Happy blogday to me!

Utterly bloody hell. I missed my first blogday. I knew it was somewhere in March, but have been so busy & wrapped up in work that I simply forgot to check. Anyway it was 08 March that I made my first New York entry here.

Intended just as a record of my time in New York, (I also had a plan to log what I wore every day, in addition to my activities here in Manhattan, but I only kept this up for a few weeks, before I got bored with my wardrobe), it's led to so much more, and I have had a fabulous year discovering the blogosphere. For several months I just wrote away, gaining a modest amount of traffic, generated mostly by my friends back in London. And then I started to click through comments, a few people tagged me, JSL introduced me to Statcounter in May so I could track who was reading me and, almost overnight, it felt like I had joined the fashion blog community.

I've made some fabulous virtual friends, with whom I correspond regularly. As one of my oldest friends lives in Sydney, I love the fact that I have a huge, totally unexpected readership in Australia. I've been given a couple of awards, and even the New York Times picked me up last week. When I post about a big decision or an event, I am overwhelmed with witty, supportive comments. It's no surprise to me that researchers have recently discovered that blogging helps people who are depressed.

And it's been surprising what people like to read. One of my most popular ever entries wasthis story about my eccentric grandmother's handbag. Lots of people enjoyed my birthday celebrations and, whilst every single food post I write seems to strike a chord, a lot of people liked this review of Allen & Delancey.

Which brings me on to my next generation plan. As regular readers know, there is likely to come a point soon-ish where this blog is going to cause a conflict of interest. The solution? I am going to launch a new, linked, sister blog, which will hover on the fine line between food and fashion, with restaurant reviews, recipes and lots & lots of my food photography. That way I'll be able to continue amusing and annoying you all without stepping on the toes of my prospective employers. The two blogs will run concurrently for a while, and I'll let you all know when the new one goes live.

Above all, I want to thank everyone who bothers to click through to me occasionally: it's been a privilege.

Image: Cakes & photo by me