All the Ame

Two years ago today I took the plunge and created All the Ame. Five days later I plucked up the courage to hit publish on my first post, filled with all the awkwardness you’d expect from a first time, slightly clueless blogger. The post didn’t even have a title…(－‸ლ)

Did I know where I was going with the blog? No, not at all. I didn’t even think I was going to keep the ‘All the Ame’ title. I’d been writing product reviews for various companies for just over a year and all I knew was that I wanted to start writing some more light hearted and fun reviews in between my other work. The writing equivalent of a palate cleanser, if you will. Quite simply, I wanted to be able to have my own little space online to create and share content about whatever made me happy. I’m not really sure how I landed on Japanese candy and snacks, they were something I’d had an interest in for many years and they’ve always brought happiness but they weren’t something I was buying regularly at the time. Of course I’m the opposite these days as I buy entirely too many snacks (no regrets), but at the time it was a bit of a leap in the dark.

In any case, I’ve really enjoyed my time writing on this blog. I knew from the get go I was going to be considered ‘niche’ and didn’t expect a massive following, so to have gained so many lovely followers is amazing. I really do appreciate each and every one of you, thank you for giving me someone to keep writing for and indeed for providing me with awesome reading material through your own blogs ｡^‿^｡

I also didn’t expect to have the opportunity to work with so many great companies through this blog, it’s been wonderful discovering new things through you all. I hope the fact that others have been willing to collaborate with me means I really have improved in terms of the quality of the content I’m putting out there. I try to think so as I’ve tried damn hard, but it’s hard to know and really, self confidence has never been my strong point. Still, I’ll keep trying and maybe some day I’ll be good enough to live up to my own expectations!

Since I’m still under pressure in other areas of my life I can’t honestly say I have any solid blogging plans for the year ahead. It’s been an exhausting year and I feel it would be best to get back on an even keel in all respects before I push myself to do more on here. I’ll be continuing my monthly unboxing posts because, well, I enjoy them! Why else keep doing them, right? I’m aiming to start posting more individual item reviews again and I’m considering posting more off topic posts because as much as I love candy there are SO many other things I’d love to write about, assuming of course I can find more time to write. I’m making more of an effort with social media (check out my instagram for more frequent posting than here) and with interacting in general both on and offline, not an easy task for someone with long standing social anxiety but I’m getting there. I guess that’s why instagram is my current favourite, it’s much easier to communicate through photographs and emoticons than text! I don’t think I’ll ever get away from the snack reviews or subscription box unboxings at this stage and I daresay they’ll be the focus of this blog for the foreseeable future, but I would like to branch out just a little more on here. I’ll see how it goes, and I hope you guys will stick around to find out ｡^‿^｡