Six Years Of Scrawl!

Today, Suburban Scrawl is six years old.

Six years!!!

While I can’t believe I’ve been blogging for six years, I also can’t remember what it was like to live life without social media.

Though I have several friends who have blogged for a decade or more (wow!), I still feel like an OG blogger: six years is almost like a whole lifetime in internet years. I belong to a fantastic generation of bloggers–I refer to us as the Jan Bradys of blogging; don’t ask unless you are in the same room or on the phone with me and have about ten minutes–and I see no end in sight, thank goodness.

Last year on my fifth blogoversary I wrote about the knowledge I’ve gained through blogging, including everything I know about social media platforms, working with brands, and even how to co-produce a show on a real stage in a real theater. This year, I thought I’d go a different route.

I have been afforded some mind-blowing opportunities in the last six years as a result of blogging (some directly, some indirectly), many of which never would have been possible otherwise. This list is in random order and not all-inclusive by any means, but it’s fun to see all of these things in one list:

1. I did a workout and dance routine with the Rockettes.
2. I watched a Chicago Blackhawks game from a VIP box.
3. I watched a Chicago Cubs game from one of the Wrigleyville Rooftops.
4. I worked out with Bob Harper and Harley Pasternak (not on the same day!).
5. I was selected as an Ambassador of Skydeck Chicago in the summer of 2012.
6. I met Tim McGraw.
7. I interviewed Katie Cazorla.
8. I have taken lots of different road trips in lots of different Chevrolet vehicles.
9. I have been exposed to various forms of charity work I may not have discovered on my own.
10. I spent a weekend checking out Lake Erie Shores and Islands.
11. I cooked a meal with Stephanie Izard.
12. I have attended parties in some of Chicago’s most awesome spaces.
13. I got a behind-the-scenes tour and a “how to frost a cupcake” tutorial from Sprinkles founder (and “Cupcake Wars” judge) Candace Nelson.
14. I enjoyed tea at The Plaza Hotel in New York City.
15. I’ve gotten an advance look at some of Chicago’s most anticipated museum exhibits, and I was at the actual opening of the National Hellenic Museum.
16. I’ve been in the live audience for interviews with Katie Couric, Guy Kawasaki, Sheryl Sandberg, Kathleen Sebelius, Indra Nooyi, and yes, Martha Stewart.
17. I was asked to try the Dailey Method workout for a month, but I never left and now it’s my home away from home.
18. LISTEN TO YOUR MOTHER. (Enough said.)
19. I got a job that I love, doing social media research for BlogHer.
20. I have enjoyed the Windy City Rollers, the Chicago Wolves, the Chicago Sky, the Bristol Renaissance Fair, the Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Drury Lane, and countless other local sports and cultural events.
21. I chatted with Carson Kressley at a swanky party.
22. I met the Jimmy Dean sun, not once, not twice, but three times.
23. I got to watch Wendi McLendon-Covey rehearse before she hosted the 2013 BlogHer Fashion Show, and I was less than twenty feet away from Queen Latifah when she hosted the 2013 BlogHer Voices of the Year.
24. I checked out the food trucks in Austin, Texas while working at the BlogHer Food conference.

It’s been quite an exciting six years, don’t you think?

Even with all of that, for me it always comes back to the people I’ve met. YOU are my favorite part of what I do in this space. I feel like I have learned a little bit of something from each and every person with whom I’ve crossed paths online, and for that I thank you. Yes, YOU!

Let’s get the next six years started off just right, shall we? Group Hug!