My blog is 1

So time sure does fly when you’re a grown-up, doesn’t it?

As mentioned at the end of my last post – I’ve felt a bit low over the past week in the run up to my blog turning 1 on Monday… in part because that is just how I get about birthdays because… I’m a bit weird; but another part of me felt low because that old demon, comparison wormed its way into my psyche, and looking around at others who’ve been on Instagram (and so blogging) for the same amount of time as me, and seeing they have 5K or 10K or in one case 20K followers all grown from nothing in the same time frame as me… well, I suddenly didn’t feel like I was doing very well at all.

Feelings of failure crept in.

And doubts as to whether I should continue…

… until I remembered my purpose for starting this blog:  to have some fun and to inject a little creativity into my own rather mundane stay-at-home-mum existence.

And I have had fun.

Both blogging and posting daily on Instagram.

And one year on, here I am.

In a bid to continue on a positive path, and bash that comparison monster on the head and on his merry way… I’ve compiled this list of 10 lovely things which have happened over the past year as a direct result of starting this blog:

1- Clothes: My wardrobe is shaping up nicely!  I actually have some variety in my wardrobe now… so much so, I often get stuck in the mornings, as to ‘what to wear today?!’

2- Instagram: I could write an entire blog post about my love (& rarely, despair…) of Instagram, but in a nutshell it’s this: so many lovely Insta-friends made, new brands discovered and just a fabulously positive community vibe going on.

3- Style: Getting my style mojo back has felt great; not that it was ever lost per se, just suppressed due to financial lows… I’m not exactly on a financial high now, but certainly in a stronger position to remember to treat myself once in a while. OK, pretty regularly.  Nah! You got me… most of the time in fact… and boy does it feel good!

4- Inspiration: Whilst Instagram provides me with a lot of fashion inspiration, I must mention my lovely interiors instal-pals, as well who all have such beautiful homes and often post their favourite pics from Pinterest: its like the crème de la crème!  When I started this blog, Mr T also secured a Small Town Home blog domain for me, knowing how much I love interiors… however, I’ve barely been able to keep on top of the one blog, so perhaps having a second domain name secured so early was rather premature.  You never know though… there are some exciting renovation plans in the pipeline, so I may well do an occasional post under my Small Town Home hat at some point in the not too distant future. #watchthisspace

5- Motivation:  I had an entire cupboard of “stuff” which I always deemed too good to just give away and planned to sell.  Most of it sat in bags for at least 3 years if not more.  But, when there are a pair of Chloe Susanna’s or some blingy Gucci Marmont’s dangled as motivation, it’s amazing that I finally started to sell my old clothes for the first time ever, not to mention finding and selling crap from my loft.  And all to get the boots and shoes of dreams!

6- Skills: For the large part, I’m still a no-tech… but I’ve learnt quite a few bits and bobs in order to get blog posts published… including some basic photo editing.   And whilst my photography skills have certainly improved over the past year, they are still pretty basic, but I try to improve and experiment with my camera almost daily. I’m still learning, and I absolutely love this aspect of blogging.

7- Confidence: whilst I’ve never been a wallflower in any shape or form, like most people, I have my insecurities.  For me, it’s my face… which I’m not a fan of.  Don’t get me wrong here – I’m not looking for sympathy, I’m not all “woe is me! I’m so ugly!”… rather, what I see looking back at me from the mirror… my face… a face which has served me well enough, and I’m both happy and grateful to have it… it’s just that I know it’s not exactly a photogenic, model bone-structured one, is it?  I would really rather not show my face in any photographs on here, or on Instagram.  That said, I took a deep breath, and just got on with it.   I have now posted 100’s of photos of myself with my face showing; I still find these photos cringey, I still don’t love doing it, but in a robotic way, I can just do it and not think twice about doing so anymore.

8- Vanity: So with point number 7 in mind, arguably, posting photographs of my face has prompted me to take better care of it for the first time in my life.  I’ve never had a skin care regime… mainly because I hardly wear any make-up.  But, I do still wear a bit of make-up… and I want to look my best, and whilst I’m not exactly botox-ing or filling my face, I’m just looking after it more… and that includes drinking more water. #winning

9- Support: I’m enjoying myself… it (blogging) doesn’t feel like a chore (most of the time) in that I have a creative outlet… but the best times are when I get feedback in the form of comments either here, or on Instagram:  I genuinely get a bit of a buzz from it.  I probably shouldn’t admit to that, but it’s like “whoop! someone read my blog!”… and that makes it all feel worth while. Yup!  That means you… your support – thank you!

10- People: I’ve managed to go along to a couple of events over the past 12 months and meet the people inside the little Instagram squares on my phone:  Donna (aka Sulky Doll Styling) and Karen (aka The Style Nurse) and of course, the supportive and stylish bunch that are the #mystylephotechallenge ladies; I got tickets to go along to the Spirit of Christmas Fair as well as attending one of River Island’s Style Studio “An Evening with…” events where I met Jo Elvin from Glamour UK magazine, as well as inviting an Insta-pal Patricia to attend the event as my plus one.  I also got to meet one of my Insta-icons, Marlene from Cookies and Candies for a coffee, which turned into a 4.5 hour marathon natter.  There was no special reason for meeting up, other than we are local-ish to one another, and to meet a fellow kindred spirit was just lovely.

There are of course other fabulous Insta-friends who I am desperate to meet in real life… but with everyone scattered far and wide, I guess I will have to be patient for the right opportunity to arise.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading over this past year, it really does mean more than I can say.  My new Sunday 7 feature seems to be going down well, although the rather self-indulgent nature of my mid-weekers a little less so!

Understandably, of course.

Next week’s mid-weeker will be the last in the series of me reflecting on the past year, and looking towards the future of this blog.  Some small changes &  updates are in the pipeline… which reminds me, a massive thank you to my love, Mr T… he’s been my tech-guru through this past year, and his bottomless support and tech-savviness have been #everything in making me realise this little dream of mine.

I’m very lucky.

So… where was I?  Oh yeah… after next week, I will get back to more ‘proper’ fashion blogging… I promise.

And I’m ever more determined to shake this 1 year old baby-blog status off and make it to a second birthday!

If you have just read this, I would love to hear from you… just to say hello?  Leave me a comment here or on my Instagram and I will get back to you.

B x