Today’s my birthday, and while I don’t know if I’m truly another year wiser, I do know that you’re reading the 100th post that I’ve published since the start of this blog. Yay me! And it was exactly a year ago today that I went public with my blog to friends and family either by personal contact or through social media. In my first Another Year Wiser post from a year ago, I talked about my fear of revealing this blog to people I know in my private life, what I’d learned so far about blogging, and what I hoped the next year would bring. To date, that post has only had 3 views but I did get one comment (thank you, Irene). Fine, whatever! I do hope to get a few more views with this one (and I now know a thing or two more about how to make that happen).
The confluence of publishing my 100th post and my birthday this year was deliberately planned (as of about 2 months ago) and a bit of challenge to achieve. At the beginning of August, I mapped out a draft schedule through to the end of December for posting and related photo shoots. In looking it over, with my typical pace of two posts a week, I realized that my 100th post would occur in late October. Interesting I thought, but there’s nothing magical about late October (except Halloween perhaps), so then my thinking went to my birthday and what my publishing schedule would need to be if the two coincided.
Working backward from setting today as D-Day for the 100th post, I’d need to squeeze in six additional posts into the schedule and, for the sake of my pride, I wanted these posts to be at the same standard as my usual Saturday ones in terms of photos and content. I wasn’t going to slap them together from a couple of photos with about three lines of text. Since these posts wouldn’t be connected to the weekly link up themes, I had a lot of freedom with which to develop topics. After a bit of brainstorming, I came up with an initial set of topics that evolved into those that made it to publication.
To be honest, it hasn’t been easy to ramp up to three posts a week. Fortunately, one of the weekly posts is my Wednesday’s Whatevers which takes time to put together but doesn’t require a photo shoot. The bonus posts have been publishing on Mondays and included two DIY projects (Fringe Hem and Retirement Survival Kit), a review of thrifted finds found during our anniversary mini vacay, and three that were purely fashion related (Purchase More Shoes: Fall Preview, Pattern Play: A New Mix, and Kick Off For Fall: Boots).
Some of you may have noticed that there have also been the Social Media Blast posts on Thursday evenings. If you do the math, I’ve actually been publishing four posts a week for the last fours weeks and you may be wondering if these four posts are included in the 100. You would be correct to question this and my answer is no, they are not included in the 100 because I didn’t write those posts. Social Media Blast is a collaborative effort originated by Nikki at View From In Here and she writes those posts so they are not counted among the ones I’ve created myself.
This birthday isn’t a milestone one. My “golden” birthday happened long ago and my “Beddian” birthday (age same as last two digits of birth year) is still a few years off. And even though I born on a Tuesday, it doesn’t seem to be of much significance that today is also a Tuesday except to me. Back in August as I was developing my publishing schedule, I notice an offer to co-host a future link up on Amanda’s A Good Hue blog which comes out on Tuesdays and she calls “Good HUES-Day”. I love the play on words (both for the day and her name) so long story short, I asked to co-host and she said yes. You’ll see more information on the link up at the end of this post.
With the exception of Social Media Blast, this is my first time co-hosting a link up and to do so on my 100th post and on my birthday feels like I’ve wrapped up this day with a big bow and I’ve celebrated both in a new and different way. For many years now I’ve tried to plan to do something special or different on my birthday. I nearly always take a vacation day from work if it falls on a weekday (as I have today) and there have been a few whole weekend celebrations as well.
I think it was for my 42nd birthday, which was on a Friday, that I’d decided I wanted to be awake for the whole 24 hours of it (midnight to midnight) and there is no better place to do that than in Las Vegas. The Husband was a champ and did the whole day with me. Last year’s special event was a bit tamer. My birthday was on the second Sunday of the month which is when the monthly Rose Bowl Flea Market occurs so that’s where I spent the earlier part of the day with The Husband and our daughter.
A little over a year ago, my sister and I went through the process of selling our parents home and I became the keeper of the old photos. They are mostly in boxes and we are slowly digitizing them but we haven’t gotten to those with me as a child. I have this tri-pic on my desk so it was easy to scan it and share. How does it compare to these photos?
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As I reflect on the past year and this 100th post, I’m amazed at how much more comfortable I am with having my picture taken (this has made The Husband happy) and with how much less time I have for shopping. I’ve learned a lot from both the good and bad examples set by other bloggers as well as from the experience and lessons they’ve been kind enough to share with their readers. My following has steadily grown and I hope it continues to do so. Besides adding a post to the link up and leaving a comment at the end (hint, hint), it would truly make my day if you subscribed to my blog and followed, friended, and/or liked any or all of my social media accounts (Twitter, Instagram, Facebook).
On that note, I’ll start the wrap up on this post with a comment about the photos. It was for this post that The Husband and I set about creating the mini studio in our bedroom you saw in the photos for Up Down All-Around Long Vest. We wanted to go more for mood and the original concept was for me to wear something “boudoir” but I couldn’t find anything that seemed right so I went with the reliable standby of a cardi and jeans. While scouting outfit ideas, we spied the display photos in a Soma store and this is our attempt at recreating one of the sexier poses.
As to the details on my outfit, the cardigan is by that famous designer brand Merona (exact), the sleeveless white front button blouse is by St John’s Bay (exact), and the jeans are my favorites from Old Navy (exact). Interested in a Fitbit? I’ve been sporting the Blaze since May and I love it. Previously, I was wearing the Charge. I’ve got a post in the works about what I’ve learned and now I know about myself after wearing a fitness tracker for nearly 2 years.
Until the end of the year, my publishing schedule for the blog is going to go back to two a week plus Social Media Blast with an occasional bonus post on Mondays. Time demands at my day job along with travel plans at the end of this month (more on that next week) and the upcoming holidays require a bit of prioritizing and if I still want to have time to sleep then I need to cut back a little bit on blogging. I’m hoping to do a few posts on seasonal and holiday recipes along with two special feature A Woman I Know link up posts that will publish on the fifth Saturdays that are in October and December.
Stay ageless my friends and I’ll leave you with this quote by Satchel Paige, “How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you are?”
Let’s connect! Subscribe, tweet, follow, friend, love, pin, stumble … all options are available and waiting for you. I look forward to hearing from you. Don’t forget to pop over to Amanda’s blog and add a post or two to the link up.
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28 Comments
Congratulations on your 100th blog!!
Whoops! Blog post!
LOL. thank you Kathy.
These are some great photos Rena!! Did you use any special lighting for these inside shots?
Happy fabulous birthday too!
jodie
http://www.jtouchofstyle.com
Thanks Jodie. There was no special lighting. Just a few regular lamps in the bedroom and a large west facing window that was next to where I was sitting.
Happy, happy Birthday! And congrats on 100 posts!
Great birthday outfit! And I love how comfortable you look in the photos! I love them!
Andrea
Andrea’s Wellness Notes
Thanks, Andrea. It was a fun photo shoot and with the comfort of being indoors, too.
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Happy Birthday and congratulations on making it to your 100th post! I love those colors in your sweater- they are super flattering!
-Kristin
countdowntofridayblog.com
Thank you Kristin. The colors of the sweater are so perfect for Fall.
Happy Birthday dear Rena…..Happy Birthday to youuuuuu! I wish you a fantastic day!
Thank you for the birthday wishes.
Happy Birthday and congrats on reaching your 100th post!
thank you
Great photos in your indoor studio. Love the colors in your cardio and ease as you said with your natural posing. Happy Birthday! And wow you have put some thought into your posting the 100th post. I post 3 days a week , used to post 4 and found that was too hard to keep up with. Doing a great job!
Jess xx
http://www.elegantlydressedandstylish.com
Happy Birthday Rena! Wow and the 100th post, I read how much thought went into it. I used to do 4 posts a week and it got to be to much, so I do 3. I love the little baby pictures,! Hope you had a wonderful Birthday!
jess xx
http://www.elegantlydressedandstylish.com
Thank you, Jess. After 100 posts, I have learned that blogging is a lot harder than one would think.
Such a fabulous post, Rena! Congratulations and Happy Birthday! I am so loving these photos, too. You look amazing and beautiful and stunning and gorgeous! Perfection!
Shelbee
http://www.shelbeeontheedge.com
Thank you for the lovely compliments, Shelbee.
WooHoo! Congratulations on your 100th Blog Post (and the awesome baby & recent pics)!!! 🙂
Thank you, Char.
Thanks for linking up to Top of the World Style. Great idea to take the photo up-side down.
Thank you Nicole. I like to try different poses and perspectives with my photos. I’m glad you like the upside-down ones.
Rena, these photos, they’re GLORIOUS. Completely relaxed and at ease and poised. I would love to see more. They’re just so much more you, you know 🙂 xoxo
I was hoping to just show me and I’m glad that I achieved this. Thanks for the feedback and the compliment.
Happy birthday !! and congrats on the 100th post! really enjoyed reading your post .. and great photos!
Thank you, Celia. I appreciate the wish and the thoughts on the post.
Happy birthday and congratulations to wonderful !00th post! Perfect quotas. o) Thank you for linking up with My Red Carpet.
Anna xoxo
http://www.glamadventure.com