{"id":16050,"date":"2016-03-09T08:30:28","date_gmt":"2016-03-09T00:30:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mywomenstuff.com\/?p=16050"},"modified":"2016-03-08T23:07:24","modified_gmt":"2016-03-08T15:07:24","slug":"9-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mywomenstuff.com\/2016\/03\/9-years\/","title":{"rendered":"9 years : The year of rebirth"},"content":{"rendered":"

Celebrating 9 years of blogging here at MWS is a bit of a bittersweet moment for me.<\/p>\n

\"9<\/p>\n

9 years ago today, I migrated to my own space on the internet, hammering in foundations and building a slightly rickety structure with a leaky roof, hanging out the My Women Stuff sign over the doorway, and sitting on the porch, wondering if anyone would stop by for a chat. Over the years, as I went along, I eventually strengthened those foundations, built sturdier walls, and extensions, while making MWS a comfy home for myself, and hopefully for those who did eventually stop by and still stop by to chat.<\/p>\n

At about the same time, I too started something else from nothing, which I also grew quite comfortably alongside MWS. However, it appeared the foundations were never quite as strong as that I put in for MWS, for while I find myself toasting the celebration of 9 years in my virtual home, the other venture folded last year, and is now a derelict, empty house, with its lights permanently switched off, leaving me feeling a little cold.<\/p>\n

Bittersweet.<\/p>\n

But I’m not going to dwell too much on the unsavoury past, for as I do at this time of year, I get a little pensive about my blogging journey \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

It wasn’t an easy ride coming to my 9th year of active blogging. The regular ones would have noticed that the past couple of years leading to this moment have been fraught with challenges, where I slowed down on blogging, took long leaves of absence, and just started withdrawing, stepping away from the blogging and social media scenes to deal with other, more challenging matters.<\/p>\n

Yet, it was also in the past year that I started the MWS Companion newsletter<\/a> and made a brief foray into YouTube videos<\/a>. I know where my strengths lie, and YouTube, as fun as it is, will never be my primary focus, although I will try to keep my hand in, just for laughs \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

But some things changed this year, and I decided to step up my blogging game. Regulars may have noticed that blog updates and posts are appearing on a more regular basis, and in a sense, I seem to have found my rhythm again. It’s like almost like riding a bicycle. The first few times, you wobble and fall off, but soon, you’re coasting along, with the sun in your face (wear sunscreen please!) and the wind in your hair.<\/p>\n

So celebrating 9 years of blogging today, feels almost like a rebirth for me. A renewal in my blogging focus, a renewed interest in navigating the beauty product jungle, and in some ways, a rejuvenation in other aspects of my life. I’m more willing to open myself to opportunities, and more willing to be candid and blunt. I’ve been around the block, and I’m sticking to blogging<\/a>, because that’s what I enjoy most, even if rocking the boat doesn’t sit well with everyone.<\/p>\n

But as much as I’ve struggled, I have one person to thank for keeping me grounded and bringing me back to my roots.<\/p>\n

That’s YOU<\/strong>! \ud83d\ude42<\/h3>\n

\"mywomenstuff<\/p>\n

It is important for me to know that I’m on the right track with where I want to go, and when you share your experiences or views in the comments (even if you don’t agree with me) it tells me I’m doing it right. When you interact with me, and laugh with me at my tongue-in-cheek jokes, or ask questions and share your answers, it tells me that I’m in the right place.<\/p>\n

Over the years, I’ve “met” so many of you right here on MWS, who have eventually grown up, left school, gotten your first job, gotten married, become mothers, and who may no longer lust after that newest and latest limited edition lipstick; yet you still read and you still talk to me right here in the comment box, in replies to my newsletters, or over on Instagram<\/a> where I try to post pretty pictures while keeping to my irreverent streak, and that tells me that I’m doing it right. I may not have tens of thousands of followers on any social media platform, but I know my blog reach, and it reaches further and wider than any platform can take me, for I’m blessed to have people who talk to me, not merely stalk. For that, I am grateful.<\/p>\n

I love that we have that relationship here at MWS – we’re friends. We’re not just readers, not just a blogger preaching to the gallery; but friends, sitting as equals around a table, sharing a coffee (or champagne or beer or whisky, pick your poison \ud83d\ude1b ) and a nasi lemak, talking about that newest foundation, trying to solve each others’ skincare problems, and perhaps even sharing some life tips and recipes.<\/p>\n

I love that I do this in real life, with people I have met because of MWS, who are now good friends I know I can depend on to have my back, and be my sounding board, even if what I really want to know is where to find certain grocery items.<\/p>\n

It wasn’t easy arriving at the doorstep of my 9th year of blogging, but I’m glad I made it, creaky cart and all, and it’s in a very large part, thanks to every single one of you reading and talking to me, so thank you, thank you, THANK YOU! \ud83d\ude42 Please don’t stop talking \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

xoxo<\/p>\n

Paris B<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Celebrating 9 years of blogging here at MWS is a bit of a bittersweet moment for me. 9 years ago today, I migrated to my own space on the internet, hammering in foundations and building a slightly rickety structure with a leaky roof, hanging out the My Women Stuff sign over the doorway, and sitting<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16102,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wprm-recipe-roundup-name":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-description":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[53,21],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n9 years : The year of rebirth - My Women Stuff<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mywomenstuff.com\/2016\/03\/9-years\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"9 years : The year of rebirth - My Women Stuff\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Celebrating 9 years of blogging here at MWS is a bit of a bittersweet moment for me. 9 years ago today, I migrated to my own space on the internet, hammering in foundations and building a slightly rickety structure with a leaky roof, hanging out the My Women Stuff sign over the doorway, and sittingContinue Reading\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.mywomenstuff.com\/2016\/03\/9-years\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"My Women Stuff\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/facebook.com\/mywomenstuff\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/facebook.com\/mywomenstuff\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-03-09T00:30:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-03-08T15:07:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.mywomenstuff.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/9-years.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"700\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"467\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Paris B\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@parisbmws\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@parisbmws\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Paris B\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mywomenstuff.com\/2016\/03\/9-years\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.mywomenstuff.com\/2016\/03\/9-years\/\",\"name\":\"9 years : The year of rebirth - My Women Stuff\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mywomenstuff.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mywomenstuff.com\/2016\/03\/9-years\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mywomenstuff.com\/2016\/03\/9-years\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.mywomenstuff.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/9-years.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-03-09T00:30:28+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-03-08T15:07:24+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mywomenstuff.com\/#\/schema\/person\/3b559b3677bbc948b7e3b29e5acf00cc\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mywomenstuff.com\/2016\/03\/9-years\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.mywomenstuff.com\/2016\/03\/9-years\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mywomenstuff.com\/2016\/03\/9-years\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.mywomenstuff.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/9-years.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.mywomenstuff.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/9-years.jpg\",\"width\":700,\"height\":467,\"caption\":\"9 years of mywomenstuff\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mywomenstuff.com\/2016\/03\/9-years\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.mywomenstuff.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Musings\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.mywomenstuff.com\/category\/musings\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"9 years : The year of rebirth\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mywomenstuff.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.mywomenstuff.com\/\",\"name\":\"My Women Stuff\",\"description\":\"Malaysia Beauty Blog for 40 and over: Makeup & Skincare Reviews, Tips\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.mywomenstuff.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mywomenstuff.com\/#\/schema\/person\/3b559b3677bbc948b7e3b29e5acf00cc\",\"name\":\"Paris B\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mywomenstuff.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/309328cd0070bdabb67d3222955853cf?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/309328cd0070bdabb67d3222955853cf?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Paris B\"},\"description\":\"Paris B is a 40-something beauty and skincare enthusiast with a practical and very critical view of beauty products and the world of beauty. Her mission on My Women Stuff is to deliver clear, honest reviews and facilitate discussions about beauty trends and life, tempered with a healthy dose of humour. When not blogging about beauty or life beyond 40 find her talking about feeding dogs real, wholesome food. Connect with us on social media at Instagram.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.mywomenstuff.com\",\"https:\/\/facebook.com\/mywomenstuff\",\"https:\/\/instagram.com\/instagram\",\"https:\/\/pinterest.com\/mywomenstuff\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.mywomenstuff.com\/author\/admin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"9 years : The year of rebirth - My Women Stuff","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.mywomenstuff.com\/2016\/03\/9-years\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"9 years : The year of rebirth - My Women Stuff","og_description":"Celebrating 9 years of blogging here at MWS is a bit of a bittersweet moment for me. 9 years ago today, I migrated to my own space on the internet, hammering in foundations and building a slightly rickety structure with a leaky roof, hanging out the My Women Stuff sign over the doorway, and sittingContinue Reading","og_url":"https:\/\/www.mywomenstuff.com\/2016\/03\/9-years\/","og_site_name":"My Women Stuff","article_publisher":"https:\/\/facebook.com\/mywomenstuff","article_author":"https:\/\/facebook.com\/mywomenstuff","article_published_time":"2016-03-09T00:30:28+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-03-08T15:07:24+00:00","og_image":[{"width":700,"height":467,"url":"https:\/\/www.mywomenstuff.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/9-years.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Paris B","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@parisbmws","twitter_site":"@parisbmws","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Paris B","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.mywomenstuff.com\/2016\/03\/9-years\/","url":"https:\/\/www.mywomenstuff.com\/2016\/03\/9-years\/","name":"9 years : The year of rebirth - My Women Stuff","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mywomenstuff.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mywomenstuff.com\/2016\/03\/9-years\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mywomenstuff.com\/2016\/03\/9-years\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.mywomenstuff.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/9-years.jpg","datePublished":"2016-03-09T00:30:28+00:00","dateModified":"2016-03-08T15:07:24+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mywomenstuff.com\/#\/schema\/person\/3b559b3677bbc948b7e3b29e5acf00cc"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mywomenstuff.com\/2016\/03\/9-years\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.mywomenstuff.com\/2016\/03\/9-years\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.mywomenstuff.com\/2016\/03\/9-years\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.mywomenstuff.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/9-years.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.mywomenstuff.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/9-years.jpg","width":700,"height":467,"caption":"9 years of mywomenstuff"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.mywomenstuff.com\/2016\/03\/9-years\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.mywomenstuff.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Musings","item":"https:\/\/www.mywomenstuff.com\/category\/musings\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"9 years : The year of rebirth"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.mywomenstuff.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.mywomenstuff.com\/","name":"My Women Stuff","description":"Malaysia Beauty Blog for 40 and over: Makeup & Skincare Reviews, Tips","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.mywomenstuff.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.mywomenstuff.com\/#\/schema\/person\/3b559b3677bbc948b7e3b29e5acf00cc","name":"Paris B","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.mywomenstuff.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/309328cd0070bdabb67d3222955853cf?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/309328cd0070bdabb67d3222955853cf?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Paris B"},"description":"Paris B is a 40-something beauty and skincare enthusiast with a practical and very critical view of beauty products and the world of beauty. Her mission on My Women Stuff is to deliver clear, honest reviews and facilitate discussions about beauty trends and life, tempered with a healthy dose of humour. When not blogging about beauty or life beyond 40 find her talking about feeding dogs real, wholesome food. Connect with us on social media at Instagram.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.mywomenstuff.com","https:\/\/facebook.com\/mywomenstuff","https:\/\/instagram.com\/instagram","https:\/\/pinterest.com\/mywomenstuff"],"url":"https:\/\/www.mywomenstuff.com\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.mywomenstuff.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/9-years.jpg","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mywomenstuff.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16050"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mywomenstuff.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mywomenstuff.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mywomenstuff.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mywomenstuff.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16050"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.mywomenstuff.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16050\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mywomenstuff.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16102"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mywomenstuff.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16050"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mywomenstuff.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16050"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mywomenstuff.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16050"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}