I’ve Been Shortlisted as a Finalist for the UK Blog Awards 2018!

On 2nd January I received an email informing me that I had been shortlisted as a FINALIST for the Uk Blog Awards in the dating category. I couldn’t believe it! Out of 4,000 entries, I am down to the final 6. The judges will be deciding by the beginning of February who the winner is and they will be announced on 20th April at an awards ceremony.

Even as I’m writing this, I still can’t believe I’ve been shortlisted. I started my blog on a very hungover Bank Holiday Sunday in 2016. I was supposed to go to Thorpe Park with my housemates, but having stumbled home at 7am from a night out, I couldn’t think of anything worse than getting up 3 hours later to go on rides that would probably bring up the contents of what I had drank the night before.

So I bailed on the house trip, but decided I need to find a way to spend my time productively so the day wasn’t completely wasted; it was a bank holiday after all. That was when I decided to set up my blog. I had been mulling over the idea for a few months and after having watched Shia Labeouf’s video that told me to JUST DO IT, I did it. I didn’t ever think anyone would read my blog, I just wanted to create an outlet for my thoughts on love and dating in the 21st century. I have a huge passion for writing, I’ve written a daily diary since I was 10 years old (I’m hoping they will  come in handy for an autiobiography some day!) and I’ve written heaps of novels and short stories. I just love to write, I love to lose myself for a short while in a topic that really gets to me or crafting together a story that’s been swirling around in my mind.

Whilst I choose not to write graphic dating posts (mainly because my 80 year old grandma reads every single one of my posts) I am extremely honest in what I write. Especially when it comes to past experiences I have had with men and relationships. It can feel both cathartic and terrifying to share my inner thoughts and worries with the world, but what surprises me every time is the volume of responses I receive to everything I write. I love knowing that people from all walks of life and ages read my content and can relate to it in some format.

My favourite post I have written so far was From Soulmate To Stranger. The events happened all of a sudden in work, and as soon as they did I wanted nothing more than to go home and write about the experience and the sadness I felt from it. It was comforting to know that so many of you had experienced the same thing.

My most overwhelming post has been Why We Should Learn To Be Happy On Our Own. It had taken me so many years to reach a point where I didn’t rely on men for my happiness. I couldn’t believe how many of you were either struggling with the same problem or grateful for the fact that I had shared my story and some advice on how it’s possible for anyone to reach that moment of inner happiness.

During a terrible relationship I had last year, my blog was my solace, my place where I could vent how I felt about certain elements of relationships without explicitly expressing it to my then  partner or anyone else. That relationship was the inspiration behind many of my posts last year including: How Not To Behave On Social Media After A Breakup, Why We Stay In Unhappy Relationships, and Do We Expect Too Much From A Relationship to name a few.

Now that I am single and back in the (awful) world of online dating, I love to share my thoughts on whether Tinder Is Better Than Real Life Dating, (it’s not), Why Women Date Players, and why in a world where ghosting someone has sadly become the norm, we need to understand that more often than not, It’s Not You, It’s Them.

To every single person that has ever taken the time to read my blog or leave a comment or been impacted by anything I have written, THANK YOU! I still feel like a total novice as a blogger, but I am so grateful that my writing has left an impression on so many of you. That has always been my main reason for being passionate about writing and I’m thrilled beyond words that my desire to write to evoke emotion in others has actually become a reality.

Giulia x