On New Year’s Day 2014, I posted some goals for the year. Ya know, the usual – learn to sew, write more, see more films… Then a year later I blogged about my inability to meet those goals and my one aim for the following year: to have a happy, healthy pregnancy, birth and baby. Mission accomplished!
I have a little over five weeks left of my maternity leave and I can’t help but think back to my grand ideas pre-baby. Silly me thought that I’d be able to dedicate a lot of time to this blog, go self-hosted, register my own URL, start taking advertising, work more with other bloggers, actually make some money… Turns out babies are really time consuming! So my primary goal for 2016 is, loosely, to grow this blog. Immediately after having Jenson, my stats dropped significantly but now are higher, on average, than they’ve ever been. My best month to date has been when I posted my birth story and shared it on my personal Facebook page (everyone likes to have a nose!) but, generally, this little ol’ blog is getting a fair few views these days. In this post, I thought I’d share my favourite and most popular posts of the year, as well as highlight the blogs I can’t live without.
Ten most popular posts of 2015:
Item of the day: Dreckly clock
Item of the day: T-Rex foil sweatshirt from Topshop
Bump Watch: Week 19 – picking the perfect pram (I really need to post a review of this travel system)
Item of the day: Baby boy keepsake box from Next
My birth story – Part 2
National Stationery Week: Diary Day
Item of the day: Spiderman and Iron Man wetsuits from Amazon
The perfect accessories for a tea party
What does it mean to be a hipster?
Favourite nursery range: Olive & Henri from Toys R Us
Ten posts I’m particularly proud of/were especially fun to write:
Why you should host the #lbloggers chat
Introducing ‘The Boyfriend’
Marketing in a Digital Age
General Election 2015: Your Vote Matters!
What I’ve been reading lately: The Avengers special
What the eff is up with the Supergirl trailer?!
Who should be the next James Bond?
Coming to terms with my post-pregnancy body
#misCOURAGE
One of life’s hardest decisions: choosing a new mobile phone!
Ten of the best items of the day which I actually own:
Loved So Much play gym from Mothercare (Jenson still plays on this most days and he loves snuggling into the rattly arms)
Sun tent from Amazon (this is a pain in the arse to get back in the bag!)
Pink swimdress from Peacocks (might have ruined the colour a wee bit by putting it in the swimming bag with a blue towel after Jenson’s swimming lesson. Oh well, we spend most of the time in the water anyway!)
Elephant romper from Next (my mum bought this for Jenson for Christmas – sooo cute!)
Blogging t-shirt from ASOS (my most worn t-shirt)
Mikey the Monkey Gro-Egg Shell from Amazon (I was initially skeptical about forking out for Gro Eggs or similar but they’re actually really helpful. And cute)
Adventure Time sweater from Truffle Shuffle (I actually ended up paying a bit more and ordering it from Debenhams because Truffle Shuffle were sold out by the time my lust turned into infatuation and a need to buy)
Personalised wooden xylophone from Not on the High Street (another one which my mum bought for Jenson for Christmas and he bloody loves it!)
Cape from Dorothy Perkins (my darling mother again! This is amazing for snuggling under in the cinema and on the sofa. I’ve not actually been out-out in it yet)
Little Miss Blogger mug from Truffle Shuffle (mostly used for Lemsip so far. Damn Christmas colds)
Collaborations:
Book review: Bryant & May and The Burning Man by Christopher Fowler
National Stationery Week: Write a Letter Day with Inkly
#NationalCreamTeaDay at The Alverton
Book review: Another Heartbeat in the House by Kate Beaufoy
A conversation with Kate Beaufoy
Tried and tested: Ethical fashion with Nomads Clothing
[Guest post] There’s No Place Like Home: Sussex by the Sea
Tried and tested: Remescar Stretch Marks
Ten blogs I can’t live without:
Life Unexpected
Treasure Every Moment
Hannah Gale
More About Cat
Eleanor May
Dorkface
Life Outside London
JasminCharlotte Lifestyle
Milk Bubble Tea
From Roses