Post Comment Love and Blogger Showcase 2-4 December 2016

Hello and welcome to Post Comment Love.  If you were here last week, thank you it was great to see you and sorry - it seems my winter picture from last week was a bit of a forecast for the weather here this week! If you're new here this week, welcome!  Morgan and I hope you find our growing #PoCoLo community friendly and supportive, and we know you're going to find some great posts to read.

My photo this week is from Greenwich Park, it really is a magical place and I make no apology for including yet another photo from there. We've had a couple of heavy frosts, but as that's coincided with the start of December, it's helped me start to feel Christmassy much earlier than usual. I've already posted a couple of Christmas posts, and I've a few more yet to come. 

The post I've linked this week is a competition to win a book that's made it onto Richard & Judy's Autumn picks, so no mean feat, and it's a book that when I read it in September when it was released, I couldn't put down. It's a simple competition, all you need to do is leave a comment on the blog post to enter, don't miss out on this great read. 

A frosty morning in Greenwich Park, London

Blogger Showcase: Lucy from Lucy's Locket

1. Who are you? 

Lucy's locket blog

Hi! I’m Lucy from Lucy’s Locket.  I have an 8 month old daughter, Lilly. I use my blog as a space to reflect on life, motherhood and the quest for balance as a working mum.  Aside from my blog, I work part-time as a lawyer for a small law firm in Perth, Australia.

2. Why did you start blogging?

I explain why I started blogging in my very first post.

In short, I feel like I have a lot to say and no one to say it to. I don’t have close friends and family that are in the midst of this work/life juggle and those that are think very differently about it to me. I have a positive mindset and I want to interact with like-minded people.

In addition to this, I want to tell other parents about my experience in taking my baby to work with me. I am yet to meet another person who does this, but I know they must be out there! There are so many benefits to taking your baby to work. I’d love to see this become more common.

3. What do you find most challenging?

I have always struggled to articulate how I feel. I am hoping that blogging will help me to improve on this.  Many of my posts end up being quick thoughts rather than well thought out posts. I usually have much more to say on a particular topic, but I struggle to get the words out so I just post it as is.

4. What is your favourite topic to write about?

At the moment my favourite topic is about work/life balance. I know it’s overdone, but I am really passionate about it. I think many people are too quick to focus on the difficulties of balancing paid work and parenting.

5. Are you blogging for fun or do you have goals?

Just for fun. I don’t expect to make any money from my blog, but I do hope that blogging will help me to improve my writing skills.

6. What is your favourite thing about blogging?

The community. I wanted to meet people with similar values and interests and I’ve done just that!

7. What are your three best posts?

8. Describe yourself in three words!

Positive, independent, kind.

9. Are you a tea and biscuits or coffee and cake person?

Can I be both? I enjoy a good tea, but since I started taking my daughter to work when she was a newborn I have been treating myself to a coffee each morning and have become a bit of an addict!

10. Your perfect night in?

Not long after having my daughter we were sat on the sofa on a Friday night. My husband was watching a film, I was drinking tea, reading a book and breastfeeding our new baby girl and our dog was curled up at my feet. That was perfect to me.

11. What would your best friend/OH/mum or kids say is your best quality?

I asked my husband a similar question a few weeks ago. He said I was dedicated. I liked that and I think he is right. If I am passionate about something I will give it my all. 

 

Thanks Lucy, it's great to learn more about you - thanks for joining in.  Please do pop over and connect with Lucy on her social channels here: Twitter  -  Facebook  -  Pinterest 

Post Comment Love 25-27 November 2016

Hello and welcome to what will most likely be a chilly Friday, although I very much hope I'm wrong. If you were here last week, thank you it was great to see you and if you're new here this week, welcome!  Morgan and I hope you find our growing #PoCoLo community friendly and supportive, and we know you're going to find some great posts to read.

My photo this week was taken on Saturday as we headed home after a day of eating and drinking, the best sort right? We'd spent the day at A Taste of London, where with some teamwork and some delegating on my part, we made some lovely madeleines and a butterscotch sauce in around thirty minutes. Totally amazing, and if you want the recipe head over to Gluts and Gluttony and say I sent you!

On the way home we stopped of in Canary Wharf and made a detour through the Roof Garden and onto the Big Easy for a whole pile of meat, but you can read more about that in the post I've linked up. Heading back to the tube, I was met with this wall of colour and what is actually an advert for a fashion show, but it felt like a good indicator of the week ahead. 

And didn't it turn out that way? Autumn seems to be passing us by and Winter seems to be saying hello. I'm hoping we can hang onto the autumn colours for a little longer, but we'll see. And as usual my preference for winter is crisp rather than soggy please, if anyone's listening!

Blogger Showcase: Erriel from Erriel J's Life Chronicles

Erriel loves to blog about fashion and lifestyle over at Erriel J's Life Chronicles and she blogs to get her small voice heard and describes herself as fun, energetic and opinionated.  You can find out more about Erriel over on Morgan's blog today, so do pop over there once you've said hi on social media.

Connect with Erriel here

Twitter  -  Instagram   -  Pinterest

Post Comment Love and Blogger Showcase - 18-20 November 2016

Hello there and welcome to another Friday edition of Post Comment Love. If you were here last week, it was great to see you. If you're new here, welcome, it's great to have you along. I was at Blogfest on Saturday and met up with many bloggers, some I knew, some new to me and i had a great time. It was good to catch up with Morgan again and to see many of our lovely linkers too. If we missed each other, then there'll be another time and there's plenty more blogging conferences to meet up.

Although I am minded that sometimes the blogging conference bit can get in the way of a good old chinwag. Perhaps we should all pool the blogging conference ticket price, book a corner in a pub or restaurant and just get on with the chat! Just as long as it's somewhere not too loud, and they don't run out of prosecco or whatever I'm drinking.  

My snap this week is from Greenwich Park on a beautifully sunny morning. It was a glorious walk to work and I *might have* lingered longer than I should have getting some arty-farty shots. It didn't last though, by the evening it was torrential rain and I looked (and felt) like a drowned duck when I got home. Ah well, that's autumn for you!

This week I'm pleased to be showcasing a relatively new blogger. Remember if you'd like to get involved and have some of those all important backlinks to your site then get in touch with Morgan or I, either use my contact form or drop either of us a tweet.

Blogger Showcase: Lianne from Mrs Mummy Harris86

1. Who are you?

Hi guys! I am Lianne Harris and I blog at Mrs Mummy Harris86. I'm about to hit the big 3-0 and live in Essex, UK.  I have been married for 18 months, and have two cats and a five month old son Benjamin.  I work in London as a Legal Costs Negotiator for a large international Law Firm but deep down has always wanted to be a backing dancer for cheesy pop bands!

2. How did you discover blogs and blogging?

One of my friends Kayleigh announced on Facebook that she had set up a blog and having read a few posts it opened my eyes to a whole new part of the internet that I didn't know existed!

3. Why did you start blogging?

I have always loved writing, i used to think I was quite good at it however failed to show anyone my work.  Having suffered with depression and anxiety most of my life and now suffering from Post-Natal Depression; I thought writing could be an outlet and having initially put the feelers out on Instagram, I found there are several people out there in my situation and mostly what I am going through is normal for a parent.

4. What do you find most challenging?

The actual aspect of blogging for me is easy. Its the ability of spreading time between being a mother, wife and successful blogger that I find tough. Trying to find this new identity of mine now I am a mother is tough enough, let alone linkies, writing posts and taking photos!

5. What is your favourite topic to write about?

My family of course! That is what my whole blog is about. I really enjoyed writing my posts regarding me and hubby. Now I have received so much praise for our Alphabet dating and the fact that people are intrigued by the next date of Bingo madness I am very happy to continue this series.

6. Are you blogging for fun or do you have goals?

Oh I definitely have goals. My goal is pretty simple; be successful.  Success is all in the eye of the beholder therefore at the moment, for me I would love for brands to approach me for reviews and to have a four figure following. I think if you set an achievable, realistic goal; then you wouldn't be disappointed and maybe set goals in stages??

I've actually been approached by a well known brand already which was amazing to have, but this could be a one off so to have it on a regular basis would be super. I am already on a four figure following and considering I started little over two months ago, I say give it to 2017 and fingers crossed my second goal would have been achieved!

7. What is your favourite thing about blogging?

I love the community. When I started a different blog last year - pregnancy made it hard to keep up as I was very new to it- I thought blogging was all about competition, but I was wrong, through research and experience I have learnt that it is all about support.  If you support each other and encourage and praise it sends a message out to others. Positivity goes a long way!

8. Have you ever attended a blogging conference and if so, what did you think?

No I haven't! I'm very much hoping that I'll be big enough next year or at least know enough fellow bloggers to attend Blogfest. For now I feel too small and it will probably knock my confidence as it will make me feel like a fish out of water.

9. What are your three best posts?

Having been advised by several bloggers to ignore stats and figures I will go based on the general comments and response received, so here goes:

  1. Families I aspire to 

  2. Alphabet dates #1

  3. PND battle

The latter is one of my earlier posts. I'd only been blogging for two weeks, however I was constantly being told how brave I was to share such a raw and honest story. For that, I still think of it to be one of my major successes.

10. Describe yourself in three words?

Organised, loving and marmite.

11. Are you a tea and biscuits or coffee and cake person?

I'm both! I love a coffee in the morning and I'm up for anything sweet. I loved tea before Ben was born but I drank so much of it when pregnant that I over did it a bit, but usually I do love a cuppa.

12. What's your idea of a perfect night out?

It has to be a lovely London restaurant followed by a West End musical. I love some singing and dancing.

13. Your perfect night in?

A bubble bath, a glass or two of plonk followed by a takeaway in front of the telly with trash TV on or a movie snuggled on the sofa with the hubby.

14. What would your best friend/OH/mum or kids say is your best quality?

My husband says my humour. It's very dry and I have no issue with taking the mickey out of myself or others, even when it's inappropriate to do so. He also says my caring side is beautiful, but it can be a detriment at times.

Thanks Lianne, it's lovely to know more about you.  And don't forget you can connect with Lianne here:

Facebook  -  Twitter  -  Instagram  -  Pinterest