Three Year Blogiversary!

Three years ago today, I started Swing The Day Away. I was 20 years old, in my junior year of college, and taking outfit pictures in my backyard while my parents weren't home so that I didn't feel awkward. I was posting only on Chictopia before I made the decision to start my own blog. It was all the awesome fashion bloggers I saw there who inspired me to make my own blog. I've always loved to write and over the years, fashion and photography became strong passions for me. It just felt natural for me to combine the three. It was definitely a moment of revelation. One that I am so glad I had.

I've come a long way in different aspects since I started my blog. I went from a little Canon PowerShot, to a Leica D-Lux 4 to a Canon Rebel T3i and have learned more about photography. I graduated college with a degree in psychology and am now applying to grad school to pursue library science. I upgraded to taking outfit pictures in public places and not just in my yard. My style has grown, and I learned more about mixing colors, patterns, and textures. I have learned a lot about myself, mostly in regards to what I want to do with my life and what matters most to me.

I feel sort of weird celebrating this blogiversary when I stopped blogging for over a year out of these three years. From the end of September 2010 to April 2012 I didn't blog at all. I was a senior in college and super stressed out about things and couldn't really put any effort into my blog. After I stopped for a while, it took some time to get back into it. I think it needed to happen. I think that break allowed me to be able to be as dedicated as I am today to this blog. I needed to wait for the right time for me. I still get anxious sometimes that I'm going to lose touch with it again or not be able to post as much as other bloggers do, but I think that one of the things I learned over the years is that it doesn't matter what everyone else is doing. You need to do what works for you.

Thank you to all of you who keep coming back and being so supportive of me. I've (virtually) met so many amazing people and new friends because of this blog and I'm really grateful for it. This community is such a positive and inspiring one to be a part of and I'm so happy that I found my way here. :)