Whoop de whoop whoop, The Utter Blog is a whole year old today! So Happy Birthday it. Or me… I’m not sure which is more appropriate. Either way I shall be celebrating with cake, and to hell with it, I may even stick a ruddy candle in and blow it out and everything.
Banana split cake via Pinterest
Note to self: DO NOT go searching on Pinterest for cake images again. I have never seen so many astonishingly creative and beautiful cakes in my life. So much so, the rest of this post will be full of them I think. Well, it is a birthday.
Rainbow cake via Pinterest
Did you know that The Utter Blog is not technically my first-borne blog baby? A couple of years ago, pre-engagement and pre-Utterly Wow, I knew I wanted to blog, and I knew I wanted to blog about weddings… but I felt a bit of a idiot doing so being un-engaged n’ all. I called it something naff like Country Girl Chic, and I think I got as far as an introductory post which felt far too contrived and which I hated almost the second I hit Publish. I deleted that account pretty quickly.
Rice crispie cake via Pinterest
Getting engaged was the perfect impetus to start blogging for a reason. I had so much ‘weddingness’ going round my head and knew that neither Paul nor my close friends were going to be that interested. Or in Paul’s case, there was no interest whatsoever. My very first post published a year ago today and focusing specifically on my husband-to-be and his ‘wedding aversion’, took me a good day or two to write (procrastination is my downfall) but I felt/hoped that my first uttering was going to be more interesting than the standard ‘Hi, I’m Sama and I like weddings’ garb that I’d previously tried (and failed) to produce. Writing The Great Big Wedding Fall-Out can only be described as a release… and I’ve tried to write from the heart, as honestly and openly as I can ever since.
(Although, erm, we won’t mention the very short-lived post entitled ‘Boobs’ which was probably too honest, and too open, and which Paul made me delete within seconds of publishing. But the less said on that the better.)
Gooey, chocolatey goodness, via Pinterest
The Utter Blog has never been about making money. I’m pretty sure I don’t have nearly enough readers to take sponsorship, and I quite like being able to write what I’m sure some people view as self-indulgent drivel... but it’s my self-indulgent drivel and I’m very happy this way, thank you very much. Some wonderful things have happened over the last year because of this blog- I’ve made a host of virtual friends, gained Utterly Wow clients (hello ladies!) and become a guest contributor on the rather fabulous Bridal Musings. Not to mention the fact that I came that close to being sent a free pair of pants by Boux Avenue. Yes, really. (Erm… they didn’t have my size in the end. Again, the less said about that, the better.)
Now we’re talking. Boozy cake shots via Pinterest.
It can be hard work posting regularly, and the words don’t always flow as effortlessly as I hoped they would…. but it’s probably my proudest achievement to date. Aside from convincing Paul I was a keeper. And co-writing/directing/ hosting/starring in the Year 12 Charity Revue at secondary school.
So THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart for a WHOLE YEAR of reading, commenting, re-tweeting, sharing on Facebook and generally being all kinds of utterly wow. (See what I did there?)
Here’s to another year, eh? Now who’s gonna start off a rousing rendition of Happy Birthday?? All together now…
Sama xxx
