Year Eight. (& a Giveaway!) {CLOSED}
{Thank you all so much for entering the giveaway! The winner is commenter Beth Cook who said “I think the most memorable moment was my father moving into an assisted living home with hospice services. You just think your parents will be around for a long time to enjoy their retirement years and their grandchildren. It’s hard on my mom going back and forth despite him not really knowing when she’s been there or the last time she came. It’s hard emotionally and financially. This is NOT what they wanted to spend their retirement money on. My guilt is living three hours away. Close enough to visit, but far enough away to have to balance family life/plans.” Congrats Beth!}
This week marks my eighth year of blogging.
Which is totally insane. EIGHT YEARS?!
That’s almost ten years. Ten years is a decade. I still feel like I’m 17 so how on earth this has happened… I have no idea.
I wish that I had the words to tell you just how much I appreciate you being here and visiting the site. I know what it is like to read the same blog for eight years. You are only reading one voice. It gets repetitive and sometimes boring and it is a lot of the same thing, because it’s written by one person. I’ve come and gone and come back and re-fell in love with many of my favorite bloggers over the years. I can’t really offer you anything other than myself (okay and maybe a plethora of trashed up recipes) who might occasionally change or stay the same or repeat herself or still think that she’s 17 years old inside.
So it means the WORLD to me that you have stuck around, read these rambles, been so kind and wonderful and shared your own thoughts in our little community here. Means seriously everything to me. I actually think of you all as friends, my invisible but real BFFs.
I hope you can see that I (still!) do this because I 100% OMGloveitsomuch and even though it became my job a really long time ago, I do it as authentically as I can and because I love it and so I can share things with you in this wacky internet world.
To celebrate these eight years and frankly, to celebrate YOU who has given me the chance to do this for so long, I’m giving away a $1000 amazon gift card to one lucky reader. This giveaway is not sponsored and given by me to show my appreciation for you. Giveaway is open to everyone and anyone!
To ENTER:
- Leave a comment on this post telling me a memorable moment you’ve had so far in 2017.
- For an extra entry, I would love if you’d preorder a copy of The Pretty Dish and leave a second comment saying you did so. You can preorder the book on amazon, barnes and noble, indiebound or books a million! I cannot thank you guys enough for giving me the chance to write another book. If you’ve already preordered, THANK YOU SO MUCH and be sure to leave a comment telling me you did so. If you decide to preorder, this is just the first of many exciting things we’re giving away!
And who knows, maybe if the internet is around, I’ll be here in another eight years! xoxoxo
2,292 Comments on “Year Eight. (& a Giveaway!) {CLOSED}”
Most memorable moment was my girls starting school this year. My youngest started kindergarten and my oldest is in second grade. My oldest has been helping my youngest out, showing her what to do, where to go and even checks on her at recess (she’s on a different playground). Melts my heart seeing the sister love!
I roadtripped from Montana to Texas and back by myself.
Congrats on 8 years! I have been a reader for years now lately love reading the Max posts. I have a son who is a year younger than Max so it is fun to see what lies ahead :) 2017 has been memorable for buying our first and hopefully forever home!
Finding out our second child is a girl by popping confetti cannons with our family. Completely shocked (we have a son) and the bright pink confetti trickling down was awesome!
It’s been wonderful to see you evolve over the years. Congrats!
I graduated with my masters and it feels so good to finally be done with school!
DEFINITELY finding out we were pregnant with our first! Our little guy will be here in 2 weeks (or whenever he decides to shop up haha). We were so shocked and I definitely cried and laughed and some choice words that would never usually come out of my mouth haha. We can’t wait for him to be here!
And I preordered the book of course :) Seriously Delish is a firm favorite in my house
My most memorable moment of 2017? Hands down, giving birth to my daughter (and first child) Siena.
Most memorable moment so far has been surprising my parents with a visit back in May!
And I preordered your cookbook on Amazon already! March can’t come soon enough!!!
My most memorable event was having my daughter in February!! I went back and read your baby posts while I was trying to get pregnant, and while I was pregnant! I seriously found them SO helpful, thank you!!
Most memorable moment this year was finding out I was pregnant with our first baby! So looking forward to your new cookbook!
Most memorable part of 2017 so far has been running 3.24 miles straight on my 30th birthday – the most I’ve ever run! Congrats on 8 years of blogging!
Hiking in Volcano National Park on the big island
Most memorable moment this year was probably my son starting kindergarten.
My son being born in February. Nothing beats those first newborn snuggles.
My most memorable moments were at the beach this summer. I miss it!
Such a great question to reflect on. So far in 2017, my most memorable moment was kayaking in Lake Michigan on my birthday – it was a blast!
CONGRATULATIONS!!! How very exciting! My most memorable moment thus far in 2017 has probably been running along Lake Michigan with my dad this past summer. Those morning runs, with the sun peaking over the horizon is one of the things I find myself missing the most right now!
You make some delicious food, thanks for sharing your recipes! I birthed my second child this year, which was an incredible experience – and very memorable.
My baby turned one and my other baby started 3 y/o preschool. :)
My nephew said my name for the first time and my heart
melted ❤️
a trip to Sweden and preordering the pretty dish book!! hooray!
I’ve pre-ordered your book – can’t wait to get #2 in my hands!
Our first family camping (ok….. glamping) trip! Our young kids loved the cabin and hiking outdoors!
Every moment with my two fantastic kids (ages 14 and 7) are the most memorable! Cheesy? Maybe – but SO true!! I tell them each morning that I love them more than I did the day before and it’s always the truth. Jessica – I’ll always remember my mom telling me this when I was pregnant with my second and worrying how I was ever going to be able to love another baby as much as I loved my first: the amazing thing about having a second baby is that you don’t have to split the love in your heart between your two children – for each child you have, you grow another heart so that they each have all of the love inside. Best wishes!
Congrats on 8 years! I’ve been a reader for at least 5 of them! Thank you for continuing to post great content! My favorite memory of 2017 was performing my brother and sister-in-law’s wedding ceremony. It was a small event on the beach but very special.
Most memorable moment? Bringing our puppy home!🐶Our first fur”baby”!!
Bookending our summer by taking our 8 year old daughter to Seattle (beginning) and NYC (end) so she could have coast-to-coast big city adventures–Seattle won by a landslide to her, but the Eloise tea at the Plaza was my standout moment. Love your blog and congrats on 8 years!
You don’t look a day over 6!
But 2017 has been a great year for me so far – I finally got a serious side hustle and just saw my first paycheck from a REAL WRITING GIG hit my bank account! I definitely did a little happy dance and basically felt like Miranda Priestly.
Getting engaged in Newport RI!
Moving to San Francisco!
most memorable moment so far…meeting my partner and the day we told each other we love each other :) mushy but true. LOVE your blog and read it every day!!
Favorite moment of 2017 was celebrating my first anniversary with my husband!
And I’ve preordered your book. Can’t wait!!
Congratulations on eight years! I hope you have many more. :)
A memorable moment for me was spending the last days with an 92 year old lady. She was the grandmother of my best friend. They needed someone to stay with her in the evenings, until she want to bed and I volunteered. The family kept thanking me for all i’d done for her, when honestly she did more for me than I could have ever done for her. She was so wise and intelligent. With her sharp mind I had some of the best conversations, certainly better than with many my own age. She passed away 3 weeks ago and while I miss her, I think back on the many times we laughed.
A memorable thing that I’ve done in 2017 is to visit Seattle and Vancouver for the first time!!
I pre-ordered your book already!!! Can’t wait to read it!
My most memorable moment was last month when I finally met a Facebook friend for the first time after more then 3 years of online friendship. She lives in Wisconsin and I live in NY. She was making a road trip with her sister to visit family in PA and since I have Wed. off from my job I was able to make an overnight trip to meet up with her in Lancaster.
Congrats on 8 years!
Most memorable moment would be giving birth to my son in June! Changed my life in the best way!
Most memorable moment this year so far was our yearly trip to Maine. We brought the dog along for the first time and had so much fun being outdoors and eating at our favorite spots.
For me it would be seeing whales in person on our vacation in January!
Had a baby!
My most memorable moment of 2017 is getting married in June – it was my favorite day ever, not just 2017 :) Love your blog so very much and can’t wait for all the recipes to keep on coming!
Most memorable was definitly choosing to leave my stressful crazy job for a different one. 1st time to focus on my health and happiness in years!
Thanks for all the great posts and congratulations on your new book and on your 8 year anniversary!!
My memorable moment of this year is graduating with my MSN and passing nurse practitioner boards!
Survived Hurricane Irma. The next day we were cutting down trees (to clear the road – my dad is 77 but there he was with the chainsaw). Long story made short. My dad had a heart attack (I saw him having the heart attack. Scariest moment ever!) I truly believe we would have never known he had clogged arteries had he not exerted himself as he did (passed a stress test 3 months ago, cholesterol levels in check). In a weird way I’m grateful for the hurricane b/c I think it helped save my dad’s life. He’s one tough cookie. Love him.
I pre-ordered your book. SO excited for all new recipes. Your flavor combos are always on point😋
Finding out that my husband and I are expecting a baby boy in February!
Matching at harvard for my residency!