One year on...blog anniversary and retrospective

Hello. Why thank you, yes, I have had my hair done. I thought I should make an effort, what with it being the first anniversary of Faith Hope and Charity Shopping. Whoop! [Ok, actually it was a few days ago, and I'd written most of this post, and then got so distracted by joining Goodreads, and er, reading actual books, that I forgot. But for the purposes of this narrative, it's today!]

Yup, a whole year and a bit since I started this blog, and the only New Year's resolution which I actually stuck to in 2011. Obviously I'm speaking for myself here, but from my point of view it was definitely one worth keeping. The last year has got me firmly back into regular writing, not to mention getting to know so many fantastic, funny and talented bloggers. [Too many to mention individually, but a lot of them are on my sidebar]. If you've been here from the beginning you'll know it's changed a little from the early days of posting where I just chatted about my second hand buys, but I couldn't resist letting a teeny bit of snark in, once I got more comfortable. Tongue is always firmly in cheek though, and of course there'll always a place for talking about charity shop treasure.

You might also have noticed that it takes me a little while to get around to things, but there is a bit of method in my madness as a terminal procrastinator. The lovely Erica Louise of Recycled Fashion challenged me to answer these questions about my blog back in August (oops), but I like to wait for an opportune moment, and now seems like a good time to do a little retrospective of the past 12 months. 

The most beautiful post

Not really my strong suit. I do try but my photographs are far from Etsy-fied. I don't really edit them and you'll rarely see an artfully draped doily or tower of soft focus pastel macaroons on this blog. Sorry. There's some good London street art on this post though. Oh, and I'm still in love with the earring display case I made, which looks beautiful in my bedroom.

The most popular post

Okaay, well this one isn't going to be a big surprise. According to my extremely scientific analysis of my stats, the post with the all time highest page views would be...drumroll...the second Magic and Madness of eBay post, I like big butts! Admittedly I didn't realise when I wrote about eBay sellers who claimed to be able to deliver the body beautiful by sorcery quite how many people would find the post. And just how many of them would be typing with one hand. Aah, 'Booty'. It's the magic word for page hits. Work it in there somewhere! 

But alright, whilst I really love that post, I admit it garnered most of the page hits from random admirers of the female form, not from regular readers. So, second to that in page views - but with many many more comments, was the post I wrote on Mollie Makes magazine, and its overwhelming tweeness editorial obsession with fake food.

The most controversial post

Hmm, see above! I actually got a comment from the editor of Mollie Makes on that post, which was pretty exciting. Otherwise maybe the post I wrote about finding a Galliano dress, not long after he was convicted of racial abuse.

The most helpful post

Er, not sure about this one. Obviously if you'd been thinking about giving all your money to a charlatan with an  paypal account then maybe I'd have been of some assistance with the eBay posts. Or if you had a ton of wild plums and no idea what to do with them then the homemade vodka post might have been your saviour. I'm not sure I'm massively helpful otherwise. Hopefully I've given you a laugh occasionally.

The post that was surprisingly successful

The Faith Hope and Charity swapping posts, definitely. I didn't really realise quite how popular the idea of swapping was in blog land, despite having seen them advertised elsewhere. I expected a handful of responses from regular commenters, so I was amazed at how many people wanted to take part.

The post that did not get the attention it deserved

Probably this one. Who doesn't want a genie to create them a clone? I know I do.

The post that I am most proud of

I don't want to play favourites - they're ALL my babies! - but maybe Memento Mori. Art, death and the cross-dressing Edwardian childhood of my Great-Grandad George.

Anyway, if you've got this far, thanks for humouring me. Whether you're a long time reader or a new follower I'm really glad you're here. [And if you're new, say hi]. I'll be doing a giveaway or two soon, it's been too long and this seems like as good a reason as any. And consider yourself tagged, if you want to answer these questions yourself.


Lakota x