It’s Our 3rd Blogoversary!

Posted January 6, 2017 by Melissa in Uncategorized / 15 Comments


PEOPLE! THE BLOG TURNED THREE TODAY!

AAKJSAJKDHAKJDJKAK I cannot believe it’s been THREE YEARS since I posted my very first post on this blog! THREE YEARS, YOU GUYS. 

How is this possible?!!?!? I remember how nervous I was to open my own blog. I didn’t have a clue whatsoever on how to manage it,or how to join blog tours, get authors to agree on interviews, and well, everything bookish that we do in this community. And I don’t really think that I’ve mastered all of this, but I do think that I have gotten better. 😉

What I do know is that these past three years have been amazing and all kinds of wonderful. I have made so many friends and best friends, grown as a writer and a professional book pusher, started a #bookstagram, contributed in other websites, and so much more! And honestly, everything is thanks to this awesome little blog called The Reader and the Chef. This blog is my heart and soul. I have worked so hard to get to where I am today and I’m really proud about it. Extremely, ridiculously proud.

Just the other day, I listened to my dad proudly tell a few of his friends about my blog, about my hard work (and my sister’s who is the chef), and my other contributions to the bookish community. And guys, for my dad to mention it, to actually say “The Reader and the Chef” is such a huge accomplishment. I swear I almost cried with joy. We have often argued about my time spent on this blog and books, and over the years he has softened to the idea. To the point that he now takes me around to buy stuff for bookstagram! (And now I feel like crying as well, it’s just that this makes me so happy *sniff*).

Anyway, I don’t really want to bore you to death, so I will quickly tell you about my blog’s and personal accomplishments/stats since my last blogiversary:

  • My sister & I started our Bookstagram in 2016! As of now, we are close to 2,700 followers. 
  • This blog reached 638 Bloglovin’ followers (yay!) and we average 6,000 pageviews per month!
  • I have 2,890 followers on Twitter ♥
  • I won NaNoWriMo 2016 with my best friend Becky from Book Nerd Addict.
  • This means that I’m writing a book!
  • I also got to beta read The Broken Ones by Danielle L. Jensen. ♥
  • I joined YA Books Central as a staff reviewer and a few days ago I became Co-Manager of the Instagram account. ♥
  • I stopped writing reviews on Kate Tilton, Connecting Authors & Readers but I’m now contributing other types of bookish posts.
  • Um.. let’s see… OH, last year I won a huge box of books from Maximum Pop Books. It was awesome!!! 25 books ♥
  • Aaaaaand, I can’t remember anything else LOL

To sum it up, last year was an amazing year and I’m super happy to have reached this new milestone!

Special thanks to:
– Kate Tilton, for all of your support and friendship.
– Danielle L. Jensen, for allowing me to discuss your books endlessly.
– Becky, for being the best friend ever.
– My sister, for putting up with me every day.
– Jasmine, Erika, and Sabrina – My Aldrik support group! ♥
– Alex from The Book’s Buzz & Jessica, best reading buddies I could ever hope for!
-Helena, Sarah K., Brittany, Eileen, Raneem, Jordan, Jazmen …  you guys rock!
And thank YOU, my lovely friends & readers here on the blog, on Twitter, and Instagram. Thank you so much for all of your support, for your comments here, for following us on Instagram, for your friendship and for wanting to talk bookish with me. I seriously love you all so much and I thank all my lucky stars for being part of this amazing community and for letting me be a part of your lives. I feel super lucky today and incredibly blessed. ♥

That much. ♥



Giveaway!
To celebrate our blogoversary, I’m giving away:
 – A signed copy of The Broken Ones by Danielle L. Jensen, prequel to The Malediction Trilogy (AKA my favorite YA series ever).  Will be mailed once print copies exist.
– Two envelopes full of book swag / signed bookmarks of: the Air Awakens series by Elise Kova (Water’s Wrath, Crystal Crowned, The Crown’s Dog), The Alchemists of Loom by Elise Kova, The Malediction Trilogy by Danielle L. Jensen, Daughter of the Pirate King by Tricia Levenseller, Vicious by V.E. Schwab, and a few more things!
There will be three winners (one for the book & two for the swag envelopes). This is of course INTERNATIONAL.  Good luck and thank you so much for stopping by! ♥

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15 responses to “It’s Our 3rd Blogoversary!”

  2. Jordan @ForeverLostinLiterature

    Yay! Congratulations and happy blogoversary! That is such a wonderful accomplishment, and I think it is so great that you have such wonderful support from your dad and how he talks about your blog with other – that part definitely made me smile! I hope you continue to have an awesome time blogging, I know I will definitely continue to enjoy all of your posts. 😀

  4. Agustina Z

    Congrats Melissa! Happy Blogoversary! Love your blog! Yay! You've accomplished such amazing things, looking forward to read your book 😀

  5. Tanya Atkinson

    Congratulations on 3 years, Melissa! And how awesome that your dad has come around and is so proud of what you've accomplished. That has t be a great feeling. And it's so great that you get to share this with your sister!
    Tanya @ GIRL PLUS BOOKS

  8. Jazmen ThisGirlReadsAlot

    *tears* You know I love your blog, and I love you guys! This will always be one of my go to blogs. I think I've been around as long. I just never celebrate it. Yay for all of your accomplishments and the ones to come!

  10. Erika E.

    Aww, you awesome lot! Congratulations on your 3rd blogoversary. Seriously, you deserve all the achievements and acknowledgements you're getting, and I know you'll get more in the future. I am a really proud matey here. :p Keep it up! I love you always, girl! ❤❤❤