D.M.R. Fine Foods, The Blog, Celebrates 10 Years! (Pt. 1)

Time flies when you’re having fun and you look up one day to realize that your blog is ten years old and counting.  Ten years (*throws confetti*)!  It’s an amazing milestone for me, personally, as I think back to where it all began.

 

For a bit of catch up, before there was D.M.R. Fine Foods, the blog, there was D.M.R. Fine Foods in its solely food-centric incarnation that was born out of an idea that came to life during the holiday season of 2007.  So we’re celebrating 13 years of existence (woot, woot), with the companion blog having arrived on the scene 10 years ago.  This post reveals more details on my start and food story.

 

So back to the blog, as I’ve shared before, when I began, it was purely out of a passion to share my love for all things culinary, with no idea who would read, engage and find joy in my corner of the world wide web.  It was a disposition that has served me well and allowed me to remain true to the passions that brought the brand, and subsequently, the blog, to life.  To share, inspire, aspire, create and grow, authentically and organically.  And I could not have asked for a more blessed and thrilling journey to date.

 

As I take time to celebrate many of the special moments that have constituted this ride throughout the past ten years, I will be highlighting them here on the blog and on my social media channels and email list, so be sure you’re connected with me!  I believe my story is one of what’s possible when you dare to believe, share your gifts, put your best foot forward, trust God and nurture a growth mindset.  Despite the odds (or number of followers, subscribers, etc., and some of the other vanity metrics that often label “success".)  For me, quality has always outweighed quantity.  I’m proud of the work I produce, whether it’s on my blog platform, as a micro-influencer on my social media channels, an event host, a food writer, brand ambassador, media liaison, and so on.  Please know, if you put our your best (not someone else’s, but your personal best), that someone will feel it.  And quality work will live long beyond the latest trends, fads, etc. 

 

But rather than tell you, I also want to show what’s possible with that ethos in tow.  I’m happy to share that I’ve seen many of my dreams literally come true with D.M.R. Fine Foods, in what felt like serendipitous fortune.  So without further ado, let’s get this party started!!

 

The Early Years, 2010-2012:

 

My first blog post was published on August 15, 2010 and the blog was dedicated mostly to the culinary spectrum at the outset, but would soon expand in scope to embrace more of passions.  Besides my enthused foodie and recipe sharing on the blog, I experienced highlights such as:

 

Meeting and cooking with one of my favorite chefs (2010)

 

Being given my very own monthly food column, For the Love of Food, for a renowned regional publication, Atlanta Tribune: The Magazine, that would run in print publication and eventually also digitally for eight years! (2011-2019)

 

Winning a CookingChannel Recipe Contest and all the amazing accouterments, including having my recipe published on CookingChanneltv.com (2011)

 

Being a Guest Chef at Williams-Sonoma (2011)

 

Expanding my blog scope to include my travel and lifestyle passions (2011-present)

 

Being a featured contributor for Recipe Lion (2011)

 

Meeting, growing and collaborating with my community of fellow food and lifestyle bloggers and foodies (2010- present)

 

Collaborating with and having my work featured on Yahoo! (2012)

 

Being featured in HuffPost Taste (2012)

 

And more!

 

So you see, so much goodness can happen in a very short time span (and this was before Instagram was a boom! ;))

 

I look forward to continuing my celebration over the remaining weeks of 2020 and hope these shares will inspire you to pursue your dreams and passions and embrace wherever they may lead.

 

xo,

Dawn

 

 

D.M.R. Fine Foods, The Blog, Celebrates 10 Years (Pt. 2)

I'm excited to be back sharing more of the highlights and experiences that have made my D.M.R. Fine Foods blogging journey truly rewarding to date.  And I trust that the best is yet to come!  

In this installment, we're going down memory lane for the years of 2013-2015, and believe me when I tell you that they were some of the most progressive and thrilling years, following the amazing-ness of the early years.  So without further ado, let's keep this party train rolling!

2013

2013 highlights brought on the likes of amazing collaborations, including being a founding member of Popsugar Food Select which would segue into the publishing of five of my original recipes on the Popsugar platform and inclusion in additional round-ups, being acknowledged as Blogger of the Week among the cadre of fellow talented bloggers, and sponsored/ambassador campaigns for the Popsugar Must Have Box in the years to follow.  

My collaborations continued as a contributing blogger with the Travelista TV brand, expanding my reach for sharing my travel passion, tips and savvy with fellow travelistas far and wide.  Annnd, I saw another dream come true, as I embarked on my first (of several fully-sponsored/hosted) press trip to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.  Furthering my voice as a travel journalist and working with tourism authorities, all while taking in the best of a destination, couldn't have been more thrilling and fueling to keep indulging my passions with wild abandon.

2014

And then there was 2014!!! With momentum from the previous years flowing nicely, 2014 highlights brought even more awe-inspiring experiences.  I caught the bug for teaching culinary skills and techniques, while making food a fun and delicious endeavor, during my William-Sonoma days and in 2014 ultimately parlayed that into the realization of  my very own cooking school. (Can you say, dream fulfilled?!). As the pop-up concept was starting to catch on, and with a full-time corporate career in tow, I decided on a pop-up concept that would launch in the Spring of 2014 to raving success.  You can take in more of the amazing highlights from my Techniques and Tastings (TM) Pop Up Cooking School--and stay tuned for future offerings from this well-beloved DMRFF offering.

And if my cooking school wasn't enough, I added another pop up concept, in the way of my Holiday Pop Up Shop, to the mix with our initial launch in December of 2014.  My love of sharing my food with the "masses" beyond the world of media and bespoke cooking classes, was realized in this one-day format where I brought forth many of the recipes that had become customer favorites from my Holiday Sweets and Treats Menu catering days.  Again, I say, stay tuned for more on this front!

I also continued furthering my media and collaboration footprint covering events like the Taste of Atlanta Food Festival, restaurant reviews, being a contributing writer to the Travel Noire platform and crowning the year with another epic, hosted press trip and tourism collaboration to St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands!

2015

The hits just kept on coming with my 2015 highlights!  

I experienced more epic travel forays to new destinations (like Argentina and Uruguay) and repeat favorites (hello Paris and London and NYC), and more, to satisfy my travel passion. 

Back on the media/collaboration front, my footprint expanded to more festivals, including the highly regarded Atlanta Food and Wine Festival, along with more restaurant and food industry event reviews, including Restaurant Week indulgences and more.  I was also honored to have my first of four recipes, to date, published on the FeedFeed!

There was also the matter of having the James Beard Foundation give a nod to my food, accompanied by an award of dinner for two at the James Beard House!!!!! It still remains one of the most special memories in my journey to date--and a night I'll always remember. 

My byline credits expanded to include a lifestyle piece in the June 2015 issue of Upscale Magazine; another honor, indeed.  

And then there was yet another dream come true, as I received my first media invitation to cover the Daniel Silverstain SS16 New York Fashion Week collection (eeek!!!). To know me is to know my life-long (as in adolescent years forward) passion for fashion and my dream of attending fashion week someday.  

And to be clear, all of these highlights were in parallel with blogging my heart out here and staying connected through my social media channels. From 2010 until now, that has always been the format.

So much amazing-ness, so many memories, so much more goodness still to share.  I keep pinching myself and thanking God for all the richness this journey has served (and continues to add) to my life and expression as a creative.  Thank you for being here and for allowing me to share many of the good things that continue to make it worthwhile.  Stay tuned for more in the days ahead. :)

Happy Holidays!

Dawn

D.M.R. Fine Foods, The Blog, Celebrates 10 Years (Pt.3)

Soaking in my exceptional BHG Stylemaker Event in '18

Happy New Year! 

Without question, making it through 2020 was a feat--and one well worth celebrating. And before much more time in the new year elapses, I want to finalize my "blogiversary" celebration with this third installment covering the 2016-2019 years.

I hope you've enjoyed my walk down memory lane from the 2010-2012 and 2013-2015 installments and perhaps learned a bit more about me and what I've been up to on this front all of these years. Best of all, I hope you are inspired to stay connected with me in the days ahead because I like having you around. :)

In reflecting on the 2016-2019 years, they were years of continued momentum across many of the areas that had come to life and blossomed in the previous years, along with their own new noteworthy highlights.  So let's once again dive in--and enjoy!

2016

My 2016 highlights included the likes of more amazing travel, the continuation of my Holiday Pop Up Shop, my For the Love of Food monthly food column in Atlanta Tribune: The Magazine (2011-2019), continued food and lifestyle media coverage, more sponsored brand campaigns, including Groupon and Warby Parker, as well as PopSugar, being featured in the Vinings Lifestyle Magazine, and taking in that exquisite night to remember at the James Beard House in NYC that I was awarded in 2015, and enjoying a celebration among celebrations at the Red Rooster Harlem Cookbook launch party!! 

2017

My 2017 highlights reflect more amazing highs from my journey to date. From exceptional travel throughout the year, including another dynamic, hosted press trip to St. Croix in collaboration with United States Virgin Islands Tourism, it was another year for the travel books.

Beyond travel, the year brought on a new (and continuing) collaboration of epic proportions, with a cadre of fellow talented food bloggers, for a first of its kind Black History Month Virtual Potluck. It remains one of the key highlights of my blogging journey to date, as it gave more exposure and expression to our individual and collective voices, talents, stories and heritage, among each other, as well as on several renowned media platforms (including Food52, Blavity, Tasting Table, and more that would follow in the years to come.)   

My media footprint expanded(!!!)--to include television (a long-held dream of mine) via a series of holiday-themed segments on CBS46's, Atlanta Plugged In show, showcasing my recipes and entertaining tips, as well as a St. Croix travel radio segment that chronicled the best of the destination and travel planning tips, following my recent press trip earlier in the year.  

Continued collaborations, including existing and new media relations and social media campaigns, across more hotel, tourism, lifestyle and food brands, were definite highlights, along with more fashion media coverage for the Ragtrade Atlanta Fashion Week and Runway Show. 

2018

My 2018 highlights included more thrilling moments and experiences across the food, travel, lifestyle and media fronts.  From continued collaborations (BHM Potluck, food and lifestyle media relations and campaigns, etc.) epic travel, more sharing via television segments, this time on NBC's hit Atlanta and Company show, along with more fashion and lifestyle goodness from Saks to the Global Runway Fashion Presentation hosted by the Atlanta Airport, I couldn't make it all up, if I tried. :)

2018 was also the year I experienced one of my biggest honors on my journey to date: being selected as a 2018 BHG Stylemaker by Better Homes and Gardens magazine!!! An honor indeed, by all accounts, with the coveted spots reserved for a select few on an annual basis, I couldn't have been more thrilled to have been recognized by such a renowned and exceptional publication--and to have been in the company of my fellow ah-mazing Stylemakers--for an unforgettable event in New York City! From the day I was notified and invited until the very last moment of the event, I was beyond thrilled. (I know I keep saying it: but dreams do come true!)

2019

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, my 2019 highlights represented what was truly another phenomenal year.  As you might have guessed :), there was more epic travel (I added my fourth continent via Thailand and more new countries, states and cities to my footprint, as well as launching my own travel boutique), to more exceptional collaborations, media campaigns and recognition, across food, fashion, travel and lifestyle, including New York Fashion Week-adjacent media coverage at the MAN/WOMAN A/W 19 show, another phenomenal hosted press trip in collaboration with Arkansas Tourism, and a dream (to me) media collaboration with a long beloved brand, ESSENCE, among notable others.  

As I mentioned in an earlier post, my highlights always included my blog posts during the year, that were always done in tandem with every other amazing experience and opportunity throughout the years.  They can all be found in my archives section here on the blog, so feel free to indulge!

That brings us to the year we'll all never forget: 2020--and the actual culmination of my 10th blog anniversary, or "blogiversary", this past August.  So in keeping with my annual highlights tradition, I will dedicate a post to my 2020 highlights in very near future to conclude this memory bank/digital celebration of sorts. :)

I thank you for being here and being interested, engaged, supportive, connected and encouraging throughout my journey.  It has made it sweeter and all the more fulfilling--and I look forward to sharing more as the year unfolds. 

I wish you the best (healthiest, happiest, most fulfilling) year yet on your personal journey.

Happy Living!

Dawn