Why I Updated My Website and How You Can, Too (For Under $200!)

Hi guys! I made some updates to my site. Sometimes you’re just in the mood for a refresh, ya know?

I launched my website, originally called ‘from prosecco to plaid’ in December of 2011, so I’m coming up on 8 years – ah! You can see my first post EVER here. Kinda funny. I first launched on blogger (remember blogger or was it called blogspot? Is it still around?) and it was the most basic, boring site – there was essentially nothing to it. Then about 6-8 months in, I worked with a web designer to revamp it and move over to WordPress. It was in MUCH better shape than my little DIY blogger site. 

Fast forward to a couple years later and I hired another web designer (Hi CKO!!) to completely re do it. The site had evolved, I had grown and changed, and it was time my little corner of the web reflected that. At this time I also said farewell to ‘from prosecco to plaid’ and put everything under the Julie Lauren umbrella. 

Over the past couple years I’ve made minor tweaks to the site here and there, but over the past couple months I did a much larger “overhaul.” All on my own! Well, sort of. 

I purchased a template through EmPress Themes along with a few plugins. Lisa over at EmPress was SO beyond helpful with some questions I had along the way. I absolutely loved customizing the site, and really had fun doing it. I am soooo happy with the finished product. I know I’ll be tweaking things along the way for months and years to come, but right now I’m thrilled with it. 

If you’re on your phone, it might not look TOO different to you, but if on your iPad or computer, you’ll be able to really see all the changes. 

If you’re looking to update your site, I highly recommend checking out empress – I did all of this for under $150 ($142 to be exact!). Everything is so user friendly and explained so thoroughly, and like I said, if you have questions, they answer within a day or two with the most detailed email. I love the different customization options they offer, and overall it was an amazing experience using EmPress. 

Below is a little video I created showing the updates I made to the site, and I hope you’ll stick around a while and check things out.

Enjoy! 

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