Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Firsts & Five Hundred and Firsts & a Gift for You

shelf display after the shelves first went up, Winter 2007

first earrings from my first collection, that you can win right here. see below for how-to's!

This is my 501st post. I saw it coming last week: 497, 498, 499....500! It was pretty exciting I have to say. I went back and took a look at some of my first posts to see how far this all has come. How interesting to reflect in this way. I had no idea how I'd be transported, how my need to explore and curate my universe would be satisfied in a new way, what and whom I'd find and meet, and how much my world could open up, how much inspiration exists in my tiny laptop and here in front of me. I explore a little differently now. I take more pictures. I balance my life in a new way. I just had to take the first step to do it, which I had been reluctant to to do. I'm so glad I tried. Dr. Larry would be proud.

This was my very post:
I normally tell friends and business acquaintances I am a very busy person, and would never have time to maintain a blog, but today seemed like a good day to start one. Most of my favorite people and designers and many people I've never met seem to have blogs these days, so why not? They must be busy people too. Let's at least try, ok?
The title comes from an email I got yesterday from my good friend Jen. Our old mutual friend Dr. Larry signed off an email that way to her: "I love you and your destiny is stone golden." He's not around anymore as in the "not alive" sense, but he was an innovative thinker, an admirer of "the arts" and "the nature" was an all around life-liver. Those are traits I can really get behind. Jen wrote, "You should sign off all your Bonbon emails like that"
She's so right.
This blog is for Dr. Larry and all the lovely people and things I know and don't know, who inspire me and will inspire me at some point to make this blog about something.
-January 26th, 2007

To celebrate all of the firsts (and 501sts) in the last week, to celebrate all the possibilities for growth and to thank you for hanging in here with me, I'd like to give away a pair of earrings from my very first collection (and most popular it turns out), The oiseau & le cle earrings, above. They're funny little mismatched but balanced things, vintage brass charms with a freshwater pearl on sterling silver chain and French wires. All you have to do is tell me, when you first started your blog, what did you want it to be? What did you expect from it? And What did you find? I'd love to see your first posts if you'd like to replay them...

Just leave a comment here along with a link to your first post (or a note that you've created a new post about your first post!) by Sunday, November 16th at midnight! Thta should give you a little time to reflect yourself! We'll read them all but pick your number randomly Monday morning and will announce the winner then (I will post about some of few your first posts too-don't worry I'll ask you if it's ok first--see? Everybody's a winner!)

39 comments:

Krissy | Paper Schmaper said...

Ha! Happy Blogiversary :)
That's a lot of posts- so glad I am a regular reader here!
My first post wasn't very great:
http://paperschmaper.blogspot.com/2008/03/big-step.html

tyler said...

what a lovely sentiment by dr. larry. brilliant and motivating indeed. gave me a huge smile! well done, you on the 501st post. your blog is delightful and your work exquisite. i'm so glad to be in the company of your cyber world.

my first post was incredibly unsure. simply stated my business, 'hello, my name is'. by my second post however, i had tipped my toe into the vast blogosphere of creative, bright and witty women. a life-changer for sure. http://periwinklebloom.blogspot.com/2008/02/boogers-on-their-cashmere.html

oh, and i've added you to my link list too!

heidi said...

wow! great idea for a giveaway...
Here's my first post.
http://faboolosity.blogspot.com/2007/07/stuff.html
I wanted the world to see what I see. Then I wanted to reach out and connect to other graphic designers. And to inspire design students.
What I found, was a core group of brilliant people who inspire me much more than I ever dreamed I could inspire someone else.

AC said...

funny you should post about this because i've often thought about how my current blog differs from my first two on livejournal - angsty, angry and full of mundane things.
my first post on clinton hill chill:
http://waitingforthec.blogspot.com/2008/02/hello-hello-hello-oh-no.html

i wanted my blog to be less personal in terms of complaining and every day details and more about current/community events and issues. i wanted it also to be a running list for me to keep track of things i'm into, things i've done, etc. lately it's become more of a photoblog, i guess. i have a new camera that i just love.

what's changed: i'm less wordy. though i still complain to my old friends on livejournal, i don't broadcast every emotion to the world anymore.
what hasn't changed: i still love posting in lists and there is way too much stuff i still want to buy, see, hear, eat...

here's to your 501st!

Anonymous said...

happy 500 an one. What wonderful people ou surround yourself with.

I had started my blog because of feelings that i had bottled up, so my fist post was in image but my first written post was dark and painful

http://onesilentwinter.blogspot.com/2007/08/i-have-no-idea-who-you-are.html

my happier side first post on la porte rouge was seeing the light
http://laporterouge.blogspot.com/2007/09/apartment_24.html

Cannelle Et Vanille said...

happy 500 post deb! i think i can safely say that blogging has changed our lives a little bit right? i don't know if i want you to see my first post or my first photos. they were terrible! :) but i'm so glad found you...

The Royal Me said...

holy cow! 500!!
well i am inspired!
now i need to go and count all mine up!

my feeble attempt at a start:
http://theroyalme.blogspot.com/2007/03/about-time_21.html

Unknown said...

congratulations. wow. 500. that's a lot. i first started last january. i found that i liked it much more than anticipated. especially found that i liked having a creative community of people going through similar experiences. here's my first post:
http://octavineillustration.blogspot.com/2008/01/my-great-aunt-octavine.html

High Desert Diva said...

Congrats on your 500th post!

I started my blog thinking I would focus on design, but it morphed into something of its own...

Here's my first post!
http://etsyhighdesertdiva.blogspot.com/2007/12/first-blog-im-feeling-little-behind.html

Sarah said...

i started my blog so that my family in far off places (ohio, massachusetts, japan, etc) could see what my daughter was up to. my blog didn't begin with words a wisdom but with a picture that described my own internet searchings. i felt distant and removed, but curious about all that was out there.
http://sarahblogging.blogspot.com/2006/07/so-it-begins.html

Robin said...

Congrats on reaching such a milestone, you don't look a day over 25!

My first post was just me waving my little flag (http://bird-in-the-hand.blogspot.com/2008/03/you-gotta-start-somewhere.html). Patricia from PVE Design was the first person to comment and I have no idea how she ever found my blog. I re-read some of my early posts and they are like first dates -- a little of this, a little of that, trying to gauge what worked and what didn't, what was TMI... I am still astounded at how many hits I get each day (although some of them are from really wacky google searches), and am greatful for and amazed at all the connections I've made here in Blogland.

Mrs.French said...

oh wow, this was really fun...I started bliss this past march, as an answer to my online shopping addiction. I quickly learned it was so much more than that...it has become a huge part of who I am today...the people I have met are some of the most amazing, inspiring, kind and all around lovely people in the world (you included sunshine).

We are so happy to have you amongst us...I loved reading your first post and the story behind the title of your sweet blog...

here's to a many more 100's...xxoo t

oh and here is my first post...makes me giggle!
http://www.blissfulb.blogspot.com/2008/03/happier.html

we could grow up 2gether said...

love yr blog, its like a fairy tale

Unknown said...

an unknown street and a child

your tiny little red feet
in those tiny little red shoes
laced up
frilled with edging
your hand grasps his
no thought given
yet multiple intelligences used
in that tiny grasp
your chubby palms
secure
in his big hand
you clamber hop
down the street
innocence
adult in the making
each step
removes you from me
and so
my childhood
strolls down the busy street
turns the corner
and dissappears
into the tomorrow
of bigness


this was my very first post in august this year after returning from a life changing volunteer week in mozambique. the poem reflect and in many senses, i only truly grew up here in the sense that for the first time ever, i accepted me, without trying to get to another place. i found contentment and i needed to start voicing my journey.

it has been everything that i expected it to be and so much more. i did not realise that one could possibly grow so close to strangers and call them friends without having met them.

blogging has been a gift above all else, a gift from God, that I cherish every day.

Cindy said...

happy 500! wow, that is a lot of posts and they're always enriching. i enjoy reading about bonbon and your travels.

i read blogs for a few years and started ours on april 1, 2008. erin included our inspiration boards in design for mankind's ezine and it got me thinking. i wasn't sure what the blog was going to be about and asked the question in our first post - http://quainthandmade.blogspot.com/2008/03/thinking-about-it.html. i think it's come a long way since then.

we have found the most lovely, talented and inspiring people, including you, of course. it's encouraging to me creatively as i don't know others offline who are engaged in creative pursuits. i shared common interests with my mom and when she passed away a few years ago there was a void on many levels. blogging has meant the world to us and gets us to do a lot more new things, that's for sure.

Robin said...

from my comment above: TMI = Too Much Information

Camille said...

Wow! Happy Anniversary! That is a lot of blogging. As it has for you, blogging has opened the whole world to me from my study.

I'm not sure how to link in a comment but here is my first post:
http://rtemis-epicurus.blogspot.com/2008_04_01_archive.html

I'd love to send you a chocolate cake to celebrate your 501st post, but I can't quite figure out how to make that butter ship resistent:) Someday, when I'm up north visiting the family I'll have to plan to hand deliver one to you.

Vana said...

Happy blogging anniversary to you dear! My first post was rather naive, i didn't know what i was going to write on my blog. At first i thought it will be about business and life..than i thought who would want to read about one or the other...but quickly I discovered that people like me find simple things in life interesting and would want to read, care that much to comment about what I do and what i create. So there you go, my blog has become a lot about what i do and what comes out of it, my struggles to achieve my goals and my happy moments too.

Here is my first post..
http://www.lepapierstudioblog.com/2008/03/and-blogging-begins.html

Vana said...

I have to add, when i visit a new blog, i love scrolling down to the very beginning, the very first post. Some may thing their first post wasn't that great, but i find beauty in it...that very first post, filled with desire, unsecurity and hope...

Fifi Flowers said...

WOW!!! That is a lot of words, photos and TIME!!! Congrats!!!

cindy* said...

my first post was so lame and generic. but in a few short months i feel like i have really come along and now blogging has become an important part of my life and other peoples blogs (like yours!) are a source of daily inspiration and camaraderie. it's a niche that i never knew i wanted to belong to.

Anonymous said...

What a great idea! Lovely lovely earrings too :)

My blog really is quite recent, I only started it back in June, when I was still living in France. I decided to start blogging because I knew that I was about to leave my adopted country and travel back to the UK to continue my studies. I really wanted to share the moment with my friends back in France; I never thought that I would have as many readers as I do today. At first I thought that I would concentrarte only on photography for instance, as I really wanted to continue sharing my special moments with friends and family back home. However, my blog really has evolved into a big "pot pourri" of little things that interest me; be it fashion, receipes, art, expositions, shopping, creative things... And I am thrilled to say that my friends have said that they really still recognise the "real" me through my blog, and others have said that they truely get a sense of who I am through the things that I write about.
Getting to know other blogs, and metting other bloggers has been a fantastic experience, there are some lovely and inspiring little corners of the web out there. All in all I think that having a blog is a lovely little hobby, and would definately reccomend it to anyone out there who is reading through the comments, still undecisive about starting their own!

Here is the link to my first post; it was about some hand-made cards that I had just finished. My first posts were in France only, but recently I have started writing in English too...!

http://madeleinemiranda.wordpress.com/category/creativite/

Take care dear! And keep up with your good work :)

Mademoiselle M.

Victoria said...

Happy 500th! What a milestone, congrats!

I started my blog in June of '07, with the intent that it would be mostly about art and inspiration. My biggest surprise has been meeting, via blog land so many kind, genourous and creatively inspiring people.

Here's my first blog post, very short, and very boring!
http://thesillyboodilly.blogspot.com/2007/06/welcome-to-silly-boodilly.html

Julia said...

500th post! I feel like I've only just met you, where have you been all my blogger life? You are such a pleasure to get to know, I can't tell you!

Congratulations on this monumental post :) I hope you celebrate! Thank you for sharing your first post with us, it was beautifully insightful!

Helene said...

It will be impossible to catch up on the week I was out of town but what an accomplishment!! Congrats and happy blog-anniversary!!

Tracey said...

So sweet! Yay, blog-a-versary! It has been so much fun keeping up with you and your beautiful creations . . . here's my first post (gulp!)

http://lifeinsugarhollow.blogspot.com/2007/02/peeking-out-from-behind-shrubbery.html

peachey said...

cheers to 501 (wow!).
my first post featured photos taken while walking around downtown. i started my blog after reading orangette for the first time and then clicking around like mad on her links, then links of others. i think i wanted something that was all my own, a little space to record moments and share them. it makes much more to me now and i am so grateful to have met such kind folks because of it (including you, who sparked my first occasion at blogger gift-giving).i feel more inspired each and every day.

peachey said...

oops, means much more ...

micheala said...

Happy anniversary! I have been a blogger since 1999 on diaryland. Unfortunately, I no longer have access to it at all, but thanks to the internet archives, this is my earliest entry:

2001.06.04

what is my freaking problem?

here are the facts.

i always want to sleep, and i'm always tired.
i always feel pretty irritable.
i can't concentrate on anything anymore.
i don't like being around too many people.
i don't know what i want to do anymore.

i just can't seem to get excited anymore. not the way i used to. it's like a joy of living has been stolen from me or something. i don't know how else to put it. my goodness, i also SWEAR i have had PMS for the last two weeks. seriously. i am supposed to call carl now, but i actually have to go to a bloodbourne pathogens class for work.


Very complain-y and teenaged. Also, I think I was going through a phase where I was trying not to swear, and coming up with alternatives for swear words.
My blog now focuses more on my jewelry making and less about my personal life. I found out that lesson the hard way. I have been a fan of your jewelry and blog for awhile now. I love the vintage heart and x beads you use. so pretty!

please sir said...

Congrats on coming so far! When I started Please Sir it was almost a give it a go kind of moment. I visited other design blogs and thought "hmm...I could do this and it looks fun!" I've come to love it...not only to share ideas and inspiring things, but to get to know others with similar interests. It's a great community out there. I always talk about having blog friends...I think my real life friends are confused (or jealous!).

raining sheep said...

Wow, that is a lot of posts. My first post was January, 2008. Initially my blog was about my quest to knit the perfect pair of socks....well, I have knit many pairs of socks...some seem more perfect than others, but the blog has evolved into a little journey captured through my lens. Sometimes there is still knitting, sometimes ramblings, sometimes photos...it has become an extension of my soul.

georgia b. said...

This is such a neat idea and question.

When i met my best friend years ago, she told me that she thought i was what was described and termed in the book The Tipping Point as a "connector".

http://www.gladwell.com/tippingpoint/tp_excerpt2.html

She said this because I was always telling people about other people or introducing people to the experiences or discoveries that I had. I always wanted to share good things with others and "hook people up".

I did not know I was like this until she pointed it out. So, when my co-worker and friend started a blog and suggested that I should, I started taking a look at some other blogs and thought, "What a great forum for this very thing the book talked about—connecting."

Thus was born, Jorjah-B. I did not know exactly what it would be, but I knew it would evolve into what it should be—and I think it still is evolving. I don't know that it will ever stop. But, as an artist, I did know that art would be at the core of it in some shape or manner.

It has served as a creative outlet that I have needed for many years. It has brought healing to me and helped me grieve the death of my father. It has caused me to meet so many friends that I really do value. It has pushed me to do things beyond what I thought I could. It has opened my eyes to so many views and thoughts of others. It has been one of the biggest pleasures of my life.

My first post was about how I started on the Eat Right for Your Blood Type diet and how it has helped me. I wanted to let others know, so that it might help them too.

I love this idea for your milestone give-away. Anyone who has left a comment has won already.

Congratulations on your blog. It is evidently well-admired and well-received.

corine said...

Your blog doesn't look one post over 499! :-))

Maryam in Marrakesh said...

Ah, 500 posts! That's quite a lot! This year I will get there, too, I hope:)

Now, let's see....my first post. Well it was an introduction of sorts. This is what I wrote:

"Once upon a time...

in a kingdom far, far away (not kidding about the kingdom part) an American couple with two children decided to eschew any plans that they might have had for house with a white picket fence (do people still have those?) and move to a city that was not their own. This blog is their tale to make that city their home, to make it their Marrakesh."

Yes, it was only 2 sentences. I was shy, you see. It was a big toe in a stream, it was a small apple dropping from a tree, it was a girl in an olive grove whispering words into her computer.

What did I hope? I hoped that when I cried out hello, that Horton would hear me on my dust speck and believe in me.

Little did I know (how could I have known, after all?), the path my blog would take me, how it would change me in so many way, how it would add such happiness to my life.

Melissa de la Fuente said...

Wow....these earrings are just so gorgeous and whomever wins them will be so lucky! I don't know if I have been around long enough to make a comment about my first ever post! But, here goes.... I love, LOVE being a part of this community and learn so much every day about how many lovely people there are in this amazing world of ours. You, are one of the brightest spots my dear, with your lovely person and your gorgeous jewels. YAY! What a fabulous giveaway!
Here is my first post! All of 2 months ago! :)
http://creaturecomforts.typepad.com/melissa_loves/2008/09/melissa-lovesly.html
xo
Melissa

limonana said...

I'm so excited about possibly having your amazing creation...just the possibility is thrilling in itself.
I started my blog last January, you can see my first post here:

http://limonana.blogspot.com/2008/01/hello-world.html

& to tell you the truth I'm not sure why I began it. Maybe I wanted to find a new way of sharing my art work with the world & creating a space of beauty. I also was in the hopes of inspiring people & above all to be inspired.
What I did find along the way was so many beautiful sincerely wonderful people all over the world, who truly inspire & encourage me! :o)

lotta said...

Those earrings are so sweet... I always feel a bit greedy entering giveaways, but your words about blogging and how it changes you really struck a cord. I have been blogging for almost a year, and it has altered my life in many ways. It makes me look at the world differently. It makes me think, reflect, care, and observe... and all the friendships that I have developed. It amazes me every day that there is so much kindness and encouragement out there from people I have never met. 500 posts, that is a lot of posts, and yours' are always inspirational - the photographs, the passionate writing, your art, and the recipes... Thank you! I hope you will continue for at least 500 more. Here is my first post, quite uneventful:
http://inleaf.blogspot.com/2008/01/happy-2008-i-am-proud-and-excited-to.html

Claire, said...

Wow, you're a prolific blogger. Sending love you way!!

heidi said...

It feels like I've posted a ton but it turns out I've only posted 24 times! I guess I'm still a newbie.

I wasn't sure what to expect with blogging. I thought it would be a good way to gain exposure for my illustration work. It's turning into more of a home for my photography experiments (and a place to vent).

Here is my first post:
http://farmhausmodern.blogspot.com/2008/08/few-billion-years-behind.html