If you’re a daily visitor round here and have been for some time, you’ll know that things have changed somewhat in the last year or so. When Florence Finds started I was working part time and blogged twice daily. As life changed in January 2013 I dropped to a single post a day and managed so much better. More recently, it’s been around 4 times a week. The change has been for a number of reasons… my work has become busier and busier, demanding later nights and making me jealously guard my none work time with Pete and friends or family. The thing is, when I started, I was used to working all day at work and then working all night blogging and I had more free time to write about what I was doing, out and about. Now I have an actual life too, the more I have, the more I want. Bottom line, Florence Finds is a sideline, a hobby and whilst I would never be without the fabulous community I have built here (I really don’t know what I would have done without your help and advice in recent weeks and months,) my real life has to come first. And I am so much happier for it.
Caroline’s Pigeon bedroom makeover
In the back of my mind has also been that life is going to change in a major way again very soon when this baby arrives and I have no idea how that will fit in with blogging. I am very aware that this blog has become very pregnancy and baby related and I can only apologise to those whom that doesn’t interest and are consequently sad – I know because I have been there with some of my previously favourite blogs. Although I was always interested for future reference. đŸ˜‰ All I can say is that the consistent feedback I get is that people want to know what I am doing, decorating, seeing, travelling and thinking so the blog has become more and more a reflection of my life. Hopefully that resonates with you at similar, or different stages of yours.
Amy’s trip of a lifetime to Hawaii
So, what is going to happen when baby arrives? Honestly, in the short term I don’t know. I want to take a few weeks off to just enjoy being with Pete and baby in our new little family and I know I will need time to adjust, get settled into feeding and some semblance of new normality and sleep! However I also know that I will want to update you guys, probably ask a whole heap of questions and of course to introduce you to baby. So I may pop in here and there. I may also pre-prepare some posts while in my mat leave and post them sporadically to keep you all going a couple of times a week until I can come back. It might be a long time before I can commit to a regular schedule but I hope you’ll all bear with me.
Pear and Caramel cake by Asma
If any of you want to help or get involved, I would love to have you. Florence Finds has always been about community and that’s why I maintain a roster of contributors who offer something different to my own experiences and interests. If you think you can write a short post that is similar to the kinds of things I post here, I would love to feature it, so I’m asking for your submissions. Here are a few guidelines and ideas: (I’ve linked to previous posts to give you some guidance of how I would tackle a similar post)
- Travel posts – Hotel reviews, city breaks or longer multi stop trips. Anything from camping to 5* goes!
- Recipes – Amazing cakes or simple but effective midweek meals
- Room makeovers – Single rooms or house tours. I LOVE sharing peoples homes and decor here. If you recently made over a room, please send them in!
- Book reviews – need only be a paragraph or two about a recent read and I’ll group it with a couple of others to make a post.
- Days out/culture (in Girl about Town style) Had a fab afternoon tea? Seen a great exhibition? Visited a great national trust site for families? Tried wild swimming? Been to Glasto? Tell us all about it!
- Fashion – This would work best as a group of shots. Can you share a week of your working wardrobe? Your holiday outfits? Wearing something 2 ways? Or seen something Friday Frock worthy?
- Opinion/Life events – got something to say?
Victoria’s Chocolate walking tour of London
A note on images.
Everybody worries about images when submitting things to the blog. High quality images are one of the main factors in what makes a blog enjoyable to read but not everyone has a fancy camera. The main thing to do is make sure you have good natural lighting (easy in summer!) and take a mixture of zoomed in vignettes (close up detail shots) and wide angle full body/whole room type shots. For hotels, days out etc, you might want to include web links and I can often get images from websites or online. If you’re still worried, Instagram solves everything and I’m always happy to feature Instagram filtered shots to make things look a little more consistent! Above all have fun with it. I really enjoy taking photos for the blog (well, not the outfit ones perhaps!) and styling them to exercise some creative muscle!
So, if you think you can contribute, just email me your post and images or weblinks to hello@florencefinds.com and mark it submission – I will be eternally grateful!
Love,
Rebecca
xo
PS The pictures in the post are all from guest posts written for Florence Finds, but non-regular contributors, (with the exception of Victoria.)
I love reading your blog and would love to try and write something that’s of interest to my fellow readers. I’ve just had the most amazing holiday in Greece involving a trip to an eerie deserted town, so I’m thinking that might be a place to start. Thank you for all your great posts and I hope when the time comes you love every minute of your new extended family. I’ll certainly still be here to read your posts when you get back!
I love reading your adventures, but, of course, take all the time you need to rest and then when the small one arrives, soak it all in and just be.
I will think of some posts to send you!
Rebecca, I love Florence Finds! One of the things I like most is how it keeps pace with changes in your and our lives- and deals with them so beautifully. The idea of a little person is toddling onto my horizon, so sharing your journey has been a privilege- and the other posts are as good as ever. Hear the plea for help when baby Norris makes his/her big entrance though- will get thinking cap on!
Good luck for the last few weeks of pregnancy and wishing you the birth you want… That feels weird to say! Xxx