Blog Botox

by Mom101 on 06.13.11
in blogging about blogging

When I don’t post for a few days, I get a little twitchy. When I can’t post for a few days, it’s amazing how seriously twitchy I get. Over the past five years, I’ve become so accustomed to having a thought and getting it down on virtual paper, that when I am somehow unable–work, lack of internet access, falling down a rabbit hole–it’s like that missing limb feeling.

But! Now you see I’ve had a perfectly good excuse. Surprise!

Behold the brand new, fancy, 2011-esque blog complete with the 2011 bloggy stuff you kids are using these days. I think they’re called plug-ins? Eh, I can figure that out later.

Don’t panic, all ye change-averse readers. It’s the same Mom-101 on the inside. Just imagine that I sent the old blog in for a little Real Housewives-style retouching last week, with the hopes that you wouldn’t trade me in for a younger, newer blog. One with perkier HTML and more bounce to the CSS.

I must admit, there is a part of me that will miss my sad, brown, off-center banner that I made myself in a fit of misguided art direction envy–then never changed.

Old Mom-101 blog
RIP old Mom-101. It’s been swell.

I’ll miss the days that commenting took precedent over sharing. Although I sure do love the sharing. I’ll miss the days that linking back to others was more important than linking back to yourself. (Which is why I decided it was important to maintain a blogroll here, even if the list needs some major freshening up itself.) And I’ll miss the notion that once, in the early blogging days back when we killed our food with our bare hands and fashioned the pelts into clothing without fear of PETA retribution, what your blog looked like was significantly less important than what it read like.

Still, I’m as superficial as the next gal, and I cannot stop staring at my pretty new blog. (It is pretty, right?) I must give huge thanks to the talented Elan, aka Schmutzie of Ninjamatics for design work that makes even a picky advertising chick happy. And more thanks to the fearless Dawn Blanchfield of Elfini, who completed a the scariest Blogger-to-Wordpress move in history without turning to the liquor. That I know of.

To go with my pretty new blog, there are some other 2.0-y things that I’m experimenting with. Like a Mom-101 Facebook page. Be warned: I have no idea what to do with it. My last suggestion was to use it to have a key party. Only Jeff seems to have liked that idea. Also, I think it’s time to write a page here that tells PR people that, crazy though it sounds, this blog is not a hotbed of activity for household cleaning product reviews and giveaways.

With all due respect to you household cleaning product review bloggers, of course.

I’m sure I’ll also want to do other things to like update my about page, figure out what some of these WordPress things mean (“Multimedia Box Code?” WTF?), and oh, say, find the entire lot of comments from my first six months of blogging that did not make the import. I’m sure they just got stuck on an A train running on the local track because of heavy weekend construction. They’ll catch up soon.

But the most important thing that I’ve brought to my new pad: You. Thank you.

So…what do you think?

{62 Comments}

62 thoughts on “Blog Botox”

  2. I love it, it’s gorgeous. Congrats on the big move.

    How weird…when I had mine moved it ate comment from the beginning too. Odd.

  3. Gorgeous! Congrats! It’s totally fab, a perfect little freshen with a lot of impact. (Reminds me I need to pick up my thread with the talented Schmutzie and finish my own blog design.)

  5. Looks great. Feels like getting a great new haircut, doesn’t it? Congratulations. Also, you may need to change your banner, as apparently it does look like you know what you’re doing. 🙂

  9. It looks great! Congratulations.

    (But secretly I really love that a second page doesn’t pop up when we comment)

  11. I like your shiny, new look, but I must admit change is hard for me. I might just bookmark this post so I can visit the old banner now and again. As someone who was reading your blog way back in the day, I can say that right? Change is good, though.
    If they have nerd merit badges for surviving a blog migration, you’ve earned the right to wear it.

  12. Love. Love. Love.
    And it gives me hope that I’ll survive my new branding process and move to WordPress 🙂

  13. Love it love it love it. Bossy’s own blog is in dire need of a facelift, but for now will hide itself behind too much eyeliner. (Whatever THAT means.)

  21. I love the new look, and what I love even more are your words. Especially these “I’ll miss the days that commenting took precedent over sharing. — I’ll miss the days that linking back to others was more important than linking back to yourself.”

  24. Wait…what? I still HAVE 3 pelts waiting to be fashioned into clothing. How’d I miss that edict??? (you think I’m joking, don’t you?)
    I like it. Plus, I think you can still focus on your writing and people will come to read. 😉

  27. The blog is VERY pretty. But more importantly, you now have threaded comments, which makes me much more likely to engage in conversation in the comments. Can’t wait to jump in more often…

  30. I love the new look of your blog and have loved reading your blog for a while now. Thank you for saying what you do and keeping it real. Seems like many people are moving to WordPress from Blogger – how come you made the move?

    1. I just wanted to be able to do more – social media integration, simpler page navigation, comment threading (like this!). I gave Blogger the benefit of the doubt for a loooong time…but they never came around, especially with social media.

  31. It’s very pretty!

    The only thing I’m not crazy about is that when I scroll down the blog roll it sometimes disappears. That’s a little weird. The rest of it looks great!

  32. Looks fantastic! But it didn’t show up in my Reader. Or maybe I just didn’t recognize it with all the glamour?

  35. I did a double take. Seriously! You’re little corner of the interwebz is lookin’ hawt over here, Liz! I’ve been at wordpress for almost a year (thanks to Caitlin at Rent-a-Geek-Mom), still haven’t figured it out, but it kinda makes me feel like a badass anyway. I love that your retro winking lady is up on the left. She’ll always be so Mom 101!

  39. I found your blog today from a @parenthack tweet about this post. I think the design looks great, but honestly, its your writing that really blew me away. You should be very proud of yourself.

    1. How nice Brad, thank you!
      (Although now I feel pressure to say that in a more clever way.)

  40. Ahhh, you’ve come to the dark side. Welcome. So good to see you on WordPress!

    Now I only need to send my “you should consider switching to WordPress” vibes to Girls Gone Child and Hyperbole and a Half.

  41. Hmmm, think I see a new trend, love the look Liz. Congrats on the facelift.

  42. Love the redesign, it has all the elements just right – gorgeous! And I’m picky. (Not that you’d know it from my messy, desperately-in-need-of-a-redesign blog.)

  45. Lovely! Although now who can I use as an example of “see you don’t need a fancy designed site to be awesome”?

    1. Thank you! I’d say have a gander at pretty much every shelter blog. So many of them are “unfancy” if simple and beautiful. Take a look at Say Yes to Hoboken which is still on blogger.

  46. Yay! An in-your-face RSS button! Something every blog should have. Easy to find = easy to follow. And I’m following you now. 🙂

    Very nice blog makeover. Far more impressive than any real housewife “freshen up”.

  48. looks great!

    (it took me a while, and your ghost post over at the old place, but i’m here now!)

  49. Looks great! I’m feeling a wee tad self conscious about my off center, self-made banner now…THANKS. Haha, just kidding.

  51. It is big, beautiful, and very mod.

    Looks like blogging on a whole nuther level.

    It looks so Jetsons, in a good way.

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