Wow, here I am at an internet cafe in Singapore, finally getting to my blog after a whirlwind 24 hours. There is no internet in my room at the hotel(just my room, how ironic for a blogger but they assure me they are working on it!) so I’m here with a whole lot of teenage boys playing Lan games and updating the blog.
But the biggest news so far is that last night I won ‘Best Fashion Blog’ in the Asia Pacific region at Nuff Nang’s annual blog awards. That’s right mum, I won!
The awards are judged by journalists, celebrities and the Nuff Nang directors, the score is then combined with reader votes.
So I truly have you guys to thank for getting me here!
I was up against some very stiff competition- Bryan Boy, Monoxious, Fashion Nation and Super Kawaii Mama– and I truly thought that in that company, it was nice to be included but a win was out of the question.
When they called my name I was fossicking through my bag looking for my lip gloss, and my dear friend Lois Lane who is travelling with me had to save me from falling off my seat.
I managed to hold it together for the acceptance speech that was completely impromptu as I had prepared nothing.
I kept it short, but as the blog is a nice little platform for self publishing(!), please bare with me while I say everything I have since thought of but was too shocked to even process last night.
Long time readers will know who most of the people that I refer to are, but if you are a new reader not all my family and friends like the lime light so they have nice little code names. Here goes.
I started the blog 3 years ago as a wardrobe look book and street style photography blog because I believed that Melbourne had plenty of style that the world just hadn’t seen yet. I’d lived in London and Sydney and came home to Melbourne with big ideas and a very little audience.
I would like to thank Mother and Father Melbourne for reading the blog when no one else did, and for encouraging me to pursue something that to a lot of people is quite foreign….’You write a blog? Is that like myspace?!’
I am lucky to have a family that is supportive and loving and I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Brother Melbourne who is in London and was convinced I was going to win- yes, I should have written all this down! Thank you for believing that I could make this happen.
His Lordship, well you put up with very late nights listening to me tap away, constant photography and incessant phone use. Anyone that can survive living with a blogger deserves an award and I share this with you. I love you!
Ok, ok, so if you are still reading and haven’t puked yet, here is my little tribute to you, the reader.
When you start a blog you wonder if anyone is going to actually read it, and I know that I was addicted to my google analytics for a long time, watching it crawl from mum and I reading it to maybe 50 people a day to what it is now.
I have worked on the blog almost every day for the last three years in the hope that you will come back and read what I have to say and enjoy the pictures. Blogs are about community and I couldn’t ask for a better or more supportive community than that of Lady Melbourne readers.
Your comments, emails and the fact that you blag off work on a Friday afternoon(yes, my analytics tell me that!) to drop by has meant that I have this award today.
It is impossible for me to thank you individually with hugs or a cocktail, all I can promise is that I will keep on taking photos, posting about Melbourne and generally trying to create something fun for you to read.
Thank you to Imelda for support from the very beginning, your skirt lifting ways have helped the blog in more ways than one!
Lois Lane who is my travelling partner on this trip- I simply could not have gotten through the last few days without you. x
That’s it, enjoy the photos and I look forward to many more years of blogging with you guys ahead!
Lady Melbourne and Erica Bartel from G.W.A.S nominated for ‘Best Entertainment Blog.’
Lady Melbourne and Ming Shen, founder of Nuff Nang.