Dear friends,

I wanted to let you in on a secret. Years ago, when I started this blog, I was running a prisoner rights program. As someone with a career in international humanitarian work, I felt strongly about what I was doing. But the issues I worked on were often sad and heavy. I needed some beauty of the everyday kind -- big and small -- to balance me. And so it was that My Marrakesh was born.

I didn't know then how much this blog would come to mean to me. That the small tales I recounted here would be my connection to a great big world filled with people who would take the time to come visit me. I tried to be someone worth visiting. To share something here on this blog that was original and true to myself, with words and images that were my own. I told you about large setbacks and small victories. I shared personal things from my past. The people I encountered who touched me. The journeys I took far afield, where I met individuals who were so very different and yet, in some ways, the same. I talked about my experiences as a mother, daughter, and wife. My struggles to be a better person, and to not falter in the face of unkindness. I shared my adventures in design and my efforts to turn a strange city into a home. I tried to cheer you on, to encourage you, and to share my recipes for things that were meaningful.

I've tried not to waste your time when you came to visit me on this blog. I've tried to be worthy. I hope - in some small measure - that I've succeeded and given you moments of pleasure, thoughtfulness or escape. That I've prompted you to go on your own journeys or made you wish that you could jump on a plane.

If I have, I want to ask you a favor. This blog is a finalist in the 2012 Weblog Awards in the category Best Blog in Africa. Would you, could you, consider voting for My Marrakesh? It would mean so much to me. You need only vote once. Each ballot must include votes for three different blogs in three different categories. (There are so many excellent ones out there, including Young House Love {with a book soon out from Artisan Books}, Appartment Therapy, The Huffington Post, Smitten Kitchen, the Sartorialist, and so many others!)

If you have just a minute or two, I would be so thankful for your vote in the Africa category. Any mentions on Facebook, Twitter or blogs would also be gratefully received. Voting is right here. Thank you so much:-)

Love,

Maryam in Marrakesh