10 years of jenni from the block
Well, well, well. Who would've thought that when I decided to start a blog (to add a little je ne sais quoi to my CV), that we'd all be here. Ten years, and 875 blog posts later! I can't believe it's been a decade of writing this blog. I also can't believe the frequency with which I used to bash out posts, and over the most minute of topics! I've had a look through old posts to pull this little roundup together and in the early days, I wrote whole dedicated blog posts to my eyebrow pencil, my current perfume, my daily outfits. These days you barely get one a month out of me and that's when I've been going on amazing trips and eating at adventurous restaurants. While my consistency may have slipped over the years, I certainly don't love it any less. My blog has always provided me with an outlet for my writing passion, a place to express my opinions, and a beautiful record of all the amazing memories I've created over the last decade. So to celebrate this momentous milestone, I thought I'd take a look back over some of the best. Firstly, we'll delve in to some of your favourites (decided by nothing other than the highest view count), and then some of my favourites (decided by nothing other than how much I enjoyed writing them).
Your favourites
I absolutely love this blog post. I just reread it now and it still makes me emotional. Clearly you all loved it too as it's one of my most read posts of all time. And it still stands in my opinion. If I were to write it again today, I would give my younger self the exact same advice I did nearly 6 years ago, and it feels even more poignant now I'm older.
Since this started as primarily a fashion blog, it should be no surprise that at least one or two of the top posts are fashion ones. And it would seem that this criminally large Shein haul I did during lockdown is the one to take the crown. I don't write the fashion posts as often anymore, but I kinda like that the collage images stood the test of time.
Like I said, I've always very much used this blog as a platform to write about whatever I want. To hell with democracy - this blog is a dictatorship and you'll never catch me asking the readers what they want more of. It's all about me here! So when I feel like writing a think piece or getting all in my feels about something, here is where I've always done it. And it seems there are no audience complaints, as a lot of those blog posts have made their way onto the top leaderboard, including this one all about fate and its hands in my career.
Goodbye my lover, goodbye my friend
I'm a 27 year old home owner, marketing manager, and all-round strong independent woman. So if you met me for the first time now, it might surprise you to realise not only that I worked at McDonalds, but also what a huge and monumental part of my life it was. My emotional goodbye blog post to my 4 years there made its way into the people's favourites, and if you read it back you'll see I was right. My friendships from there really did stand the test of time, as some of them are still some of my closest friends nearly 8 years later.
This blog has always been a place for girl power and over the years I've written about feminism, female empowerment, strong women, and female friendships. But it was this post about mums being the best that outshone all the others. What can I say, we clearly all agree on something!
Oh I do love this series, and clearly you guys do too. You may think I've chosen one at random, but no this one from 2021 is statistically the most popular Jenni from the book installment (slightly random as it is neither the first nor most recent).
Well, clearly everyone loved my latest blog post, as it outranked posts that have had years to accrue views! In fact, all of my more personal, life update style blog posts are up in the top spots including Miss independent, Make a house a home, Our house in the middle of our street, and Honey I'm transforming our home. Which in a nutshell is the 4 year journey of me buying and decorating my first house, moving in and decorating with Ollie, and then moving back out and buying on my own again. Either you're all very invested or just a bit nosey; whichever is fine, I'm just glad I can give the people what they want! As I mentioned before, a new house transformation blog post is coming soon and I'm certain you're going to love that one too.
My favourites
Like I said, I've always loved writing think pieces, and this post all about not wanting children is one my favourites of all time. It's one of my most strongly held opinions, and it's something that's not talked about nearly enough. I got some really lovely feedback on this post from women who felt exactly the same and were judged just the same, and I'm so happy that my writing can create forums for important discussions like that. Side note, another 2 years later and I haven't changed my mind at all (for any "you'll change your mind when you're older" naysayers). My beautiful child-free life is one I want to continue.
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I always love writing my end of year blog posts as I'm quite a reflective person who enjoys the nostalgia and looking back at things. But last years was especially fun to write with it's year-in-numbers theme. Working out how many new restaurants I'd tried had even me impressed at myself!
Things I'm glad I did when I was younger
See? I love the reflection and the nostalgia and getting in my feels about life. This one was a fun one to write, as I looked back on my early twenties and pondered over all the things I was glad I did. Pulling together this list is also making me realise that I've just always been exactly who I am, because reading back over old posts I feel exactly the same as when I wrote them.
I've kind of given up over the last couple of years (mainly because I ran out of new theme ideas) but I used to always write a blog post for International Women's Day. While I liked all of them, I think this list of women who inspire me was my favourite to pull together. From historical icons to fictional ones, I'm still enamoured with the women I chose back in 2018 (except Margaret Thatcher).
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Why confidence is the most attractive thing you can wear
As a confident person, I've always seen it as my duty to sprinkle that confidence everywhere that I can. I've written blog posts about how to believe in yourself, how to succeed in your career, how to wear whatever you want to wear. This blog post all about why confidence is so important made it into my favourites above the others because like not having children, it's one my most strongly held beliefs. Go and have a read and see if I can sprinkle a bit of confidence your way too.
The greatest things I ever did
This one feels a bit like inception as, if you go and have a look, the final item on the list of greatest things I ever did is 'start this blog'. There's also some nice things about living fearlessly and straightening your teeth on there!
Reasons why SATC remains a feminist beacon in 2021
Having just finished yet another rewatch of Sex and The City (how many times can I watch it? The limit does not exist), this blog post is feeling even more favouritey than it did before. Because what a beautiful thing it is that a series this feminist, this forward-thinking and this female-centric was created in the nineties! Socially problematic elements aside, this series was truly perfect and every time I rewatch it I notice an extra little message about women and female friendships that I hadn't remembered from last time. Writing all about why I love it so much was definitely a blog highlight.
Jenni goes Stateside: california dreaming
Where would this blog post be without an honourable mention for all my travel content? I've been to 36 countries, explored 18% of the world and I go on holiday pretty much every month, each one earning themselves a dedicated blog post. I've got my Jenni goes Stateside series, my Jenni goes East series (which I'm hoping to add to this year), and I'll soon be introducing a Jenni goes to Milano series. I included this Stateside post in the favourites list for maximum nostalgia and to celebrate the 10 years - it wasn't necessarily my favourite one to write. Ironically, my travel blog posts are sometimes my least favourite to write. Or should I say, they're the ones I put off writing for the longest, because I know how long they always take me and what a mammoth task they can be. But I simply love sharing my experiences and any tips or recommendations from my travels, so it's certainly not a segment that's going anywhere any time soon. Unlike me, who has plenty more holidays coming up on the horizon!
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