Welcome back, friends! I hope you all had an absolutely wonderful holiday season, however you spent it.

Before we dive into all of the goodies that 2013 has in store (and believe me, I have some goodies in mind), I wanted to tell you about some changes that are afoot. As I’m sure most of you noticed, we had all sorts of wonderful guest writers in 2012 – I was working my little fingers to the bone on a myriad of other projects, and wanted to make sure you had plenty of content, content, content to keep you happy while I was stretching my brain in 47 different directions.

But in doing all that, I realized I was starting to lose what I love about SMC. I wasn’t creating, I wasn’t discovering, I was…editing. In racing to fill SMC with all the content I thought it needed, there was so much noise, I couldn’t hear my own voice. So, while I’m insanely, over-the-moon grateful to our guest writers who made all of my 2012 adventures possible, I’m going back to basics. Our lovely Kate will still be joining us from time to time with her fantastic “All in the Details” column, but otherwise, you’re going to be stuck with me. Unless I’m on vacation or trapped under something heavy, in which case all bets are off.

I’m also going to be slowing things down a bit. The internet is bursting at the seams with content and clutter these days, and I want to make sure that if I’m adding to the chorus, it’s a voice worth hearing. So, I’m vowing to stop writing about anything I don’t absolutely love, and I’m letting myself off the hook if that means having less to say. Erin Loechner, a writer I think of as my internet “big sister” (by which I mean I think everything she does is amazing, and want to be just like her when I grow up), wrote a fantastic post about “slow blogging” over the holidays. She and I couldn’t have been more on the same page if we’d compared notes. (Which we didn’t, but I totally would have if she’d asked me.)

Case in point: I just spent the last hour struggling to come up with four more things to include in that 2013 list up top, so that I’d have 13 things (13 Things for 2013…get it?). But. Really? Do I really think you care whether I have 13 things on my list for 2013 instead of 9? I should trust you to have better taste than that.

So, in sum: better content, less often; more fun, less stress. Phew…I’m more excited about 2013 already.

What do you say…are you on board? And more importantly, what’s getting you excited about 2013?

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{The glamorous life of a blogger}

Friends, I’m looking for a few new contributors to lend a hand here at SMC. Don’t fret, I’m not going anywhere. But I have an exciting (but busy) fall coming up, and I want to make sure I still have plenty of stylish goodness to share with you all. Plus, I thought after six years (!), you might be ready for a new face or two around here.

Rather than head out into Blogland and nab a few transitory guest posters, I said to myself: Self, who better than my wonderfully talented and stylish readers to join the SMC team?

If you’re wild about the idea (or you have a wildly talented friend to refer), just send me an email {editor at shoppingsmycardio dot com} with three things:

1. A little about you. Who you are, why you’re awesome, and what makes you want to blog? Bonus points if you know Photoshop or a bit of HTML, but neither are a must.
2. Your pitch. Your fantastic idea (or ideas) for a recurring guest column. As you know, we cast a pretty wide net here at SMC HQ, so be creative!
3. A way I can see your writing. I don’t care if it’s your blog or your 8th grade term paper, I just want to make sure you know the difference between your and you’re. If you don’t have a sample, email me…we’ll figure something out.

Will you get rich? No. But you’ll get a pretty wonderful readership to talk to, a place to build an online writing portfolio, and a seriously grateful editor determined to help you out in any way I can. Also, occasional swag.

Please, please do not pitch in the comments – I’m nowhere near organized enough to keep track of that. But love and praise are, as always, more than welcome. And heck, if you have ideas for a column someone else should write, definitely share – sometimes ideas and writers just need to meet.

I’d like all of your ideas by Monday, August 6. Can’t wait to hear from you, friends!

xox,
B

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