Loved By Laura Turns One | A Big Thank You

Photo by www.f22-photography.co.uk. I didn’t eat the cupcake, it turned out to be banana flavoured!

 

It’s my blog birthday!

A year ago today I hit ‘publish’ on my first ever blog post. What a year it has been since then!

I can say with no exaggeration that blogging has changed my life. Not only has Loved By Laura become a place for me to share all of life’s special moments, thoughts and opinions, but it’s also opened up a world of opportunity and taken me to places I would never in a million years have imagined being able to go to otherwise.

Here are just some of the many ways that blogging has helped me in the past year:

Creativity

 

I discovered that I have a creative side not only for writing, but for visuals and photography too. 

Things that would have passed me by before catch my eye and I want to capture every beautiful moment:
The hay bales in the field on my way to work, a perfect peaceful moment in the garden or even just my breakfast waffle, dripping with oozy honey deliciousness! 

The world is my oyster

 

Despite being incredibly shy amongst new people and an absolute failure at mingling, I’ve really put myself out there with my blog and my confidence has grown tenfold as a result.

Walking into a room where you don’t know anyone for the first time is a scary thing, but once you realise that everyone else is in the same boat it isn’t half so daunting*. The best feeling in the world is when you become the person who says “hello” to that shy girl in the corner at a meetup, when a few short months ago you WERE that shy girl!

I have had the opportunity to go to some amazing events because of Loved By Laura, from trying on Hairpieces at the HotHair event, to Hula Hooping my way to fitness, or being driven around a motor racing track at breakneck speeds! Last week on a Tuesday night instead of sitting on the sofa I was in Leicester Square interviewing a magician – whoever could have imagined that?!

*I’m still an awkward hugger though. I’m the sort to accidentally headbutt you or do an awkward air kiss… I’m much better at handshakes!

New friends

 

The very best part of blogging is that I’ve found and connected with a whole community of people who get me and whom I get right back.

Bloggers and blog readers are truly the most supportive, positive and inspiring bunch. I’ll regularly be found joining in with the lively blogger Twitter chats which take place most evenings or having a random giggle with someone on my lunch break. There is always someone to cheer you up, or who you can help cheer up if they are the ones having a bad day. We might not ever have met in person, but the blog is an instant connection.

I have met some of the amazing inspiring bloggers in real life now too and have made what I hope to be lifelong friends as a result.

I also get some bloody lovely comments on my blog and enjoy having a little conversations on there. In fact I have discovered some of my favourite reads from clicking back on the links that people leave and have also arranged a few ‘in real life’ meetups as a result! Can’t wait to finally meet you Antonia and Carolin xx.

Opportunities

 

More recently I’ve had the chance to work with some amazing brands to review their products or services and get to share my honest thoughts with you all. It’s taken a lot of hard work to get to this point but I’m so incredibly grateful to be in the position to be able to do this.

It’s not all unicorns and rainbows

 

I would be lying if I said that absolutely everything now is rose tinted and wonderful! I sometimes feel under immense pressure to write a certain amount of times a week. It’s not unknown for me to get home from a full day of work, then jump straight on the laptop and finally finish my post at midnight, because I just wasn’t happy with that one photo and had to retake it, or I just couldn’t get the words right! However it’s a labour of love and I honestly would not change it.

A big thank you!

• Thank you to everyone reading this post right here right now.
• Thanks to everyone who has ever taken the time to comment on my inane little ramblings, or help me along the way when I’ve got stuck.
• Thank you for following me on Bloglovin or Google Follow Connect. You are not just a number to me, I really am grateful to each and every one of you.
• The same goes to those of you who follow my social media accounts: G+, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest – thank you so much!

…and a birthday giveaway

Are you still reading? Well then I have a little reward just for you!

As a personal thank you to everyone who reads and enjoys my blog now and in the future, I’m giving away a £50 Charlotte Tilbury e-gift card so that the one lucky winner can pick out whatever luxury item from the range takes their fancy. If you need any help deciding, here’s my review of their ‘Golden Goddess’ palette: lovedbylaura.com/charlottetilburyreview

a Rafflecopter giveaway

T&C’s:

• This giveaway is open to UK residents only.
• There will be one winner.
• The winner will receive a Charlotte Tilbury e-gift card to the value of £50.
• E-gift cards are redeemable online at charlottetilbury.com only.
• There is a one-year expiration date, from the date of issue.
• Once sent, it is the responsibility of the prize winner to redeem the gift card within the allotted time.
• The prize is not transferable and cannot be exchanged for cash.
• The competition opens on 17th August 2015 and will close on 6th September 2015.
• The winner will be contacted by email and announced on Twitter on the closing date.
• The winner has 48hrs to respond before a runner up is selected.
• The gift voucher will be sent by email as soon as all necessary details have been provided by the winner.
• This giveaway is in no way endorsed or sponsored by Charlotte Tilbury. I have purchased the voucher myself for the purpose of this giveaway.
• This giveaway is a thank you to my readers. Please do not post my giveaway on any comping websites such as Loquax or comping related social media accounts. Anyone found doing so will be disqualified.
• I reserve the right to disqualify any entries judged to be created solely for the purpose of entering the giveaway.

Good luck everyone! And in case I haven’t said it enough, thanks for everything, you are all officially Loved By Laura xx

P.s. The photo in this post is from the birthday themed shoot I did with www.f22-photography.co.uk last week. Check back on Wednesday for more on this!