Friend Friday: Gratitude

Happy one-year anniversary to FBFF!  I know I’ve only been doing this officially for two months now, but it truly has been great to be a part of this blogging community.  This week’s Friend Friday is all about gratitude and who do we thank when it comes to who we are, both personally and as bloggers.

When it comes to be personally – I owe a lot of who I am to: 

My friends and family.  They keep me grounded and make me deliriously happy.  They allow me to be who I am, and although it’s not always pretty, they accept it all.  But, they also never let me get away with too much craziness and they always reminded of where I came from.

When it comes to be professionally – I owe a lot of who I am to: 

My father.  He always taught me to always give everything I do my best shot and never do anything half way.  That way, whether you succeed or fail, you know that you never gave anything less than everything you had at the time you were giving it.

When it comes to the art of blogging, I’m grateful to these people for helping me through some rough spots: 

Really, I want to thank my husband first and foremost for understanding the need for me to use my blog as a creative outlet.  He is often my photographer and also my sounding board for ideas and thoughts.

But as far as the blogging community, there were so many inspirational people.  However, these bloggers come to mind when I think of influences and revelations of my blogging style: Emily of Cupcakes and Cashmere, Kelly of The Glamourai, Kristy of Full Time Fabulous and Vahni of Grit & Glamour.

When I first re-started my blog, I sent an email to Emily and she wrote back (you can see her response in my “About” section), which was very sweet of her because I did not realize then how popular her blog was at the time.  I was flattered that she was touched by my email and thoughtfully wrote back.  She made me realize that not everything is about fashion and you can include your personality and other aspects of your life in your blog.

My favorite all-time blog is The Glamourai.  Kelly is really a dare-devil when it comes to fashion, and she reminds me that fashion is supposed to be fun, but can also be very glamorous at the same time.  Her “mixology” has inspired me to really mix it up when it comes to prints and colors.  I’m always pleasantly surprised at her creativity and fashion spontaneity.

Kristy has always been so sweet, right when I joined IFB, through her participation in the contest for FTF and to this very day.  She has made me realize the value of community when it comes to blogging and I am forever grateful to her for that!

I discovered Vahni’s blog through Kristy, and it has truly become my go to blog Bible for anything and everything that has to do with smart blogging.  Not only does she have great style, but sound advice.  I’m still reading through all of her posts and have had many “ah-ha!” moments.  I’ve learned a lot, and I’m still learning from V’s blog.

One last thought post-script:  I owe quite a bit to Independent Fashion Bloggers.  What a great network and community of like-minded people, not to mention all of the great blogging advice articles and of course the Links a la Mode.  I owe a lot to them for showing me some of the ropes, and introducing me to so many blogs I wouldn’t have otherwise known were out there.

One blogging challenge I’m grateful happened because it made me stronger was…

Starting over.  My first blogging experience was very tough because it solely had to do with the passing of my father.  I was so sad and that was constantly reflected in my first blog.  I stopped writing back then because I had lost direction after the sadness had dissipated.  I’m so glad that my friends and family encouraged me to write again and now I find it fulfilling and so much fun.

To my readers, I’d like to say…

Thank you SO much!  I have been hearing a lot of great feedback from my friends and those of you in the blogging community.  There are times when I feel like saying “Is it really worth it?” because of the time it takes to keep up a blog.  But this has been such a great creative outlet and I’m glad that so many are interested in the things that I have to say, the things I create and about my style.  I hope you all continue to follow along!

Fashion Beauty Friend Friday is a Google group for bloggers to converse on a given topic each week. Katy from ModlyChic sends the questions, bloggers post their responses and then add their post to the list of people sharing their thoughts on the subject matter. To get started, check out this great tutorial on Grit & Glamour here.

(Image courtesy of Valentina Ramos)