Love from, Florence Grace

So in case you missed my onslaught of social media posts celebrating my 21st birthday over the last two weeks, guess what? I just turned 21! I'm basically a fully fledged adult now (supposedly) and yet there is so many 'adult' things that I literally cannot do. In fact, some of them I can't even comprehend doing. I figure now is a good a time as ever to work on accomplishing at least some  of these things, so here's a list of things I want to do before 22. Learn to cook. I don't mean just shoving chips in the oven or boiling some pasta. I mean actually learn to cook something from scratch, like a proper adult.  Learn to drive. HONESTLY I can not go on like this. I'm still torn between the balanced pros and cons of driving v. not driving but I need some form of independence and I feel like this will happen through driving.  Go to the dentist alone. (Make the appointment too...) Go to the opticians alone. Ditto above.  Get a 'proper' job. I...

"They'll be so quick to say you've changed, when it's really them who aren't growing" I love this quote. It is so real and so relevant.  Over the last two years I have had so many people walk into my life but I have had twice as any of them leave. Why? Because I 'change'.  I would hope I've changed! Over the course of two years, if I'd stayed the same person I would be very ashamed of myself. Personally, I much prefer who I am today than who I was two years ago. I'm wiser, I have progressed further in my career, I have more confidence, I'm healthier and I have achieved things I could only ever have dreamed of before. Best of all, I'm running my own business.  Now, for those of you who don't know, I'm a very  career driven person. I sometimes work as long as 20 hours a day for a multitude of jobs. Over the last year especially I have taken on a larger work load than ever before and set myself even big...

The other day I went for lunch with two of my girl friends, one of whom is pregnant. We hadn't seen each other in a while so it was really good to have a nice long catch up. Some of the conversations we had included topics such as senile parents, the cost of nappys and raising a child, moving out, petrol prices and how much it costs to run a car, engagements, job problems, financial issues, baby names and relationship problems. At the time, I didn't even notice it. I was just chatting away with my friends, talking about all of the issues we were having with life. Now, when I think back to that lunch date, something hits me... I am an adult . I was talking about nappy prices! Baby names! How much petrol to put in a car! Just a couple of years ago I would have been talking about the latest school drama, what essays we'd been set, had I missed an assignment, gossip from last weekends party. Now me and my friends are talking about proper, grown up things. I mean, ...

When I was younger, I wanted to be married with children by the time I was 20, and had decided I would not have children later than 25, because I wanted to be a young, pretty, cool mum like my mum was. I think that was what influenced this naive idea- the fact that my parents were married with children by the time they were 22. This, and the fact that a lot  of Jacqueline Wilson books I was reading (she was my favourite author) featured young, single mums who were pretty and cool and all had babies when they were 16.  It wasn't until I reached 16 myself that I realised how far off 20 was- the answer? Not very far. I had started to consider university and further education. I couldn't possibly have a baby whilst at uni! I made calculations in my head. Finish uni by 21, baby by 22, 23 and still be a young, cool mum with a degree.  Then I reached 18. 20 was creeping ever closer. I had given up on the idea of uni, much to my school and my parents disappointment...

Older people will tell you to savor high school, as it will be the best time of your life. Young adults will tell you that high school is like hell. It is safe to say that I agree with both of the statements. Whilst some of my best memories did occur during my time at secondary school, and whilst I met a couple of special people, it was also absolute hell. This was mainly down to the fact that the secondary school I attended was an all girl's school. As if growing up and going through the hardships a teenager does wasn't bad enough, doing it surrounded by 1000 other teenage girls equally as hormonal and emotional as you makes it doubly bad. However, I can't deny that the whole experience was a complete learning curve that has shaped the person I am today entirely, and I wouldn't redo my secondary school experience elsewhere for that reason. So, what did growing up with about 1000 other teenage girls for seven years teach me? Read on to find out... 1. Your best f...