

"To make living itself an art, that is the goal."
– Henry Miller
Dear reader,
Honored, giddy, elated. These are just a few of the words to describe how I feel that you’ve made it to my beloved internet home. For those who prefer the cliff notes – I’m into classic style, British baking shows, TBR piles, and timeless finds. If you can relate, consider us the most kindred of spirits!
As a lifelong hopeless romantic, I have been writing, creating, and romanticizing for as long as I can remember. From a well hidden journal in my childhood bedroom to the notes app on my phone, there is always something to jot down. Inspired by the timeless, the enduring, the intentional, my old soul is stirred by vintage photography, literature, art, love, and travel.
Raised on our family farm in East Tennessee, Southern hospitality remains at my core. I’m the eldest of four children and married to my childhood sweetheart. Needless to say, our house was always full. Our home was often host to magical outdoor movie nights, s’more laden bonfires, family style dinners, and emotionally charged Monopoly games. Growing up, I loved to watch my mom, grandma, and now mother-in-law cook, bake, and host those they loved. I was drawn to the intentionality, purpose, and care that came from creating something for someone else; whether that be a full meal, simple treat, gift, or memory.
I went on to spend time at Maryville College, a private liberal arts school that will always hold a dear place in my heart, where I received my BA in Finance/Accounting with a minor in Economics because… Well, it was practical. Like many, hindsight is 20/20. Looking back, I very clearly enjoyed the required English and Creative Arts classes much more than my chosen major, even realizing several years after graduating that the required reading of Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales more or less changed my life. That being said, it should come as no surprise that shortly into my chosen field in banking I developed an intense desire for a creative outlet.
In 2017, I started my first blog as a new hobby while my husband, Michael, was beginning further studies in his own career. We were newly married and it quickly became a passion project to save all of the recipes that I loved making in one place, while also challenging myself to create new ones.
Recipe development, styling, and photography felt so freeing and came naturally. Once I got a taste of blogging, I fell in love with the creative process and outlet that it provided away from my 9 to 5 job, so much so that I decided to continue to grow my little piece of the internet, expanding into lifestyle.
By 2022, I felt a shift. A shift in the industry, a shift in me. It was then that I knew I needed some time away to regain clarity and a renewed sense of self that makes me, me. I pumped the brakes on new blog content and instead put pen to paper, reflecting, traveling, and blocking out the world in the best of ways. Flash forward through two of the most rewarding and growth-inducing years of my life and I have never felt more inspired, more myself, or my vision more refined. I’ve heard it said that in our thirties something in us aligns back to the likes and dislikes of our younger selves. What we liked, inherently, at our core before the world and friends and opinions ever influenced coming back full circle. Whether it be because we get better at blocking out the noise around us or simply due to trial and error. This, I know to be true. This was my shift.
By Lauren Cermak has evolved as I have over years. If you’ve been around long enough you’ll have seen decadent desserts from my heavy baking days as a newlywed, a few personal notes, my obsession with pretty tables, incorporation of Monday Memos, an affinity for classic style, and a more recent transition to a plant based lifestyle. I am a big believer in change. In embracing it. In welcoming it. In knowing that every experience we have builds to what we are or what we will be. My hope is that this website will continue to grow and evolve as I do. That this space and the culmination of life’s shifts help to reflect the warmth and intentionality that I strive to curate in every facet of life. In the noise of the day, I hope to be a source of inspiration and guidance in the timeless art of living.