I thought that it was time that I do a proper "About Me" post that goes
with the tab on the top of the blog. :-) The
last
one was just an old post that seemed to fit and I hadn't put
any time or effort into working on something specific.
As to the whole "about me" thing, my profile is actually fairly
accurate in what it says:
I love all things beauty and
makeup, reading and books, and also have a keen interest in cooking and
food. Combined with a husband who loves wine, we write a number of
blogs that align with our interests. I have two blogs: Deanna's World which focuses on all things
books and beauty, and Daz In The
Kitchen which
is my cooking and food blog. I hope you visit and stay around.
I'm very much a girly-girl, and I hope that this blog reflects it.
This blog reflects two of my main passions: Books and Beauty.
I get my love of both from my mother.
When I was a little girl, as little
girls are likely to, I would complain that I was bored. Well, all three
of us kids did. My mum would always say "read a book". I guess for me,
that piece of advice stuck because I have been reading for as long as I
can remember.
For the most part, I read for fun but over the last couple of years
reading has become so much more for me. My love of reading went into
doing it as a job (I edit and proofread for work) and also beta reading
and critiquing manuscripts of unpublished works for authors I know, or
who ask me to. I also started judging writing contests and that is
another fun reading thing that I do.
Of course, all this other reading means I read a lot less for fun but I
still have managed to average about 100+ (that's my goal each year)
books in the last 4 years, with last year being a high at 171 books.
With this blog, reading has taken on an added dimension as I've started
taking writing reviews for books I read more seriously. Writing reviews
forces me to really think about why I liked or didn't like a book and
to articulate it well. It has been many a challenging exercise for
sure.
The blog has also helped me connect even more with authors that I love
and am getting to know, and getting involved in helping to promote
their work through New Release, Cover Reveal and other author related
posts.
One thing I'd like to say too is that I do promote published works of
authors where I have beta read their first drafts previously. I only
promote the ones that I have read and enjoyed though, the ones that
have showed tremendous promise and the ones that have just blown me
away. I'm getting more and more selective with regards to who I beta
read for now as I am very time constrained, so I only work with authors
who I think are great.
So far, I am loving every aspect of the blogging process. Pray, I do
not run out of steam too quickly and this continues for a long time.
My mother also introduced me to fairy tales at an early age,
specifically Disney cartoons, and instilled in me a love of the
"happily ever after". Gosh, I do love a happy ending. That's why I read
predominantly romances. I need to know the good guy always wins and
that he always gets the girl. It also makes me a hopeless romantic.
As to my love of beauty, when I was
growing up, I used to love watching my mother put on her makeup each
morning and get all dressed up while getting ready for work. She always
looked so glamorous.
When I was 13 and hitting puberty, my mum bought me my first skincare.
I remember it clearly. It was a trio of Elizabeth Arden cleanser, toner
and moisturizer. She told me that I needed to start looking after my
skin if I wanted to stay looking pretty for a long time. That was the
start of a lifelong practice of a good skincare routine that became a
habit and plenty of vanity. My mother tells me the vanity is a good
thing, it means we care about how we look and we will make an effort to
look good.
To this day, my mum and I have lots of wonderful mother daughter
bonding moments where we have long girly chats about skincare and
makeup. We even have mother daughter shopping days where we spend hours
at Sephora playing with pretty things.
The love of all things beauty and makeup has spawned a
Youtube
channel, which I post a video a week. The channel is mostly
about makeup and beauty though I do throw in the occasional vlog,
cooking video or book review. The channel is a work in progress. I do
link each video that goes up with a blog post, or at least, I've
recently started doing so. I try to write some specifically beauty
related posts too but they are fewer than the book related posts. I
guess I just have more book content rattling around in my head.
Nonetheless, I do make the attempt and try for something at least once
a month.
Not about the blog per se, but it
contributes to my love of romance. :-) I am also happily married to the
love of my life. His name is Steve and he is my real life romance hero
though he looks nothing like what you see on a book cover. :-p I still
love him to bits though and think he's the most gorgeous man. He tells
me that I am blinded by my love for him. I'm OK with that.
Sometimes I wish the paranormal stuff I read were true and like the
vampires and other immortals that we could live for eternity because I
think that eternity is just about enough time for me to spend with him.
My life is fuller, richer, and better because Steve is in it.
A piece of relationship advice I got from my mother was "always treat
your husband like your boyfriend and that you are forever dating". It's
great advice. It makes the relationship fresh and romantic. You
continue to have stars in your eyes when you look at him and your love
will always be wonderful and new. It fills you with a sense of
anticipation and excitement each time you see him and you spend time
together.
There's more to say, but this is me in a nutshell. I hope you enjoy
this blogging journey with me.
Find me around SOCIAL MEDIA:
Deanna's World Youtube channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/langshipley
Deanna's World blog:
http://deannasworld1.blogspot.com.au/
Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/langshipley
(this is the best way to reach me, I will always respond to this the
fastest).
Twitter: @langshipley
https://twitter.com/langshipley
Instagram: @langshipley
http://instagram.com/langshipley
Pinterest:
https://pinterest.com/langshipley/
Cooking blog:
http://dazinthekitchen.blogspot.com.au/
