We’re number one. And 99. And… five…

Thanks to your diligent voting efforts and your support, I placed first in Babble.com’s popular vote by at least 600 votes!

(The site owner who finished second had a remarkable showing, too. More on her in a second.)

Below is the screenshot I grabbed of the contest because I was so excited about how well we were doing in the polls thanks to you support.

And while, despite this, I didn’t place first in their top 100 as we thought would happen (I was placed at #99), it is still cool that Your Lighter Side placed in the Top 100 for being a site still growing and catering to people who follow a more restrictive diet.

If you’re confused by how someone can win the popular vote but not  place higher, know that some of us were a little shell shocked, too. We had all been under the impression that the contest was based on popular vote because of the email I had received earlier when nominated last year:

“Hello,

Congratulations! You are a Readers’ Choice Mom Food Blogger for 2011! Your blog has been nominated by the public as a supplement to our Top 100 Mom Food Blog list. Clearly your blog is a fan favorite when it comes to the best family-friendly recipes on the web, and we are so happy to recognize your achievements!

Attached is a badge you can post on your blog to show all of your readers that you are a Readers’ Choice Mom Food Blogger. Feel free to use this as a tool to get more people to vote for your blog on Babble! You can link it here: https://www.babble.com/best-recipes/dinner/top-100-food-mom-blog-2011/ or https://www.babble.com/best-recipes/dinner/top-100-food-mom-blog-2011-nominate-a-food-blog/

Keep up the great work!

Best,
The Babble Team”

It sounded like a popular vote deal to me, so I pushed the vote.

Thankfully, my friend Scott asked Babble what was up today.

While popular votes put us over the top, according to Babble.com:

“To respond to your point, the blogs that received the most votes on our nominations list are not guaranteed a spot in the next year’s top 100. However, those nominations are extremely important in putting new blogs on our radar, so that our panel of foodies and food bloggers can take those blogs into consideration when determining the top 100 rankings. Hope this helps! -Andrea Roxas, Associate Editor @ Babble”

It was very nice of Andrea to write back so quickly and let us know what was happening.

What’s cooler is that you were here along with me, pushing to get the word out to a nation of people fighting diabesity!

Unfortunately, it wasn’t just my site that took a hit, so I don’t feel the low rating was necessarily a mark against diabetes-based sites. Skinny Taste ended up in the high 60’s, even though she came in second in the polls (see above).

Long story short, we made a showing in the polls and I have the best friends, followers and readers on the freaky deak planet!

Your support over these last five years has been tremendous, and we’re not about to slow down any time soon.

The other good news:

• I’m finishing up one project for a major publisher, and in, between projects,
• I’m celebrating my site’s fifth anniversary!
• I am working a blueberry buckle recipe I hope I’ll be able to share this week.
• I have giveaways, goodies and more for you starting next week to celebrate my 5 year Site-a-versary so stay tuned!

Thanks again for your support! You guys truly rock it out.