Welcoming a new era

As I ring in a new decade, I ring in a new me. The opportunity to create a position for myself. I’ve been the stay-at-home-mom-oh-that’s-all-you-do since Addie was born, and while I defend myself (well, I also write is my canned response), I knew the time to declare my worth was becoming more real. If you’ve seen the blog recently (hello, you’re here!), you may have noticed a bit of a facelift.

After a year, I decided to self-host. And after two years, I got myself a fancy designer! Samantha from Neapolitan Designs.

I first read about her on my friend’s site- Mod Mommy– which blew me away. Clean lines, easy-to-navigate site and a modern look were all something I wanted, but I was falling flat with my site. Standard header, crowded sidebar, hard to find follow buttons and, worst of all, my main page was one-note. Clutter… so much clutter, and yet, so bare.

You get my point.
My site was not what I wanted to convey- besides good (patting myself on the back) writing and reviews- I needed a site that was easy to navigate for both readers and potential sponsors. (We all need to eat!)

I contacted Neapolitan Designs on their website, submitting all my details and before the week was up, Samantha had emailed me back. We got a great conversation going and she got started right away with questions to help guide her process. This was the mess I gave her:

Somehow, she got through all of it and gave me beautiful previews, of which I got to tell her what I did and did not like, sending her back to the drawing board multiple times. Each email seemed to come quicker and quicker- all leading me to the perfect design.

In the midst of it all, my color palette proved to be too modest and bland and the template I loved was discontinued.

Cue the 3 weeks it took of me asking Dave what he thought, making a million pictures to compare them all side by side and then cutting and pasting all sorts of fonts. And then I emailed it all to Samantha who dashed her ideas into the mix and then we got there. My site was put live so I could view it and I was enamored.

My beautiful header and logo are screaming with CHELLEY! My love, my kids, my adoration of pregnancy and every earthy morsel of life. I love how Samantha captured my play-on A is for… by helping me come to the idea of an apple, and then altering that apple until we got it right.

Colors, fonts, picture placement and about 100 emails for this liftoff to occur, and here it is… just in time for my 30th birthday. For years I toiled away at events, which I love. Catering, food service, organization, planning, planning, planning… While I will always volunteer my time (and maybe someday get back into the fundraising sector), for now I will write. not just well, but in a beautiful setting, made and designed just for me.

Here’s to a new decade. A new me. And my career.

Thank you to Samantha at Neapolitan Designs for her attention to detail, ability to read between the lines and love of her craft.