The splash page was one of the very few well done, and not overly annoying splash pages I’ve seen. It’s simple, but yet it’s bright and cheery, and immediately convinced me that I wanted to continue exploring the site. The layout is great – it stays the same throughout the whole site, didn’t take too long to load, and just overall gave off very “happy” vibes.
The author is crazy about her boyfriend. It’s easy to tell this by the way she describes how much she misses him, or how happy he makes her, or by just saying “I’m crazy about my boyfriend”. While it could have very easily turned into something along the lines of the author getting entirely too sappy about it, it just makes the reader (at least me) feel happy that another human being is experiencing that much happiness.
The Ladybug’s Garden is definitely a site that pulls the reader into the author’s world, letting you read about the daily experiences, both good and bad, that happen in Sophia’s life. There’s a lot of information about the author in the weblogs, whether it be the weekly “Friday Five” questions that are answered, or the occasional “What type of ____?” test that she posts. It’s easy to get involved in Sophia’s life and find yourself wondering how she’s doing or what she’s up to if she hasn’t posted for a while.
In addition to the weblog, there are links leading to an “about” section, a photo gallery, the obligatory Amazon wishlist, and a guestbook. Sadly enough, the “about” section hasn’t yet been started. Fortunately, this is yet another site where you learn so much about the author just from reading the weblog entries. The photo gallery has some really beautiful pictures the author has taken on her many travels, and is definitely worth checking out as well.
The site’s visitors are another great aspect of the site! They’reloyal, as well as entertaining. They constantly interact with Sophia via the comments available on each post, or the nifty tagboard alongside the side bar of the site.
It’s easy to see why so many visitors keep coming back – Sophia seems to genuinely care about those that frequently visit her site, and seems like a unique, but yet casual person that’s fun to get to know. That makes this a great site to add to your list of daily reads.Ladybug’s Garden