Thursday, August 13, 2009

Bloggiversary



August 7th marked one year since the first post on this here little blog, A La Mode. To celebrate, I got myself a new header. Kate & Heather over at Smitten Blog Designs hooked me up. I got one of their free blog templates some time ago {they have a GREAT selection by the way} but wanted to customize it bit more. The header photo is one of my very own, a yummy vignette from my Paris trip several years ago with Lily. I smile and sigh every time I see it.

{I apologize in advance for any resulting weight-gain that comes from reading my blog...as you will likely crave profiteroles every time you view that header.}

I've been a blogger for a couple of years now but my original blog was just family, a way to keep far-away loved ones updated with our goings-on. I wanted something more though. Like a lot of women these days, I had thoughts to share and figured a blog of my own would be the best place to park them.

I had no bloggy aspirations. Honestly, it seemed like an efficient way to communicate with real-life friends. Recipes, frugal tips, funny stories, before & after's, great philosophical revelations...they could all find a home on my blog.

And that's just the sort of randomness you've been privy to at A La Mode for the past year. It's proven to be a delightful and much-needed creative outlet for this stay-at-home mom of three.

I didn't plan to be a writer here. I just wanted whatever I wrote about to be presented well. And I certainly didn't plan to bare my soul. Yet I have. Posts like Voices and To Thine Own Self be True surprised me as much as anyone. So I've been thinkin'...and lately I've wondered if I found my blog or if my blog found me. Clearly, I have evolved in this space. Part of me that had lain dormant for years has come alive. And that is both scary and exciting.

So you may see some subtle changes around here, changes that reflect some of that refining and defining I mentioned in my last post. Feeling free to be me is no small thing for a people pleaser like myself. But I didn't start this blog to appeal to the masses. I started it for one person. Moi. I didn't know or care about things like followers or site-meters or subscribers. Even now, the last thing I need is external pressure on a very unrequired part of my life. Because for me, when something is required it ceases to be fun.

A La Mode has been a blessing. I've "met" some amazing women who I never would have known existed otherwise. The joy of cyber-friends came as quite a surprise, seeing as how I'd never darkened the door of a chat-room and thought meeting people on-line was just plain weird, even dangerous. So you can imagine how meeting the Nester and Emily {and so many others} at the Nester's swap-meet last Saturday was simply the icing on my anniversary cake. And every single one of these ladies is even sweeter in real life. Seriously.

While I started this blog with my own intentions, I'm beginning to realize that even little endeavors, like blogs, are subject to Someone Else's plans. And that means I don't exactly know where things are headed...but I'm certainly up for the adventure.

So to all of you who read my blog--family, real-life friends, bloggy friends, and lurkers--thank you. If you've never said hello, please do! We bloggers heart comments almost as much as we love blogging.

13 comments:

  1. Can I be the first to say hello, and like you I still waffle on the "weirdness" of cyber friends, and then stand firm.
    That it is about so much more.
    Blessings to you in however this writing comes and goes.

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  2. i just found your blog today, as a matter of fact! i have followed kimba & the nester for quite some time now, and i saw the nester's post about the swap meet. i saw your picture, recognized you, & just had to click through to your blog. i never had you for a professor, but i had your fun husband a few times - econ & personal finance. small world, huh? cool blog you have here...i'll look around some more, & i'll definitely put you in my google reader. yay for a new blog to read!! =)

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  3. Great post! Congratulations on your anniversary! Being in the midst of Someone Else's plans is always the best place to be. Blessings!!!

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  4. Hi! I've been reading for a couple of months now and thought it was time to say hello. I love the new header, very drool-inducing!
    :-) Teresa

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  5. Congratulations!!! :) I am a little upset with you. I haven't eaten lunch yet (at 2 pm!!) and then I see your mouth-watering header. ;) No fair! It IS very cute.

    I think you and I are on the same page with our feelings about our blogs. I feel so much more like ME since I started blogging. I finally have a spot to write about what's interesting to ME, and it's just fantastic if other people want to read it. ;)

    I love your blog!!!

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  6. "Scooper" it was so good to meet you at the swap. You are one of those people that I meet and instantly think, "I like her. I really like her a lot." Hope to catch up with you again.

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  7. Scooper,
    Loved the photograph from the Nester's Swap Meet. You looked fabuloso!
    I know Lily traded bar stools for some tassels.
    What was your swap?
    Peace.

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  8. Your header is simply delectable. Glad to have found you and thanks for sharing of yourself!!

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  9. Oh, I love the new blog header. It's so wonderful. Remember us splurging on those profiteroles in the middle of the day? How perfect... how US!
    Miss you and love you.

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  10. Congrats! I've enjoyed getting to know you through and because of your blog and real life! That picture is absolutely.....sinful. I NEED to taste one. :)

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  11. Hi Scooper--

    Wasn't that such a fun day? I loved meeting you and getting to spend a bit of time with you. And now as I'm thinking "Oh, I wish I'd asked her this" or "I wish I'd had a chance to talk with her about that" I'm remembering that I CAN talk to you! I can listen to you! Right here. Oh, thank you, God.

    And by the way. I think yours is the only blog on which I've read the word "profiteroles." Not a word in most people's everyday vocabularies, you know. But I love the fact that you use it with such ease. Mmmm, mmmm.

    Blessings,
    Richella

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  12. Love the new look..very enticing :) Of course, I would consider most anything with chocolate in it to be enticing! LOL. I really enjoy your writing Scooper..keep it up!

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  13. So, yeah, I stalk your blog.

    I am not a mother. I do not decorate. I do not have window (mis)treatments. I do not have misadventures in poo (well, normally). I am one of those 20-something college students. When I stumbled upon your blog, I found something familiar in your writings, something lost.

    I have never known a mother of my own. Now, don't think I'm getting all psycho on you. Coping with the issues and insecurities that come as a package deal with growing up in a house of ONLY boys is something that has made me who I am today... Here's hoping that all of God's plans have some purpose, even if they do seem totally evil in spirit, heh.

    To the point, I have never really been one to dwell on my motherless-ness, but in my weak moments, when I return to that awkward confused teenage girl, I like to think that my mother would've been something like you. I look to your blog for guidance and reassurance. I turn to your writings for strength when I can't find it among the amazing men in my life.

    I just thought you should know that you make a difference in a lot of ways. Through your humble wisdom to your raging frustration, your witty knack for storytelling not only lights the lives of your family, your friends, and your faith... but also fills a void within me.

    So, thanks.

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