Happy Blogiversary to Me...and a Giveaway and a OKL Sale

Well love buns, it's day 365 here on B&B.

One year ago today, I took a giant plunge in the deep end and posted this...

Here Goes Nothing

Sure it was kind of lame but it held within a few short sentences, the promise of something huge...something that would truly, change my life...god that sounds like a gross cliche but it's true.

When I started this blog I had ZERO, and I mean no idea how much it would come to mean to me.

I naively thought that I'd post some pretty pictures, pretend to know what I was talking about and maybe, just maybe, a few people would leave some nice comments.

What I didn't have a know/realize/have any flipping idea about was how much this little pocket of cyber space would mean to me.

It really has changed the way I look at myself...at my voice.

This blog has forced my brain to exercise in a way I didn't even know it could...it's taken my fat, lazy creativity and whipped it back into the kind of shape sweaty yoga would do to my ass if I had any desire on god's green earth to let it do so.

PS on that antedote...at 37, I'm officially choosing face over ass...(thanks Meredith for that piece of genius)...for you 20somethings out there, you'll know what I'm talking about WAY sooner than you think.

B&B has become the avenue in which I allow myself to feel pride...in me.

It's shown me paths I had no idea existed...it's given me friends I would never have known and already thank multiple dieties for.

Bijou and Boheme is and continues to be the daily love diary of yours truly and I thank you from the absolute pits of my heart for liking it and for liking me...really at the end of the day, that's what it all comes down to isn't it? 

We all want people to like us...to appreciate us...to really see us...thank you, thank you for being the best kind of affirmation...you remind me daily how truly amazing and huge and yet small the world is.

I love you endlessly for it.

And to say ta in a big warm love ball kind of way, I have a little treat.

A few weeks ago I made a pretty fabulous purchase.

In a moment of impulse, I emailed an artist and practically begged him to sell me one of his paintings.

This arrived literally hours later...

And I smiled- big.

The imagery, the realism, the message of this piece...just so good.

That girl actually feels like me...well not actually 'me'...she's like 20 and has a WAY better chin than I do but...I see how I think and dream echoed very clearly in those brush strokes.

{I warn you know that I'm about to go way in the deep end with the mush....if you want to look away, I totally understand.}

I honestly feel like B&B has become my way of 'listening'...I've finally put those giant headphones on and heard what the big guy/girl/Kahuna in the sky is saying.

And for that, I am grateful beyond words.

To thank you all for your part in making this blog such a fabulously special thing to me, I've decided to offer up 'Listen' as a present...and just to be totally open and honest, I have thought about keeping this loveliness over the past few days... multiple times...just look at it on my fireplace...

But...as I said, it's special and you're special so I'm GIVING IT AWAY!!

To win this amazing 12x12 original, please just leave a comment below telling me why you love it.

That's it...no extra entries for doing anything...just say hi and cross your fingers...oh and please do visit the amazing shop of Brent Schreiber and make him one of your Etsy favourites- he deserves it...for that I'll give you an extra chance...so two in total:)

I'll draw for the winner on Sunday.

And with that, I'm sending you one last giant I adore you kiss.
Thank you for making Bijou and Boheme what it is...a place I love and I sincerely hope you do to.

Oh and because it's one splendid kind of day, don't forget that tonight is zee BIG night...the
Design-Blogger Tastemaker Sale...

on One King's Lane goes live at exactly 6 PST/9 EST...set your clocks...this pile of boxes is set and ready to be delivered...

and I promise you, there's plenty a pretty inside...and I SO hope you like it all.

I'm also quite sure that the 8 other bloggers taking part will have curated the shit out of their collections.

Hope your credit cards are ready on the Freddy.

I love you.

xo