TECD Turns Three!

I am filled with gratitude as I write this post. It has been three wonderful and creatively satisfying years since I started my blog “The East Coast Desi”! The blog served as my creative outlet to share my home decorating journey, celebrate color and on a more purposeful note to promote Indian artists and brands that appealed to my aesthetic sensibilities.

But this entire blogging experience has been so much more. It’s been a revelation of sorts if you please:

• I’ve realized you will ALWAYS find the time for something you absolutely love. And for me, blogging is that one thing that nourishes my soul in ways that I never imagined. I feel so alive and ticking after I share a post with you’ll! 
• Inspiring others can inspire you in the process. With this, I’m referring to the heartbeat of my blog, my lovely readers. You’ve inspired me to push my creative boundaries and bring out the best in me. Your wonderful feedback and comments is a pick-me-up at times when I’m surrounded by self-doubt. Most of all, I enjoy reading the mails that say how TECD has inspired you to create beauty around your own homes! That is the moment when I hear the violins! Seriously, a big bear hug to each and every one of you who has stopped by TECD and shown your love, encouragement and unwavering support!
• Surrounding yourself with people who think positively can only rub off their good vibes on you. I’ve been fortunate to meet some very lovely, uber talented people through my blog. Their inspirational stories and love for what they do has been a catalyst in answering my own creative calling. (Shhhh……a lot is brewing here at TECD, the details of which I’ll be able to share shortly.)
• I’ve learnt that it is not the destination but the journey that needs to be enjoyed thoroughly. 
• I’ve understood that you can say NO and still be the nice guy. There is no room for feeling guilty about this when you want to keep the integrity of the blog intact and focus on putting out only the best for your readers.
• Living more purposefully has a whole different meaning……from the everyday predictable routine to the smaller things that would have been dismissed earlier in the busy ho-hum are more bearable and are taken notice of as my perspective on so many things has changed, thanks to my blog.
• Last but not the least, it has thought me that hard work and originality will always get you what you want! People will sit up and take notice and the fact that my name was included in the Wall of Indian Décor Influencers is proof enough.
  

Another significant segment of TECD is its Home Tour segment! The various homes that I’ve showcased on TECD have been so well received. Infact, this is the most popular segment on TECD. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank the wonderful home owner’s for so generously opening up their homes and sharing my love for inspired living. (FYI I have another set of wonderful home tours coming up this season.)

Once again, I am so grateful to you for following along with TECD on this wonderful journey. You are the driving force for me to stay devoted to this blog so long. I have so much more to share with you’ll and hope to see you around here for many more years to come………

Much Love,

Sruthi   

(Image Credit: Sruthi Singh, Do Not use the image/images from the blog without prior written permission.)

Happy 1st Birthday Blog !!!

Yes, it's been a year since I started my blog and Oh boy! What a creative journey it's been. Today, join me in celebrating this wonderful day with a little tea party outdoors:) 

Firstly, I'd like to Thank you for accepting "The East Coast Desi" with wide open arms and the love and appreciation has been overwhelming:) In the past year, we've celebrated home decor, photography, food, travel, seasons, festivals, chai time and the everyday life, right here on TECD !!! 

With summer sporting more mature gardens in deeper tones of green, the outdoors is a perfect place to enjoy a tea party.  

The initiatory thought behind starting a dedicated blogging space was to share my experiences in decorating my home and inspire my readers along the way to shape, enhance and accentuate their very own space. But over the past year, I've come to realize that TECD has grown to be much more than that. It's come to be woven into the fabric of my readers daily lives. It's come to be associated as a virtual archive for visual therapy through pretty imagery, as a muse when it comes to Indian interiors and color inspiration and also as a space to take a breather and enjoy some "ME Time" (while you sip on your tea, reading through the day's post).

Couldn't resist this tea pot sporting the paisley pattern. 

I'm often asked, what sparks my passion for blogging. And I find myself answering, "it has to do something with the act of creating". Let me elaborate on that. My need to make my home a personal retreat through the process of curating, designing and styling is a creative exercise. When I'm consumed in this process, it's like I'm almost in a meditative state and the rest of the world melts away. And as I blog and share it with you'll, the act of creation is magnified. 

Containers from my spice box are used to hold snacks for the outdoor tea party.

Blogging has been both eventful and gratifying. If I have to weigh the success of my blog in tangible terms, it's these mile stones I'm so proud of having achieved. (It may sound like I'm bragging but humor me today as it's my blog's birthday). To mention a few : A 22 page spread in the April issue of the "Curated" Magazine; Spotlight on IKEA Family Live Facebook  and India Circus Facebook; Rated top 10 Indian Interior design blogs on IndiBlogger (as of June 2014 stats); Showcased on the best Indian Home/Design blogs such as My Dream Canvas, Aalayam and All Things Nice, Mentions in the press - Indian express and Times of India (Times Property - photo shown below : article dated March 28, 2014) and 135 refreshing and artistically stimulating posts.

The East Coast Desi's  festive decor inspiration featured in the Times Of India.

But in intangible terms, it's my enthusiastic readers appreciation, interaction and acceptance that makes it all worth while. While my blog is brought to life by photographs and text, it is really the many encouraging and supportive readers who give it soul. Be it the growing members via Google Friend Connect or the host of like -minded friends who connect through Facebook, I am grateful to each and everyone of you who stops by every single day and showers me with their wonderful compliments and appreciation!!! If my blog brings a smile to your face and you know of family and friends who would enjoy this blog, then I kindly urge you to share the link to my blog, as my blog thrives on promotion by my wonderful readers (via word of mouth and Facebook). 

I would also like to thank my wonderful family and friends (close to home and in the blogging fraternity) whose unwavering faith and confidence in me, has been instrumental in the success of this blog. Love you guys:)

All it takes are a few accessories to create outdoor spaces with indoor comforts.

The journey has just begun and my blog and I have so much more to share with you'll. We have some wonderful home tours, decor inspiration, giveaways and more coming up this year. I have come a full circle in my blogging year. Happily, it is a circle and I'm ready to go around again.

Images: Clicked by me. Please do not use without prior written permission. 

Images are the property of Sruthi Singh and subject to copyright.