I MADE IT! One year later and tayyebazeb.com is still here, you are still reading and I am evidently, still typing gibberish on the internet.

So this week marked my Blogiversary! A year ago I hit POST on my blog and sat waiting nervously in hope someone would read it… and believe it or not – I still do this every time I post! As I won’t get this moment again, I felt it was the right time to reflect on the past year, what I have learnt, some successes and what I hope to achieve in the year to come!

My favourite blog posts:

For me, the writing of posts is my favourite bit – I hate putting the pictures in and editing things as it all gets a bit confusing (and I ain’t that tech savvy). I would say there are a handful of posts which I really did enjoy writing as they either evoked a lot of emotion or just made me happy and these were reflected by the response I got to them!

After losing so many people in the last few years in my life – I knew I wanted to share my story of loss. When I wrote this, I remember getting teary at times and it was hard! It was made so so worth it though by the response I got! Y’all were crying with me.

Ahhh the sweet moments you forget about when you’re stressing over planning a wedding. One of the best moments of my life and when I was writing this – I was literally smiling from ear to ear. I cannot start wedding blogging more!!

The cattiest piece of writing I have done and YOU ALL LOVED IT. Haha, when my family read it they were like Tayyeba it’s just a big rant and I was like AND?! But every single person that messaged me just GOT IT and it made me happy! Probably one of my most read posts (maybe it was all those old friends aha…).

So I am an organised freak (well I try to be!) so I just really enjoyed sharing how I organise my finances and how you could really control your spending! Hoping to do more of this going forward!

This one was a great reflection for myself. Some great, great advice in this one and after writing it, I felt like such a wise owl!

Lessons learned…

I would say the biggest thing I learnt was blogging is bloody hard. Haha! It took me so long to actually pluck up the courage to start blogging because I knew it would be a big commitment but boy I did not know the half of it! It may just seem like some writing and pictures but the amount of posts which needed further editing because of coding glitches or times when I was panicking because there was just too much that needed to be done to complete a post. I completely respect people that do this as a full time job because the time/effort/energy it takes to produce good content that people want to read is hard!

Another thing I really had to master was knowing when to stop. And boy was this hard. My biggest fear when starting my blog was that I wouldn’t keep up with it and no joke – through some of the most stressful months of my life, I would blog consistently but find no joy from it – as it just became a focus. In Ramadan this year I took a massive step back and became more relaxed about it all. It was hard and I felt partly like I had failed but I had to put myself first.

I am working two jobs, planning a wedding, looking for a house, have a big family, trying to see my friends, go to the gym when I can and honestly blogging fornightly too – was just too much – and something had to give. I need my friends for my sanity this year more than ever, need to do all the others so I have become okay with just being more relaxed with my content for now. I still try and post at least once a month where possible but taking the pictures and editing content is VERY time consuming. I have finally come to peace with knowing that until my wedding in April – I won’t be posting fortnightly like I planned but I am very much still here and I am so proud that I stuck it out despite a tough year! SO YAY ME!

What’s to come…

So I think one thing I have realised is my posts on wellbeing/real life talk get the most views and feedback and tbh, they’re my favourite to write. I think going in to the next year especially, I am wanting to do more wellbeing/mental health style posts and want this to be a big focus for the blog.

I am also hoping to blog more wedding related things in the next few months! I am going to Pakistan in a couple of weeks to wedding shop and cannot wait to take you guys along with me! Following this all the wedding shenanigans will properly begin so hopefully I will document as much as possible, alongside some advice and things I have learnt!

I also want to experiment much more behind the camera! I have taken a few flat lays over this year which I have been proud of but I am looking forward to getting my own home where I can put more time in to experimenting with different props/decor etc. in my own space without getting in the way of others! I am definitely wanting to get better with flat lays and photography!


And lastly, I just want to continue more than anything. I want to keep tayyebazeb.com alive and after all the crazy of the wedding, give myself a proper chance to get in to the blogging world!

And lastly…
you guys! I never comprehended that I would receive the feedback I have. I have had the sweetest messages from people telling me how much my posts have helped them overcome difficulties, as well as sharing their own experiences with me, which is my personal fave! I genuinely can say it is you guys that have constantly read or messaged me that have kept me going. Thank you so much for your continuous support and love and for keeping this part time hobby worthwhile!

Here’s to another year of blogging! <3

I hope you’ve all enjoyed my content in this past year and if you have any suggestions on what I can do with the blogging year coming, please do let me know!

Tayybs xxx