My Baby Blog Turns One!

One year ago today, I did my first post. You can read it here. Over the past few weeks, I've been thinking about this one year anniversary post, but I didn't have a chance to write the perfect retrospective. Yeah, that would have been really nice. Oh well. I'm completely winging it.

It's funny, because I'm a big planner. I think and analyze before I do anything. Maybe too much sometimes. Blogging has helped me to be more in the moment. Sometimes you just have to say "yes" and jump in and write from your heart, or at least as much as time allows.

Am I editing this as I write? Yes!! Am I saving as draft every five minutes, so I don't lose my stream of thought? Yes!! And a good thing too, because I was booted out and would have lost everything.

I haven't suddenly turned into another person. Anali isn't my given name, but it's all me. I still try to plan for things, but in the last few weeks, so much in my life changed. And there was nothing I could do about any of it. All of it was totally out of my control. Recently, the more I try to plan, the more things seem to go strangely awry. I guess it's the Universe wanting me to be even more in the moment and open to what life has in store. I'm really trying!

Last Monday the weather was finally really warm in Boston, around 85 degrees. I'm working at a new place and in a different area of Boston. I used to work in the Back Bay, which I loved. Now I'm in the Financial District near South Station. It's a nice area, but it's taking some getting used to. Instead of driving, I'm taking the T again... Breathe in. Breathe out. It's all good.

I decided to walk around and enjoy the day. I ended up sitting in front of the Langham Hotel, which I think used to be Le Méridien Hotel, when I worked in this area years ago. Everyone used to sit on the grass out front. In the picture above, you can see that it's now blocked off.

People used to call it Méridien Beach, because that's what it was like in the summer. Everyone took a break from their offices during lunch and would just relax, take a nap, pull out a book, have an ice cream. Men would loosen up their ties or take them off. Women would take off their shoes. It was really nice. Well, I guess the grass is more well-kept now. Things change.

So while I was literally walking down memory lane, I figured I'd take a picture of my exact location. Next time you visit the area, you'll know where I was. I guess I'll stick with the walking metaphor and mosey on over to my next topic. Food.

When I started my blog, I wasn't sure what shape it would take. Over time it's changed. There's more food! I knew food would be a big part of my writing, but I didn't realize how much. I even started writing a second blog that is only about food! I would have never guessed that! And it's ironic that it's with a website for Boomers, because in my first post I mentioned the issue of generations and how I felt that I wasn't a Boomer or a GenXer. Who knew?

Anyway, I'm loving the food and glad that all of you seem to like it just a little bit too. And speaking of food, did you really think I could get through this post without some sweets? Not a chance!

There is a new bakery that opened up in Quincy called Babycakes. I went there once a few weeks ago and had their signature cupcake called the The Babycake. Oh my! It was good! Babycakes is tucked away on Beale Street, but it's been crowded each time I've been there.

Babycakes is a very small neighborhood bakery, but they have big city confections. Their motto is "a small celebration." I stopped by today, yesterday by the time you read this, and bought three of their cupcakes. I've only eaten one so far, the French Toast cupcake. It was truly a pleasure and a joy to eat this cupcake. I was doing Spring cleaning and running around a lot today, so I had this cupcake with a nice cup of coffee. What a nice break.

The French Toast cupcake is part of their Morning Baby Cakes menu and is described as "Vanilla bean bread pudding with Maple Frosting." It tastes just like French Toast, but cuter and portable! If you want to be the one to bring the best new thing to brunch, but you don't want to bake, bring a box of these. I'll definitely be buying these again.

And to you. Yes, I mean you! I need to thank you. When I first started writing this blog, you weren't here. There were no comments and not many people were reading. It's so nice to know that you read, comment, keep coming back, linking to me, and mentioning me in your posts. It's been wonderful meeting all of you bloggers! Sometimes when I'm not feeling so great, I'll read one of your posts and start smiling, laughing, and my whole mood has changed. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Last April, I figured at the very least, blogging would be a way to force myself to write at least twice a week. If my writing was no good and nobody cared what I was saying, I was going to close up shop after a year and call it an experiment. The experiment is working, so I guess I'll keep doing what I've been doing. However, I have realized that with my flexible schedule gone from work, it's much harder to blog. I may have to cut back to posting just once or twice a week. Unless the blog starts paying me, I have to focus on the work that does.

And that brings me to some new things. I've added advertising to my blog. I tried Google ads for a while, but did not make any money and some of the ads I didn't like, so I got rid of them. I became a member of the Boston Blogs Ad Network and feel much more comfortable with their advertising. I've learned about more local blogs and recently met some local bloggers too.

Sometimes life is so unexpected. On Universal Hub, I read this post stating that Wainwright Bank, wanted to meet with progressive bloggers. I figured that I was a progressive blogger, so I found out more about the meeting and attended this past Thursday. There were several bloggers from the area and we met with some people from the bank including Robert Glassman, one of the bank's founders.

I was very impressed with the bank and didn't know that banks like this even existed. Wainwright truly seems to place social justice as one of its top priorities. The bank even has a policy of opposing the Iraq war. They are thinking about starting a blog and possibly placing advertising on local progressive blogs, so they wanted to meet with area bloggers and brainstorm. Many ideas were discussed, but this is all very preliminary. I'm looking forward to learning more and hopeful that there might be some exciting news to discuss later on.

So there you have it. From my first post with no comments to cupcakes to meeting with bloggers and a bank president. I wonder what this next year will bring?

*Updated 6/5/2011* For some reason all the pictures stopped showing up, so I've removed the code. I've also added in links to BabyCakes that were not available before. I still love this place!