year in review: most popular posts of 2015

It's time to say goodbye to 2015, and time for me to look back on the status of the blog this year.  Google Analytics, Blogger, and Pinterest are handy tools to use to see what posts were popular this year and where visitors to Beyond the Aisle come from - I try not to obsess over stats, but they are definitely interesting to see.

Here's a peek at my stats from 2015:
Visitors - 17,336 (up over 1,000 from last year!)
Pageviews - 25,157 (up over 2,000 from last year!)

Visitors from these countries visited Beyond the Aisle in 2015:
1. United States
2. Germany (up from #5 last year!)
3. Canada
4. United Kingdom
5. Australia
6. Russia
7. France
8. Netherlands
9. Japan
10. Brazi

These cities are home to the most Beyond the Aisle readers:
1. Dresden
2. Boston
3. Baltimore (up from #6 last year!)
4. New York
5. Columbus
6. Miami
7. Charlottesville
8. Houston
9. Chicago 
10. Los Angeles

30% of Beyond the Aisle readers are 25-34 years old.
90.8% are female.

Most popular posts:

10. End of Year Book Survey

The Perpetual Page-Turner's end-of-year book survey is really comprehensive - I'll be completing the newest edition soon - and it was fun to look back on my favorites (and not-so-favorites) from 2014. In 2014, I read 45 books. My favorites were Outlander and Wild, I finally read Good Omens after hearing about it for years from fellow geek girls, I gave into Gone Girl and The Fault In Our Stars mania, and I told every Christian woman I knew to read A Year of Biblical Womanhood. I read some amazing books last year - I'm not sure this year really matched up, now that I look back! One of my goals as a reader for 2015 was to create a space for myself to "let my geek flag fly," and I think I've done that here on the blog this year!

9. #5FandomFriday: Halloween Costume Ideas I Love - Halloween is my favorite holiday, and I had fun making this list even though I already knew exactly who I was going to be for Halloween - PEGGY CARTER!

8. Fall TV Preview - One of my favorite posts to write! I'm a pop culture junkie and not ashamed to admit that I love TV - so much fun storytelling every week. Most of my favorites are on winter hiatus now, and several of the shows I was excited about in September were considerably less exciting to me once they actually came out.

7. Real Wedding: Rustic Elegance at Explore Park - the big project for my friend circle this year was the marriage of two members of our tribe who are just like family. Their wedding was full of creative ideas in a lovely, rustic venue.

6. Date Night Style with Weddington Way - This was a fun collaboration with a really cool company. I love creating style boards, but having parameters set for me forced me to get a little more creative than usual!

5. PMT Style Challenge: The Coziest Dress - I'm still definitely not a fashion blogger, but I really like sharing real-life, affordable styles, particularly when they fall into the "teacher fashion on a teacher budget" category. I still wear my cozy dress all the time - it can go from boho with layers and boots to preppy with a cardigan and flats. 

4. #5FandomFriday: Favorite Seasonal Foods - Apparently y'all like fall foods as much as I do! Give me squash, pumpkins, and apples and I am a happy girl.

3. My Fourth Stitch Fix - I Kept It All! - More fun clothes! This post got a boost because StitchFix featured it on their blog - that was a really cool moment for me.

2. Literary Junkies - July - I got to rave about my favorite author and look forward to new books being released for fall. I love the Literary Junkies link-up because I get to be in my element and the girls from Pink Heels Pink Truck and Life with a Side of Coffee come up with great questions. Between Literary Junkies and #5FandomFriday I feel like Beyond the Aisle has become a much better reflection of who I really am.

The Studio Nouveau via Intimate Weddings

1. Inspiration: Restaurant Wedding Receptions - I don't do them as often as I used to, but when I really feel inspired, I still love pulling together wedding planning inspiration for brides-to-be.