Connections.

When I started this blog a couple summers ago, I was eager to have a new outlet to connect with my friends and family back home in Minnesota. After years of emails with large pictures attachments, I couldn't wait to share my experiences in New York City in both words and photos on my very own little piece of the world wide web. With camera in hand, I started documenting my daily life out and about in the Big Apple. 


Soon after I started posting, I realized the connections in the blogging world were much larger than immediate friends and family. I slowly created my daily reading list of blogs and loved browsing inspiring posts, admiring breathtaking photos, and appreciating clean and artistic blog layouts. Without ever meeting anyone, I felt myself getting to know bloggers across the country from their words and photos. And I loved it. Over time, small conversations happened over emails and relationships were formed. Case in point: my first blate (blogger date) with Kim last fall. After reading each others' blogs for months, we finally got to meet during her trip to New York. And, just as I predicted, she was just as amazing in person as on the web. We got to skip all of the initial conversation small talk, and were able to spend hours together catching up about life as we wandered the city. Connections, my friends. They are fantastic. 

Kim and I in SoHo, Fall 2011. 

One of the first blogs I followed was Enjoying the Small Things. A friend recommended Kelle Hampton's site soon after I created my own, and like many I sat at my desk crying as I read the birth story of her daughter Nella. I was immediately moved by her words and hooked on her blog. I perused post after post and was instantly inspired. I have been an avid reader ever since. 


Fast forward to last week. Brian and I were in Central Park with Danielle, a fellow NYC blogger and photographer who I finally got to meet after following her blog for months. We were having a blast chatting and shooting pictures in my favorite corner of the park, the scene of mine and Brian's first kiss years ago, when Kelle Hampton strolls by. You better believe I ran right on over and stopped her to chat. We talked for a few minutes about the park and her visit to NYC and snapped a few pictures before she was on her way. She was just as wonderful and lovely as I expected her to be. Afterwards, I thought to myself about how I didn't even hesitate to approach her and briefly questioned why I was so comfortable talking to someone I had never met. But I quickly realized that although Kelle had never met me, I actually knew her quite well. I had been connecting to her words and pictures for years. 


I feel so grateful to be a part of this blogging community and for the connections I have made. I truly look at the world around me differently now than I did two years ago, and am motivated to explore and capture it in ways that I might not have imagined before. I cannot say thank you enough to my family and friends for their support, readers who have encouraged me through comments, and fellow bloggers who have inspired me with their work. I feel very lucky. 

Photo courtesy of Danfredo Photography.