Congratulations! - Blogging Milestones - My Blog Turns 4!

Hi!!!

Hey. I'm back. You might have noticed that May and June have been fairly empty months around here, or you might not. Either way, I'm back and I'll be able to create regular content for you guys again - hopefully. My blog is four years old this year, which is crazy to me, but is nonetheless true. Every year, I write a post to celebrate its birthday. So, here is this year's, at least a fortnight late. Oh and excuse any keyboard dust in the photos - turns out laptops are more difficult to clean that I had first thought (lol).

I just wanted to commemorate four years - each year that I write and create for this blog, I love it more and more. I love the freedom it gives me, I love that it is a creative space, and I love that I can talk about all of my favourite things, to people who want to listen (or, you know, read).

In the last year, I've been so proud of my content and I've watched as more and more of you have started reading what I put together. I'm just incredibly grateful for this blog, for all of you and for the opportunity to have this space.

Here's to year number five, for everything it will bring for this blog - hopefully as much happiness and fun as the past few years. I'm so excited to create another years worth of content for you all, to whom I am so grateful for reading and supporting and commenting - it means the whole world to me. So, thanks for reading, I hope you enjoy what you find here.

Happy 4th Birthday, blog xxx

Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed taking this little trip down Memory Lane with me.

What would you like to see more of in the next year on my blog? Do you have any other comments or blog birthday messages? Let me know in the comments below, I'd love to hear from you.

Big love.

Have a spectacular day!

GingerSnaps xxx

Congratulations! - Blogging Milestones - My Blog Turns 3 Today!

Hi!!!

 

Good morning everyone! How are you? In case you didn't know, today is my blog's birthday and it's three today! I'm full of that warm fuzzy proud feeling and I wanted to write a post to commemorate this special occasion (and for the first time in three years, it's been published on the day!).



 

In previous years, I've written huge posts to celebrate another year blogging, but this year I think I want to keep it short and sweet. I just want a little chat with you guys over a cup of tea and not an essay about things I've said before.

I've said in the past that I've always been someone who loves to write and having a blog is a constant outlet for my writing, which I love.

I like the freedom that blogging gives you, too - one day I might do a post about music, another day I might write about makeup, another about films or interesting things I've read, and another time I write about shows I've seen at the theatre or days out I've had.

Blogging in many ways pushes me to improve and grow, be it in my writing, photography, format, style or sharing things with others, which I've found to be a truly great thing.

 

Blogging is wonderful and I love it. It's a chance to be creative, a chance to communicate with people and a chance to talk about my interests and views.

I look back on my blogging journey with fondness. I've really enjoyed it so far and I hope you have too. I hope that the things I write here entertain you, bring you a moment of happiness and maybe also point you towards some great theatre productions, movies, songs, food, beauty products and posts and articles from around the web.

I'm excited to see what the next year in blogging will bring - hopefully just as much happiness as it has for the past three. Here's to year number four and all it will bring for us all (you can't see but I'm raising my cup of tea in true toast style).

I'm forever grateful to you for reading and I suppose also to Google for giving me a soapbox for free. It means the world. Honestly.

 

Thank you for reading, as always. I hope you enjoyed this little chat.

What did you get up to over the bank holiday? How long have you been reading my blog? Do you have any comments or suggestions for future posts? Let me know in the comments.

Sending you all a virtual hug and cup of tea as well as a party bag.

 

Have a splendid day!

 

GingerSnaps xxx







Congratulations! - Blogging Milestones - Happy 2nd Birthday Blog!

Hi!!!

How are you lovely people? Today, if you didn't guess by the title, is my blog's 2nd Birthday and I wanted to celebrate. Sadly, I can't give you all a slice of cake or a party bag but hopefully you'll enjoy this post (and the photos of cupcakes might be some kind of compensation on the cake front). Also, warning, this might be a bit "cheesy"... Soz...

 

This little blog, A Dash of Ginger, turned 2 on the 3rd of this month.
Wow. Two years. Two whole, actual years.

 

 

When I started A Dash of Ginger two years ago, I was so excited.
 I had been debating and debating with myself for a few months at that point as to whether or not I should start a blog but, eventually, I did it.
On the day I decided to begin my blog, Elf Girl (my bestest friend and fellow blogger - HERE) and I were sat in her kitchen and she sat patiently listening to my ramblings about blog names and all that jazz.
Then, I went home and set it up.
Having ideas whirling around in your head for months before jumping into something like this can be helpful - I could already picture how I wanted everything to look - my colour scheme, my design. I was so excited to create my blog at last.
 My parents, bless them, were also incredibly patient while I talked their ears off about where exactly each piece of the blog would fit best and about all my plans for it.
And so, that evening in my old house, my blog, A Dash of Ginger, was born and I hit publish on the first post on my very own blog (which was proof read about a trillion times by both me and my parents).
 I was excited.
I sat, with my Blogger Dashboard open on my laptop screen for most of the evening. I wasn't expecting anything to happen, but I was just excited to play around with ideas, create drafts and so on.
 

 I told my family and some friends about the blog, and I felt proud to tell them my plans.
 The first comment that I ever received on one of my posts told me that blogging is addictive, and that I should be prepared to lose hours, even days, to blogging. Of course, this was in fact very true.
Ideas for posts came from my little brain and from the suggestions of my family and friends and I enjoyed writing them up and publishing.

Fast forward a year and the Blogger Dashboard may as well have been my home screen.
Around the time my blog turned 1, I set up BlogLovin', I wrote posts as often as I could and I watched this little blog grow.
 It provided a sense of achievement and accomplishment, a whirr of ideas constantly in my brain, describing myself as a blogger, a love for what I was doing and for the people who appreciated it.
 

And, yeah, I know that at moments in the past two years, I have gone AWOL.
 There's been moments "IRL" (I know, I hate me for saying it, too) that have drawn me away from my computer, some awesome and some not so much.
There have been times when I have felt I was letting you guys down because I haven't always been able to write as much as I'd like to, or just honestly haven't felt like it and I am so truly sorry for those times.
But looking back at my archives now, I don't feel as disappointed seeing only a few posts in the archives for a particular month.
 Blogging *isn't* my job,  its my passion and I think that helps me to remember that as long as I always produce the best content I can for you to read, and so long as I blog about things that I really want to, and enjoy it all , then I'm doing the right thing.
 

Now that it has grown up a little more and it is 2 years old, I feel that this blog and I have an understanding.
 I love this blog so much and I love my readers loads.
I love being able to tell people that I write this blog.
I love being able to check in and see lovely comments, or page views or new followers.
And I'll always try my hardest to produce regular content - even if I don't always post as often as I'd like.
Blogging has become a massive part of my life and that is one of the best things.
I love blogging and I love you guys.

 

Over these past 2 years, I can most certainly say that this blog has given me nothing but pride, joy, excitement and love.
I cannot possibly ever thank it, or you, you lovely human behind that computer screen, enough for that whether I know you (in which case "yoo-hoo family!" - y'know, like Frozen?) or not. Whether you've been reading since day one, or if this is the first post of mine you have ever read.
Everything about the blog, your support and all the other bits in between truly mean the world to me and I am so grateful. So for every single one of my 4875 page views, each of my follows on Blogger and on BlogLovin', too - thank you.

 

Happy Birthday, A Dash Of Ginger.

I can't believe that you're already 2 years old.
We're both only young and both growing as a blog and a blogger respectively.

I cannot wait to see what happens here in this next year, and I hope that on your 3rd birthday, we'll have lots of good times to talk about. In fact, I know we will...

 

And to you, my lovely reader: I'd love it very much if you would stick around to see what happens next. Your continued support and readership means a huge deal to me, and I am so grateful. Thank you and I love you guys xxx

 

I hope you enjoyed that post. Also, thanks to my brilliant mother for being my photographer on this one, I'm really happy with the results.

Do you have any birthday messages for the blog? How long have you been a reader? What is your favourite post/type of post I have written? Do you like the photography? Do you have any suggestions or ideas for some posts? Be sure to let me know in the comments. 

Thank you, as always, for reading. You guys are awesome.

 

I hope your day is totally fantastic!

 

GingerSnaps xxx

 

 

So, To Sum It All Up - June Summary.

Hi!!!

Welcome back, guys. Are you having a good day? Hope so. Anyway, yet another month over (where is time going?!) so another summary for you to read and possibly even enjoy.

I've had an enjoyable June this year and thought I'd share.

The World Cup's beginnings.

Yeah, even though we got knocked out before we'ven finished all our matches...
I love the sense of community that the World Cup brings to everyone and the way it allows us to show talents.
While some players made very silly mistakes (biting is not cool, OK?), I believe that everyone has done themselves proud so far, overall.
I'm looking forward to what the finishing stages bring.

To see my post on the World Cup, head on over (HERE).

Celebrating people's birthdays.

As you might know, Lauren 's birthday was this month and it was lovely to get to spend it with her and all of our friends.
I hope she had a lovely day, likes the gifts and cards everyone have her and enjoyed the extended celebrations (more on that later...)

To see a post about Lauren 's birthday, go (HERE).

Going out to spend time with friends.

This one is a kind of branch from Lauren 's birthday, so thanks to her.
A big group of us went out the other day to eat Nandos (it's the spiritual home of our friends, apparently, hehe) and watch The Fault in Our Stars.
Elf Girl and I went into (what we shall call) town early to shop (including giving money to a busker who we weren't convinced was singing in English - he was - and being nerds in Waterstones) and bumped into other people from the group and went around with them for a while before meeting the others to eat chicken (or the Beanie selection for Elf Girl) and get overly emotional in the cinema.

I had a great time and it was a standout of June for me.

Links to the last time we went to Nando's, go (HERE).

Links to Lauren are (HERE).

Links to Elf Girl, (HERE) and (HERE).

Keep an eye out for a potential "Oh My Life!" on this.

Celebrating the first birthday of my blog!!!

My little blog turned one this month and I couldn't be happier about that.

I'm so proud of this blog and I love all of the people who read it, comment on it and who follow it.


I'm very excited to see what happens on this slice of the internet, and I hope you'll stick around and see.

To see the celebratory post, mosey on over (HERE).

My Favourite Blog Posts Of June.

"Pink-Slippered Smudgeness" on Charlotte 's Web, (HERE)

It loved this post.
The poem ("Pink-Slippered Smudgeness") itself is beautiful and all of Charlotte 's notes on love are very open. Also, her housemates sound awesome.
Lovely post.

"Life Lately, another catchup" on A Rosie Outlook, (HERE)

This post had a bit of everything and was a great post.
The photography was good and the bits and pieces of wedding updates were interesting.
I enjoyed this one much my.

"The Lazy Day" on Little Winter, (HERE)

I myself am a massive fan of lazy days, probably because I'm a bit of a lazy person, so this post was right up my street.
I liked the friendliness of this post and the pictures in it.
Good read.

"Friday Round Up" on Made Up Of Little Things, (HERE)

I love the Friday Round Up's on Made Up Of Little.Things and this one was a good'un.
The story about the notebooks in TKMaxx was one I found very amusing (probably shouldn't have, but hey!) and it just made me smile.

"Poems" on Chronicles of the Red Herring, (HERE)

One of the many fabulous things you can find on this blog is poetry. There is a very cool selection of poems in this post and so you can get a bit of scope about the writing style.
A unique kind of post.

"The See-Saw Handhold" on The London Project, (HERE)

I do like this photograph very much and the short and sweet qualities of this post let it stand out.
It was a nice, unusual post with a good photographic content.

Hope you enjoyed this post guys. I look forward to posting during July and seeing what happens with my posts.

What did you get up during June? Anything similar to me? What do you think of what I did? Any questions/comments/suggestions? Let me know in the comments.

See you soon!

Have a fantastic day!

GingerSnaps xxx

Congratulations! - Blogging Milestones - Happy 1st Birthday Blog!

Hi!!!

How are we all today? I for one am mildly over excited because of today's post. In case you are a bit of a silly so and so and didn't read the title, my blog turned one this month.

My blog turned one year old on the 3rd of June (so some might say this post is belated but, umm, no) and I have a lot to say (this will probs be a bit cheesy!).

I started my blog just over a year ago with high hopes. In my first post, (HERE), I spoke of how a blog I had set up with a friend previously didn't work out and how I wanted A Dash Of Ginger to become a "constant creative space". I also set out the kinds of posts I wanted to write.

I proof read that first post into oblivion and checked with everyone within a kilometre radius that it was a good first post and what have you. Despite all this, I didn't feel nervous, more anticipation and curiosity for how this would all pan out.

One year on, here I am, typing up what will be my 88th post, feeling so many things on such high levels.

For every single one of the 2920 page views I have received so far, I am so incredibly grateful. You, my wonderful readers, make me so happy _
- even if this is the first post you have read on my blog. It makes me so happy to think that so many people from so many countries enjoy the things I write in my living room at home.

For the comments and follows, whether they be from people I know or not, I am very thankful. Again, it means a great deal to consider that people want to communicate with me about what I write and/or that people value what I write to the extent where they're seeking updates of my written activity.

 (I am fully aware that some people don't have the accounts in place to comment or follow - that was once me - but I still their support and readership).

You have no idea the pride I feel when I tell someone about my blog, or when someone tells me they liked one of my posts. You have no idea the pride I feel when I stop to "take a picture for my blog" - even though I seldom use them - or when I say "I'll put this in a post". You have no idea the pride I feel when I finish a post and hit publish.

The whole "pride" thing might come across self absorbed but I promise you it is not. I feel pride not just in "myself" but also in the fact that I have a bunch of lovely readers  who make all of these things possible.

I began my blog for a number of reasons but now I blog for even more reasons. I love how I have been able to watch my blog develop over this year.

I look forward to creating more content here and to seeing A Dash Of Ginger grow.  My readership and following might not be colossal but it means more to me to have you guys than millions of numbers on BlogLovin' ever could.

Who knows what this next year will bring this blog and its writer and readers? One thing's for sure, though, I would love you to stick around and find out with me.

So, here's to A Dash Of Ginger turning one and all the wonderful things that have come with it and will come from it.
I'll finish this in the way I finished my first post - I hope that you enjoy this little blog as much as I do/will.

P.S: feel free to have a look through the archives on the right as a celebration (I might)... but after you've read this of course.

I really hope that you have enjoyed this post, everyone. I love you guys so much and I can't wait to post more for you!

Any birthday messages for the blog? How long have you been a reader? What is your favourite post/type of post I have written? Do you have any suggestions or ideas for this blog or things you'd like to see? Anything else to say? Let me know in the comments. 

Thank you kindly for reading. 

Have a spectacular day!

GingerSnaps xxx

Congratulations! - Blogging Milestones - Happy One Month Anniversary Blog!

Hi!!!

So, today, July 3rd 2013, this little blog turned one month old. I know, not you typical anniversary age, that's usually a year, or two years or so on. But I wanted to just say a few things...

Firstly, I know I didn't upload as much as you'd expect last month. I'm sorry for this but I do put so much effort into all my posts. I set a load of time back to write my posts, I proof read them around three times. I always try my hardest to make them interesting for you and hopefully they are a good read.

Secondly, thank you for reading my blog, and thank you for sticking with it (and me!) even though my archives have been a bit quiet. I love how when I log on, I see all the views I've had since I started from all over the world and it really does make me smile. To know that my blog has been viewed 342 times by people from all over the world amazes me. I feel privileged to have an audience like I do. Thanks guys.

Thirdly, and lastly (cos it's the 3rd of June), I hope that I can help my blog to continue to grow into something great and would love it if you'll stick around to see it. I have loads of ideas for my blog, loads of things I'd love to do and plenty of posts coming up - so watch this space.

Thank you for your support for the first month of my blog everyone - it means a lot.

I've got lots up my sleeve for the future and can't wait to get on with it. Please drop me a comment if you've enjoyed this post, let me know if you're a regular reader, and if you have any ideas for upcoming posts let me know.

Have a lovely day or night, you brilliant person.

GingerSnaps xxx