In August 2006, I started a blog, even though I barely knew what a blog was. I called my blog My Marrakesh (mymarrakesh.com), a great big love letter to the city I had begun to call home. At first, only my best friend, Anna, read my blog — she left me nice comments every single day. Soon other people began reading my blog. A few months after starting My Marrakesh, it was a finalist in the 2007 Annual Weblog Awards, in the category Best Blog in Africa or the Middle East.

Now it’s hard to remember my life before blogging. I write about all kinds of things on My Marrakesh, including my family’s quest to build and run our boutique hotel, Peacock Pavilions, as well as the cool stuff that I buy in my work as a personal shopper for clients. My blog is also a place for stories of Moroccan-inspired lifestyle, design, and culture, and includes tales of travel in Marrakesh and beyond.

I am not sure why but now thousands of people read My Marrakesh every single day. Either my mother is paying all these people (She always wanted me to be popular in high school.) or people are really interested in Marrakesh, the magical city that I am lucky enough to call home. I think it’s the latter. Or at least I hope so. But no matter the reason, I love having visitors, and so I hope you will take a minute to come and knock on my blog door.