Yesterday Life’s a Spritz officially turned 1 year old. When friends and strangers find out I’m (cough, for real) a Blogger, often the first question they ask is “How are you monetizing it?” The answer for now is…I’m not. I’m blogging because I want to. It’s creative. Fun. Time-consuming. Challenging. Gratifying. Good for my brain. And my soul. My 91-year-old Dad died last August. He spent his working years first in Advertising Sales, then as a Lawyer. But he also spent those years as a frustrated writer, who dreamed of penning the next great American novel. But never did. When I lost him, my inner voice asked me “What are you waiting for?” It was time to take that leap. And to quote Nike, just do it!
I’ve been an Advertising Copywriter for almost 30 years and a Creative Director for over 14 of those. I’ve worked on campaigns for some of the biggest and best beauty/fashion/luxury brands. I think the fact that I’m still doing it in a tough, male-dominated, ageist business attests to the fact that I can do it. And do it well. But that’s sleuthing out and shaping someone else’s voice. While I don’t have my Dad’s lofty expectations, I do believe that as a soon-to-be-60-year-old woman (and wife, mom, sister, friend, professional) I definitely have a few things to say. And share. On fashion, design, health, travel, and yes, life. And thankfully you all seem to agree! That is the icing on this creative cupcake for sure!!
A little walk down memory lane. Some of my first looks.
I looked back over my first year stats and thought you might be interested in some of them. My starting goal was to post twice a week, and I just missed the mark with 98 (instead of 104). Still, I’m feeling pretty good about that. For this coming year, I will definitely hit that mark and hopefully get closer to 3 times a week. Life’s a Spritz also had 10,050 views and 4, 062 visitors — which I thought was pretty awesome.
And while I enjoy sharing the urban side of life in Jersey City, I also love sharing the rugged beauty and more casual pace of our life (and my style) up in the Adirondacks.
From Palm Beach Preppy to Savannah Sunset (road trip!) to Beach Vibes (summer vacay), I had fun sharing some of my favorite looks along the way.
By now, you may have noticed that Life’s a Spritz has a new look. I’m still working through some growing pains with my template but all should be smooth sailing shortly. I’d love to hear what you think?
Goals for year two? First and foremost, keep pushing my posts to be better. That’s going to include expanding my shoots to include professional photographers. Chris has done yeoman duty, but it’s a lot to ask your husband to shoot a post before he heads into a busy day at his law firm. Chris is staying on the roster! Just now he won’t have to carry the entire load. (And thanks to my wonderful niece Lydia for her keen eye in those first few months!) And as much as I LOVE all things Fashion, I’m going to include more posts on Beauty, Design (our cabin before/after), Health and Travel. On that note, I’m headed to Santa Fe next week with 10 college girlfriends. It’s going to be quite the adventure. And my friend Kathy, who is an amazing photographer, has offered to shoot a post or two! Yay!! There’s lots more going on behind the scenes, and I promise to share as we continue on this journey together.
Which brings me to you, my followers! Thank you, thank you for your support, comments, likes and shares. Your engagement makes any of my doubts or frustrations fly out the window. If you’re curious, as of today you number 557. I’m hoping we can double that number in year two! How? Become a subscribed follower (takes just seconds), tell a friend (or two), repost and/or share a favorite post. Thank you in advance to those of you who do! You can also follow me on Instagram @lifesaspritz. And do let me know any trends or topics (even tough ones) you want me to tackle!
But even with a more polished site and professional photographers, I promise to keep it real. I do my own makeup (minimal) and style my hair (if that’s what you call it…heh heh). Sure I edit out the bloopers, but what you see here is really, truly what you’d see if we were hanging out together in JC or the Dacks. And that’s the way I want to keep it.
I have a lot of birthday wishes for Life’s a Spritz. And in the months ahead I’m going to work harder and smarter to make them all come true. I guess you could say…to be continued. Cheers to that!
Photos by Lydia Filosa, Chris Allegaert