sweater: j crew; coat: j crew; jeans: citizens of humanity; shoes: m gemi; bag: chloe; necklace: maya brenner; bracelets: david yurman (here, here and here); ring: david yurman; sunglasses: warby parker
Last month I quietly celebrated 5 years of writing on my little part of the internet. Honestly, I wouldn’t have remembered without my one a day journal. Five years feels like a really long time, but it’s also passed so quickly. My life was very different when I started this blog. Two incomes, no kids, working in the corporate world. Some days it feels like a lifetime ago!
In honor of this momentous achievement, I want to share 5 things I’ve learned in 5 years of blogging. None of these are particularly groundbreaking, but they are the first things that came to my mind.
5 Things I’ve Learned in 5 Years of Blogging
Success doesn’t happen overnight
I don’t know exactly what I envisioned when I started Luv in the Bubble five years ago, but blogging isn’t a ticket to easy street. I used to get discouraged that my readership or followers weren’t growing. Now if that happens, I go back to the reason I started blogging in the first place. And that’s to share what I love and makes me happy. It works every time.
The motherhood community on Instagram is a lifesaver
I learned this when Lawson was around 6 weeks old. I was sleep deprived, didn’t feel anything like my pre-pregnancy self and had no idea what I was doing. I can picture exactly where I was when I commented on one of Mandy’s Instagram posts and other mothers started replying to me with words of encouragement and support. It was a pivotal moment in my early days of motherhood.
Real is always better
It’s probably no surprise that the posts that perform the best are the ones that portray a real picture of my life. Whether it’s sharing a motherhood struggle, family news or an important decision, you all really resonate with it. My goal for 2019 is to keep it real more often. (I feel like I need to add a caveat that I am never fake in this space. It’s just that some posts are deeper and more real life than others.)
Outfit posts are fun
While outfits aren’t my most popular posts, they are really fun to do. I’ve had the opportunity to meet and work with a handful of photographers, which is always fun. Planning outfits is a creative outlet for me. When I worked, I was able to use that creative side on a daily basis. With two little ones, some days it’s a struggle to put on real clothes, but I always feel better when I do. And when I think up something really good, I feel proud of myself!
Blogging is hard work
Okay, hard work is relative (when I worked in accounting I used to say, it’s not like we’re doing heart surgery). Blogging is time consuming. There’s so much more than writing the post (styling and taking photographs, making product roundups/collages, researching SEO, digging into analytics, posting to social media, tagging brands). Please don’t take this as a complaint. I was naive when I started blogging and didn’t realize all the time and effort that went into it. Luckily I love it and can watch endless Friends episodes in the background while I blog!
I am so very grateful to all of you. Thank you for taking time out of your day to read about my life. Whether you come here for the style, motherhood, wellness or just life in general, I appreciate it from the bottom of my heart.
photos by Ana of Rosemary & Rye
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