Dear beloved readers,

I send my greetings to you late this evening, filled with a lot of nostaglia (and noodles) writing a post that I was so sure at some points through this journey I wasn't going to be able to write.

This is a story, my story, of my blogging journey.



You see, this blog was started on a late evening, August 18th 2014 to be precise, by yours truly. I was very nervous to be honest and had no idea what I was doing despite a lot of accumulated research. After creating said blog, I played around with my blog design a little bit (I have no screenshots, thank God!) and just left the blog to sit there.

I eventually wrote my plans and ideas down and decided to implement them.

Ladies and (hopefully) gentlemen, Prepare for a long post filled with pictures but I promise it might just be worth your while- there's a giveaway at the end. So please stay with me : )

A flurry of firsts...

So you know how this blog is about my personal style, DIY, photography & fashion tips? Yea, it wasn't always that way. This happened as a very gradual process.

- First Post:

My first post was a fashion article like the kind you'd find on bigger websites, nothing quite personal about it.

	as seen in: How to Make Your Outfit Look More Sophisticated In One Simple Step.

I didn't even know what I was doing but I wrote in the way I'd expect magazines to write it. I continued writing posts like these for a while but eventually got tired of them. Here are my faves:

-Fashion Inspired by Betty Cooper of Archie Comics
-What To Wear: Casual hangout with family and friends

First Outfit post:

as seen in: Florals N' Plaid

 I don't even know what made me do the outfit post to be honest. I'd been seeing random personal blogs and the way they posted pictures of their outfits so I thought why not? One afternoon after church when I was feeling fine and sturvs, I told my cousin to take some pictures of me with my mum's phone and... here we are.

Other outfit posts:
-Lace, plaid and well-worn brogues
-White peplum top and olive maxi dress

First DIY:

as seen in: How to make a ribbon choker

I had been DIY'ing almost all my life without knowing the potential this held as a blog topic.

After going through some DIY blogs, I realized I had been missing out and immediately got to work. The problem was how to incorporate it? I'm still trying to.

Other DIYs:
-How to turn your skirt to a pair of shorts
-How to make a denim tote bag from an old pair of jeans

First Photography post:

as seen in: 5 photography lessons I've learnt so far

My love for photography started some way, some how and I just had to share it. I knew my style of photography was unrelated but I couldn't hold it inside.

This love helped me in improving my blog greatly. Once the blog became more visually attractive, the more people were unlikely to dismiss it. True story.

However, my topics weren't matching anymore so I had to look for a way to make it blend. I started sharing photography tips instead.

Other photography posts:
-Twilight Delight
-How to take far better (blog) pictures with your phone.

MILESTONES

-Getting my camera and figuring it out.
You see, my pictures used to look like this:

as seen in: Rocker chic with a twist

*covers face* *peeks through fingers*
Ok, it's better than I expected but can't be compared to this:

as seen in: Colour Play

This was my turning point.

My photographer friend took this picture as a favour and I knew there was no going back. I had to get my Camera. Saved up and got one but the struggle to figure it out was real but google came to my rescue (as usual) and I figured it out quite well.

Having my camera also meant I could use original photos for my blog.Yay! Bye bye to stock photos! I still use one or two though.

-Branching out:




Attending the Dee Mako's Bloggers brunch and the TBC blogger meet up really did it for me. I got to meet and connect with other bloggers for the first time ever. I started getting more comments and had blogger friends I could rant about my blogger problems to. The blogosphere was quite welcoming.

-Getting Featured:



I'd like to use this opportuntiy to thank everyone who featured me. I'm truly honored. Every single feature gets me so excited!
Some features:

College Oxygen, Sasha Frank, Look at her hair, Subomi Salami, not so Popkulture 

If you're still reading this, wow. *blows kisses* Let's get down to the giveaway!

In honour of the blogversary, I, in collaboration with 7th Avenue, will be giving away an outfit to a lucky winner. The outfit will be selected from the pictures below and will be custom made for the winner.



"7th Avenue is a clothing brand that specialises in creating beautiful pieces that are stylish, modern and cater for the diverse fashion needs of the African woman.

We recognise her as a working woman who is down-to-earth, chic, edgy, willing to take risks, minimalist whilst being very original. We see her drives, passions, likes, dislikes, fears and successes.



We work with colours, prints and textures that talk personality. We want our client to walk into a room and all eyes will set on her, positively of course. We want her personality to shine through.

At 7th Avenue, we make your dreams into dresses."




All you have to do is subscribe to my blog, follow me on Instagram, and follow @official7thavenue  then repost the outfit you want from the pictures above using the hashtags #official7thavenuegiveaway and #miralabellegiveaway. That's it!

Giveaway ends on Friday and is open to people in Lagos only (sorry guys).

So that's it people!

It's been an interesting process so far.

Leave a comment, tell me your evolution stories (could be about anything), I'd love to hear from you!

Oh and lastly, thanks for all the love!


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