Sometimes you have to shake things up.

Like the fact that I'm using a serif font in the title--you know the font that has a little line, a stroke, at the beginning and end of the main lines of a character--that's serif. Just a few weeks ago I told my boss that I basically detested serif fonts... and, alas, here this one is. It spoke to me so it's there in the header, in the titles, etc. (Oooookay, and it's the default for this new design, but that's a minor detail.) But, really, this is me shaking things up. I was in a bit of a blog rut. And I needed to love the look and feel of this site again. Hence this makeover. 

Oh, and I got a new kick a** Nikon camera from the recent Black Friday sales. Accordingly, my picture game is going to ramp up. Thus, I needed a layout worthy of those images.

I was about to cut ties with Weebly and do the real blogger thing and move to the blogosphere favorite Wordpress or the uber trendy (for all the right reasons) Squarespace, but you can see I didn't get very far. Weebly hooked me with new responsive design themes. And so I've dodged the conversion bullet once again for a bit. 

Most importantly, WELCOME. Welcome to the all-new, refreshed Born Daily. Wooooo!
Take a gander. Navigate. Check out the new homepage and my new "About" page. Poke around in some of the archived posts. Contact me if you want. You can do that now at Jessica{at}BornDaily{dot}com. (So really, don't use that address verbatim, but rather in the traditional email format with usual punctuation. I don't want in computer bots spamming me. Safety first!)

Thanks for bearing with me when I hit that lull. And, prepare yourself. I think were on the brink of some exciting stuff.

Until next time,
xo-

Holy moly! Today marks this little blog's first anniversary. Cue the parade and candle-blowing. We shall celebrate with exciting ramblings and a killer Salted Caramel Cheesecake recipe. Yes, we're doubling up on the goodness. 

First, I want to thank you all for jumping in on this journey. I wasn't entirely sure what I signed on for when I launched this blog while sitting on the kitchen floor in our wee rental house. You, the awesome readers of the blogesphere, have been encouraging and forgiving. You've come back despite my inconsistent posting schedule. You've made recipes that were depicted in lackluster photos (I promise to get better!). You've shared that you enjoy my rants and words. You've inspired me to be a better cook and baker. You've built my confidence to keep putting forth posts. I now know that blogging is the second best creative release I have. It's a closeclose second to cooking. Hmmmm, I guess this is why Born Daily is primarily a blog with food. And for the record, I find myself on the same pillow on my kitchen floor tip tap typing this post. Oh, the delicious, sugary serendipity of it all.

You might have noticed it has been basically a month (ahem...sigh) since I posted last. Well, life has been busy. Like really busy. I previously posted that we were on the hunt for a house. Well with the help of our main man Saint Joseph and our rockstar realtor, Keely, we found a house, made it through negotiations, etc., AND got our rental sold all within a few weeks of each other. (The rental was only on the market 3 days!) Yes, she's really that good. So just firm that up, yep, next week the Borns are buying a house!! I've been hesitant to write about this because despite my intuition I am a teeny superstitious. So, just for good measure we still have Saint Joseph in his place of honor. 

Accordingly, you should expect many adventures in homeownership to fill the coming installments of this blog. More details, and hopefully minimal mishaps, await.

Second, remember that birthday bucket list of sorts I put forward in February...I am slowly working through it. Next week we'll officially cross of #6 (see paragraphs above). I can also cross off #4 since I ran my second half marathon this past weekend! WAHOO! I went in with an unspoken goal and disappointingly didn't meet it BUT the entire run felt better than my first half. That's something, right? And, I might be crazy enough to try to train for another one...er, did I just type that? Chalk that up to a runner's high... Anyhoo, I'm pretty proud to have completed it and got to run it with a longtime bestie (and when I say run "with" I mean we both performed the activity but she's much faster.) 

Now, I promised you a kick-butt cheesecake with trendy salted caramel sauce. It is rich, seemingly fancy, and totally something you can make at home. Create some special occasion that warrants a serious dessert (i.e. a blog-versary). It comes to us from Joy the Baker. (Joy was one of the first bloggers I started to read regularly. She mixes humor as well as she does butter and sugar. Check her out.)

I have to confess I originally made this cheesecake for the hubster's 25th birthday, last year. This was weeks before this blog entered my brain as a serious outlet. Thus, I have only one picture of the final result. And, I've already revealed its wonder at the top of this post. So instead of typing the recipe for you, I want to drive you to her site, the original. 

I picked this recipe because it didn't require a springform pan. I've gone twenty something years and never acquired a springform pan. Seriously. That probably eats at my baker credit a bit... But nevertheless, I made this in all its flavorful glory and it stands up as a pretty legit cheesecake. And don't fear the caramel. You can do it! BUT if you don't want to do it, it is completely acceptable to melt the caramels and add salt. This treat was the perfect way to usher in his milestone. It lasts a while if there are only two of you. 

Speaking of which, I failed to properly give him a blog post for his birthday earlier this month. (And I didn't make him a cheesecake this year either. He requested a DQ ice cream cake (yes, it's true love when you a baker buy a loved one their birthday treat.)) So, husband, happiest belated birthday blog inclusion. May this year be filled with the best adventures, delicious foods, cold grapefruit shandy, and a well-organized bigger garage! Love you for being you, awesome, handsome, talented, you. 

You all rock. You really do. Thank you again for making Born Daily part of your online reading habits! It is my sincerest hope that we can continue to grow this blog together. And goodness knows, there's plenty of content ahead! #food24/7 #homeownership :)

Have a great week, friends! 
Until next time. 
-xoxo 

Nicholas: handsome, handy hubby, dual-career man: school psychologist and plumber, beginning gardener extraordinaire, naturally healthy eater, bicyclist who has a quick wit and endless curiosity and is either polished up or covered in mud and happens to be the best big brother ever.

Garth: affable, adorable Goldendoodle puppy who gobbles his food, loves squeaky toys, frequently tears up paper products (and the occasional shoe), and suffers from wretched car sickness.

So here goes nothin'..! And, I guess it's only fitting to say this blog is officially  "Born." (expect many a pun and corny alliterations in the posts ahead...)  Talk to you soon!

(Jessica and Nicholas's pictures used with permission. Photo credit: the fabulous Mike + Julie of  J.Si Innovations Photography.