Hi lovelies! I'm back after a little (ahem, long) hiatus with some news:

Yep. Been a little busy here around the ol' verdant homestead! Instead of blogging on this site, I've had my hands tied growing a human. We still have a few months left to go, and even though there's a lot to do, I'm grateful to have the time/energy/brain power to come back to this blog I've missed so much.

Watching last week's festivities at Vida Vegan Con 2013 from afar really made me miss the blogosphere even more. I was lucky enough to attend the first VVC in 2011 and met a ton of amazing people! In my current condition (ha!), I wasn't quite feeling up to the adventure of a cross-country flight and several long days on my feet, so I sadly chose not to attend. I did resolve, however, to get back on the blogging horse post-haste!

Now that I'm here, I figured it might be nice to start with some answers to the questions that I know you all must have.

What happened to the Vegan Food Swap?
We last swapped in January, and I admittedly dropped the ball after that. I never even posted the reveal of the lovely goodies I received that month. Simply put, I was pretty overwhelmed (both physically and emotionally) with my impending motherhood and I just... sort of... stopped caring for a bit. It's amazing how your priorities can change so quickly.

Will you start the Vegan Food Swap again?
Honestly, you guys, I don't know. Orchestrating the swap each month was a lot more work than I anticipated, and I'm not sure how I can keep it up. If any of you would like to take over running the swap for U.S. residents, I'd be happy to chat with you about what's involved, and give you my endorsement if you start a swap. In the meantime, there are a few vegan swaps happening in other parts of the interwebs (like Instagram, of all places!) so I hope you feel free to check those out!

How's the pregnancy been going? 
I won't bore you with the details, but I will say happily that mama and baby are strong and healthy. Between my well-balanced, whole foods diet, some carefully chosen supplements, and regular prenatal yoga, I'm in good shape so far and plan to keep it that way for the duration.

Will the baby be vegan? 
This is a good question, and it's a topic of private deliberation between me and my partner (aka Daddy), who is an omnivore. Right now, I'm concentrating on my health and on growing a strong baby. When baby gets interested in solid foods, then we'll decide on our plan of action. There are lots of GREAT reasons to raise a vegan kid, but I also have to take Daddy's opinions and desires into account, obviously.

Will you keep writing recipes and doing product reviews for The Verdant Life? 
Yes. At least, I hope so. That's why I've decided to start blogging again now, while I am feeling good and have the energy to take it on. I may take another brief hiatus when baby comes in September (you know, so I can focus on THE most important thing!) but I do hope to incorporate regular blogging into my regular mama schedule after we all get acquainted with our new little bundle.

I do have some fun posts, new recipes, and cookbook and product reviews coming up in the near future, so stay tuned!