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Thursday, May 18, 2017

Oh, Hi…Subscribe By Email and Other Ways to Follow!

So About What I Said subscribe by emailGuess what?? I’ve got some great news, friends!! The short answer: You can now Subscribe By Email…

I’ve been getting lots of email from amazing readers this week and I’m so happy to welcome new readers to So About What I Said! One of those kind readers let me know that the Subscribe By Email feature wasn’t working (thanks, Valerie!), so I spent some time on Tuesday fixing everything.

I installed WordPress’ email subscription option that comes with Jetpack and — *fingers crossed* — it looks like SUBSCRIPTIONS ARE NOW WORKING!!!

So About What I Said subscribe by emailSo, if you haven’t already, please head on over to the right-hand side of this very blog and enter your email to have the blog posts from Yours Truly delivered right to your inbox! What could possibly be better than that??

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See, it’s right there — all ready for the taking! Do you hear that? It’s practically screaming your name! Go ahead…you KNOW you want to!

And on that note, THANK YOU as always, friends! I’m in love with this space we’ve created and I’m always here to listen to your suggestions/ideas for blog posts. Feel free to send them my way any time! My email is mellow1422@aol.com in case it’s not in your address book already! Love you all…and welcome to the new faces!! xoxo

P.S. Don’t forget I’m always just one click away on social media: Pinterest, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Bloglovin! 

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1 Comment Filed Under: behind the blog, blog redesign, blogging advice

Monday, November 14, 2016

Update Your Bookmarks! So About What I Said Is Back!

Hi…hey…howdy…hello!!

It’s been pretty quiet around these parts for the last few weeks, friends!! Aside from writing two election posts last week, you haven’t heard much from Yours Truly.

Until now!

If you follow me on Twitter, you might have seen my enthusiastically exciting tweets over the weekend. I got myself all in a tizzy because I knew today was going to be a VERY special day. It’s a day I’ve been talking about for awhile. It’s a day I sometimes thought would never come. It’s a day that is sure to go down in history — well, in my mind, anyway…

So About What I Said has a new home with its very own domain!! It’s official new home is melissablakeblog.com…

Yes, that’s right — let the celebration begin, let the church bells rings from every village in the land, let balloons and confetti line all the streets of the world!!

Can you tell I’m pretty stoked, friends?? In honor of this most glorious of days, I thought it only appropriate to celebrate with a big blowout posts. Although the blog looks the same, there are a few things that have changed, so let’s dive right in…


The Backstory

When I started So About What I Said in 2008 (this month, actually!), blogging was really in its infancy; no one knew exactly what this new medium was. Was it just an online diary? The Internet equivalent of simply spouting off? At first, people weren’t sure what the purpose was, never mind the idea that you could actually become a legitimate blogger, but I knew one thing: I needed to have an online presence — especially for my writing — so I naturally wrote my first post on Blogger.

The years flew by and something pretty amazing happened: I soon fell in love with everything about blogging and the whole blogging community. I discovered just how powerful this medium is, but more important than that, I found my career. It was sort of like finding my place in the world, like coming home, and I knew I wanted to do this for a very, very long time.

In the beginning, the Blogger platform served my needs perfectly. But the more I looked toward the future, the more I began to see the value of owning my own little corner of the Web. Not only is it more professional, but moving to a self-hosted WordPress blog would allow me more flexibility and opportunities; I could take my blogging and my writing to the next level.

That’s where Lisette from High Note Designs comes in. I may be creative, but, umm, tech-savvy has never been one of my strong suits — plus, the thought of trying to migrate EVERYTHING myself and losing 5,000+ posts nearly gave me a heart attack. Lisette is an amazing designer and specializes in moving blogs from Blogger to WordPress, so I knew I needed her in my corner. She was such a joy to work with and helped me bring my new blog vision to life. She never minded answering my millions of questions and took the time to explain everything. I felt like I was enrolled in WordPress 101 and it was a really fun learning experience! And, no blog posts were lost in the transfer process!


An Update on a Classic

Like I said, the overall design of the blog doesn’t look that much different. It was really important to me to keep the essence and feel the same, but you know me — I do like to tweak things every now and then. So you’ll notice a couple subtle changes. The most obvious? The blog went from three to two columns, which means that the sidebar needed to be rearranged a little. I also want to update my ‘Daily Reads’ section, so look for that coming soon — got any suggestions?

As for other changes to be aware of…

I changed the look of the drop-down menus…don’t you love the background color and font size?

aa2My social media icons are also new and spiffy looking. I wanted to incorporate more of the blog’s color palette (read: pink!) and also feature the social media’s logo on each one.

aa6When you click on posts, you’ll see two cool things at the bottom: A collection of Related Posts and social share buttons so you can go to town and share on your favorite social media platform. We’re still in the process of transferring all the photos from Blogger, so if you see a related post without its accompanying photo, don’t worry — all will be fixed once the photo transfer is complete!


Let’s Get Social

Speaking of social media, have you perused my social accounts lately? I gave them a little makeover too — and I did this all by myself!

aa3Facebook: After almost five years, I finally updated my profile photo and added a cover photo!

aa4I also fleshed out the ‘About’ section — some fun facts included!

aa5Twitter: I did the same thing — updated my profile pic and added a cover photo. Why did this take me so long? I also rewrote my bio, adding a few of my byline hot spots!

**Side note: In the name of full disclosure, I didn’t get a chance to make all the changes I wanted to on Pinterest and Instagram, but they are coming! It’s on my massive to-do list, so it will get done! AND, as always, feel free to subscribe to the blog via RSS or subscribe by email to stay in the know!


Are you still with me? Bonus points if you are! Anyway, I couldn’t be more grateful to Lisette for a smooth transition! I think the finished product truly reflects the heart of So About What I Said — honoring its past while also making room for its future. Of course, there are still some things to fix — like making sure all 42,000 photos transfer and fixing broken links — but I’m so excited to get back into the blogging groove! Thanks, friends, for sticking by me this month and being so patient while I got everything in order. I feel like a kid on Christmas morning!

Is there anything you’d like to see? Any posts you’re dying for me to write? Let me know and don’t forget to update your bookmarks to melissablakeblog.com! As always, I love you and our awesome community!! xoxo

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9 Comments Filed Under: behind the blog, Blog Anniversary, blog redesign, blogging advice, Blogging Club, work

Wednesday, October 26, 2016

Update: Big Blog Move (and…How Are You??)

 
Well, hello there, friends!! It’s nice to see you again…I’ve missed you SO much these past couple weeks! How have you been?

As you can probably imagine, I’ve been working hard at getting things ready for the Big Blog Move — remember how So About What I Said is getting its own domain? There’s a lot of planning and perfecting that goes into the process, and I’m so fortunate to be working with a designer who is helping me through every step. She’ll be sending me mock-ups later today — we’ve had to tweak a few things with the layout/design — and once I approve everything, she’ll migrate my blog over to its new home!!

I. AM. FREAKING. OUT.

So, to take my mind off everything, let’s play a little game, shall we?? I call it “5 Things I’ve Done Lately” because, well, I’m terrible at coming up with catchy titles. Let’s chat about what we’ve been up to these last few weeks! I’ll get the ball rolling…

1. Enjoyed two weekends in a row with my cousins! I hadn’t seen them in a few years and it was WONDERFUL to catch up!


2. I got my first acceptance for Glamour magazine’s Web site!! I’ll be writing a disability/pop culture essay — look for it soon!


3. We lived it up fall-style in the good old Midwest in the best possible way — by going to the apple orchard!! We last went in 2010, so we were due for another fix. And yes, lots of photos will be coming your way in a future blog post!


4. I took advantage of EARLY VOTING yesterday and couldn’t be more excited about this election! #ImWithHer #StrongerTogether


5. My mom bought Spot-It a few weeks ago and now I’m over-the-moon obsessed with it! Have you ever played it? I highly recommend it — but don’t say I didn’t warn you about it addictive quality!

Are you game, friends? What have you been up to lately? I hope everything is going well in your neck of the woods…and be sure to share your “5 Things…” in the comments! It won’t be long now until I’ll be back to regular posting…on my own site!!! Ahhhh, that still doesn’t seem real…I am SO excited!! Thanks, as always, for being so patient. You know how much I love you all… xoxo

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7 Comments Filed Under: behind the blog, blog redesign, Blogging Club, Uncategorized, work

Wednesday, October 12, 2016

So About What I Said Is Getting a New Home!

If you follow me on Facebook or Twitter, you may have seen me allude to a VERY exciting announcement. You’d better be sitting down for this. I’m serious. Pull up a chair. Are you ready?? This is big, I’m telling you!

So About What I Said…

…is moving to a self-hosted WordPress blog!

Translation (mostly for my mom): The blog is getting its own domain!!!

For the last 8 years, this blog has been my sweet haven — it’s literally been my happy place and my sanity at times, too. I’m sure all bloggers say this, but I honestly can’t remember my life before blogging and I don’t know where I’d be today without it. This space has helped me discover who I am, who I’m not and even who I want to become. It’s advanced my writing career by leaps and bounds. And of course, it’s helped me connect with SO MANY amazing people from all over the world.

That’s where you come in, friends! Because let’s be real, So About What I Said wouldn’t be what it is today without all of you; you’re just as much a part of things as I am — and you know I wouldn’t have it any other way!!! I mean, we’ve been through a lot together, haven’t we? We’ve laughed. We’ve cried. We’ve even contemplated in earnest the merits of One Direction…if you can’t do that among friends, then what’s the point, you know?

I’ll be working on getting everything organized and ready for the big move (who knew I could amass so many drafts and random links in only 8 years…?) in the coming weeks, but I’d LOVE to hear your thoughts as well — and I know you’ve got them because, HELLO, you’re awesome and amazing! Did I mention that lately?? Well, you are! Here are some questions to get your thoughts rolling and the creative juices flowing…

1. What design/aesthetic changes would you like to see on the new site?

2. What content changes would you like to see?

3. What suggestions do you have for a smooth transition (because, frankly, my stress eczema is *thisclose to flaring up big time!)?

I’m beyond exciting for this move, as you can probably imagine, but you know me…I wouldn’t be me if I wasn’t terrified just a little bit. That’s perfectly normal, isn’t it? Maybe I just need to up the dosage on my eczema cream?

Anyway, let me know your thoughts to the above questions, either in the comments or by email at mellow1422@aol.com. As always, I thank you all for sticking by me all these years…I LOVE YOU! Now let’s go on a new adventure together, OK…?? xoxo


[Photo via We Heart It]

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5 Comments Filed Under: behind the blog, blog redesign, Uncategorized, work

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Breaking News: I’m a legit blogger!

Well, not that I wasn’t totally legit before, but after five years of blogging, I finally put a business card on it (get it? Not that funny…?). I about jumped for joy last week when I opened the mailbox and saw this little package tucked inside. And once I tore open the box (I have very little patience when it comes to opening things…), I could barely contain myself.

There were my shiny, crisp new business cards staring back at me. I couldn’t be happier with how they came out. I chose MOO.com‘s Luxe style, so they’re sturdy and professional.

I know they’re just business cards, but I feel more official now. I’ll just have to keep myself from handing them out to every random stranger I meet. Thanks again to Kate from Smitten Blog Designs for the awesome design work! I’d highly recommend her if you’re looking to take your blog or business to the next level.

(Please note: This post is not sponsored by Moo.com. The business cards were purchased by me)

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8 Comments Filed Under: behind the blog, blog redesign, blogging advice, design, Uncategorized, work

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So About What I Said is a daily blog that covers relationships, disabilities, lifestyle and pop culture. I love to laugh and have been known to overshare. I also have an unabashed obsession with pop music, polo shirts, and PEZ dispensers. Read more...

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