TL;DR: Django + Alpine.js + Bootstrap + DigitalOcean

Django - I wanted an excuse to mess with Django since I am a fan of Python, a fan of Quentin Tarantino, and a fan of relaxing music. I am quite pleased with this decision and would consider it a great choice.

Alpine.js - Typically I would use Vue or React (which I prefer could be a post of its own¹), but that seemed like overkill when all I wanted was a few animations. I see it talked highly about in the Laravel community so I gave it a shot. Overall I'm quite satisfied with it and thinks it fills the niche of a micro JavaScript framework well.

Bootstrap - For about a week I was using Tailwind before giving up and switching to Bootstrap. I wanted to like Tailwind, but the convenience of Bootstrap is unmatched. Plus I quite like minimal designs so I don't find Bootstrap limiting.

DigitalOcean - I've been using DigitalOcean since college (~2018) so when I created this blog it wasn't much of a choice. That being said the reason I initially picked DO was because I was familiar with it and the pricing is fair. All this time later I still have no complaints.

¹Albeit a very short post: 'Vue'