Friend Friday #21: New Year Resolutions

It is that time of year again, a new year approaches and an old year comes to an end. It is a nostaglic time and it is easy to look back and forget to look forward too. You will probably have already noticed that many bloggers have begun to think about making resolutions: what they intend to do on their blog in the next 12 months, where they want their blog to "go", how they will achieve these goals. It seems only natural then that the Friend Friday group should also be considering their Resolutions for the coming year and share them with you here:

1. What's the one thing you vow to learn or do in 2011 to improve your blog?

In January of 2010 wrote my New Year’s Resolutions for my blog for the past year:

1. To blog every day - that I can!
2. To be better about weekly posts - like Monday Morning Pic-Me-Ups!
3. To find two new blogs each day and say "hi" to some 'new' bloggers regularly - as well as saying "hello again" to old friends!
4. To dedicate some time to making a proper go of the blog - from February I will have finished my masters and will be able to devote a month or two to this!! :))
5. To get a couple of give-aways up and running
6. I will try my best to reply to comments.

The first five I have successfully achieved. I think. Tell me if you think I’m wrong? But the last one I have been having more trouble sticking to. Life seems to get in the way and I get more focussed on writing a new blog post than going back and responding to comments. Forgive me? I do read every single comment left for me and I love every single one. So thank you. I will attempt to be much much better in 2011 at responding to comments but if you have a specific question you require an answer to, please email me.

2. What did you learn about blogging in 2010 that you plan to put into practice next year?

2010 was the year that I really began to take my blog seriously and I have realised that I need at least a minimal html knowledge to keep it going. Therefore, for 2011, I plan to learn more and more about this "foreign language" and to put my new-found knowledge into practice by making the blog more professional than ever.

Oh yes, and to learn what the hell SEO actually is!!

3. Do you have any high-level goals for your blog in the coming year? Monetization? More comments? More connections with other bloggers? A new template?

For 2011, I aim to continue to reach our to other bloggers and to forge more relationships.

My number one aim for the first part of the year is to get to London during London Fashion Week: to soak up the atmosphere, see all of the fashionable people and to meet some of the bloggers whose blogs I have followed for months.

More comments would always be nice :)

And a little money for some new shoes. Of course!

4. If you could collaborate with one other blogger within your sphere of influence in 2011, who would you like to collaborate with, and what would you like to collaborate on?

Difficult question! A good question but oh-so difficult. There are so many wonderful bloggers who I would love to collaborate with. But I really must choose one, I guess it would be Jill, of Street Style London, on a street style-esque shoot. I love Jill's photos which are always well composed. I'm not sure what part I would play in this shoot. Maybe I could carry her bag?! Haha!

5. What do you plan to do to support other bloggers next year?

I have recently run a 12 Days of Christmas Advent Calendar featuring a different blogger profile behind each virtual door. This series received really positive feedback from the bloggers who were involved and I would like to extend the profiles for the following year, maybe one a month? (If you're interested in being featured, please email me.)


If you are a blogger, what resolutions are you making this year regarding your blog? If you're not a blogger, are you making resolutions? What are they?

To see the other Friend Friday bloggers' resolutions, remember to visit ModlyChic, where you can also find more information about joining the group.

Thank you

There has been much written on various blogs since the festive season about the "lost" art of writing thank you cards. I remember as a child how writing my thank you cards after Christmas and my birthday was a ritual that was drummed into me. As I have grown-up (sort of!) and flown the nest I have realised that it is polite to say "thank you", particularly when someone has given you a lovely gift. And I also know how much I love to receive something in the past that is not a bill so imagine that others feel the same joy at receiving a card.


Anyway, I digress. The art of saying "thank you" - whether it be in person, in the shape of a card or even, in this day and age, by text message is something that I believe is quite simply, the right thing to do.


I have said thank you to all of my readers before and all of you lovely people who leave me lovely comments that make me smile. Indeed I even wrote my New Years' Resolutions for this blog. Well, I have another to add. After reading Notes by Naive, I realised that it is not only polite to say thank you for the lovely comments I get but that it would be even better to reply to them.


So, 6. I will try my best to reply to comments, in subsequent posts.


I shall start as I mean to go on.

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polkadotstripes: It does seem like an odd choice but he is wonderful in the part - I think!

Rachel: No, I have always been to afraid to read the book - the film spooks me too much. But maybe I will try it. Just as soon as I finish my dissertation!

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I hope you're all having a more fun Sunday than me. I am studying. Again. I feel like all I have done recently is study and I still don't have enough to show for it!

More soon. Love, SG

A HUGE Thank You to you all!!

I want to take a moment to say a HUGE THANK YOU to everyone who has visited Sugar and Spice in the last six months since its inception and particularly to all those who have left me such lovely and encouraging comments :))


I love this blog and all of the people I have met through it :))


I know I did my resolutions the other day but I realised that I did not include those for this blog and blogging in general, so here goes:


New Year's (Blogging) Resolutions:


1. To blog every day - that I can!


2. To be better about weekly posts - like Monday Morning Pic-Me-Ups!


3. To find two new blogs each day and say "hi" to some 'new' bloggers regularly - as well as saying "hello again" to old friends!


4. To dedicate some time to making a proper go of the blog - from February I will have finished my masters and will be able to devote a month or two to this!! :))


5. To get a couple of give-aways up and running!!


To be the first to hear about any new and exciting developments at Sugar and Spice, please sign up for my mailing list by leaving a comment below with your email address :) If you have left me a comment with your email before, you are probably already on it.


If you want to be removed from the mailing list at anytime, please just drop me a line and I'll be happy to take you off.


Again, thank you to all my readers - I appreciate you all for stopping by and really hope you like what you see here!! :))


As ever, more soon. Love, SG

Shopping Ban: The End

It's oooooooover!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Finally. I can shop again. Six months. 24 weeks. Of no shopping. I had a couple of slip ups but on the whole I think I have managed ok. It is certainly a challenge I do not wish to undertake again any time soon but I am pleased to have done it. All those months ago it seemed like such a long time! In order to make sure that I don't go mad now that the ban is lifted, I have set myself:


10 Shopping Commandments:


1. I shall not turn to my credit card for clothes.


2. I shall budget and stick to it.


3. I shall save for that much coveted item.


4. I shall not buy in a hurry.


5. I shall go home and if I still want it tomorrow then maybe I'll get it.


6. I shall buy classic and investment pieces.


7. I shall not dash madly through Primark grabbing armfuls of clothes just because it has a price tag under a fiver - and I shall remember that it all adds up.


8. I shall continue to love the clothes and shoes I already own.


9. I shall carefully decide what is missing from my wardrobe and stick to this list when out shopping.


10. I shall not be tempted by a sales sign.


When I started this ban six months ago I had a couple of reasons for doing it;


1. To save money - for a deposit for a house and to finish learning to drive before I'm 30!!


2. Because I was fed up with being told that I "have too many clothes"!! And was intrigued as to what was actually in my wardrobe - the stats say that most women only wear 10-20% of what they own, so maybe I can start wearing some of the remaining 80-90% of mine!!


Well, I have managed to (re) start learning to drive and will hopefully be passing my (second) driving test sometime in the first half of 2010. The house deposit part was maybe a little ambitious but I have proved that I have the will-power to not spend spend spend and when we do decide to start saving, I will be able to!


As for the second reason; I have certainly had to stretch my wardrobe to its limits and have found things I had forgotten about. It has also shown me where there are gaps in my wardrobe and hopefully, I can fill them over time without going mad on things I don't need!


Today, I did end up in town and found myself dashing through the sales like a mad woman!! But I was good and only spent the money I'd been given for Christmas - so not even any of my own!! It's like I haven't even shopped yet!! Haha!!


I'll post my bargain finds a bit later.


Love, SG

My 2010 New Year's Resolutions

Every single blog I have read this last week has been about New Year's Resolutions. I was starting to feel a little left out. So here are mine. I have split them into 'life' resolutions and 'style' resolutions. I have also written my 10 shopping Commandments for 2010 in my last weekly column for British Style Bloggers here.

My New Year's (Life) Resolutions:

1. To be more organised!

2. To save more. Or just save at all.

3. To pass my driving test.

4. To be more spontaneous.

5. To add (at least) one more country to my list!

My New Year's (Style/Shopping) Resolutions:

1. To shop less.

2. To wear more colour and less all black. (Check out Style on a String's post about this and my post)

3. To learn to do a few up-dos, so that I don't always wear my hair down.

4. To make sure my nail polish is always fresh, no more chips for me.

5. To learn to be more ruthless and not to hoard so much, so that my wardrobe and dressing table are not so over flowing all of the time.

Happy New Year folks. Love, SG