Happy Birthday A New Mode!

One year… I almost can’t believe it. It all started about a year and a half ago. Eric and I were on the phone and I was telling him how badly I wanted to start my own site. I had been talking about it for a while and Eric gave me the courage and motivation to stop talking and start doing. Once the seed was planted, we started brainstorming on ways to create a site that would bring something new and different to a world so heavily saturated with blogs. Exactly one year ago, I told you about our vision for ANM and from then until now, we’ve worked tirelessly to make the site everything we promised it would be.

I wanted to create a comprehensive site that covered a wide range of topics, the kind of site that I would read regularly. People told me I was being too ambitious and that I should narrow the site to a singular focus. All I can say is I’m glad I didn’t listen. Here we are, one year later, and ANM has become the one-stop go-to that I envisioned it becoming. While I absolutely love fashion, I wanted to go beyond the surface and examine what it really takes to not only look incredible, but to truly feel that you are an incredible being as well.

We have extensively covered fashion and beauty as well as lifestyle topics including tips to become more confident, how to achieve your goals, dealing with breakups, ways to handle criticism and so on, because those are the things that carry major significance in our day-to-day lives.

And of course, I have to mention the phenomenon that is Ask a Guy. When we first started the site, I would force anyone having relationship issues to send their questions to Eric. Now, we have questions pouring in by the hundreds! (I promise, we will answer each and every one!) When you ask most guys for advice, they’ll usually just tell you what guys do. Eric, however, really gets to the heart of the why, making this section a highly valuable resource for all of us gals. (Note: Ask a Guy: When A Guy Doesn’t Text Back is the most read post on the entire site!)

Obviously, Eric and I can’t know everything about everything, which is why I am so thankful to all the experts who have contributed to the site. Health and Beauty Expert Kimberly Snyder has taught us so much about eating for beauty and the impact nutrients can have on how we look and feel; Jackie Silver, author of Aging Backwards: Secrets to Staying Young, divulged her much sought-after tips and tricks to turn back the clock; Nicole Abramovici, Professional Organizer and founder of Genius Organizing shared tons of cheap and easy ways to reduce the clutter from your life; Sammy Davis, Stylist and Vintage Curator, has added so much to the site with her insights on sustainable style and vintage fashion.

I also need to give special shout-outs to our regular contributing writers. Stephanie Cain, editor at Wine Spectator and founder of ChuggingVeuve.com, is like our personal Martha Stewart and is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to wine (obviously) and home décor. Paula Lee has worked for several major fashion mags and her eye for style and love of accessories have made for some amazing articles. Our newest writer, Linda Vongkhamchanh, also has experience in the big leagues and her creativity, passion and knowledge are of such great value to the site. And a huge thanks goes out to our photo interns (Meagan Aguayo, Mike Kohn, Cassie Torda and Santina Amendola) for helping out with our very beautiful, but very time-consuming collages.

Okay I’m done with the acceptance speech!

I am so thrilled at everything we’ve been able to accomplish over this past year and am so excited for what the future holds. I really want to take ANM to the next level in 2010 and am devoted to making this site the best it can be.

As a birthday gift to ANM (and me!), please give us your feedback! What do you want more of, less of, or none of? What articles have been your favorites? What topics would you like to cover? We LOVE hearing from you, whether it’s good or bad (as long as it’s constructive and not mean-spirited), so bring it on! You can leave us a comment, talk to us on twitter, or e-mail me directly- sabrina@anewmode.com.

Thank you all so, so much for your support, we appreciate it more than words can say and hope that you enjoy reading the site as much as we enjoy working on it.