Women's Fashion
5 years ago today, I wrote my first blog post on Easy Peasy Peanut Butter Cookies. I had no idea what I was getting myself into and how my life would have changed ever since that first post. That post has 37 comments and they were all my friends that I begged to leave some love for me. 😉 Funny thing about blogging is that my “real life” friends never comment on my blog but it’s my “blog friends” that do the commenting, ones that I’ve never actually met before in real life but have become my community, my family, my friends through the blog. Blogging is really funny that way, that you can hide behind a computer for hours at a time, yet cultivate some of the best friendships from it.
The meaning of “Sandy a la Mode” 5 years ago was a play on the word “a la mode” to explain the fact that I love ice cream on the side (hence writing recipes), but also with the meaning that I would be sharing all the things in my life that I do “on the side” besides work and family life. Fast forward 5 years and “a la mode” also means trendy and fashionable which this blog has evolved into a fashion blog most the time, yet I still do post things little tidbits about my life, kids, home, etc. There’s been many ups and downs through the years of blogging. Many times I would find myself so busy with life that I just wanted to give up blogging all together, but somehow, I would always pull it together and sit down and curate content for and write the next post. I’ve held myself to the standard of posting at least 4 times a week pretty consistently but this is my passion, my side job, my happy place. Blogging in and of itself has changed, where more recently I am blaming Instagram for decreasing my pageviews and comments as I feel like most people’s attention spans are getting shorter and shorter and just a picture or two to describe a post would be just fine. And I have to admit that, I, myself, read blogs less just because time is precious and reading an Instagram post and liking a picture is just so much faster. Yet, I still don’t want to give up blogging because it’s a place where I can write more, express my thoughts and document our lives to look back on in the future.
But all that aside, I think the best part of blogging for me is all of the friendships and relationships I have made with other bloggers and amazing brands. I’ve worked with a TON of brands throughout the years, and for those who are just starting out and wanting to work with brands, I’d say focus on your content first, and then either brands will come or you can start reaching out to brands yourself. And don’t get discouraged or beat yourself up if you don’t hear back or get some “no’s”, just keep at it and good things will come if you work hard and are consistent.
Outfit Details:
Cardigan c/o Riffraff
Jacket c/o Riffraff
Pants c/o Lee Jeans
Boots: Hunters via Shopbop
Bag: Mansur Gavriel
Earrings: Nickel & Suede
Photos by Rachel Laukat Photography
One of my absolute favorite brands to work with is Riffraff. I can’t even begin to count how many things I own from that shop and how many times a week I look at their site. They have daily arrivals all the time and every time I look, I fall in love with another piece. Their items are always in style and so affordable!! The girls that work there are the absolute sweetest and they deserve the award for best customer service, foreals! They have been so good to me throughout the past few years and we have partnered together to give back to one of Sandy a la Mode’s readers, in a BIG way!!
{GIVEAWAY}
One lucky winner will win $500 shop credit to Riffraff!!
Yes you read that right, FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS TO THIS AMAZING STORE! You could pretty much buy many month’s worth of clothes with that money!!
This giveaway ends on 1/19/15 at 12:00AM MST. Good luck, friends!!
This is the first of FIVE AMAZING GIVEAWAYS I will be hosting on my blog this week to celebrate my 5 year blogiversary! So make sure to come back tomorrow… and the next few days!!
