Love from, Florence Grace

There is just two more posts left after today's before I will have completed my challenge/New Year's resolution of writing a blog post every single day for a year- plus one extra that I did for BJ's birthday! That's a grand total of 367 blog posts and let me tell you, I've learnt a thing or two about blogging in that time! The most popular posts are the posts where I get personal; particularly about my body/body image etc. However, my relationship posts were also very popular. You guys just love to read all the personal details about my life you nosy buggars!  It is incredibly difficult to find inspiration for a blog post every single day. Some days I'm really on it and other days I'm writing the most crappy post that I claim is a 'chatty catch up' with five minutes to spare before the day is over.  It is also time consuming  to write a post every single day. I even wrote a blog post for every single day of both of my holidays this...

I've been blogging for almost two and a half years now (honestly, where the hell has time gone?!) and in that time I have learnt a lot of things, about blogging, about bloggers and about myself! Not all of them have been good things but all of them have been beneficial to the work that I do, so I thought I would share some of the most important things I've learnt with you guys!  Be wary of your stats When I hit 100,000 blog views- according to Blogger- I was absolutely thrilled! When I saw my blog posts getting 200, 500, 1000 page views, I was over the moon! And then I found out that Blogger stats are basically a lie. If you want to check your stats and page views etc. accurately, use Google Analytics. I was shocked at the drastic difference between the figures and it really made me feel a bit crap about my writing at first, but then it just made me work harder to push for more views and engagement! Bloggers are so supportive Honestly, I've rarely come ac...

If you've been following me on social media for a while, or at least for the duration of 2016, you'll know that on the 1st of January I took on the challenge of writing a blog post for every single day of the year, no matter what. Throughout my birthday week, two holidays and a a variety of drunken nights, I have still posted a blog post without fail, even if it sometimes gets posted at 11:57pm.  Timing isn't really a problem for me. I always make time to write, it's part of my job after all! However, I'm faced with a bigger problem now.  Writers block and lack of motivation/inspiration.  It's difficult writing for a blog that doesn't have a niche. If I was a beauty blogger, there'd be get ready with me and product review posts. If I was a fashion blogger, I could just do endless outfit of the day posts. However, because I'm a lifestyle writer, I can literally write about anything and everything and it literally kills me trying ...

Today is National Social Media Day (yes that really does exist!), so I couldn't let the day pass without writing about it!  Social media has quite literally changed my life. It has opened my eyes to so many issues I wasn't aware of, it has connected me with people all over the world, it has strengthened me as a person, made me new friends, given me a voice and, best of all, created my career for me.  I have worked on and off with social media for the last year, and I have been blogging for almost two years. I have had all of my media opportunities presented to me via social media. I have found jobs via social media. I have used my online presence as a portfolio. It has always helped me and never let me down.  Of course, social media hasn't always been my friend. When I was younger, I suffered a lot from online bullying. It really damaged the person that I was, it damaged my confidence, it made me hate myself for a period of time. Now that I'm older, i...

Hey, it happens to the best of us. You're on a blogging roll and then out of nowhere, poof. All inspiration and post ideas, gone! It's more than a little frustrating and can really hold you back from writing. Here's some tips to help you get that motivation and inspiration back! Read. As a lifestyle writer, I like to read articles on current issues, and often this provokes a reaction from me, which I choose to then blog about. You can read all genre's of magazines to provide you with the right kind of inspiration for you blog. You could even go beyond magazines, seeking out articles online, in the papers, or maybe even just reading a book!  Take a break. If you tend to sit down and write numerous blog posts in one day, then you can use up all of your inspiration very quickly. Take a break from blogging, step away from the computer and do something different. Tidy your work space, go for a walk, bake a cake...any of this could lead to further inspira...

Blogging every day is hard I tell you- much harder than people think! When I tell people that I blog, they brush it off as nothing more than just writing about whatever the heck I want. When I tell them that I blog every day they are a little more impressed but they still don't fully understand- only my blogging pals will get how much time and effort it takes to blog, more so to do it every single day!  I set myself the challenge of blogging every day on January 1st 2016. I had just split up from my boyfriend of nearly five and a half years and, heartbroken, wrote a 'daily thoughts' post, something I decided I would do every day of the year in order to document my emotions, help me to try and maintain a positive attitude about the situation that I was in and to keep me preoccupied in the seemingly endless free time I would now have on my hands.  However, I haven't written a 'daily thoughts' post since day 1. Instead, daily blogging has allowed me to...

I have been blogging every single day since January 1st 2016. Trust me, this has been no easy feat, not only because it's a struggle finding time but also it can be such a struggle coming up with things to write about! I know that I am not alone when it comes to struggling with blog ideas, so I thought in this post I would share some blog topic ideas with you, to help you all out!  If you're a fashion blogger... - An outfit of the day post. - Recreate a celebrities outfit. - Review your favourite brand. - A shopping haul. - A themed shoot e.g. boho or hipster. - Do a style make over on a friend and photograph it. - Get your friend/boyfriend to select an outfit for you and photograph it.  - Buy an outfit for a set price e.g. £10 and blog about it. - A wardrobe tour. - A charity shop challenge... buy as much as you can for a set price. If you're a lifestyle blogger... - Write about your views on a current trending topic. - 10 facts...

Recently, there have been several articles by established magazines, both online and offline, about "what bloggers are like" and "things you should know about bloggers". Publishers of such articles have included the likes of Pretty 52 and Cosmo. Always, the articles are so far from the truth it has the blogosphere in uproar, outraged at such stereotypes and to be frank, the blatant ridiculousness of the points made. Furthermore, when non-bloggers read these articles, they are given the wrong idea about us, what we do and why we do it.  Why do magazines do this to us bloggers? In my opinion  it's because they feel threatened by bloggers and the undeniable power that we have. We produce regular, creative and engaging content that is more often than not more accurate and reliable than a magazine gossip column or newspaper tabloid. We also provide this content across the web for free . No need to fork out up to £4 on a magazine full of demoralising articl...

Today is #InternetFriendDay and this is a day that means a lot to me! I have built a career on the internet and through that I have made the most wonderful friends because of it. This is a concept that can be a little hard for people to get their heads around. As children we are told over and over not to share personal details over the internet, not to speak to people we don't know for fear that they may not be who they say they are.  And hey, I guess there is still that risk. Of course there is. You can be anyone you want to be on the internet. However, it's not all bad news any more. Now that there is a growth in online activities such as blogging and vlogging, strangers from all over the world can connect via the mere touch of a button and friendships are formed.  Whilst many still envision a creepy old man sat in a dark room befriending naive individuals across the internet, this is not the only kind of person socialising across the internet now- almos...

They say your biggest competition is yourself. You vs. You.  I would have to agree with this. I am my biggest competition. If I do something more than once, I hope- and expect- to get better at it each time I do it, regardless of how long I've already been trying it or how long it's supposed to take to get better, or even if you can get better!  A perfect example of this is my running. I have now been for three runs since the start of the month and am already forcing myself to be better than I was on the previous run. When I first started, I stopped at every other lamp post. On my second run, I stopped about 10 times. Yesterday, on my third run, I stopped twice. I know you're supposed to pace yourself with physical exercise but I can't help it. I want to be better every single time.  It's the same with my writing, my blogging, my freelancing. I want to create better content than last time, make more money than last time, have more views than last ...

So, 10 months into blogging I have reached my 100th post! Insane, right? Anyway, I wanted to make my 100th post a special one, as it's quite a big deal, and the wonderful Justine, of Girl Gone Dreamer  suggested I do some sort of list of 100 things relating to a certain topic. I thought this was a fabulous idea, and so had settled on "100 things that I have learnt whilst blogging!". However, I got to 50 and began to struggle. So this is "50 things I have learnt whilst blogging and 50 bloggers you must follow!" It's going to be a lengthy post but I hope you all enjoy it! 1) You make some AMAZING friends. Truly the best part about blogging has been all of the people I have met! 2) You can blog about literally anything- not just beauty and fashion. I've met bloggers of some really unique topics. 3) You'll learn a lot  about a variety of topics, from mental health to feminism, to politics. It's all going down in the world of blogging. 4) You ...

Friday 27th February 2015 saw the grand event that was a fashion show in London for the fabulous charity, Children with Cancer UK. I was invited to the event about 2 weeks ago as a blogger, to cover the event and raise awareness of the charity. I was honored to have been asked to do so, as the charity is really just so important, as well as super excited to cover a fashion show, as this was something I had never done before! The night was a huge success, and the display of talent was extremely impressive- from the designers work, to the various acts performing in between! The venue was fairly glamorous, based at The Building Centre in London, and upon entry we received glasses of wine, nibbles and goody bags, as well as having the opportunity to mingle with some of the other guests before the show began. When it was time for the show to start, I went to try and seat myself- only to find that because I was "press", I needed to get myself a press pass (which I was thri...