10 Years of Blogging
I’ve officially been blogging for 10 years! I published my first blog post on my original blog on September 27, 2013! (I was in Europe over my actual blogging anniversary, which is why this post is coming at you a bit late.) Back then, my blog was called Twenty-Something Simple and it lived on Wordpress.com. If you’ve been reading since then, WOW (and thank you SO much). It’s funny to read that first post again. At the time I felt like the blogging world was already saturated! If only I knew then how saturated it would become, ha.
In early 2015, I attended my first blogging conference (well, my only blogging conference so far) and decided to rebrand to Cotton Cashmere Cat Hair shortly after. I remember someone at the conference asking me about my blog name and what I’d do with it when I turned 30. I honestly didn’t know if I’d still be blogging at 30! I also learned about Squarespace at that blogging conference, so I made the switch when I rebranded. Most people recommend Wordpress.org to new bloggers, but I heard about that too late and now it’s too much of a hassle to switch, haha. (I’ve been fine with Squarespace, though! I still recommend it since it seems easier than Wordpress.)
In honor of 10 years of Cotton Cashmere Cat Hair, let’s take a trip down memory lane!
10 Years of Blogging
Twenty-Something Simple (Sep 2013 to May 2015)
Cotton Cashmere Cat Hair wouldn’t exist without Twenty-Something Simple! I really felt proud of that first blog name besides the fact that the abbreviation was TSS and it made me think of toxic shock syndrome every time. 😆 I started blogging as an outlet while in grad school. I was in my second year of my Master’s in atmospheric sciences, living in Utah, and had just adopted Sybil, my sweet calico. I honestly can’t remember what my hobbies were prior to blogging. Ever since I started, that’s what I’ve spent my free time doing when not in school or working.
The summer prior to me starting my blog, I got really into personal style. I became obsessed with ModCloth and discovered the Style Gallery. It was there that I discovered blogs. I started submitting my own photos and then decided to start my own blog because it looked fun! The main purpose of my blog was to document my style as a grad student. I used this site as basically a style diary for years. I did not know how to blog “properly”; I didn’t know what SEO was, what affiliate marketing was, and how to use social media to promote my blog and grow. My photos were TERRIBLE! I cringe every time I see them. It hurts to share them again for this post, but I figured you should be reminded of where I started. We all start somewhere!
Grad School (through Spring 2017)
Using my blog as a style/general lifestyle diary continued through my grad school years. In addition to documenting my outfits (up to 30 a season; I was publishing new posts every other day back then!) and doing fun style challenges, I documented when I was thinking about continuing on for my PhD and then when I decided to go for it. I documented my day in the life as I was nearing the end (this post always cracks me up because I’d love to have that same schedule now) as well as my final defense! I also shared what I wore to an academic conference, the cool NASA internship I did, and why I decided to leave academia after finishing my PhD. If you’re curious, I also wrote out my entire academic journey!
I really leaned into the grad school content for a bit (and should have done a lot more when I was actually in grad school…if only I had known about SEO then!), but now it feels a little weird to write about that stuff now that I’m so far removed from it. It feels like things have changed a lot since I was a grad student! I re-share posts I’ve written because they’re still driving some traffic, but you probably noticed that I’ve reduced the number of new grad school-related posts.
Real-world Job (Summer 2017 to Present)
After completing my PhD, I joined the workforce! I still blogged my personal style as I transitioned into a new normal but had to cut down on the number of new posts I was publishing because I needed to sleep at some point, haha. I’ve been working at the same place since 2017, and last fall, I was promoted and now I have a team! I don’t talk about where I work or what I do exactly on here or social media but I do use my degrees in atmospheric sciences every day. 😉 I was very lucky to get the job I did out of grad school; it was a tough market and the only interview I had! (And my job had nothing to do with atmospheric sciences when I started but evolved over the years.)
My style also evolved quite a bit during grad school and again when I started my job. I’m lucky in that my workplace is quite casual for being an office setting, so I could still wear the majority of my wardrobe. I just don’t wear shorts, short skirts/dresses, anything sheer or low-cut, or jeans with lots of holes (not that I own any of the latter, haha). I love sharing casual work outfit ideas, though I wear a lot fewer actual office outfits now that I work from home the majority of the week! That was one major change because of the pandemic.
Everyday Life + Travels
I feel like as a whole, my everyday life hasn’t changed that much. It’s just not that interesting! My two cats, Rosie and Sybil, have been with me the entire 10 years I’ve been blogging. (Rosie is now 15, and Sybil is nearing 12.) I’ve also had a couple of relationships, and it’s interesting to go back and read older posts sometimes. I’m not the type of person to delete photos of exes on Facebook, so I’m also not going to delete old content just because it mentions an ex. It’s funny, Korri used to read my blog regularly before we became a couple, and since then I don’t know that he ever reads it anymore LOL. I can mention him and he doesn’t even notice!
One of my favorite parts of blogging is documenting my travels! I love it and feel like I don’t do enough of it. (I also wish I had the time and money to travel more, but alas. I just hope my trips inspire your own and remind you to take your PTO!) I’ve visited some pretty cool places since I started blogging 10 years ago: I added Austria, Mexico, Cook Islands, and Honduras to the very small list of countries I’ve been to. (I also just recently added Germany!) I also love visiting national parks and have finally crossed off all five of the Utah national parks plus some others in Colorado and Washington.
Content Evolution
Cotton Cashmere Cat Hair started as primarily a personal style blog, and I largely still think of myself as a style blogger. In years prior when I’d talk about my blog with people, I was very adamant that I was a STYLE blogger, not a fashion blogger; I felt like I was not qualified to be a real fashion blogger, but I could ramble on about my own personal style all day long, lol. I used to share around 30 outfits every season. I loved documenting my outfits in my own personal style diary and sharing what I was up to that day/week. I can really see how my style changed over the years thanks to all those outfits and also by sharing my seasonal budget updates!
Over the years and especially once I decided I did want to earn some money and learned about SEO and all that other fun stuff, I started adding more helpful content like clothing reviews, style tips, and how-tos and just general advice about whatever I thought would be fun to write about. I started writing lots more about Idaho, since I love it here (for the most part) and love to inspire people to come visit. I share even more helpful content now across a few different “pillars” but actually haven’t shared a simple outfit post since 2022! I’m not sure that I can still call myself only a style blogger… I’m probably more of a general lifestyle blogger now? I still share lots of style content but don’t like to limit myself to just that topic!
I truly can’t believe I’m still doing this 10 years later, and my baby blog is doing the best it ever has (I’m finally starting to see my hard work pay off…not so much in actual money yet, but in page views at least LOL). I’ve had some pretty cool opportunities come my way because of CCCH, and I’m excited to see what happens in the future! I have big dreams!