I’ve been blogging for skirt! since July of 2008 – four wonderful years. It’s been great. I truly love it.  I’ve gotten to express myself through my crazy jumble of words and friends and strangers alike have told me that they like what I do and that many times I’ve brought them to laughter and sometimes to tears. (Which of course is what every writer strives for – well, maybe not every writer – but certainly this one.)

I’ve gotten some opportunities to do some pretty cool things. Spanx invited skirt! to a pre-Oscar gifting suite last year and since the wonderful women who run skirt! are in Georgia and I’m out here in Los Angeles I’m the one who got to go and get the awesome gift bag full of booty. (Yes, pun intended!) I also got to attend a fun press lunch at a chi chi Beverly Hills hotel, have been given earrings, concert tickets, books and even some beer.

But the absolute best thing about blogging for skirt! is the other bloggers I’ve met. Both skirt! bloggers and women with fabulous blogs of their own – Tina, Kim R., Elizabeth, Cheryl, Kim P., Julie, Renee, and Ginger (and many, many others) – mwah, I love, Love, LOVE you ladies. My life is truly better because I’ve had the privilege to read the beautiful words that spill out of your soul and onto my computer screen. I cherish the friendships we have created.

But blogging for skirt!, as wonderful as it has been, has held me back in some ways too. The comfort, security, community and the built-in readership has kept me from starting a blog of my own. But now I think I’m ready. Now I think it’s time.

So with quite a bit of help from the blogging goddess Kim Tracy Prince, I’m jumping in with both feet and starting my own site. It’s nothing fancy, but it’s all mine. Hopefully it will inspire me to write more often. We’ll see.

As you can see my web address is www.charleneaross.wordpress.com. I had to use my middle initial because someone already stole www.charleneross.com even though they aren’t currently using it. (Rude!) And I have the wordpress in my address because I’m too freaking cheap to pay the $18 to get rid of it. Baby steps. One day I’ll pay it. Just not today.

You’ll notice there are a few posts before this. They are just skirt! blogs that I’ve double posted to get my feet wet in this WordPress world. I’ve still got a lot to learn about the “insides” of a website. But hopefully you won’t mind reading my crazy jumble of words while I learn.

My hope is that this site will not be “Look at me, look at me” (though let’s be honest, I do like when people look at me as long as I’ve had time to do my hair and make-up!), but more of a “hey this really cool-funny-ridiculous-happy-terrible-or-mundane thing happened to me and this is how it made me feel – do you ever feel that way too?” As a writer my hope is to connect with people. And to make them laugh. Most of the time my goal is to make people laugh. (And not because I stepped outside without my hair and make-up done!)

Please feel free to leave a comment so I know you’ve stopped by. (And yes, it’s sooo much easier than leaving a comment on skirt!)

And as always, thank you so much for reading.