A Bee's Life: Miss Mouse Speaks

I was introduced to the wide world of blogging back in 2003. All my college friends at the time had LiveJournal accounts, and I wanted in on the action. Finally, I got my invite and I could begin blogging! Mainly my LiveJournal blog was a series of inside jokes between my roommates and me--accounts of our drunken shenanigans, from Michael Jackson dance parties to sneaking into bars with fake IDs. I eventually lost interest in my account once we all graduated and moved on to the next phase of our lives.

Once in law school, I started to obsess over blogs like Go Fug Yourself and Cute Overload. I had not yet been bitten by the wedding bug. Then one fateful day in Constitutional Law class, my good friend Mrs. Kitten (at the time not yet a Bee) introduced me to Weddingbee. I was instantly hooked! I can even remember the first post I read--it was all about hand canceling stamps. Of course I had no idea what that was, but pretty soon I was down with all the wedding lingo, from chiavari chairs to Goccos to FMILs.

Witnessing my addiction firsthand, the future Mrs. Kitten suggested a few days later that I apply to be a Bee. I was like, "No way, I'll never have time to start a blog. And even if I did, why would they pick me?" But the seed of the idea was planted, and it continued to grow and grow.

A few months later, Mrs. Kitten became a Bee, and I was so excited for her that I almost felt like *I* had become one! At this point, I had already started blogging, but I really didn't have the hang of blogging for Weddingbee's audience yet. I was so caught up in trying to be clever that I totally missed the point. When I had less than eight months to go until my wedding, I sent in my application. A month later, I got a rejection. I was pretty devastated, but I decided to keep trying. I tweaked old posts and kept cranking out new ones at a steady pace. Something still wasn't clicking. Maybe the wedding just wasn't close enough yet for me to have really concrete ideas of projects or visions for the decor.

The more I thought about it, I just wasn't ready to give up the idea of being a Bee. I had thoroughly enjoyed blogging for an audience (at the time my 12 followers!), and I wanted to write for a wider readership. I also really wanted the support of such a great group of bloggers and readers to help get me through all of the drama that planning a wedding inevitably brings. So I tweaked my application one last time, while continuing to blog. However this time, I was a lot more focused. As I wrote each post, I could imagine it appearing on the Weddingbee home page. And this time, when I reapplied to Weddingbee, I didn't tell a soul. Not even Mrs. Kitten or the Dude. I guess I didn't want to jinx it, as I felt this was my last real shot at becoming a Bee.

When I got the acceptance email from Mrs. Penguin three weeks later, I was on a high. I felt like all my dedication and perseverance had paid off. The best news was the coveted (by me, at least) Mouse icon was still available.

The past three months of blogging for Weddingbee have been amazing. It is an adjustment when your posts first go up on Weddingbee and you start getting lots of comments. In the first few weeks I would take comments that disagreed with me way too seriously, but I eventually realized that most commenters are genuinely trying to give advice or simply share their opinions.

It's been a slow process of trying to develop my Weddingbee persona because I find it very difficult to put myself into a category. I'm often contradictory, and I change my mind almost constantly--sometimes without realizing I changed it! I think it is important as one blogger among many to make your personality stand out in some way--not forcing it or faking it, but possibly exaggerating certain characteristics in order to be memorable. This is just an ideal to strive for; I obviously have not accomplished this because both my wedding and my personality are all over the place. Hmm, maybe that's my "thing"--I'm eclectic. :)