Well
Hello there ! I’m back !
Yes,
I know, I’ve been neglecting you my lovely readers over the past few months. And
now the end of this amazing year is upon us once more, I thought it important
to at least pop by briefly to finish the year off properly. And what a year it’s
been for me.
The
past 3-4 months have been spent organising the launch of my online shop (which
now runs alongside this blog). And what a busy 3-4 months they have been.
Building the site, choosing the products I wanted to stock, going live in
November (a little later than I’d initially hoped for) and then all the
fabulous build up to Christmas and now New Year’s Eve. And to top it all, today is my youngest daughter’s 3rd Birthday so it really has been a busy
time for us as a family.
It’s
hard to believe that just over a year ago I took the plunge to enter the world
of blogging and a year on I've launched a small business to run alongside it.
The passion I felt when I first started sharing with you back in October last
year hasn't waned one bit. If anything I’m hungrier than ever to learn more,
experience more and share all this with you my readers. This is an ever
evolving, learning journey for me too. And I’ve learnt so much in just a year.
There
have been lots of lovely “Highs” to my year. Winning several lovely
competitions, two of which stand out: Original Sprout’s competition to win £100
worth of their great hair care products and then winning a stunning hamper of
goodies from Bodhi. Oh and how I jumped for joy that day ! And to top it off I
had the pleasure of a lovely conversation with Bodhi’s founder, Elijah Choo. If
you haven’t experienced Bodhi’s skin and bodycare products you are truly
missing out. I will be blogging about them in the New Year. Winning this
competition allowed me to indulge in this fabulous product range and then decide
that they just had to be included in our product range for Sophia’s Choice
online shop.
Another “high” for me was going to my very first trade exhibition in April. I attended the Natural & Organic Products Europe Exhibition and loved connecting with many brands and their founders. It was this exhibition which helped me formulate a plan of who I wanted to include in the shop. Again the New Year will bring many posts of those people I met and their great products.
As I
mentioned in my previous “1st Blogging Birthday” post, I have
connected with some amazing people who have given me such support particularly
over the past few months. I truly appreciate that support and thank you all for
being there for me. You know who you are.
In
November the Natural Beauty Yearbook Awards took place. I remember last
November picking up on this quite early on in my blogging career. I knew it
mattered within the Natural Beauty industry and have followed those mentioned in
last year’s awards with interest. Never in a million years did I think my little
blog and I would be put forward for inclusion in this year’s edition in the beauty
blog section ! I received an invite to the awards night which sadly I couldn’t make,
but just to be mentioned was fabulous. Let’s
hope I make it again in 2014 so I can actually go to the party next time J
And
the icing on the cake has to be launching my little online shop in mid November
and then being accepted into The Good Web Guide too. I’m very proud of her, and
all who sale in her. I am truly excited about what 2014 has to bring. I’ll be adding
lots more brands to the site over the coming months and attending local Fairs
to sell my wares too, so it will be a fun and exciting time for Sophia’s Choice.
The
blog will carry on as it always has. I have lots of posts waiting patiently in
the wings to be shared with you (I apologise to all those who are waiting for
their post to go live! It will happen, I promise) and many more products to be
sourced and shared.
And lastly,
I would like to thank, you, my readers, for being here and reading my musings.
Without you commenting and sharing this blog it wouldn’t feel half as special
as it does. I wish you all a wonderful evening bringing in 2014 with those you
love and I hope with all my heart that this New Year brings you and those close
to you an abundance of love, health, happiness and joy. You deserve it!