July — a time for new hope, summer dreams and rediscovery.

June was an absolute whirlwind of a month, so I have high hopes that July will be better. My company extended our stay-at-home policy to the beginning of August, which gives me one more month to enjoy the freedom of answering emails in my pajamas (yay!) .

Honestly, I’m used to my summers being filled with weekend trips, fun city events, and brunches, so the fact that it won’t this year makes me… nostalgic. Even still, I’m thankful for what these past few months have brought. Life slowed down and I realized it’s not about the events I’m attending as much as it is about the person attending them. And July serves as another month to take care of that person. So though it may look different, I’m still looking forward to it.

word OF THE MONTH: serendipity

When I was thinking about what word/phrase I wanted to meditate on this month, the word serendipity kept popping up in my head. Which was kind of strange since I wasn’t fully sure what it meant. But when I looked it up to get the full meaning, I was surprised to find it match exactly how i’ve been feeling lately.

ser·en·dip·i·ty
the occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way.

I feel like God has been leading me on a journey I didn’t even realize I was on. A path that before quarantine, didn’t exist, but because I’ve been at home with myself and Him, I accidentally stumbled upon. I’m finally allowing myself to dream again and brings those dreams to reality. I’m finally allowing myself to believe in a vision that I can’t tangibly see yet. And I’m finally allowing myself to open up and embrace the unknown, even if it that means it may not work.

I can tell that July will be the start of new things, and because of that I’m feeling… grateful. Hopeful. Happy.

Even though it may not make sense in the moment and I have no idea what I’m doing, I’m going with it. I’m moving forward. And along the way, hopefully, I uncover something really beautiful.

On my calendar

It’s July which means we have a three day weekend coming up soon (woop!). Even though I don’t really have any intentions of celebrating July 4th (due to the current state of America but also bc of social distancing) I’m still so grateful that I have an extra day off from work. I probably will make a fun little bbq for 1 and call it day.

In terms of le blog, I have my first paid partnership with Neutrogena coming up (exciting!). It took about two years before mama actually made some money, but we thank God for progress. They literally reached out a couple of weekends ago and asked if I could help create content for them and I was like uh, heck yes! Neutrogena is one of the only drug store skin care brands I actually use, so I’m actually really excited to work with them.

Not gonna lie, the actual content creation part was a bit stressful bc it had been cloudy/rainy in Houston for two weeks straight and there was no sun coming into my apartment. But I kept praying and asking God to allow the shoot to go well and by His grace, I was able to capture my photos and videos in the 3-minute intervals that the sun shined into my apartment lol. An influencer miracle, if you will.

This month, I’m planning to hone in on more lifestyle topics which I’m pretty excited about (think interiors, living, style, etc). Especially when it comes to sharing and highlighting black-owned brands.

I feel like my audience resonates more with the lifestyle content (and maybe that’s just because my home pins do well on Pinterest lol) but I do want to test it out and see what happens.

That doesn’t mean I’m completely neglecting the career side (we love being corporate babes) but it's been a little hard for me to churn out work-related content because everything at my job right now has been pretty chill.

So to say the least, I’ve been feeling a little uninspired in that content creation arena lately. However, definitely taking guest post submissions if you’re interested in sharing content in the career/work space!

In other news and things on the calendar, God put a dream in my heart a couple of weeks ago and I plan on taking the first step to truly dive into it this month. To be honest, it’s really exhilarating. I didn’t even realize that I stopped feeling the excitement and giddiness that I first did when I started my marketing job 2 years ago. But I feel it again, with this.

I don’t want to speak on it prematurely, as it’s definitely still in the works and I barely even know what it is yet, but I can’t wait to share it with you all is it becomes more real.

Inspiration

Like always, I’ve been loving all things white lately. I picked up this white bathing suit that make me feel grown and sezzzy that I’m so excited to (eventually) wear.

I also bought a pair of Levi’s Rib cage Straight Leg jeans that are the perfect color but have an interesting flare at the end. I’m thinking of cutting them into a bermuda length that will look so cute and chic. Mom shorts are definitely having a moment right now so yes, don’t mind if I do.

Summer blazers are still very much a thing and I’m obsessed. I have a few blazers I’ve picked up this quarantine in white and cream that I’ve been dying to style, so I may put up a Summer Work Wear look book soon (stay tuned).

In terms of accessories, I’ve been loving gold accessories, such as layered rings and other things. I actually am not naturally a ring person (just because I’ve been wearing the same one for the past 4 years), but have been opening my mind to try it. I just love the way it seems to complete a look.

I have also been on the search for the perfect brown leather cross body. I’m thinking something structured and chic that I can wear with anything. Believe it or not, it’s been hard to find a bag that is both durable, quality, and beautiful for a good price tag. So maybe this will just need to be an investment piece.

In the mean time, I’ve been falling for the 90s style bag that are coming back. I just recently received a black one from Justfab and it literally has my heart. It has the cutest vibe and I can’t wait to pair them with everything.

Home Happenings

While not much is happening in my current home as I’ve had to put my shopping on a pause, I’ve been inspired by so much lately!

My recent architectural obsession have been these large black window/door panels with beautiful white oak floors. There’s just something about how the black contrasts so nicely with the warmth of the floors that makes the place feel so cozy.

I also think the panels let in so much natural light and bring such interesting design to a simple space…and now I can’t imagine my future dream home without it.

I feel my style slightly leaning more towards warm minimalism than before and I’m not mad at it. I’ve been loving white walls, wood accents, black contrasts, and open spaces. I feel like it’s a perfect mix of modern and classic.

My style definitely shifts very frequently, especially as I uncover new things… but I think that’s the fun of it all.

And I’m starting to learn things that are my core elements (like my love for light wood) and then things that may be more trendy and will probably come and go (like herringbone pattern).

Something that I really want to focus on next in my home is the empty wall above my couch.

I’ve been looking for gallery wall inspirations but haven’t found something that has spoken to me yet. I would need it to be on the simplistic side (maybe 2 to 3 pieces) since majority of my living room is very open. I think I’m going to try mocking up a few gallery wall designs, and then see if I can (hopefully!) partner with a print brand to get it done.

I’m also considering just painting my own thing.

A lot of people don’t know that I’m an artist that can work in pretty much any medium. I don’t create physical art as much anymore because a lot of my creative outlets go to this blog, writing, or digital design for my job. But recently, I’ve picked up the canvas and paintbrush again to work through some anxiety and it’s been really relaxing.

A dreamy treehouse in Tulum Mexico - september edit.jpeg

The thought of me painting something for my living room makes me a little nervous though, as I’d want it to be a large scale painting that could take a lot of time. Also, I have no idea what it would be. Should I go abstract and make it more neutral with warm ivory tones and splashes of black? Or should I paint figures, like a mural? Should I do line art? Should I do an abstract with bold colors?

The opportunities are endless and gives me a little anxiety. But maybe I’ll mock up some options so I don’t feel so overwhelmed to make a decision.

I like the idea of including some line art, so maybe I’ll do 1 large scale painting that’s a neutral abstract and 2 smaller ones (one line art and the other an abstract with bolder colors).

Wow, I feel like we just worked through that together, haha. Thank you.

It’s now been 7 full months since I’ve been in my apartment and I love it even more than I did on the first day (which is hard to imagine because I really liked it when I moved in). Spending these past 4 months in my apartment have been absolutely wonderful, as this place has become a cozy refuge. I can’t wait to see what this place looks like when it’s finished.

Anddd that’s all I have for you this month, love bugs. I hope you enjoyed! If you want to check out some of my other favorite mood boards, you can go here:

March ‘20 Mood Board
April ‘20 Mood Board
June ‘20 Mood Board

Love always,
The Corporate Queen

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