So Long and Farewell.

I’ve thought long and hard about this blog. Over the last year or so, posts have been few and far between, which left me wondering why I had lost my blogging mojo. Because that’s what I assumed it was, that I just had writer’s block due to one of the conditions I’ve got causing me issues with concentration. Afterall, I still love clothes and fashion, and am still plus sized so why wouldn’t I want to write a plus-sized blog? I still adored reading the blogs of those other bloggers I had met along the way. Yet, I felt myself pulling away from the plus-sized fashion blogging scene – I’ve not tweeted or commented anywhere near as much as I used to, for example. When I went to Plus North last year, I felt really out of the loop, as if it was filled with ace people I knew but I didn’t really have a cliché or group I sat amongst. Since then I’ve kept asking myself why I felt adrift; there are times when I didn’t feel this way, such as going to Plus London and I think that when things were closer in spirit to how things were when I started out, I felt part of it but being honest with myself, on the whole its grown so large that I don’t fit in anymore. I prefer small-scale and quiet, and the way its become so large and commercial just isn’t me. That’s not to say I don’t think its awesome how far plus-size blogging has come, the opposite actually – I think its ace so many have a voice now and can influence brands and be up there with straight sized fashion blogs.

Another factor is that as of April-ish this year, I’ve been going to Slimming World. That came as a result of the ongoing counselling I’m having, and a realisation whilst I’d embraced my body and the clothes I wear far more than I ever had, I wasn’t ever going to truly be comfortable at the size I was. That for me, I could only own my body with it carrying less weight. I truly believe in every person should be the size that they are comfortable with, and I wish I could do that without having to lose a single pound but unfortunately I can’t. I want to have the most awesome life possible and my weight was holding me back, mostly because of my own demons related to it, but holding me back none the less.

I am grateful to this blog as I wouldn’t have come to that decision, or the decision to get off my backside and start dating and end up with The Bloke, or the decision to move away or to become a vegan without it. This blog and the people who I’ve met through it is what has given me the confidence to grow, and it is only through this growth that I’ve been able to move on to newer things.

So, with all of that in mind, I’ve made the decision that this will be the last post on this blog. I know that I could have just changed the stuff I posted on it, but I felt that actually I need a fresh start. That fresh start is over on tearomanceadventures.wordpress.com which is a lifestyle blog; there will still be fashion posts, but amongst many other things as that really is where my head is at, and is a reflection of what my life is like currently. I’ll probably still pop up at the occasional plus-size event as for now I’m still plus-sized, and besides I’d always want to keep in touch with awesome people!

There are a few people I want to thank and single out as people who have made this blogging journey so far awesome and amazing.

Jem – for whom I’d never have known plus-size blogs existed if she hadn’t shown me a link to one, and whom I’ve been able to talk about all things blogging with over a cup of tea or two

Claire of Monkey See, Monkey Do, Monkey Wear – the blog which inspired this, and without her sterling work with Plus London, I’d not have done half the things I have in life. Always a fashion inspiration for me.

A few bloggers who have confidence and style in bucket loads, who make me smile and inspire me – Kathyrn of Miss Kathryn’s MissTakes, Bethany of An Arched Eyebrow, Lauren of Pocket Rocket Fashion, Elena of Frivolous Mrs D, Mhairi of Lilybobombs, Hanna of The Wardrobe Challenge, Rosie of A Rose Like This, Amanda of Cruella’s Curves, Em of The Boombands Blog, Gina of Fat, Fit, Fine and Becky of The Ramblings of Mrs BeBe (all in no particular order!). You ladies are truly awesome.