2 Year Blogiversary Giveaway!!!

Once upon a time, there was a girl who was writing a novel as part of a semi-masochistic writing challenge. The girl was angry because the novel was trying to kill her, so she ignored it for a bit and decided to start a new venture. A baking blog. Then the girl realized she only had two days to finish her novel, and didn't post again until more than a week later, her very first recipe post, these Banana Cookies.

That post was two years ago today. The girl didn't know much about blogging back then-- she still maybe doesn't know as much as she should-- but since that first post, blogging has become an irrevocable part of her life.

That's right, folks. It's the two year anniversary of my-first-recipe-post-because-having-important-things-during-November-is-just-no. Also known as a blogiversary. Woohoo!

I really didn't know a thing about blogging when I started, and I feel like there's an awful lot of things that I still don't know, but I thought I might share some of the things that I have learned:

1. Blogging should be fun. When it starts to feel like work, take a break. Yes, your pageviews will suffer, but readers don't want to read the thoughts of someone miserable.
2. If something's gotta give, make sure it's not your content that suffers. I don't have the time for a lot of promotion and social media, so my blog will probably always stay on the small side. But when it comes down to spending more time on Twitter or working on the blog, I want to pick the choice I can be proud of, even if that means fewer people see it.
3. Engender relationships with other bloggers. The blogging community is friendly and supportive. Having some bloggy friends is always useful if you need help or a guest post.
4. Write about what you like, not just what you think your readers will like. I don't like to restrict myself in terms of content, because I always assume that there is at least one other person out there like me, who likes what I do. Some of my most popular posts follow this rule.
5. People on the internet can be dicks. Accept this and move on. Don't respond to trolls, and ignore/delete/block anyone being particularly nasty. These people do not matter and aren't worth your time.

But you don't really care about all of that, do you? You're here for the giveaway. And I've got not one, but two. I wish I could give something to all of you, to thank you for the past two years, but then I'd be broke. This is the next best thing.

First up, we've got what I like to call the breakfast pack:

You've got a Belgian waffle maker, cinnamon palm sugar, red velvet cupcake coffee, and a pretty pink and brown mug to drink it in.

Next up we've got the baking pack:

Mini silicone bundt pan, cupcake cookie cutters, a set of measuring cup pinch bowls, and some cute color-coded measuring spoons. (There was sort of an accidental theme going on here: graduated and colorful.)

So that's two giveaways for my two year blogiversary. Get it? Which means there will be two lucky winners, chosen at random on December 16th. The giveaway is open to US residents ONLY. (Sorry)

Enter below (please note that all comments are moderated, so it may take a while before yours appears) And here's to another year of geeky, sugary goodness!

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