Office Chic for the Girl Boss

Girl Boss Desk Supplies

Happy Friday gals! Since starting my new job, which by the way I love, I’m coming to notice that your office is your home away from home. You need to love it! My “office” is more of a desk in a big room with a few other coworkers, but nonetheless it’s still my own little space. Decorating an office space is probably the most exciting part of a new job. It’s certainly my favorite part! My office building in Downtown Dallas is actually an old warehouse converted into office space. How neat is that? Here are a few things I’m adding to my desk!

Kate Spade Pens and Pencils

Kate Spade is my go-to for everything! Sometimes I can even get a good deal on desk supplies. However, if her prices aren’t in your price range, the Target dollar spot is a good place to find chic office supplies for cheap! Some of my favorite things come from Target. Target also has a great selection of Kate Spade inspired planners and notebooks. This year, I’m definitely investing in the super pretty gold polka-dot planner for work. You wouldn’t believe my to-do list!

Stationary and Calendars from the Rifle Paper Co.

Ever since I walked into Anthropologie and began browsing the little desk supplies and home decor area, I fell in love with the Rifle Paper Company’s pretty calendars. Knowing that my job requires so much organization, I’ll not only need my Google calendar to stay on task, but also a pretty wall calendar. You can’t be too organized! Plus, I just love the 2017 Bon Voyage theme! Next year when I’m finished with the calendar, I’ll repurpose it and frame all the illustrations for my wall!

Travel Mugs and Swell Water Bottles

I’m a big fan of keeping your own coffee mugs and water bottles at the office. Why? Because mine are cuter and way more fun than the ones in the office kitchen. I love the ‘But First Coffee’ travel mug from Ban.do! Gold and white is my favorite color scheme. Swell water bottles are also becoming popular and are on my wish list. They aren’t what you might consider affordable, but there are other alternatives if you’d prefer to save some money! Having both of these items at my desk also adds a little personality to my space!

I’m so excited to start this new journey in my life! Moving to Dallas was a little scary but it’s really worth it when you find a place you love and a job you enjoy. Never be afraid of the unknown, girls! There’s so much out there to do!

-Liz

Dallas/Fort Worth Style Collective Meet Up

Happy Tuesday lovely girls! Today, I’m sharing with you some photos and takeaways from an amazing Style Collective blogger meet up I was apart of last week! In case you haven’t heard of Style Collective, it’s a members only website where style bloggers can share ideas, ask questions, and encourage each other in the pursuit of success with their blogs. For the first time ever, girl bosses from all over the country met in their respective cities for meet ups! Since I’m a Dallas blogger, gals from my city met up for dinner and drinks at the fun downtown hang out, Happiest Hour.

The girls I got to meet up with were the best! All of them are so talented and sweet! Sharing our blogging stories and why we started blogs was so nice. I’ll be linking their blogs below for you to check out later too! But first, I wanted to share some takeaways from our gathering!

Success Doesn’t Come Easy

For whatever reason, blogging has a stereotype of a get rich quick scheme. Let me tell you, this couldn’t be farther from the truth! There are certainly a few people who have gotten lucky and been overnight successes, but it’s rare. Commiserating with other bloggers about how difficult it can be to get traffic to your website and the hurdles you have to jump through to get to where you want to be was so fantastic. Often times, you feel like maybe it’s just your blog that isn’t working or is growing slowly. Knowing other people feel the same way sometimes makes you feel so much better!

Encouraging Another’s Success Never Hurt Your Own

In the past, I’ve asked more experienced and successful bloggers how they got to where they are now. The answers were always vague and totally unhelpful, clearly uninterested in helping anyone else. This was one of the first times I could get together with other bloggers and really share information and the “how-to’s” of blogging. Let me just say how incredible it was! I learned so much from these girls and it felt amazing to share things with them as well. Helping someone else never hurts!

Truly, this was one of the most fun days of my blogging career! Happiest Hour was also a wonderful place to meet up. The atmosphere was fantastic and the rooftop lounge area can’t be beat! If you’re ever in the Dallas area, take an afternoon and go enjoy it!

Meet Steph of Signing Steph blog! She has the sweetest personality and is quite the girl boss- She’s a boutique owner and interior designer! Her style is laid back with some boho vibes mixed in. Seriously, can we just talk about her amazing top? I just love her style!

Say hello to Cindy of Foreign Fresh & Fierce! This girl is one of the most organized ladies I’ve ever met. She put our meet up together and got in touch with the right people to make it happen! She’s definitely the life of the party too! Her style is so chic with her trendy outfits and unique accessories.

Last but certainly not least, Jennifer from Sassy Teacher Chic! This lady truly does it all. She’s a mom, blogger, and a teacher! Her husband, Jason, who so graciously spent his evening taking our photos, owns his own photography business as well! Her style is professional and chic. Jennifer always looks put together!

These lovely ladies are some of the kindest people I’ve met here in Dallas and they are so talented too! Our meet up was a great experience and full of laughs- which I certainly needed! Be sure to take a look at their blogs!

-Liz

Photo Credit: J and J Studios

 

Goals for the New Year

 

Happy New Year’s! I hope you got to bring in 2016 with the people you love. My New Year’s was spent in San Antonio with my sweet boyfriend and his wonderful family. His parents were generous and surprised me with a trip to come see him for a few weeks and to spend the holiday together! By now I’m pretty sure you’ve figured out that this girl gets spoiled a lot!

Today I really wanted to talk about my hopes and goals for this year. Every year it seems I have the same generic resolutions for myself- lose weight, eat better, exercise, be more positive. Those aren’t goals, they’re lifestyle changes. I’d like to make some real goals for myself that are actually attainable and suitable for my long-term lifestyle.

Let’s start with this blog! I’d love, love, love to make money off of it in 2016. Even if it’s only a hundred dollars, just something to show for all of my work. I realize it takes years to build a blog big enough to make money off of, but a little appreciation here and there keeps you going! On top of that, I’d like to reach 5000 followers and also grow my Instagram account.

Another goal of mine is to become a regular contributor for a fashion and lifestyle website with a much bigger following than mine. Writing for other blogs or websites really gives you exposure to people who might not otherwise know you’re there. Who doesn’t want more exposure?

Finally, I’d like to develop more confidence in my abilities as a professional. Entering into the workforce is scary and takes a lot of work. The amount of rejections I’ve gotten has really worn down my self-esteem over time. However, my motivation has only gotten stronger! Confidence takes a lifetime to build but only a few simple words to destroy. This year, I want to make mine stronger than ever.

Leave me a comment with a few of your goals this year!

10 Mistakes Every First-Time Blogger Makes

 

Hello lovelies! Since I shared a post last week about a few milestones I’ve recently reached on my blog, I wanted to give some unsolicited advice about the mistakes new bloggers make. I started out on my blogging adventure in May 2014 and did so many crazy things that crack me up now. Many of you have commented on other blog posts saying that you’re new to the blogging world. I’d love to help you out with a few suggestions on what you shouldn’t do when blogging!

Blogging Mistakes

Inconsistent Blogging –

I’ve had many bloggers approach me and want to collaborate, which is great! However, the first thing I do is check their blogs to see how consistent they are in their blogging. Why? Because it says a lot about how serious they are, the size of their (potential) audience, and how much my time will be worth collaborating on a project with them. Additionally, your own audience will become disinterested in you if they don’t know when you’ll post next.

Poorly Lit Photos-

The first months of my blogging were the worst for this! Shadowy pictures, grainy photos, and just awful imagery were all over my posts. It was bad. No one likes to look at that! People love pretty pictures that are well lit and taken with a steady hand. The best light is natural light. 

Writing Mysterious Titles-

“Pumpkins and Bicycles.” What does that even mean? Bloggers seem to think that mysterious blog titles will get people interested in what they wrote. It doesn’t do that at all. If people don’t clearly understand the topic of your blog post, then they are very unlikely to click it on to find out more.

Strange Font Colors-

When I first started blogging, I thought it was a fun idea to make my fonts bright and exciting. I actually made some of the font colors pink! Yes, I would write my entire post in pink. Guess what? No one can read that, so don’t do it.

Keeping the .Wordpress-

Starting out, you aren’t sure if you want to invest money in your blog. Believe me, I get it. However, if you want brands and other bloggers to take you seriously and collaborate with you, you have to get rid of that “.Wordpress” in your blog’s url and that means buying the domain name.

Relying on Polyvore for Content-

I love Polyvore, but it shouldn’t be your main source to create content. I use it specifically to help me with illustrations for my blog, but I do not let that become the centerpiece. For example, I might create a little something about a seasonal coffee bar, but I don’t plop that on my blog post and say “enjoy guys!” That doesn’t help anyone or give them ideas. You need to write something!

Writing About Yourself-

Talking about your experiences adds life to your posts, but your blog isn’t your online diary. If you truly want to grow your blog, then you need to have content that somehow helps or inspires the readers.

Promoting Your Blog-

I’ve had people comment on my blog or Instagram saying something like “Great” and then leaving their blog link. Obviously, they’re trying to get me and my readers to visit their blog. Leave a substantive comment and it’s more likely to happen.

Forgetting to Spell Check-

Even I still forget to do this. It’s the thing that can add or take away credibility from your website. Similar to applying for a job, you can’t have mistakes on your resume because no one will take you seriously.

Writing More Than You Promote-

For whatever reason, we think all we have to do is promote our blog posts on our Facebook pages and our Twitters, but it’s so much more than that. Collaborating with other bloggers, writing for websites, and leaving genuine comments on other’s blogs is promotion.

If you have tips, experiences, or advice to share, then please leave a comment! I always enjoy hearing what you have to say and so does everyone else!

 

 

Working Girl Inspiration

Good morning lovelies! Here’s a little Thursday inspiration to get you through the day! I woke up and was looking at my Pinterest and pinned a few things that inspired me. You can find more on my board “The Working Girl’s Life” if you like what you see. I love my life as a professional woman and am so empowered by it! However, I don’t think being a professional should mean I can’t live with a little color in my life. No matter what position I’ll hold in my lifetime, you’ll still find me rocking pink and sparkles!

Enjoy your day! It’s almost Friday! Keep working hard being all that you were designed to be. The best is yet to come in our beautiful lives. We are tres magnifique!