Can you believe it? Five years ago, I laid on my living room floor and hit “publish” on a series of blog posts. Check those first few blog posts here and talk about GROWTH. My initial blog posts included a few lists of favorites, a trip and one restaurant review. I truly believed that only my mom and a few of my friends would read my blog posts, but since it was fun I kept going. Here I am five years later still blogging, still enjoying it. I have probably shared some of these things before in reflection posts, but the same remains in year five. So here are some of my favorite things, FIVE Things in FIVE Years of Black Girls Who Brunch.
Meeting People
When I look at my friend group today it is full of people that I met through blogging. Joining blogger groups was an easy way to connect with people with similar interests. While we initially started as foodie friends, we managed to develop even deeper friendships. I will forever be grateful for these friendships!
Travel
As I said above, one of my first posts on Black Girls Who Brunch was a recap of a trip to New Orleans. I started this platform with the intention of sharing my trips. Then my thirst to get out and see the world grew as my blog grew allowing me to create content from so many places. I have enjoyed sharing these trips here and I hope that my tips have made travel seem more attainable to my readers as well. Last year I even had the privilege of traveling on a few press trips (Reno and Beaumont), something I never even knew was possible when I started blogging.
Learning Houston
I grew up out in Cypress, a northwest Houston suburb. The thing about Houston suburbs is that they are self-sufficient. Everything you need is generally within those suburbs, so I did not go out too much. When I got back to Houston as an adult, really learning the city was a goal of mine and nothing has taught me more than this blog. I have gone to food tastings all around the city and play a tourist the whole time. It helped me develop my neighborhood guides and become a great tour guide to out of town guests.
Photography
Whenever I finish this ebook, I will break this process down further. When I started my blog “photography” was THE last thing I was thinking about. Now, five years later it is easily one of my favorite things. Last year I purchased a DSLR camera and have spent much of the quarantine learning more about it. Honestly, my motivation for cooking the last few months has been so I can take a photo! It is quite enjoyable!
I had some fun taking photos of my “blog birthday cookies” my Rice Krispie Chocolate Chip Cookies
More than a Food Blog
Many of you come here for my Houston recommendations and my recipes. As with most bloggers, my topics have evolved over the years to more a “lifestyle” blog. This has given me the ability to talk about travel, events, politics and even more serious issues like racial injustice.
If you follow me on Instagram, you will notice that my content for this week has shifted particularly on my Instagram stories. There will be whole history classes that focus on 2020 and I refuse to sit back and just focus on Air Fryers when I have a platform to share and educate. With the murder of Houston native George Floyd in Minnesota by police officers we are seeing a revitalizing of the Black Lives Matter movement around the country. There are protests and renewed calls to action to make valuable changes to our systems from ending qualified immunity to holding police officers accountable criminally. I will continue to lift up this issue and similar ones on my platform. I hope that you all do the same.
I have lost a few followers for it, but thankfully they have gone away quietly. ‘Cause let me tell ya, it would have been an argument!
The Takeaway
Will I blog forever? I do not know, but at this juncture I still love connecting with you all and sharing my recommendations. As long as I love it and continue to have valuable takeaways like the ones above, I will continue to do this in some shape or fashion.
So from the bottom of my heart THANK YOU for following me, engaging with my content and telling your friends. Cheers to the next five years!
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