Welcome back, friends! I hope you’re settling in to the new year, and finding it full of possibility. (I also hope you’ve discarded all of those resolutions that were making you feel bad about yourself. Can we all just agree that promises made at midnight after a bottle of champagne are usually a bad idea?)
I’ve been gone a while, I know. The truth is (picture me leaning in conspiratorially, as we both take a sip of our cappuccinos), I’ve been struggling a bit. 2015 marks the ninth year that shopping has been my cardio, if you can believe that. This little blog is practically a tween, God help us. And though I love it – and all of you – more than I know how to say, the honest-to-goodness truth is that if I write one more story about fall coats, it may be the end of me.
Then too, there’s the tumultuous, love/hate affair I’m having with the internet at the moment. It’s full of wonder and inspiration and beauty…but honestly, more often than not, it feels like a lot to live up to, and I’ve had enough. I want SMC to be more about real life, and less about that immaculate Instagram-filtered version we’re getting much too comfortable with. Instead of constantly making you wonder if you’re doing it right – if you’ve successfully mastered the “half tuck” or are buying enough white lacquered furniture and ironic art to be dubbed one of the ‘cool kids’ – I want this to be a place you can come to feel like you’re doing just fine, thank you. Come in, put your feet up, and why no, I don’t care at all that you forgot to brush your hair this morning. I haven’t washed mine since Thursday.
I’m finally ready to admit – to myself as much as to you – that the time has come, as the Walrus so famously put it, to talk of many things. To take this little site out for a spin and see what she can do. To broaden my horizons beyond the walls of my overstuffed closet.
Don’t fret – I’m still my wholly irreverent, largely superficial self. And shopping will always be my cardio – I’ll never be able to resist telling you when I find the perfect tee to wear with leggings or an incredible sale hits my inbox. But I’m ready to create a bigger world for myself. To tell you what I’ve learned so far…and what I’m learning still. The trips I dream of taking, how I’m navigating the mad, mad world of a chronic patient, my trials and triumphs in the kitchen (ask me about preserved lemons and botulism sometime), and the only slightly nutty reasons I’ve recently taken up the not-even-remotely-hip hobby of birdwatching.
In other words, it’s still me…I just need to spread my wings and see where the wind carries me.
I know it’s a big change. It’s a leap of faith for me too. From the bottom of my heart, I hope you’ll come along.
xox,
B
I’ll follow you wherever you go on this blog my friend!
Amy: Now my heart’s all warm and fuzzy. Thank you, friend.
Thank you for admitting that. I wonder how no body else feels that way. Appreciate the honesty.
I will follow wherever you go – and happily so in this direction. LIke you I’m getting tired of the constant comparisons that seem to come from every direction right now.
Archana & Jamie: Oh, I’m just so grateful for those kind words. Thank you!
I’m so looking forward to this. You’re a good writer with an interesting perspective, and I’ll read stuff that checks those two boxes any day. Actually, I think part of the reason that I’ve stuck with your blog for so long (6 years!) is because you do have range. I’d rather hear from someone who has thought-provoking things to say about a breadth of topics than someone who can only engage on a single topic. Your readers have always known you can do that (travel posts, book posts, quippy instagrams etc) – it’s part of what makes your style posts so dynamic, even though you aren’t including photos of yourself in every coffee shop and arty-looking alley in town. I can’t wait to see what’s next!
Sounds wonderful! Count me in as an enthusiastic and continuing reader!
You’re awesome, friend. Count me in.
I’ll be there. Always. And I’ll bring brownies & 2 of the cutest, most persuasive smiles you’ve ever seen. Looking forward to seeing more of your multifaceted self in written format.
Beck – I’ve been missing you! So glad to see you back, and really, I so look forward to a broader SMC! I too am getting just a wee bit tired of the Instagram pearls + macarons zeitgeist and so happy to follow you in a new direction 🙂 (Plus, I think I speak for everyone here when I say that we’d love to learn more about you!)
One of the things i’d love you to write about (if it so moves you) – how and why did you make the transition from lawyer to blogger? As a fellow alumni of the big career shift, i love to hear other’s stories around this,
I can’t begin to tell you how much I appreciate all of these words of support – I’m all mushy inside now, and so excited to start this new chapter with you. Thank you, friends!
I’m in! Can’t wait to follow your new adventures. I know it’ll be a grand ol’ time.
Looking forward to it!
So glad you’re back – we missed you! Can’t wait to join you on what sounds like it’s going to be a pretty wonderful journey!