Love from, Florence Grace

I love the end of a year, because each year I do a roundup of all the good and exciting things that have happened in my life and I really love looking back and having the time to reflect on it all- especially if there's things that I've forgotten about. No questions about it, 2017 has been the best year of my life . It has been the year of self evolution. It has been the year that I finally- finally - grew up and got my shit together. It's been the year that my life has had a total makeover and completely changed. I have loved every second (well...most of the seconds) and had the time of my life. So let's just recap... January The first month of the year, the first chapter of a fresh start...I began the new year in Oxford with my a girlfriend. We were each others New Year's kiss, as it was my first New Year's single and alone for the first time in 6 years and also the one year marker of my *horrific* breakup. It was nice to start the New Year...

The last three or four weeks have been crazy . I mean, a real whirlwind of drama, excitement, nerves, stress, more excitement, a lot of work and some big  surprises. I've been tweeting a little bit about what's been going on, but not giving away too many specifics so I thought I would treat you all to a bit of an update from me! Last month, after turning 21 I wrote a blog post about how being 21 had been the ' ultimate glow up ', and I concluded the post with a final paragraph that read: " I am living for being 22. I'm ready for more of everything; more success and more blessings, more opportunities and more good fortune, more love and more happiness. In fact, I'm ready for an overflow of it all. If 22 is half as good as 21 was, I know it's going to be a great year. " Well, I'm happy to report that the first month of being 22 has been incredible . If the rest of the next year is anywhere near as good as the last month has been I...

On Wednesday (1st November) I turned 22! Eeeeeek . That sounds so  old in my head! 21 seems like an age where it's still seen as acceptable to be a little wild, a little out of control, a bit of a party animal. 22- in my head, at least- sees so much older, so much more mature. I feel like I actually have to start being a responsible adult now, and like I need to start getting my shit together (for lack of better terminology!). As with all birthdays, I did spend some time surrounding my 22nd birthday reflecting on the kind of year I'd had being 21, and the kind of things that being 21 had brought to me and my life. I feel like I say this most years, but I genuinely feel like 21 was my best  year yet. Honestly, this year has shaped me like no other. When I was 20, life turned into a learning curve for me. I was experiencing things I wasn't used to, dealing with emotional turmoil that sent me to breaking point that I felt like I would never bounce back from and so, for the...

There's absolutely no denying that right now, life is pretty sweet for me. I think a lot of people have noticed a change in my tone of voice when I write over the last year or so. In 2016, I was blogging every single day- there were a lot of posts about the heartbreak I was going through, about how miserable I was feeling and about some really low points I was going through, particularly near Christmas time. December 2016 was probably the lowest point I hit that year, and I couldn't even explain why. Whilst overall, 2016 was my year of self discovery, the year where I really began to love and appreciate the person I was, there was a lot of low points for me. A lot. 2017 has definitely seen a new side of me - in fact, I'd even go as far to say that it's seen a brand new version of me! I have had a truly spectacular year and if I thought  I couldn't be happier than I was in 2016, I was wrong- 2017 me has reached new levels of happiness altogether. I made new frien...

Alright, alright- don't act like you didn't know a post like this was coming! If you follow me on social media, you'll know that recently I got myself a new boyfriend. Yep, for real. The ice queen with her stone cold heart who absolutely vowed to be single for another year at least actually cracked and somehow ended up with a boyfriend. For. Real. I won't lie to you all, I'm pretty happy . In fact, I'm so unused to feeling the way that I feel that I sometimes wonder if I'm actually okay and if the way that I'm feeling is normal. My girlfriends are probably sick of getting my panicky messages at all hours of the day and night saying "but is this normal  to feel like this?!" (always my messages are met with eyeroll emojis and reassurance that I'm absolutely fine. Sorry guys) I just can't help it, you know? I was left so damaged and felt absolutely broken beyond repair after my last relationship that I just really can't get use...

Since I have been old enough to understand what it means, the phrase ‘ quality, not quantity ’ is something that I have always lived by  (unless we’re talking about alcohol, because it doesn’t matter about the quality of what you’re drinking, if you drink enough of it you still get drunk) In recent years, and more specifically in the last two years, the phrase ‘ quality, not quantity ’ has been applied to the people in my life. Growing up, it’s drilled into us that in order to feel loved and to be happy with your life you must be surrounded by a tonne of people.  Books, TV shows, movies and other elements of pop culture all tell us that if you don’t have many friends then you’re a ‘loser’ or an ‘outcast’. It’s time to stop this way of thinking, and start believing in quality, not quantity instead! Society has made us feel like we have to surround ourselves with as many people as possible to be happy, and this has caused us to feel its okay to create fake friendsh...

I’ve never been so happy with my life- ever. I genuinely mean that too. Growing up, there was always one issue or another going on in my life, whether it was me being bullied, relationship or friendship problems, body confidence issues or dealing with my parents’ divorce; there just always seemed to be something going on to detract from my happiness. So you can only imagine my surprise when I came to the realisation the other week that, for the first time in my life, everything is good. "I just wish that younger me had known that it was possible to be this happy all of the time." I honestly am at a place in my life where, for the first time ever, everything is going really well. I started my new job, which I’m really excelling at and absolutely loving. I have a buzzing social life and am surrounded by all of the best people I’ve ever known. I’m in a good place financially, I’ve got some exciting travel plans to look forward to, as well as other upcoming events ...

2016 has been a very up and down year, both personally and globally. So much has happened, and I know I'm not the only one who can happily sit here and say that 2016 has definitely changed me. I'm not the same person now as I was at the start of this year! Now, as a musician myself and someone who is completely obsessed with music, I know that I definitely wouldn't have got through this year without the help of some of my favourite artists; I also know that some of my best memories wouldn't be the same without certain songs that were involved in them (if that makes sense). So here is my ultimate 2016 playlist- which songs helped me through each month, which songs were personal to me in each month, which songs provide good memories for me in each month. It's a mixture of new music and old, so I hope you enjoy it! I've also added in some photo's that accompany each month, just to break up all the reading for you guys (thank me later). JANUARY Janu...