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| Changes: This is a picture of Tessa from November 2010, the same month I started this blog. She was 8 months old. |
This marks my 400th blog post here. The majority of my posts were written in the first year and a half or so of the blog. I was resurfacing then from brand-new motherhood, which had just changed me profoundly and yet left me--I was relieved to find--the same old me that I ever was. I thought I had some things to say about it. I think I also had some extra time on my hands; that's not so much the case now. I began here in earnest, trying to blog once a day and filling the space with a flurry of "What I Wore" and "DIY" posts. I had only really been reading blogs for about six months prior to that; I was late to this game, but I wanted in. And I've loved blogging from the very beginning.
I pride myself on keeping it real, but one thing I haven't done much of is make fun of this blog and some of its missteps. The time is right. Let's review:
My DIY posts back in the day were a big hit. They still rank among my posts with the highest traffic. People eat DIY posts up with a spoon, even when the person writing them has no business writing them. Me, for instance. Most of the "DIYs" I did here have since either broken, gotten relegated to the back of the closet, or taken to Goodwill. This necklace, for instance, broke the second time I wore it. This necklace looked ridiculous on. So did this one. I wore this skirt once before I took it to Goodwill. And these shoes. Hideous. I don't even think Goodwill got them. I think the trash can did. And although I do actually wear this shower wrap pretty often, I cringe to think I took a picture of myself wearing it in my dining room and posted it on the world wide web. I could go on and on ...
Regarding the "Stuff I Wore" posts. Oh, gosh. They, too, also got a lot of clicks, but not a lot of comments. I can take this to mean that a) people love to see a person make a fool of herself and b) they were too nice to say so. I probably did these kind of posts because I was, at the time, following a lot of fashion blogs that featured everyday people and I felt inspired and thought that if they could do it so could I. I had fun with them, even though they never stopped feeling ridiculous to do. (There was that one time I wore a mumu.) But at the end of the day, I don't have an especially unique or valuable style perspective to offer and though I love clothes, I'm not particularly fashionable. (Especially not now, two babies in. Now, I'm too often in hoodies and Minnetonka moccasins and this one pair of jeans I have with a stretchy waistband.) I don't even have time to go thrifting anymore. But when I do find the time and a few extra dollars, I'll tell you that clothes shopping remains one of my most blissful pursuits.
These days when it comes to blogging I'm more about quality than quantity (although I do try to stick to a goal of blogging at least twice a week). I usually wait until I feel like I have something on my heart to say or a project to share that's really got me thrilled. I'd say that now my blog is 1/3 posts about how life-affirming and unbelievably beautiful motherhood is, 1/3 posts about how fucking terrible motherhood is, and 1/3 posts about things I've painted around the house. I like what it's become. And I actually like what it used to be, even though so much of it seems silly to me now. Just like so many things in my life, I look back and think, Oh, Lord, what was I thinking? It's been a process. I've changed so much, but still I'm the same. I continue to love coming here to write and share the things and people and moments I love. Cheers to another 400 posts. Thanks for reading still.
