100

2 milestones, 2 days. 
29 years old.
100 blog posts.
And with that ... just one year left before the big 3-0. 

When I started this blog back in '09 I had a mission in mind - this platform was to be an outlet to store thoughts and witty quips for my smart novel about women leveraging marketing principles to target and attain Mr. Right - the novel that three years later, I have yet to commence, and that very few of those 100 blog posts reference.

When I started blogging, I also had several Early Riser development goals that I covertly set out to achieve by age 30 - things like taking corporate America by storm, becoming a blogging best practice, and living happily ever after with prince charming. However, through time, as my subject matter, tone and writing style have shifted, so to have my goals and desired outcomes.

My adventures in the blogosphere have become more about the small wins than the big ones; being in the vicinity of success rather than the apex of it; exercising the communication skills I need at work in my personal life; and finding stories and angles that bring out the best writer in me.  

The old Early Riser would have looked at 29 years, 100 posts, with a critical eye - For instance, I'm not the CEO yet. I'm nowhere near it, and I'm not even as far up the ladder as some of my over-achieving millennial counterparts. Fail.

The new Early Riser has a different perspective though. This week I confidently put on a riveting webinar about volunteerism, received a gold-star performance review, and received back-up from my team when I forgot birthday snack on Wednesday in the form of a double chocolate caramel cake, a sin that Ellis girls would have Crucibled me for. Win.

The old Lo also would have criticized the tens of readers that go onto my blog each day. Tens. I broke the hundred mark twice this year. I also think I officially produced no content for the book. Better written skills perhaps, but no content. But new Lo analyzed the Early Riser statistics and found that the days that I performed best came when I produced content that was fun and easy to read, gave my family and friends updates on my life, and above all was honest and authentic. I found that I wrote best, when I wrote what I knew (but with a literary embellishment or two.) So maybe the book will have another angle now.

And am I living happily ever after? Well, the top two blog posts of my 29th year, seem to tell that story. You all tuned in more than a hundred times over when I got engaged and when I recruited a bevy of beauties to be by my side on the big day. Yes, I'm very happy. My dream came true. And ever after? That's yet to come. But if my birthday evening was a teaser, I think I'm on the right track.

Prince charm bracelet (the exact one that I wanted!) picked me up in a monster truck chariot, wined and dined me sumptuously to the point that the elastic on my day-to-night Cinderella frock expanded, got me back to my apartment before I turned into a pumpkin (my bewitching hour is a little earlier than Cinderella's though), and drove off into the night as I went to sleep to the sound of my blackberry buzzing like little woodland animals with messages of love and best wishes from friends and family.

Lo.