Two Years Blogging

It’s my second blog birthday! I can hardly believe I have made it this long. When I first started blogging, I didn’t tell a soul, outside of my husband and my mother, mostly because I wasn’t sure how long I could keep it up. Sure, I read blogs almost everyday, but could I come up with enough to say to write something of my own? I guess I did!

In my first year of blogging, I made some pretty big changes to the blogs that I read as well as to the content of my posts as I learned who I wanted to be as a blogger and developed that voice. If you are new to blogging or feeling like you are in a blogging slump, I would definitely recommend reading my first blog birthday post. And if you feel like it, leave a comment on blog trends you love/hate. It made for some fun reading last year!

I won’t bore you with a recap of my entire year since that’s what the blog is for, but I am pretty amazed and grateful for a few things:

• All of the people I have met and the friends I have made. Food and wine bloggers, and especially Boston and Sonoma bloggers in particular, are awesome, fun, real people. I never would have imagined meeting and becoming friends with so many people in two years, but through blogging and events, I have, and my life is so much richer as a result!

• I never intended blogging to become my job, and it hasn’t. BUT, I did hope that it would lead to new work and get me out of a job I was incredibly unhappy in. And it did! Looking back, even at a year ago, to think that I would be in the process of starting my own business and even have clients (and am still taking more!) that would pay me to do Marketing, PR, and Social Media work. . . well I just never imagined!

• All of the amazing food and wine I have consumed over the past two years. From samples to events, I have been SO lucky to get to taste new things to grow my appreciation for all things delicious.

• All of the skills I have learned from the blogging community and have taught myself. My Marketing career has benefitted immensely from blogging, which, while a hobby, has enhanced my Social Media understanding and has given me lots of writing practice.

• All of you! Thanks for coming back once a day, once a week, once a month, whenever! I am beyond excited each and every time I get a comment, a trackback, or a visit. I definitely am not taking any of you or the time you spend here for granted, thank you!

If you are a blogger, what benefits has blogging brought you? If you are a reader, what are your favorite things about reading blogs?