Happy Birthday to this no-longer-wee website, and Happy Birthday to all of you, who make up her heart!!! Part of me still can’t believe a year’s gone by already. I’m still getting the hang of this! I’m still just getting started!
Another part of me can’t quite believe it’s only been a year. Was it really just 13 months ago I was working my unfulfilling day job? Has it only been 12 short months of covering such diverse topics as gardening and urban farming, sustainable fashion and an ambitious manifesto, backyard chickens and indoor seedlings, tons of vegan sweets and savory treats, ten life-changing challenges, and so much, so much more? And of course, a year of inspired contributions from each and every reader – the blog comments and personal emails and dialogue with each other throughout the site. You all have grown this little seed of an idea into something greater than I’d ever dared to dream of.
For the first 6 months of Bonzai’s web life, I posted every. single. workday. (whew!) Since then, barring medical breaks, I’ve maintained a schedule of 4-5 posts per week. All in all I’ve written over 250 entries and articles. And we’ve received hundreds of thousands of visitors!
Articles I’ve written have been featured across the internet, most notably on sites like Lifehacker and Apartment Therapy‘s green blog Re-Nest. The most popular posts continue to be for DIY hygiene and cleaning recipes, like deodorant, drain-o, laundry detergent, dish soap, shampoo, and hair gel. Who’d have though!?
I’m so proud to say that I’ve done all of this without accepting any advertising offers! Bonzai Aphrodite operates free from external financial influence, and will continue to follow the PBS/NPR model of ‘viewer/listener supported’. You’ll never have to question my integrity – I can promise you that.
Finally, I must give some thanks. Firstly, foremostly, and foreverly, to my AMAZING HUSBAND who was the catalyst and carrier for all of this. Damian encouraged me over and over to quit my job and pursue my passion, and he has continued to support me unfailingly throughout this crazy, oftentimes incredibly stressful, process. It is absolute truth that this site would not exist if it weren’t for him (hell, he designed it!), and I cannot thank him enough for that.
And then, of course, YOU GUYS. Thank you thank you for making my dreams come true! You all amaze me and inspire me and make me excited to wake up and ‘work’ every morning, and I just can’t thank you enough for that. I wanted to show a little gratitude (and support one of my favorite local businesses in the process), so I’m giving away these adorable, special addition underwear from Herbivore Clothing Co! All you have to do to enter is visit the Herbivore site and then leave a comment here. I’ll randomly select one lucky winner next week. Boys and girls are welcome to enter (there’s boxer-briefs as well), and non-vegans can play too as long as you don’t mind sporting ‘Veganism is for Lovers’ on your bum! Good luck everyone!
So what’s next for Bonzai Aphrodite? BIG THINGS my friends! Damian and I are scheming to expand, and I have more ideas than I know what to do with. I always tell my readers to “Dream big – no, BIGGER”, and that’s exactly what I’m doing. I hope you’ll come along for the ride!
On the first Monday of every month, we take on a ‘mission’ – a shift or habit or inspiration – to work on together. There’s strength (and support) in numbers! On the last Thursday of the month, we reconvene to see how far we’ve come. #10 Today is the first anniversary of Bonzai Aphrodite (!!!), [...]
Let’s begin with a little gratitude, shall we? I want to offer a giant THANK YOU to readers Eden and Courtney O. Eden, for sending me (well, my son really) a lovely little hand-me-down gift package (#17!) and Courtney O., for hitting that tip jar over there on the right. Thank you ladies so much [...]
So, how was the *oh! horror!* of having a Monday Monthly Mission centered all around shopping?! Haha, who says going green can’t be fun? Although my bed rest kept my thrifting to a minimum, I was able to pick up a few awesome items this month. And of course, all the clothes and baby clothes [...]
microalgae By now we’ve all heard of the ‘amazing omegas’, those fantastic fatty acids that have all the scientists and supplement-makers squawking. We’ve been introduced to ‘good fats’ and lectured about the naughty ones and sold on all sorts of ‘superfoods’. And if one more person tries to tell me how healthy fish is, I [...]
