The summer is off to a crazy start! It was a bit cooler than usual during the lead up to the official first day of summer and then we were hit with a heat wave including terrible air quality here in New England. Of course we have been making the very best of it. We are very blessed to have air conditioning and a pool. We most definitely utilize those! We are supposed to be getting lots of rain for the next few days and I’ve been doing projects inside our little cottage. My most recent project is working on the guest room, which we’re calling the Cape Cod room.

All of my childhood, we would vacation at my grandparents’ cottage on West Yarmouth for some of the summer, and my home reminds me of there. The guest room will be a fun project and a tribute to all of the wonderful memories shared at the Cape. I will post pictures when the room is finished.

I’ve found some great decor finds lately from Home Goods, our local thrift store & the indoor flea market in the town over from us. Some of the finds from my last post will be in that room as well as some others. I found a great piece from FB marketplace, an end table. I love those great finds when everything seems to align and you find what you’ve been looking for!

Even with the summer heat, I love to arise early in the morning when the neighborhood is still quiet and I water my garden, run the sprinkler, and maybe go for an early morning swim. I love to hear the birds chirping, and the lovely sound of the waterfall in the pond running. This is my time to reflect on the day to come and ground myself, barefoot on the grass. It’s also a lovely time to see the vegetables and flowers growing in our ever-changing garden. Weeding, my least favorite task isn’t even that bad when done in the early morning hours.

Today, while walking around in the garden, weeding and watering, I reflected on some wonderful news I received yesterday!! My book has had its copyright registered! After 4 years of a lot of hard work creating and testing each recipe, hosting meetings with my friend and food photographer Rachel, and photo sessions, family, friends and colleagues testing the recipes, the day is almost finally here!! Along with my son, my editor, we are now finishing up the final steps of publishing and will be ready to launch my first cookbook very soon!! It will be sold on Amazon, and I will let everyone know when it’s ready to be purchased.

My cookbook Plant-Based Living for the Gluten-Free Cook is a compilation of recipes for people like myself who like to eat a mostly or all plant-based diet and may be suffering from an autoimmune disease, like myself. Does this describe you? Or maybe you just like to try new recipes? Well, if so, I hope you check out my new cookbook! These recipes have options for substituting ingredients if you eat meat or dairy or prefer sugar, as most of the recipes are sugar free or have alternatives to sugar. I am so thankful to everyone who has been patient waiting for this to finally arrive!

If you are new to my blog, I will reintroduce myself. My name is Gina and I am a home-based cook, wife & mother to 2 beautiful adult children. I am an Interior Decorator where I received my diploma in 2000. I am a blogger and first time cookbook author. I have Celiac disease and some health problems connected to the gut. I wrote this cookbook to help others who are struggling as I have for many years. It has been quite the journey, as along the way, I discovered a few other health issues while writing this cookbook. I am overjoyed to finally present this book! As soon as it’s official, I will make the announcement!