Happy Monday Queens!


It’s finally April and I’m excited because my birthday is in April and I’m so ready to celebrate me. This is all happening at the perfect time because we’ve got a ton of new queens to welcome into the queendom. So all month long I’ll be writing about myself and things that I enjoy and we’ll get back to the fashion in May lol. This week we’re talking about things that make me happy.

Selfie

First I have to go with the obvious, I love my boutique. Ivy Reina has brought me so much joy and that good kind of stress. The joy comes from seeing something that I created thrive and grow and knowing I did it all by myself, from building my website to the marketing I made Ivy Reina what it is. The stress comes from the pressure that owning a business puts on you. When Ivy Reina isn’t doing well there’s only one person to blame and that’s me because I’m the only one who works here lol. (I know I say we a lot, but I mean myself and my business, and hopefully manifesting my future employees.) Through the good and the bad, making my dreams come true is the ultimate joy, plus I get to work with fashion every day and that’s just adding in another thing that I love. 

Logo

Ok now for the fun stuff lol. I really love plants. So growing up I can remember standing outside and watching the wind blow through the grass and the trees and feeling like the earth was trying to speak to me. I know wild imagination, but you know it’s not the craziest idea. Hear me out, plants are living, breathing things, and they do communicate (it’s science look it up) so who’s to say they don’t try to speak with us? All I know is that taking care of them brings me joy. I love the smell and feeling of fresh soil on my hands and singing to my plants while I water them. 


So, I don’t normally flaunt my addiction but I love coffee and I don’t care who knows lol. I knew I had a problem when I wanted a cup of coffee before bed and was still able to go straight to sleep. I’ve definitely cut back since then but I still have at least one cup a day, and in my defense, I started drinking coffee as a little kid with my grandparents, so I never had a chance. My favorite coffees are Colombian, Hawaiian, and Haitian they all have very strong smooth flavors and I love them. As an adult, I no longer drink it with cream and sugar, just hazelnut cream and that’s sweet enough. 

Coffee Tees  shop the top

I LOVE to read. I’m so grateful to my elementary school for making reading so fun and treating it like a reward instead of a chore. I wish I could remember which one I fell in love with first The Chronicles Of Narnia or Junie B Jones, but I do know that these books were the start of some amazing reading adventures. Now I love reading romance novels, comics, drama series, mysteries, and fantasy novels. 


When it comes to entertainment movies and tv have kind of lost their thrill for me. I think there’s just too much to keep up with now so it’s hard for me to fall in love with a movie or show and watch it over and over because there’s always something new to see. However, my taste in books is also my taste in movies lol. However, music is my love language lol. I just love how expressive a song can be from any genre really. Currently, ALT R&B has me in a chokehold, but my music taste honestly changes with my mood so had I been feeling different today I may have given a different answer lol. But definitely take a listen to the Ivy Reina mix on Spotify to hear some of the music that makes feel like a queen. https://tinyurl.com/ivyreinaplaylist 

Play List

Last but certainly not least, I love my big ass blended family. So for those who don’t know, I am married to an amazing man and we have the world's cutest dog (argue with your mama.)  My husband's family is really sweet and equally as big as mine so there are a lot of people to love here. I grew up with my mom, stepdad, and 3 half brothers. My stepsisters grew up with their moms but we also spent a lot of time together and you can’t tell us we’re not siblings because we choose to be family. I normally don’t use the step and half titles but for the sake of the breakdown, it makes things less confusing. My father also has 7 children but we aren’t as close. On top of my immediate family, I have the most amazing and supportive aunties, uncles, and cousins and I love them all as well. 

husband and wife

To wrap things up, because now that I’m writing it out I realize I could write a book on things I love, I’m not some super-rich out of touch, CEO I’m a 27-year-old woman from Texas with big goals and every intention of meeting them. Also, my favorite color is blue, teal, black, and gold and I love french fries (honestly pretty much all forms of potato will do.) So until next week enjoy the Aries seasons and all of the spring things and don’t forget to shop the birthday sale collection. XOXO Ashley Hernandez CEO Ivy Reina

Ashley Hernandez