HAPPY 2ND BIRTHDAY LFFG!

On the 31st of July, 2014 I started a blog. I had no idea that two years later, my blog would have totally changed my life. 

My little space on the internet has opened doors to me that I never even imagined would be on the horizon for me, let alone at my finger tips, creating jobs for me, building me up a career, making me new friends! I can't even imagine what I would be doing now if I hadn't started my blog. I'd probably still be at university, thinking I wanted to be a photographer but wishing all the while I was working as a radio presenter (something I have done, thanks to my blog). I still can't believe I've been doing this for two years- where has the time actually gone?!

The last year hasn't been as busy for me as the previous one, as I started to work more hours so have had less time to attend events and opportunities, but I've still done a lot of exciting things, such as...

Attending a fancy bloggers event at London Fashion Week and coming home with bagfuls of goodies- I was completely and utterly spoilt! 

I then landed my first paid writing job! I was a bit worried about whether I could handle working on a freelance basis, but it actually works really well with my busy lifestyle and is such a handy way to make extra money when I don't have as many hours going at Topshop!

Working my first "proper" paid media job as the Social Media Manager for Young Britannia until December, putting on a fashion show and holding a swanky party for some pretty cool celebs during my time there! 

I then got to do what is possibly one of the coolest things I've done over the last two years...I was selected to participate in the first ever live 4Music TV show! If you've followed me from the start, you'll know that pretty early on in my blogging career, 4Music asked me to work with them. That included just making videos from home to be featured in shows. To go in to the live shows and meet Maya Jama and Will Best, and even to meet MIC's Ollie and Toff was amazing! I got to chat so much on live TV and made lots of friends there too, which was great! It's something I would never have dreamed of doing before!

I was fortunate enough to be able to attend Boohoo's Christmas Party too, thanks to my friend Kate! It was truly one of the best night's ever (even if I was conked out by 11), and I was beyond grateful to have been able to go! I made friends here, and saw some bloggers I already knew, and was also spoilt with an immense goody bag too!

I started the new year off with a double page spread in Amor Magazine, a story which was also featured on the cover of the magazine too, which absolutely thrilled me to bits! I love having my work published in magazines, the feeling of seeing my work on a printed page never gets old!

I got asked to write for the News Hub, a site where you can get paid depending on the popularity of your article! 

I single handedly built a website for my magazine, Love from... which was another achievement for me, as I am so backwards in the way of technology and that. It was launched with the fourth issue of the magazine and has been successfully running since then (no major hiccups yet...!)

I was honoured to be invited to the Make Up Revolution birthday party, which has honestly been one of the highlights of my year so far! I got to have a look at some brand new products, was given so many beauty products from the team and got to meet Scott Mills. It was honestly one of the best nights of my life and I am so hoping for an invite back next year! 

I became a Coconut Queen ambassador! This was really exciting because the brand make such incredible products and I genuinely love them all! My discount code is still valid, so don't forget to use "florencegrace20" if you purchase anything for a lovely 20% discount! 

I was fortunate enough to attend a work experience day with Channel 4 again, this time specialising in Journalism! It was a really informative day, I learn about a great place to study radio presenting and even about some jobs that I didn't know existed! I also made some great contacts and great friends at the event as well, which is always a bonus!

I was made the May Princess for my towns first May Fair thanks to my "hard work in the community". It was a lovely day and an absolute honour to represent my town thanks to the hard work I do on a daily basis! Also, I got to be a princess...what isn't cool about that?

My magazine turned one! I never imagines that I'd be able to run my own business, let alone run it for an entire year (and now, longer!), so it was a very special day for me! Running my own magazine is genuinely one of the best things that has come out of starting my blog, and one of the coolest too. 

Then, to finish the second year of blogging off, I landed myself another job, handling the blog and social media for beautstar.com. I was absolutely thrilled to get myself this position after leaving Young Britannia back in December, and it's been keeping me very busy every day! There's lots of exciting things in store for beautstar so make sure to follow their progress! 

And that's it! As I said, I definitely haven't done as much as last year, where I was attending a different event/opportunity pretty much every week, if not twice a week, but I feel that whilst I've done less this year, most of the things I've done have been  better...such as being on live TV and going to Make Up Revolution's birthday party! 

I'd just like to say a huge thank you to those of you who have supported me this year (and an even bigger thank you to those who have supported me from the start!). I couldn't run my blog without my readers, and I wouldn't get these opportunities without my blog, so it's thanks to you guys that I even get to do a fraction of the cool stuff that I do! Thank you so much! 

Happy 2nd birthday to my little space on the internet...let's see what the next year brings! 

Love from,
Florence Grace