Winning Highly Commended Best Lifestyle Blog in the Cosmo Blog Awards 2013!

Oh my word. I am in a complete and utter state of shock right now. Like, totally overwhelmed.

This evening, I was out hiking through the Bavarian hills with some colleagues and a tummy full of Schnitzel when I suddenly got 3G and my phone started pinging and buzzing away somewhat aggressively in my pocket. Obviously, I knew the Cosmo Blog Awards had been taking place in London simultaneously, but I didn’t want to get too excited purely because my phone appeared to be having a panic attack.

Being shortlisted in the Cosmo Blog Awards was probably the biggest achievement of my life, so I cannot even express in words how much it pains me that I couldn’t go the awards ceremony tonight. There were cupcakes and cocktails, makeovers and music, not to mention the opportunity to meet so many of my favourite fellow bloggers and the lovely Cosmo ladies. Oh, what an exciting evening it was bound to be!

But alas, I couldn’t go. As much as I’m loving being on my year abroad, travel from Germany back to London for one night costs more than my student budget can afford. I was feeling seriously bummed about it all, even more so as I followed the #CosmoBlogAwards hashtag on twitter in the run up to the big night. There was so much buzz and excitement building as everyone geared up for the glamorous evening, and I wish I could have been there so badly.

Instead of spending the evening incessantly refreshing twitter and crying to myself over what I was missing from Germany, I joined my new colleagues on a thoroughly organised (classic Germans) evening of hiking and dinner through the Bavarian hills. It was a beautiful, fresh evening and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. As I practiced my German, strolled through the pretty autumnal forests and stuffed my face with Schnitzel, I lost internet signal, and it actually helped take my mind off the Blog Awards and the pain of my FOMO.

As we walked home through the woods, torches in hand, under more stars than I’ve ever seen, I got the amazing news: I’VE WON HIGHLY COMMENDED BEST LIFESTYLE BLOG IN THE COSMO BLOG AWARDS 2013!

I genuinely cannot believe it. Utterly mad. This is going to take a while to sink in, that’s for sure. All this evening I have felt torn between wanting to dance round my room and wanting to cry. With happiness, obvs. It’s just crazy.

There are so many talented bloggers out there, and I admire so many of my fellow nominees, so I genuinely am astounded at this result. Anyway who reads blogs or knows anything about the blogosphere won’t be in the slightest bit surprised to hear that I came second to one of the biggest and most popular blogs out there, The Londoner. Congratulations, Rosie! I’ve had a lot of lovely congratulatory messages this evening, and I appreciate every single one.

Really though, I need to say an absolutely HUMUNGOUS thank you to everyone who nominated and voted for me. It means the absolute world, and there’s no way I would’ve got this far without such amazing support.

Over the past few months, my blog has become more and more important to me. I simply love working on it, sharing my musings and cultivating my little corner of the internet (it’s a cliché but it’s true), so to get this recognition absolutely blows my mind.

Actually, it blew my mind when I was shortlisted. This is on a whole other level. But I do put a lot of effort into my blog – I’m not going to pretend I only spend a few minutes here and there powing out posts because it’s not true. It takes time to put everything together, but I absolutely love doing it, so it’s amazing to hear that other people like what I do too.

OH GOD I’M STILL IN SHOCK!

Here's a picture of me being excited with my friends.

Sorry, I need to calm down. Just like when I found out I was shortlisted, I am alone tonight, so celebrations are involving a decaf tea and a fat-free yoghurt. Yup, even after the giant Schnitzel. You can’t say I don’t know how to party in style. BUT IT’S A-OKAY, folks, because I have all my lovely friends, family, and social media friends just a mere screen away, so virtual celebration is occurring.

My dad actually told me a mind-boggling statistic earlier this evening: out of over 43,000 entries, there are 28 winning and highly-commended blogs. If that’s not absolutely nuts, I don’t know what is. Oh, and here's the list of all the amazing winners.

It’s oh-so-exciting, and hey, I’m just going to put it out there: I’m proud of myself. I’m only 21 (just), and I’ve been building my blog in my free time around work and studying for the past few years. And it’s just so much fun! This is the cherry on the top of the cake. And there have been a lot of cakes. And bags. (WAHEEEEY!)

I don’t know what actually happened at the blog awards tonight, how the winners were announced or if I get a certificate or anything (I know I didn’t win so had better not get too carried away with myself), but needless to say, I’ll keep you posted of any exciting happenings which may or may not occur.

I must say a massive congratulations to everyone who was shortlisted and all the winners, as it really is a huge achievement. This is without a doubt the biggest and best achievement of my life. End of.

Equally, I want to say a huge thank you to everyone at Cosmo for organising the whole thing, and I don’t just mean what was undoubtedly a seriously swanky party! It’s such an amazing opportunity and platform for bloggers, and incredible that the Cosmo ladies give up so much of their time to sift through thousands of blogs. Over 43,000 actually. Did I already mention that? Sorry. Too excited.

So yes. Tonight I go to bed a very happy bunny. Thank you for all your support, and I promise to keep blogging to the best of my ability and putting all my effort into making Handbags and Cupcakes as wonderful as I can.