How, when and why I started my blog
/This post was originally published for Living24 Magazine, a new online platform that brings together young writers and professionals to share their own insight into life. I loved getting to sit down and write out my honest thoughts on blogging after all of these years. You can read my post, along with other lifestyle, wellness and culture themed articles on Living24’s site.
Let’s rewind to high school. I think it was my junior year (2010) when my middle sister Kathleen first got me hooked on reading blogs. Blogs? What is a blog I thought? On our parent’s giant Mac desktop computer, she showed me Jane Aldridge’s wacky vintage fashion on Sea of Shoes and Emily Schuman’s cali girl next door vibes on Cupcakes and Cashmere. From there I was hooked. I vividly remember sitting near the back of my 300+ person mass comm lecture course during first semester freshman year, skimming through my bookmarked list of blogs, reading each and every new blog post instead of learning about how to write a proper press release. I was enthralled with these digital platforms people were creating. They were merely just sharing creative aspects of their everyday life, but I was eating it up. I was making recipes I found on blogs, recreating outfits (you bet I was on that Hunter rainboot train because of this post - LOL), and DIYing my little heart out. I’ve had a creative bone since birth and reading these “lifestyle” blogs fueled me.
Being the blog junkies that we were, Kathleen actually started her own blog back in 2011. A Peony For Your Thoughts - because some things in life are too sweet not to be shared. While APFYT is no longer, we had a blast posting and coming up with content for her site. I say “we” because I was chomping at the bit every chance I could to guest post. Here is one of my favorites - ha! Around spring of my sophomore year of college I started to relish with the idea of starting my own blog. I sat on the idea for a while because I was honestly nervous my sister would be mad. I remember texting her, hey I’m going to start a blog. And she replied good you should!! You’ll be better at it than I am (blushes).
Take A Bite was established in 2013. My little creative outlet to share “bites of my life.” I remember spending a full day at the corner table in the dining room of my sorority house, piecing together free font downloads and creating header images for my site on PicMonkey (scroll down in this post for a look at what TAB looked like on day one). This was back when blogging was still really just gaining its stride. This was the Blogspot registered domain days where my posts looked like articles on fall fashion, nail DIYs, or how to style costume jewelry with horrible low-res and over-filtered images. If you dig back in the archives of Take A Bite you can find some true gems like this DIY t-shirt turban headband, homemade tassel garland, and mint is the new black. I was devoted to putting up 4-5 posts a week on the best pumpkin quinoa recipe (what?), how to washi tape your laptop, and the best fall bag from Old Navy... These old posts give me the biggest chuckle when I revisit them, but will always be some of my all-time favorites.
Blogging back then was worlds different than what it is in now. There are a few true bloggers still hanging on, but we have pretty much all retired our Blogspot web address for a sleek Squarespace site that really just acts as a concrete place to link an Instagram post to. #guilty. However, from day one of creating Take A Bite I was serious about two things. 1. Not making this a short term thing. I wanted to commit to longevity with my blog. I’ve seen so many people go through all the work of starting a blog and after being hyper committed for a month, just slowly stop posting. This included friends of mind. I didn’t want that. I saw TAB as an extension of me and I wanted it to run a long course. 2. To keep blogging my hobby. Strictly my hobby.
I’m proud to say seven years later I’ve held on to those two truths I first promised myself. Take A Bite has shifted to be much more food heavy than fashion and DIY. I’ve also shifted to rely much more on Instagram as a way to share quick content, leaving new posts fewer and farther between. However, I think that is really just an expression of the times and how the digital space has turned. All this to be said, Take A Bite is still very much a part of my life it’s just expressed differently.
Take A Bite is also not my full-time job, nor do I think it ever will be. I work full time as the Marketing Director for a fabulous restaurant group and I truly love what I do and who I get to work with. Being apart of a team, having a boss, being told what to do, yet also having my own responsibility and freedom is something I personally love. Blogging/content creating/influencing whatever you want to call it has always sounded isolating to me. This goes against the cultural dream to be your own boss and building your own platform, but I don’t want that. I’m already working from home due to the pandemic, but working for myself on top of that sounds lonely. This is nothing against all of the wonderful people who have been able to create a beautiful life from their blogs, that’s just not want I have ever wanted for myself.
Now I’ll be honest, Take A Bite has cultivated a decent little community for me. I do get paid here and there from content I produce and I’ve had far more opportunities than I could have ever imagined because of my blog, and for that I’m so thankful. I’ve met incredible people through blogging, including one of my dear friends who I’ve traveled with, talk to regularly, and got to go to her wedding two years ago. It’s not lost on me just how cool blogging has positively impacted my life. What an awesome hobby if I do say so myself!
All this to be said, there is so much pressure out there to be a hustler striving for more Instagram followers or to become the next Defined Dish. Oh you don’t have 10k and a swipe up, then why bother sharing? I feel those pressures. I feel them hard. But I do my very best to remember the voice in my head that told me back in 2013 that this is a hobby, this is for fun, this is my creative outlet. I’ve never wanted my blog to overshadow me, I’ve just wanted it to be a bonus add-on. Sometimes I want to scream “Hey look at me, I’ve been doing this for 7 years!!! Follow me! I’ve been around forever.” But honestly, that’s just me being jealous of seeing people grow quicker around me. If I put my head down I’m sure I could get those numbers up and create more opportunities. But for the 5th time, I really and truly love this as my hobby. I have never personally put pressure on myself to post something at a certain time, to stick to a content calendar, or to reply to every DM. Because I’m really just a normal ol’ 27-year-old girl who has this blog and can use it as my excuse to post yet another picture of my chocolate chip cookie recipe and show you what I bought on Amazon and pretend as you care.
If you want to start a blog, or maybe more relevant today, and Instagram account. Go for it! This outlet continues to be so incredibly fun. Just own it and own your intentions on where you want it to go, and I promise it will be worth it.
Annie
