Hi!
I would say don't necessarily take a break from tactics. You should probably pull back a little bit from them; but definitely keep them in your daily routine (especially since you enjoy them 
.)
And it's true that newer players shouldn't spend their days studying theory, BUT knowing the key plans and ideas of your opening is crucial. You said you often have a big advantage but then don't really get to use it. That tells me that you probably know your openings really well but after a certain point in the game you don't really know how to use the advantage you accumulated. If that's the issue then best way to fix it, and I'm stealing this from my coach from years ago , is to find some GM level games (you can find many on chessgames.com) in your openings and then annotate them (This is really easy to do on lichess.org "study" section). The annotation is really satisfying and you get a little resource to refer to forever so it's really useful.
I hope you find this helpful If you have any questions shoot me a message
goodluck!
Hoping for some input on how I should go about improving my play in actual games, should I take a break from tactics and instead study some openings and endgame tactics? I've heard its not the best idea to get caught up in studying opening theory and such at lower rating but I'm not sure how else to really improve my game.
I often find myself reviewing my losses and usually there's a point in the game where I have a significant advantage but slowly throw it away, not always through 1 move blunders but usually through a couple mistakes or a missed win. I often have my highest accuracy in the end games (assuming because there is usually a limited number of moves to calculate and less distractions on the board for me to miss obvious threats)
If it adds anything to the conversation, typically as white I'll play a scotch game or a Giuoco Piano, with caro kann or KID as black.