How and Why I Started Blogging

“How did you get started blogging?”

I get this question all the time so I thought I’d take a few minutes and share how I even got into this little hobby turned career over here!

As you may or may not know, I used to have a handmade paper company called The Lovely Bee! I started this little hand-painted, hand-crafted stationery line in college to make a little extra moolah, then after I graduated, I kept it going as a little side gig. I began adding invitations and party printables into the mix and selling it all in an Etsy store (which is still up and running but with VERY FEW products!)

I started thinking (this was pre-instagram) that I needed a place to house updates regarding The Lovely Bee — new products, sales, new stores carrying my products, etc. — so I thought a blog would be the best way to keep my audience informed! So THE HIVE was born in 2012!

Because I did so many invitations, I started posting a lot about parties for which I got to design invitations, food labels, and decorations. Then I started posting recipes and tablescape ideas as well, because those go naturally with party posts, right?! I started getting questions about interior design through these posts, so I began posting design ideas as well.

Since by this point I was a pretty much full-blown lifestyle blog, I thought posting about clothes was just the next natural fit! I had this SUPER stylin’ friend Elish, who was a co-worker at SummerHouse (a fabulous local design firm and furniture boutique where we met!) and she started letting me snap pics of her lookin all cute and fly. Then we started doing some photo shoots together!

I will never forget the day that I had an email from American Eagle asking if they could send me a couple of items to style and post. That would NEVER happen now because the blogging world has changed SO MUCH since 2012, but it was such a confidence boost for me as a blogger! (I would be lying if I said some of my first photos on this blog weren’t cringeworthy, but we all have to start somewhere! yikes) 😉

From that point, I started slowly incorporating my own fashion + style into the mix! Then I started having babies, each one providing a new set of challenges and a new opportunity for growth, and motherhood became the next natural topic about which to post.

And here we are today!! THE HIVE is all about parties, design, fashion, food, motherhood, and other random tidbits sprinkled in 🙂 I am having so much fun with this platform and hope to continue it as long as possible. It has opened up some great opportunities for me and my family and I am SO GRATEFUL for that! It’s been so wonderful having sweet readers like you support me all this time. You seriously have no idea how thankful I am for every click, every purchase, every comment, every like, and every “I read your blog post about XYZ and it was so helpful” in the line at the grocery store!

One of my favorite things about this blog is the opportunity to promote local businesses. Yes, I do post a good bit about big box stores that I love (because they have cool stuff too!), but what really gets me excited is the opportunity to partner up with someone else “small,” (and all I mean by that is small business. Everyone I get to partner with is BIG in my book!!) Getting to know a shop or brand and the people behind it, and helping promote the businesses that keep where we live unique and exciting, is what really puts wind beneath my wings! HUGE thank you to the small business owners who trust me to help further your brand. It’s an honor I do not take lightly!

It is my prayer that I can continue to provide you with great content that is helpful, encouraging, inspiring, genuine, and hopefully sometimes funny (because laughter is what makes the world go round, right?!?)

Three kids at three different schools + covid has made it hard to stay as consistent as I like over here, but I am hopeful that I’ll get back into the swing now that things *seem* to be normalizing a bit. But you know what?! I’m not sure life will ever be “normal” again even if covid wasn’t a thing. There is just so much surprise with each new day, global pandemic or not! And even on the hard days, that’s what makes life, well… LIFE! Right?! haha so even if I can’t be super consistent here, I promise I will try my hardest to show up as much as I can with a little inspo.

And I will never stop thanking you for being a part of my little corner of the interwebs over here. You are amazing!! Thank YOU for inspiring me even more than I could ever hope to inspire you!

God is good, in the easy times and the hard. I pray that I’ll always remember that, and that you will too 🙂

I hope you have the BEST day! Thank you so much for reading! And let me know if you have any other questions about the origin of THE HIVE! I’m always happy to share!

Closing with a few favorite photos from the past couple of years 🙂

(( still in love with these shelves! Details in this post! ))

XOXOXXX, my friend! You are loved 🙂