Valentine’s Day (February 13th)

Valentine’s Day may be a great excuse to give gifts to someone else, or even better to receive them from someone else… but this year I’m taking a lesson from a friend of mine who regularly practices the concept of “To: Me. From: Me”!  This year, on February 13th (the day my husband is kind enough to let me call Valentine’s Day, for my total hatred of lame prix fixe menus at overcrowded restaurants and total, absolute, maddening affinity for the number 13) I shall indulge myself and see if I can’t get the hang of this.

While normally I can (a little too easily) justify my way into a new purse, pair of shoes or something else that I really “need”, this year I decided to buy myself something that would make me feel better about myself, make me look better and more put together, and make people look up to me.  No, I didn’t get new boobies, I got myself a real blog!

Several months ago, I met a “tsunami of awesomeness” who boldly called me out for having a fantastic website but a really lousy blog.  She told me that my writing rocked, my design skills kicked butt, that I was the most gorgeous, amazing, most talented person she’d ever had the pleasure of knowing {I think she said that last part, but that might have been the running dialogue in my own head} but that my blog sucked the big one.

Okay, her actual words were something more along the lines of: “Love your site, love the feel of it, love the verbiage, love the storytelling you do in your bio.  And LOVE your work! But when I clicked on your blog — though it was your voice — it became a different experience, and then I couldn’t find a clear way back.”

She was right.

And I’m learning that when amazingly talented, brilliant, creative, strategic people give you a free heads-up, that it’s not smart to ignore them.  So, I (rather immediately) engaged ‘my web gal’ and started down a path to a blog that had a consistent voice with my website – which hopefully has a consistent voice with my work, otherwise I’m in even bigger trouble.

So… Happy Valentine’s Day Jenn.  To: Me.  From: Me.  I hope this little gift reminds you (me) of what you (I) love to do, and that it’s almost as fun to write about your (my) work as it is to create it.

I hope all of you reading my blog find it easier to navigate, easier to read, easier to feel “connected” to the rest of my work (and my website).  And, to me!  And, certainly it would be awesome, too, if this confirmed your previous conclusions – about my being the best, most amazing, talented, witty, cute, clever, designer in the whole world.  Just sayin’…!

xoxo

(Now I have to go and eat that amazing chocolate I just also bought myself… I mean, I wouldn’t be a very good Valentine to myself if I didn’t also do that!  Geez, what kind of girl do you take me for?!)