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- Nine Years of Magnolias & Crystals
Hello, friend,
That title is no joke.
While technically this is only the third official year of Magnolias & Crystals being under that name, it has been nine years of me blogging in general.
If you have been here that long or haven’t, I want you to know that I appreciate you for being here for any part of this journey.
I figured in this post we could take a trip down memory lane of some of my favorite blogging moments in the last nine years.
A Walk Down Memory Lane…
For some reason, 2018 seems to be the year that sticks for me because it was the first time I’d ever had a blog post shared by someone not in the blogsphere.
On November 13, 2018, Simon & Schuster released Limetown, A Novel as a prequel to the acclaimed podcast of the same title. I picked my book up on release day and spent that evening devouring every page as if it were a meal. Two days later on November 15, the blog post went up on the blog. The exact same day, Simon & Schuster shared my blog post on their twitter feed. When I tell you that I may have had a panic attack, I’m not kidding. While sadly we have had no major updates on if Limetown will make another appearance in the podcast world, I do have to say I enjoyed the story it was telling. Would I have liked to have it wrapped up better? Of course, but that’s out of my hands. |
In 2019, I had a couple fun things happen. One was was that Lou Diamond Phillips and Paul Wesley happened to like a tweet about their show Wolf Lake. I still say that if it had come out in more recent years it would have had a better following than in the year 2000. The second this was my first time at the Blogger Exchange Xpo which was really fun. I got to meet so many more local bloggers, learn from people who are working in the industry, and enjoy a weekend of learning when it comes to the blogsphere.
The next couple of years were pretty silent and we all know why. Covid really sucked the fun out of life - and I was dealing with issues related to my 8-5 hustle that pays the bills.
The year of 2022 saw some gentle return to normalcy. While the year was full of ups and downs such as my favorite bar closing post lockdown and the revoking of Roe v Wade, there were a lot of bright spots too. There were lots of meaningful connections made with friends who are absolutely some of the best people in my life. I chose to take the plunge and self-host the blog. I honestly regret none of it.
Still the best thing to come out of 2022 was the fact that the Hey, Mavens! Family chose to add me to their affiliate program. You can click here to use that referral link or you can use my code “MAGNOLIASANDCRYSTALS” at checkout to get 10% off your purchase which I do get a kickback on of course. But The only second best was that we finally got the Maroon/Burgundy velvet set that I had been begging Annika for.
While 2023 was not the most stellar year because my creativity took a huge slump, it was still filled with amazing things. I got to spend a whole lot of time with one of my besties in her hometown. I visited one of my friends all the way out in Arizona which was my first plane flight since I was three months old.
And 2024 has been no different. I got to meet one of my favorite authors and have her sign all three of my books that I have from her. It was also one of the last major life moments that I was blonde. That’s right, if you have just found me and this is your first newsletter, I left my Targaryen blonde locks behind in February of this year and shifted to redhead.  |  I could not be more thankful for each and everyone of you who have been so amazingly supportive of my aspirations. I’m hoping to see some collabs this year that I’m personally working on making happen. |
There are also some additional things that are in the works to launch this year on my end with some help via brainstorming with some friends. If you want to know what those are, stay tuned here or you can come join us on my discord server by clicking here. We’d love to have you!
I’ll see you all in the monthly rewind!
All my love,
