January 14, 2015

Happy Five Year Blogiversary Stilettos and Diaper Bags!

Can you believe I have been blogging for five years already? Oh, how the time has flown. If you would have asked me five years ago if I thought I'd still be blogging, and at this scale, I would have not believed you. If I don't say it enough, thank you, thank you, thank you to all my readers who come here day after day, year after year to see what's going on in my life!


When I started my blog I wanted to make sure I wasn't labeled as one of those "I'm wearing yoga pants everyday" kind of moms. It was a conscious decision to get me out of yoga pants after my son was born. I had no idea I would be blogging through my second pregnancy and beyond! It's so crazy when I think about all the opportunities and great people this blog has brought into my life. So.. let's take a look back at some of that, shall we?  

Every year since 2010 I have been mixing up the topics between fashion or outfit posts, recipes, mom chat, healthier lifestyle tips, toddler and kids fashion, and more. Having said that, out of all the types of posts I do, I show you my style more then anything else. 
Here's a look back at my fashion posts stats over the years:
-2010: 83 outfit posts
-2011: 117 outfit posts (top looks post
- 2012:  172 outfit posts (top looks post)
-2013: 192 outfit posts (top looks post)
-2014 150 outfit posts (top looks post

These stats are NUTS to me. I mean, 192 outfit posts in 2013? Can you believe I took photos of myself that many times during my regular day routine? It has become so much more then blogging or archiving my style, it is literally part of me now. "Oh, I'm dressed, let's blog this and go do whatever it is I'm doing today." See, nuts, but also part of who I am now. Which is both an odd and a fun thing I guess. 

As I reflect on what have been some of my most fun points over the past five years, I realize that I have made some life long friends in other bloggers. The blogger community is an amazing one and I am so honored to be part of it! Thank you to all the beautiful (inside and out) ladies I have met and/or hung out with repeatably over the years, I truly love and value you all so much!

I've also had some OMG, moments. I'd love to share some of those with you so I've come up with this list:

-Meeting a few of my favorite "famous" Bloggers 

-Meeting a few Celebrities 
Katie Workman (Author) 
Jacqueline Rezak (Celebrity stylist and owner of Rad & Refined) 


-Cosmopolitan India March 2013

- The Knot Magazine Fall/Winter 2013

-Started the Company Sisters Marie: I currently co-own a company with my sister-in-law that has two websites where you can buy, sell, and swap your clothing and accessories. Because I Shop too Much (adult clothing) and Because They Grow too Fast (children's clothing). These came to be during my third year of blogging and are still going strong!
The best part, I get to have a partner on a second blog. It's so fun to do photo shoots together and have another person who gets just how much work it is to keep a blog and all the social media going.  Sisters Marie is a lifestyle blog that we update five days a week. Head over there to see what we are up to!
 
-8 TV Appearances in 3 years (check them out on my press & features page) 

-Had the opportunity to work with great brands! A few of my favorite are Sole Society, Just Fab, FabKids, Shop Lately, Lulus, House of Gemmes, T+J Designs, and so many more! 

My biggest accomplishment has been keeping this blog going for so long! I never thought when I started this blog it would be anything more then a live journal. Today, I have hit almost 3 million page views! Yes, million. CRAZY! 

I have already shot a magazine feature coming out March 2015 (more info coming soon) and have deals with a few brands in the works. So excited to share this will you all very soon! 

The only difference that will happen during 2015 is cutting back a bit on the blog. I'll still post weekly, but it will be more of 3-5 posts per week not always the 6 posts I've been putting out for years. 

Going forward, I want to blog better for you. By putting out less content (not just for the sake of putting out content), I can bring you better posts that are more thought out and only endorse or style items I truly love. Over the past five years have I posted content I didn't 100% stand behind but mommy needed money to help pay the bills? YES. I sold out more then once people. I obviously disclosed when I put up sponsored posts, but they were just that, sponsored posts! I will promise going forward if I have a sponsored post on this blog it's because I thought it was a good fit. This is more in the third/fourth year of blogging, but either way I wanted to fess up and also make it clear that this is changing. 

My instagram account is going to be in full on fashion mode. Daily #ootd posts and more, but it's much easier to comment and "like" over there. I"ll save the best of the best fashion, recipes, reviews, and videos for blog posts. 

So to sum it up for anyone who's read this far down, THANK YOU for reading my blog for the past five years! And I promise going forward you will only see the best content that I stand behind on my blog. 
Make sure you are following me on Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook as I will be on my social media a lot more during 2015.

xoxo Lisa  

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