Happy 1st Birthday to my lil blog!!

What a year it has been…

My first post was on April 7th 2013, recommending the newly opened Jamie’s Italian. Since then, the blog has changed and evolved such a lot. I quickly changed my writing style, though I can still dribble on, originally I wrote lots more for each post. I’ve also come a long way with photography (though there’s a long way to go!). From my nervous beginnings – thinking that only 5 people would “like” my FB page to hitting 1000+ likers – I was very surprised! In October I had a re-branding to a shiny and bright new logo. That made me feel much more professional hehe

From month to month my little blog grew into something I’m immensely proud of. It’s also something I never thought I’d be doing. I’m so glad I gave it a go. I’m pleased as punch that I’ve found something I really love. Chef has enjoyed being dragged along to many meals out, even if he has to wait to eat, while I take pics of his food! There are several highlights from the year. Meeting many fellow bloggers from all around Australia, at the Eat Drink Blog Conference, in November was a fantastic experience. More recently, I was tickled pink when I saw my name in print – when my first monthly review in the Post Newspaper was published. That was a definite “tear in the eye” moment!

But it’s not all been a success… I gave up on the “52 recipes in 52 weeks challenge”. After completing the first 3 weeks I came down with terrible toothache and had to have my wisdom teeth out. I didn’t feel much like eating or cooking for a couple of weeks. The challenge I had set myself, to use my piles of recipes to cook something new each week, lost even more momentum when a few weeks later I had a bad case of food poisoning. Add in fussy eater Little Chef and the new addition of my newspaper reviews, it was just not happening for me. I apologise if you were following that post, perhaps I’ll revisit it in another form in the future.

Chef’s had a very busy year at work. Though that kept him from competing in the Dubai International, he was very proud to represent his country again when the Australian Culinary Team won gold in Pattaya, Thailand.

I want to thank you all for your kind words, likes and comments. On those days when I have writers block, it spurs me on! As lots of you will know, being a working mummy, with a 4 year old who still likes to get up in the night and a husband that works very long hours – it’s hard to get everything done and keep motivated sometimes. It’s encouraging and humbling when someone takes the time to send me a lovely message or email. It absolutely makes my day.

I’m very excited for what the next 12 months has in store. I can’t even begin to imagine where I’ll be at when it’s The Chef Wife’s 2nd birthday. There are many more new restaurants, cafes and bars that we are planning to go to. My “to eat list” is so long, I’ve had to create an excel spread sheet!! In just a few months we are travelling to the UK, so I will be blogging about everything from pork pies, country pubs, fish n chips to a few Michelin starred restaurants and a certain Mr Blumenthal. Little Chef is more excited about visiting Lego Land than all that though!

The blog has far exceeded anything I had imagined – If I could give each and every one of you a hug I really would! Thank you very much! I hope you’ve been enjoying the posts as much as I enjoy creating them 🙂

Here’s to another year of discovering great food and drinks in Perth!

Cheers, the Chefs Wife, Amanda xxx

PS This week I have a few special posts up my sleeve to celebrate my first milestone.