start the 2010 [micro] garden!


June

In June we took on our toughest MMM yet – facing our demons – and I was awed by the bravery of so many readers who met this challenge with complete self-awareness and honesty. On the lighter side, Waits became a super model and I concocted the weirdest spaghetti sauce ever (delicious!). At the end of the month, due to reader demand, I posted my very first baby-related article, on low-impact child rearing.


July

With summer in full swing the micro garden was chugging along and I also introduced my potted herb garden. I wrote an epic two-part piece on my adventures with cloth diapers (part I and part II). Finally, and most importantly, I shared my latest (and current) passion for probiotics, in an article entitled “Eat Your Beasties!”


August

August 1st marked my joyful 2-year Veganniversary, which we celebrated with a picnic. In the kitchen, I explained the importance of soaking nuts, grains, and legumes, and I posted a tutorial on how to make DIY alt milk. Inspired by the Farmer’s Market I began my RAW 101 series with a post on pasta, and I continued the cultured love with a recipe for homemade vegan yogurt. At the very end of the month I asked you to tell me 3 random things that made you happy, and thus the Love List was born! (still going strong ever since!)


September

September was official “Get Out The Bonzai Month” – we had our first annual shareholder’s meeting, I updated my commenting policy, and the Bonzai Aphrodite Amazon Store was born! I continued my culinary alchemy with recipes for sauerkraut and fermented pickles. I took you on a tour of the henhouse and I wrote a love letter to autumn. Also, Waits dressed up like a duck.


October

In October I finally formally introduced my dogs, and then I introduced our first merchandise – the Mini Mission Wall Calendar! I grew my very first pumpkin, and played with it all sorts. Waits started crawling so I made some baby knee-pads/leg warmers, then at the urging of readers I added a big kids version of leg warmers (and arm warmers!) too. And with clothing on the brain, I defined my style direction for fall 2010.


November

November marked Vegan MoFo, and I eased up on my blogging [or I tried to, pretty unsuccessfully] as I took on a new big project. Waits and I squared off with a spaghetti squash. I pondered people’s relationship with food and I cleared up some confusion on icky-sounding ingredients. At the end of the month I was honored to offer my perspective as a work-at-home mom at galadarling.com.


December

In December I said goodbye to my garden and welcomed in the winter. My vegan taxidermy was received with mixed reviews, but everybody loved my overnight oats in a jar. The end of the month was all holidays and hiatus, but I did offer a sneak peak at healthy vegan travel days.


January

In January I presented my definitive vegan cheese report – a post that was 2 years in the making. I said goodbye to the Farmer’s Market (sad!). I pledged to share more of myself, and in true Sayward fashion I jumped in feet first with an in-depth portrait of my 20s. Last week I turned 30, and celebrated in part by sharing 30 of my most favorite little things.

~~~

Last night I spent an hour and a half tediously composing this post (a billion links, blargh!), and then come 1130pm, completely out of nowhere, my computer up and shut down. Almost all my work disappeared! It was gone, lost into the ether (which is why you’re getting this post this evening instead of first thing birthday morning). All I have to say is . . . Welcome to the Terrible Twos???

Ha!

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