#biya
Month: January 2018
#weekender
NEW YEAR, NEW #girlboss OFFICE SPACE
We are just a week shy of being in the new house for a full year. Initially, I had a goal of being 90% complete with the remodel within 3 months. As the contractors were working, I was planning the space, deciding on electrical fixtures, marble, bathroom fixtures, which furniture to keep, what to chunk and what to buy immediately. With all that was going on, I had decided that my personal office could wait until I was prepared to deal with more work!
I really needed a refresh though, because I sometimes need a quiet place to think an operate my empire. (Totally joking, but your life is your empire and mine needed focus and reorganization!)
My empire consists of my fashion management job, my new cosmetics start up, <em>Bosscat Beauty, my little blog that you’re reading, and KS Tennis USA…a local tennis business that my husband runs.
My goal was to get my office cleaned out, reorganized and decorated before year’s end so I could start 2018 with better focus! This is my reveal!
I had decided to stick with the charcoal gray paint, since that’s the base color that runs through the entire house. The house is not huge so I didn’t want to break it up with a lot of different colors.
Although I tried to go with antique desks, dealing with independent dealers was a hassle that I didn’t have time for, so I opted for the white Sasha desk from Z’Gallerie. I thought it would go well with the Jaipur Furniture reclaimed wood and steel shelving unit I purchased. I feel in love with it the minute I saw it. I did not realize though, how incredibly heavy it was. It literally sat in the hallway for a week until I found some men to help me bring it into the room. I can never move away now, because it’s literally heavier than anything else I own and it would be too much work. The unit goes beautifully with the distressed look of the laminate flooring in the office.
My thought was that the white, modern french 
style of the Sasha Desk would add a bright pop to the room.
Although I plan to try and add a small futon so that I can use a custom brass wall piece to the wall behind it, for now I am done!
I kept my antique vanity as my makeup table, added a vintage wood table that used to belong to my mom as a corner area. I am trying really hard to keep it sparse and have some open space. That is hard for me because I love to layer! I did decide to utilize the shelves for some fun keepsakes, and forced myself to throw out a lot!
The pink train case at the top of the shelves, was actually a creme color a few weeks ago. It is an old train case that had belonged to my mom, and it has some of her things inside. I painted it pink so it could be enjoyed and not hidden. While I was at it, I decided to paint my mannequin pink as well, and quit hiding her in the closet! I don’t know why girls love mannequins but we do! I also kept my mom’s old college yearbook and some of my old child’s books…like Charlotte’s Webb…just as nostalgia. Old things remind you of where you came from. The little white Bible was the second one ever had as a child. I’d originally had a small pink one, but it got left on the patio and it was ruined in the rain….I cried for a week!
This room is my escape pod, so of course it needed a chandelier. Chandelier’s make everything better.
Literally, I have no excuse for not accomplishing everything that I’d like to this year. I’ve created my own little corner to drink coffee and plot my days in. I have a space that has some old things, some new, and it’s just a fun little spot for me to work from home!
YOU MAY HAVE MISSED…
TOP TWELVE SHOTS of 2017
1.  CHANDELIER LOVER
Like most ladies, I absolutely love chandeliers! When we decided to move into a new house in January, I struck a deal with my husband. We could buy the house, which was about 10 years old, if he let me remodel the entire thing before we moved in. I didn’t want to drag it out over time while we were living there!
My vision included cramming as many chandeliers as possible into the house! Since we had visited Paris earlier in the year, I decided to use the inspiration from the Palace of Versailles for our little Texas home! The remodel went very smooth and we were able to move in on time! You can see some of the blog posts here! Â
2. HOME REMODELER
This is probably the fourth home I have gotten to revamp, and it gets easier each time! This time, I really got to have fun and not worry about boring things such as resale potential! My dad stated, “Well, that’s great as long as you don’t need to resell it,” after seeing the beginnings of the work! LOL! The saying goes, everything needs to be dull, safe, simple to help with selling potential….which I refer to as vomit. It was nice not having to worry about anything except what we want.
The other great thing was that my husband had literally no input! 🙂 It was heaven to not have to debate each little thing! There’s another link here. I had to have dog friendly flooring and furniture so those were really the only requirements.
As I sit here, almost a full year later, the entire decor part is complete and now I can focus on gardens and real life.
3. BIRD WATCHER
It’s always been a desire of mine, to be able to get up close and personal on a fresh bird’s nest. I’d always wanted to be able to watch the babies grow! I finally got my chance when a few months after we moved into the new house, a bird made it’s nest in a pot on my front porch!
I checked it several times a day and got to photograph the babies as they grew for a few weeks! If birds are your thing, you can see the shots here!
4. HUMMINGBIRD STALKER
I find it annoying when people always talk about how blessed they are. But OMG, I feel so blessed because I’ve always thought of hummingbirds as my favorite bird…and I have tons of them that I feed now! I spend hours trying to photograph them, and finally got a few fun shots. Not perfect or detailed, but they speak to my heart.
5. FASHION BLOGGER
I work for Johnny Was Clothing, a California brand that I love…so I blog about their clothes a lot. The shot above was actually showing off a custom dress that Eshakti sent to me, along with a Johnny Was Biya coat that I love! Although I have made some money from my blog this year, I am not one of those people that only shows you things that I want to earn a commission on by linking to an online shop. If it’s something I think is cool, but won’t make a dime for me…so be it. My blog is an ongoing commercial about clothing. What is terrible is that I could provide a lot more content due to my ongoing new supply of clothing but time is an issue. For us, if I happen to be dressed and in the mood…we snap pictures. I want to do so much more writing and hopefully this year I can get better at a lot of things…blogging being one of them!
6. LASH BOSS
I finally got to do something I’ve always wanted to do! I’ve started a new business in the cosmetics industry! After researching strip lashes for years, I took the plunge and developed my own brand, Bosscat Beauty. I designed two types of silk strip lashes and decided to start the business with one product, the Glam Edition Lash Box! The fun part was getting set up and building the first product from start to finish. Social media advertising is also fun. This next year will be about setting up retail accounts while also growing individual online sales to help promote brand awareness. I’m proud of my work so far and can’t wait to see how it goes in 2018!
7. CREATIVE DIRECTOR
One of the greatest jobs that I have with Bosscat is being able to create and design products that I hope people love! The above is just a first shot that I took for initial marketing once my boxes first came in! I will take a little time and get better at it, but it’s a start!
8. DOGMOM
Somehow I turned into a pink loving, flamingo floating, bleach blonde, dog mom. I think it’s funny as hell. I wanted to include this cell phone picture because it is so real. This past summer, each afternoon for an hour, I would try to relax outside with the girls. They love getting on floats and we just hang out and watch the birds and squirrels. It’s a little bit lonely at times to have such a simple life, but at the same time, I love peace and quiet so it’s really a cool life.
9. JAZZY LOVER
Being a dogmom, really started with adopting my Jazzy about 16 years ago. She was skinny, small, not too outgoing of a personality. She looked me straight in the eyes though, so I adopted her for the connection and her desire to understand. We knew she didn’t have much longer, so we took all three girls on a #dogcation  a few months before she died. She had an accidental death three days after we moved into the new house. It has not been a year yet. I loved her and gave her a safe home for 16 years and try not to think about her accident. She was a great little dog and this year I had to say goodbye.
10. PET CEMETARY GROUNDSKEEPER
If you read #9….then you get why I created a Pet Cemetary in my yard! It’s my little special place to honor Jazzy’s life and respect her with a memorial garden while having a great prayer spot at the same time! I’ve never shared a peak before. This next spring my biggest project will be my back yard. It’s freezing right this minute and probably killing my palms and fruit trees so a big clean up will be in order.
11. WANNABE YOUTUBER
I started making a few videos again, due in part to the new Bosscat venture! It is so hard to try to come off as your true self, and look ok, and have fun! The thing is, that it really is fun to make videos if you have the time to put in! This year is going to take some serious time management in order to meet my personal goals! It would be so neat to be interesting enough to do well at videos but not sure if that’s in the cards!
12. MAKEUP ARTIST
I made time to do makeup on a new friend this past year! I met her through work and really like her so we took a day to play! Nothing feels better than doing what you love and spending time with nice people so it was a high point for me! Leilani is a total ray of sunshine!
In closing…these are just a few simple pictures that help show my year, and what is important to me. Well, some of the things anyway! I also love President Trump, Jesus and my husband. We’re not supposed to talk about politics or serious things because we want to appear neutral. It’s very hard to pretend to be neutral when there’s so many serious issues in the world and my conservative belief system is not in line with the previous status quo.
It irritates me when a woman mentions Trumps “ridiculous tax reform bill” which was only “for the rich” and he’s only President “to make more money for himself.” Most people who bitch about the tax reform agenda have not processed their own tax return or run a business so how would they know about tax code ? So yes…it’s very hard to stay neutral a lot of the time. I hope to branch out a bit and share more in the future. Blogging is very therapeutic!
Let’s have a great 2018, everyone!
