Happy Birthday Pain Oh Chocolat

Paris, France
2012

Can you believe that it has been over a year since the launch of Pain Oh Chocolat? Because I certainly can't. It has been a crazy year and this blog has definitely changed things for me. It has given me the confidence to share my work and opinions with you. Beforehand, I was always too shy to show any of the photographs I had taken over the years. With the launch of this blog, those photos are now available to you rather than being trapped in an iPhoto album on my laptop! The blog has also helped me develop my own sense of style - both in fashion and in writing. It has made me push myself to work harder and achieve what I desire.

I had been wanting to start a blog for months and yet always came up with an excuse not to (too much homework, not enough time... the usual!). But with the help and support of my mother, we decided to start thinking of a blog name. This took me a good few days (even weeks). I had spent the previous summer in Paris studying fashion photography at the Parsons Paris School of Art and Design and so I wanted a blog name that would represent my time in France. I came up with so many different names that represented Paris but did not represent me at the same time. Luckily one night, me and my mother were brainstorming names and when I told her what I wanted for the blog name, she suggested something to do with pain au chocolat - seeing as it is one of my favourite pastries and my mother and I shared a tradition of having them every Saturday when I was a little girl. I remember telling her that I liked the concept but it is too simplistic and does not have a twist. My mother then suggested that I could play around with the name. For example Pain O'Chocolat. And that's when the way of writing the blog name came to me. I started the blog that same night (on the 3rd of March 2013) and the rest is history...

I know I'm always being optimistic, but I do believe that this blog will open many doors for me in the future. It is my portfolio and my way of communicating with different people - from loved ones to strangers. I aim to commit to it fully in the future once I have completed my time at university. I look forward to the future opportunities, but for now I am going to take the process and development of this blog one years at a time.