Woah, April seemed like it was here and gone in a flash! A lot happened this month, and I am so excited that May is here! Here is our "Dash of Sparkle" In April, we traveled to the Okanagan to visit some family for Easter, I started yoga again, started the seeds for my garden this summer and hit some serious "blogger burnout".
Easter Trip to the Okanagan
We decided to take a super last minute trip out west for the Easter long weekend to visit some family, and I am so glad that we did. Both of us are in love with the Okanagan area, so it doesn't take much convincing to get us in the car! We had a lovely low key weekend playing board games, enjoying some drinks in the sunshine, and visiting. Some of you may think a 9 hour road trip for 3 days is insane, but we are those people and we LOVE it! We have another trip further west out to White Rock planned for this summer, and I already can't wait!
The magnolias were in full bloom, and I could not stop staring at them! ?
Growing the blog
I put a lot of time and focus into figuring out how to get more eyeballs on my blog this month. The number one tool I started to use was FoodGawker. I submitted every recipe on my blog this past month, and the traffic increased significantly.
I also fully organized my editorial calendar in Google calendar for the next 4ish months. I don't know why it took me so long to do it, but I have found it coming in really handy and I love the sleek design and ease of use. If you are looking for a good quality platform to set up a calendar, I highly recommend using the google calendar built into your gmail account. I have been a paper and pen girl forever, but now I find I am leaving my planner at home. It also seamlessly syncs with your iPhone calendar so you can literally edit or add to it from anywhere.
Major "blogger burnout"
Since I started Whipped It Up in the fall, I have seriously never even stopped thinking about my blog. Not one minute has passed that my brain wasn't going a mile a minute. I have even woken out of a dead sleep with something blog related on my mind, and I have had to jot it down immediately. That cant be healthy right? Lol.
Last week I hit a wall. For a few days I could not even bring my self to login. Writing a post was not happening, I couldn't even edit pictures (which is one of my favorite things to do!). I took it as a sign, and shut off for part of the week and the weekend. Since I took a mini break, I feel so much better and inspired again! But let me tell you, for a few days I thought I was just going to pull the plug and throw my laptop in the garbage.
Third Winter
As any Albertan knows, winter loves to play games with us. One minute its 20°C and the next -10°C and snowing sideways. All the snow had melted, and the trees had already started to bud, then BAM! A huge, gross storm plowed through. The night that it happened we had some friends over to watch the hockey game, we had a BBQ earlier in the night and besides it being a bit breezy out, it was acceptable. Then we watched the hockey game, opened the door 4 hours later and this is the scene that greeted us!
I should add, we have a 10 foot covered front porch, and the snow still made it all the way to the door!
What's New on the blog
In case you missed it, this month I posted some pretty awesome recipes! I am beyond proud of these recipes, and they have been receiving some amazing feedback! Be sure to check them out!
#1- Lemon Meringue Cheesecake
#2- Salmon Wellington
#3- French Macarons
Starting the Garden
Something you may not know about me, is I LOVE gardening. It was bred into me as a small child, my grandmother gardened, and we had a small vegetable garden in our yard for years. Every year I try to have a small garden in our yard. I find it fascinating and so rewarding to grow produce, and then get to turn it into something delicious!
I started the seeds on April 22nd, which is a bit late, but I knew we were going to be away for a few days in the middle of April so I decided to wait until we were home. Those first few days are pretty crucial that the soil stays damp and happy!
The picture below was taken on April 30th, so one week and one day after I planted the seeds. It is mind boggling to see how quickly these babies grow! Tarragon, Parsley, Basil, Cucumbers, and Leeks are planted right now. I will be starting spring onions outside this coming weekend! (I am praying that winter has left us for good!)
I will be posting regular updates here, and on my Instagram page. Let me know if you would be interested in a tutorial on how to start seeds from scratch!
Well, that wraps up another month for us! May has some exciting things coming for us, including our first camping trip of the season, and (hopefully) some sunshine! Thanks for reading, and we will see you all soon!
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