Welcome Back to the Blog

So, in theory, announcing the fact that I planned on taking a week or so off of the blog probably would have been a good idea to, you know, mention on my blog. Instead, I sort of made a rash decision to put a little mini temporary hiatus on Life According to Francesca in order to sort a few things out. I posted about this on my Instagram Stories on a Sunday and then proceeded to take two weeks off of the blog with almost no explanation on any other social media besides a story that lasted for a total of 24 hours on my Instagram page. Not my brightest idea, but it was a necessary one. I'm not always great at reading my body's cues as to when I should probably stop doing something, but I surprised myself this time and let myself do something I probably should have done a while ago. 

If you've been following along with this blog as you know it today since the beginning, I used to post seven days a week. Seven fucking days a week for like, what, two straight years? Three? I cut back to five days a week sometime after graduating college because I was running low on things to consistently talk about and seven posts a week seemed like overkill. Then when I moved to New York City, I just bumped it down to three posts a week and that's how it's been ever since. I didn't take any time off of my blog when I moved (my YouTube channel sure as hell suffered though). Throughout everything that I've dealt with, I've missed a few days here and there, but never multiple post days in a row. This is partially because I love my schedule and love writing these posts, but also because I'm insanely hard on myself. Missing a post feels like missing an assignment. I didn't miss assignments in school...ever. The thought of it actually makes me a little queasy. I don't think of my blog posts in the same way as I thought about schoolwork, but the sentiment is still there.

I feel guilty when I don't post, but that's probably something that I should learn to get over. So, I took two weeks off to catch up on content. I ran out of fashion images to post and just was, quite frankly, a little burnt out. I took time to pre-shoot some outfits, plan out some new beauty and lifestyle posts to switch up the fashion content, and overall just gave myself time to relax and worry about other aspects of my life that actually pay the bills and aren't just fun hobbies that make me feel creative in ways that nothing else has before. But now I'm back and feeling better than ever before except those two times that I saw Niall Horan in concert. Nothing will make me feel like those days!

So please excuse me because I am a little rusty with this whole writing thing. I kept my Instagram going, of course, but man captions just aren't the same as writing full on posts. Obviously. Duh.

I plan on doing a proper "what I've been up to" post later this week, but I do have a few writing bits that you might have missed out on that I posted about on social media. However, if you don't follow me on anything, you might have missed a few little snippets that I'd love for you to check out!

I have a customer testimonial up on the Lexli website. It's a little bit about my history of skin struggles as well as a mini Q&A session about my favorite products, my routine, and what I've noticed that has changed in my skin. I was working with this brand and was gifted quite a few products from them, but it doesn't change my opinion at all. It worked for me, plain and simple. My skin is still clear and I'm happy as a clam, even if I have a few tiny spots because I'm on my period. Can't avoid that hormonal acne around that time of the month, ladies! Wish we could, but such is life, right?

There are also some before and after pictures on there that I think really speak more to the treatments than my words could!

I guest featured on my friend Theresa's blog a couple of weeks ago in a post all about online dating. This isn't something that I cover on my own blog, so it was super fun to write up about my thoughts on Tinder, including the good, the bad, the ugly. To quote myself from the article, “You’ve heard of success rates on Tinder and you know at least one person who has found their significant other on a dating app or website. It’s 2018, people meet on the internet now. Hell, I met my roommate on the internet (I mean, on Twitter, not Tinder, but still)." 

Am I Pro-Tinder? Anti-Tinder? Do I prefer Hinge? Am I more of a Bumble gal? Bet you won't catch me on The League with my internship at a startup or my degree from Cleveland State University!

Sweater: Primark

Coat: Primark

Jeans: Levi's 

Shoes: Kate Spade

Sunglasses: Quay

Lipstick: Guerlain

Photos by Emily Polner