Love from, Florence Grace

Anyone who knows me well enough will know that I am allllll about that girl power. I would consider myself to be a strong, independent woman and I constantly encourage the other women in my life to be, too. Being strong, being independent, being bold and fighting for your place in a world that is dominated by male privilege and misogyny can be very challenging, but it's a lot easier when there are some fantastic female role models to look up to. Here are some of my favourite women to look to for girl power, inspiration and motivation in every aspect of my life. Maya Jama I have been looking up to Maya Jama since I first met her when I was working on a TV show for 4Music two years ago. She was bubbly, friendly and even invited herself to sit on my lap at one point! Since then I have been looking up to her on social media, following her as she grows from strength to strength in terms of her career. Some of the moves she's made in 2017 have been absolutely incredible, from...

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 ...

When I was 12, I got a radio for my birthday. It was really cool, cube shaped with a cube shaped speaker. It looked really modern and also had the ability to stand your iPod in it or use an aux cable to play your own music too. I absolutely loved it. It was at 12 that I started listening to the Radio 1 chart show, and it was at 12 that I discovered who Reggie Yates and Fearne Cotton were. I fell in love, listening to the show religiously, texting in every week. At the time, my name was Flo Jo and when I signed a text off that way, Reggie Yates read it out, saying how cool my name was. The shows were so much fun to listen to and I decided that was what I wanted to do; I wanted to be a radio presenter like Reggie Yates and Fearne.  While Fearne Cotton does inspire me with all of the things that she does (I'd love to have my fingers in as many pies as her!), its Reggie Yates who is my real inspiration. He started out in kids TV alongside Fearne, ended up landing the ultim...

Since the start of this year, I feel I've been getting a lot more into fashion. Rather than just throwing on a jumper and jeans all of the time, I've begun to create outfits with more thought, accessorising better and also trying looks I never would have been comfortable wearing before. I used to be very nervous to wear eye catching clothes or "out there" clothes in case people laughed at me or stared- now, I don't care if they do or not, as long as I like how I look! I'm not sure why this change came around, whether it's because I am working at Topshop, I've begun mixing with new people or just because my confidence has grown; however, I'm happy with it! So I thought that today, I'd share my style inspirations with you! Lauren! I'm going to start close to home! I work with Lauren (you'll have seen her mentioned a few times before!) and I absolutely love  her style! It's so unique, always so on point- I swear the girl can...

You know what's really awkward?  Someone openly referring to you as their personal competition. You, and your accomplishments, mark their competition. Weird, right?  I mean, at first I was flattered. Flattered that they felt I was someone worthy of competing against, someone they could mark their own successes against. That seemed kind of cool, and indicated to me that I was obviously doing some stuff in my life well.  But then I really thought about it, and I realised that actually, it was a little insulting. Competing against someone means that someone has  to lose. Effectively, this individual basically told me they use me as a benchmark and try to do better. They want to be better than me. But if they do better than me, that's not going to be good for me, is it? I  want to be the best if we're making this a game!  I'm being totally honest when I say I don't compete with anyone. No one- and I mean no one- that I know has the sa...

Guys! You're going to kill me because yet again  I am writing about my (failing) diet and my weight loss attempts.  So I guess the good news is that I haven't gained any weight...but the bad news is that I haven't lost any either.  I had wanted to lose a stone in July. Now, half way through the month, I'm kind of guessing that's not going to happen. So I started having a read of some blogs and a watch of some videos to see if there was any  way that I could really get inspired and try harder than ever before to lose the small amount of weight that I want to shift!  It wasn't until I watched Velvet Gh0st's latest video about healthy snacks that I realised where the problem lied. It wasn't that I didn't want to eat healthily. It wasn't that I couldn't eat healthily. It was that I didn't like  eating healthily. My mum makes healthy meals full of vegetables, but I don't like vegetables, so I don't always enj...

As I wrote about yesterday, last night I was fortunate enough to see Beyonce! As anyone could have expected, it was incredible . To be honest, she actually exceeded my expectations, and I can't really put into words just how amazing the night was. Every single performance was off the scale, her dance routines and costume changes were flawless, and her voice ...well, it was just as good as on the CD, if not better! It wasn't just the performance that blew me away though. It was the message behind the entire show, the idea of female empowerment, being comfortable in your ow skin, standing on your own two feet no matter what tornado of crap life brings your way, not needing a man to be happy . Of course, every single one of those key themes resonated so strongly with me and I was beyond inspired. It made me feel better about everything I've gone through in the last six months, really. I've had my heart broken, I have been grinding non stop to make money, I've...

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...

Recently, I bought the 2015 film "The Intern", starring Robert de Niro and Anne Hathaway. The film looked funny in the adverts and I love both Hathaway and de Niro so had a good feeling about it.  I was right to have a good feeling- it is a truly brilliant film! I cried all the way through purely down to the sweetness of Robert de Niro in his old age, but also at the great story line. Without giving away too much, Anne Hathaway plays a very ambitious career woman who owns her own massively successful internet company- a total girl boss. Rife with feminist themes, the film portrays Anne's character as one that I could definitely relate to. Throughout the film there were some lines that really meant something to me- I wanted to share some of those with you guys in order to provide you with inspiration yourselves!  "It's 2015, are we really still critical of working mums, still?" "Apparently selling clothes makes us a chick s...

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...

It can be hard to remain focused. Focused on work, focused on tasks, focused on relationships- everything! I often struggle with the motivation to stay focused and inspired myself, especially when I'm doing things like daily blogging! It can all be quite difficult to come by and I often find help in these areas can come from inspirational, motivating and positive quotes I stumble across online. Today, I thought I would share some of these quotes with you so that if you're ever at a loss for some motivation you can pop over here and find some!  (If you follow me on Instagram, you may already have seen these!) It can be hard to see the 'light at the end of the tunnel' so to speak. Always remember that whatever obstacle is in your way, you can push through it. There is always a solution, a way round it. The only thing standing in your way is you .  Not everyone in life is going to like you, and that is fine . The sooner you realise this and b...