Rosemary Meyer Lemon Drop on JillHough.com

A toast to 2013

Before the new year is upon us, I’m taking a moment with a festive cocktail to appreciate some of the accomplishments of the year that’s wrapping up.

I resolved to cook more often, and did. I started making my own bread, most of my own ice cream, regular batches of mayonnaise, and, inspired by one of my favorite sources, I’ve even dabbled in yogurt. I’m having a good time, both making the items and to being on the lookout for others to incorporate. And it’s really satisfying to continue to reduce my dependence on processed food.

A toast to that!

I officially became a professional photographer, turning my office/guest room into my office/photo studio and getting paid to take almost forty photos for five different clients. (Here are a few food photography samples.) Already, two projects are deck for 2014, with a potential third. Very proud of all that.

I committed to being a more successful blogger—better photos help, don’t you think?—and social media-ist. So I attended a food bloggers conference, which had some highs and lows, and redesigned my web site, which also had highs and lows (still working out the bugs). In the process, both blog subscribers and site visits have more than doubled. Veeeery cool.

(But there’s room for more—subscribe here.)

My site had its busiest day ever, thanks to this post. And I had my most popular post ever, by far, in this post, which included my most pinned image. Who’d’ve thunk a little minestrone would make such a big impression?

A toast to minestrone!

To sum the year up, you know, it’s nice to see efforts paying off and goals being achieved. But perhaps even better, it was another year of eating and drinking, and sharing about eating and drinking, and getting paid for it. And that’s pretty amazing. Thank you for helping to make that happen.

A toast to you!

How was your 2013?

All my very, very best for a happy, happy new year. XOXOXO

Rosemary Meyer Lemon Drop on JillHough.com

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