text: What It Feels Like To Have An Award Winning Dog Blog - Wear Wag Repeat
  What It Feels Like To Have An Award Winning Dog Blog
  Over this blogging journey I have had the opportunity to do more things than I ever imagined. To name a few… I love creating videos with Lucy and hearing everyone's reaction to them. We've gone on many photowalks discovering cool places and even cooler people. And I get excited every time a photo is reposted by a new creative Instagram account. But so far, nothing has been quite as exciting as receiving an award for Best Pet Blog Design at the BlogPaws 2017 Nose to Nose Awards! Since I didn't plan much in terms of an acceptance speech, I want to take this opportunity to share what it feels like to have an award winning dog blog. So buckle in for a slightly longer than usual post today!
  The dog blogging community is such a uniquely welcoming and supportive place. I'm so happy that I got involved with the bloggers who are part of BlogPaws a few years ago. Sometimes when you spend a lot of time online you get a sense of competition amongst other bloggers and it's easy to compare yourself to others in terms of followers, photos, appearance… this list goes on! But what's so amazing about the dog blogging community is that I don't feel that at all.
  Every dog blogger I have met online has been so sincere and supportive of each other. These are the kinds of online relationships that make this whole blogging journey worth it! And I got to meet a ton of them in person at the BlogPaws conference in Myrtle Beach.
  Earlier this year, I was over the moon when I found out that I was a finalist for Best Pet Blog Design. The panel of judges for the Nose to Nose Awards is comprised of industry experts, many of whom look at blogs and social media all day long. So they have seen it all! All of the other finalists are amazingly impressive too! Check out most of us in this photo from the red carpet.
  Throughout the conference I was humbled to meet people who follow Lucy and I online and I really enjoyed hearing what everyone is working on with their own blogs. There were so many newbie bloggers there and I'm so excited that they get to start their journey surrounded by such positive, supportive people. The whole conference led up to the Nose to Nose Awards on Saturday night. I made sure to tell everyone all week that I was a finalist, but there was no way to gauge how it was going to turn out!
  Saturday evening, Lucy and I got ready for the red carpet. I wore a vintage dress I bought in Palm Springs earlier this year and my lowest dressy heels (that are still pretty high!). I made Lucy a matching bandana with fabric I had lying around the house. I think we looked awesome, I love how coordinated we were with each other! It was so fun to see how dressed up everyone was after having a pretty casual week. There was plenty of sparkle on the bloggers and the dogs! We hung out all night with the dog moms from Gal's Best Friend, The DIY Dog Mom, The Broke Dog, I Party With Bruce Wayne and Bridle & Bone.
  Best Pet Blog Design Winner
  We settled into the dinner and my nerves started to build up as I waited for our category to be called. Like I said, I did not prepare to win this award so when Wear Wag Repeat was announced as the Best Pet Blog Design Winner and Lucy and I made our way to the stage I was overcome with excitement! I can still feel how wide my smile was when I walked up on stage. I don't think I've ever smiled so big before! You can watch the live feed from the whole awards show, in case you weren't there!
  When I started this blog (and even now), some people thought I was crazy to do a fashion blog for dog moms. Sure, the theme has shifted a little bit along the way, but I always believed that there were other dog moms out there who care about style as much as they care about their dogs. We're definitely a niche within this big pet business, but wining this award has given me the confidence to keep moving forward and to discover more women like me!
  I feel so lucky to be recognized by my peers and industry experts for all the work I have put into Wear Wag Repeat. I believe a lot of my success is due to the amazing talents of Branded by Brit who created my logo and web design in 2016. Hiring an expert to help me come up with branding colors and other elements was so worth it, and I feel that if you want to take your blog seriously that it's worth the investment! To hopefully continue my success, I might perhaps plan to look into certain design tutorials myself, such as this tutorial here as just one example! Keeping up to date with web design trends and learning more about it could have me winning the next Best Pet Design Award!
  Now that I am and award winning dog blogger, you better bet that I have been telling everyone about it! I hope that this honor will help me take my blog to the next level and grow the number of people who benefit from the joy Lucy and I try to bring to the world. One way that this award is already helping us do that is with a donation to the Humane Animal Rescue in Pittsburgh. All of the Nose to Nose winners were asked to choose a charity that BlowPaws would make a $500 donation to! How amazing is that! I'll be sharing more details on that as I find them out.
  To wrap this all up… THANK YOU for all of your support. For every like. Every comment. Every pin! Every time you think of Wear Wag Repeat, myself and Lucy it means so much to me! And thank you to Carl Kerridge Photography for the fabulous photos! All the photos in this post (apart from Lucy in bed and the selfies are by Carl).
  If you want to see more about our whole trip to BlogPaws, watch the video below I documented the whole road trip and all the dog friendly fun we discovered along the way!
  Kathleen Mueller	on June 11, 2017 at 9:01 pm
  Congratulations on the award!! I'm a tad jealous of the road trip! I had to fly. Boooo.
  Tori	on June 13, 2017 at 8:33 pm
  Driving down did make it into quite the adventure! Thank you for stopping by!
  Pattymac	on June 12, 2017 at 1:28 pm
  Congratulations! Well deserved, Tori! It looks like Lucy did great on such a long trip. I bet it was so fun to do that with her. There is nothing like having a dog for a BFF. The video was great, as always. It's fun following you and getting to know you both.
  Tori	on June 13, 2017 at 8:36 pm
  Thank you Patty! It was a little crazy to go on such a long trip together, but I think we both did really well! Having Lucy by my side really reminded me to take it a little easier than I normally would… take a nap break… a snack break… and a play break! Dogs are the best companions!
  Valentine	on June 12, 2017 at 4:40 pm
  Hi Miss Tori! My flat self, Flattie V, said you & Lucy sure did sparkle on the red carpet! Mom kinda positioned herself to the back in winners group photo. I wish she would've stood up front like you & Lucy did – that was smart! Cheers & many purrs to your BlogPaws win! I will eat a kitty treat for you to celebrate! Keep up the great blog! Mew Mew!
  Tori	on June 13, 2017 at 8:37 pm
  We kind of ended up in the front because we were towards the end of the line! "Somebody" yanked me around and made me spill my wine so I was trying to clean that up and scurried into the group photo towards the end!
  Heather Wallace	on June 21, 2017 at 1:19 am
  MWAH! You totally deserved it and I'm so glad that you and Lucy could attend this year. The Newbies rocked BlogPaws. Thanks also for the shout out and support! So happy to be considered a fashionable dog mom and celebrating with you. 🙂
  Tori	on June 22, 2017 at 6:59 pm
  Thank you so much Heather! I think I've finally chilled out after all the excitement, but it's taken me about a month not to tell every single person I run into that I won an award! LOL