Irish Blog Awards 2014 - Yay, I've been nominated!

On Friday night I returned home a little bleary eyed. Thursday was my final day in my current role and Friday saw me enjoying some refreshing gin and tonics in the hot and humid Manchester sun as a final farewell with some awesome work colleagues. When I arrived home sometime before midnight, I took it upon myself to scroll through Twitter. Low and behold I had received a few tweets with one in particular congratulating me on my Irish Blog Award nomination. I replied with a "Say whaaaat?".

I quickly jumped onto the Irish Blog Awards website and discovered I had been nominated in the category of 'Best Disapora Blog' (sponsored by The Irish Dairy Board) and had made the long list. I was delighted to say the least, squeaking with happiness and abruptly woke the boyfriend to tell him of the news. He wearily congratulated me and I knew too well, in his slumbered state he was not taking the news in at all. This is the first time I've ever received a nomination in the Irish Blog Awards and its amazing to know that someone (the delightful Claire Ann tweeted me to let me know) has taken the time to complete an application and suggest me as a worthy winner. To receive that digital nod for the first time made my evening and its more than nice to know that the words I share are not only read but appreciated too.

The Irish Blog Awards celebrates the best in Irish blogging and this year, will crown 32 worthy winners on October 4th in the Westgrove Hotel, Clane, Co Kildare. What excites me most about being selected for the long list is the opportunity I now have to discover, view and read other blogs I've never heard of or come across. The chance to discover people who are just as enthusiastic as me about blogging and who share the mutual passion to write and publish words and thoughts, often personal in nature online. I've a funny feeling my Twitter and Bloglovin feeds are about to rapidly increase!

What happens next?

Well, over the next few weeks a group of independent judges will view my blog and mark it according to a score sheet set by the Irish Blog Awards themselves. The best scoring blogs in each category will be compiled into a shorter list with the final list being released on August 22nd. If I'm lucky enough to make the next round, 70% of these marks will make up the final score with the remaining 30% of marks coming from a panel of judges made up of sponsors and renowned bloggers. 

It's all very exciting and fingers crossed for the next round! Go light a candle, tell your granny to say a prayer at mass and help a blogging sista out!

Image Source: Irish Blog Awards