blessings of blogging.

Three and a half months ago {or thereabouts}, I stepped into the wild blue yonder...

otherwise known as the blogosphere. 

Flash back to Saturday...when I met my first blogging friend in the flesh. Fellow Rhody Kristen {from the always lovely A Kapple A Day--which you must visit!} and I met in downtown Providence and shared a perfect afternoon. We chatted as if we were old friends {which I'm sure we will grow to be!}, realized just how similar our tastes were {hello J.Crew!}, and bopped in a few of the best home goods stores RI has to offer. 

Through it all, I couldn't get over how much we just "clicked." Certain stories didn't require background stories...because we both had 'followed' each other long enough to know about our trips and hobbies. And amazingly enough, we arrived with the same J.Crew flats

 {albeit in different colors}. 

I've shared heartfelt emails with folks across the globe. It makes me realize just how small the world is. For as much talking as we do about technology, I find it pretty wonderful how it is making my world smaller through blogging. These last 3+ months have been some of the richest I've experienced over the course of my lifetime. {I don't mean to overshadow {cv}, because my relationship with blogging certainly doesn't eclipse our marriage...rest easy!} For the friends I've made through blogging, I know in my heart that our paths were supposed to cross...and it makes me infinitely happy to have found you.

The whole concept of followers and comments was so foreign to me a few months ago. Now, I understand what it feels like {in a very acute way!} to receive {unbelievable} amounts of blog love. When I get comments, I find myself feeling bashful. I told my husband last night that it's an incredibly powerful thing to have someone you've never met find what you're posting worth a few moments of their time. I leave comments because I care. I love to see what other people have created or witnessed. It's made my life so much more "alive" than it had been last November.

{image via weheartit}

So, this is a sincere thank you to all of you...thank you for helping me to find the confidence which laid dormant in my soul for quite some time. Thank you for helping me to realize it's ok to put things out there. Thank you for your endless encouragement and, most importantly, thank you for your friendship. I hope our relationship is a long and fruitful one.

Have a very happy Monday, everyone--

and thank you again, from the bottom of my heart!

xoxo {av}

P.S. If you haven't entered the giveaway, you're officially getting the name goofball ;)