I’ve been on a mission to build a powerful archive of my own pictures. I don’t always know what I’m taking or saving them for, but I’ve always had a feeling they would be helpful someday. That I would have the right picture for the right moment.
When the COVID-19 pandemic happened and we were all told to stay home, I didn’t want to be insensitive to my audience. It didn’t seem like the right time to do photo shoots for Instagram. So, I started posting throwbacks. Not baby photos, but throwbacks within the last 5-10 years from my camera. It seemed like the perfect time to take advantage of my archive.
The picture of Jessica Mulroney and I that I posted on the day of her series premiere? Taken 2 years ago. I posted 3 more latergrams before I posted a new frozen snack I discovered. I heated up SuperPretzels in the toaster oven and put them under good lighting on a red paper plate. Ta da, new post!
At the end of December 2019, I broke my ankle and basically skipped winter. I had a head start on adapting to work from home life, except I was really stuck at home unless there was decent weather and I found somewhere to go without stairs.
In March, I returned to the world and our office for 2 weeks with a newfound appreciation for basic things like holding Starbucks and my iPhone while walking at the same time, inspired by a Kim pic. I freshened up. I got my eyebrows and nails done. I also got my hair coloured at a new salon I discovered on Yelp that doesn’t stain my forehead in the process or cut layers on one side of my face. My mini makeover let me update my picture in my website’s sidebar and then I also added the starstruck emoji to cement that as part of my brand.
It felt great to be back, even temporarily. I only went to one event, but it was a great experience meeting Sabrina Maddeaux and having dinner with Susie Sheffman. Sabrina knows what’s hot and has made a career out of writing about it while Susie Sheffman has a lifetime of anecdotes about working in fashion. It was also nice to briefly say hello to Michael Landsberg who I blogged about after seeing him at Social Media Week.
That was a jam-packed night of meet and greets – my favourite thing to do. Now that’s all on hold. Concerts and events are postponed, so the chance to meet celebrities closeup seems like a distant dream at this point. What does that mean for the future of Hot On The Street? I’ll need to pivot for sure. Do I need to film more awkward TikToks to fill the content gap? Only time will tell.
I was hoping to do more to celebrate my blog’s anniversary this year, but like everything else, some things need to wait.
It’s officially been 10 years since my first post on Tumblr and it feels like ages since I wrote blog posts in a dorm room. Some of my old links are broken, Storify sadly shut down and I’ve lost some followers along the way. As one of my mentors would say, anyone who unfollows you is not your target audience. It’s a great way to think about it and forge ahead with new ideas. I ultimately value my archive more than any social media numbers and I’ll continue working hard to build it.
Congratulations, you reached the 10th paragraph. Thanks for reading and supporting my blog! Let me know if you have a favourite Hot On The Street post from the last decade.