BIKINI POLITICS

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During the summer, bikini sightings are an expectation by the male human being.  Period.  Your husband will never tell you that he wants to go hang out at the hotel pool wit you in hopes of seeing what amounts to basically naked women.  But he does. They all do.  Sorry. Maybe you’re super fabulous naked, so he wants to show you off to the world as well.  A lot of my male friends often comment that they rarely see super hot model or playboy types at the pool.  There’s a reason for that…they rarely exist. The vast majority of people do not look fabulous naked in the glare of sunlight. We’ve ruined ourselves with magazines, movies and television shows that use soft lighting, photo shop and perfect angles so it’s really hard to compete with expectations set forth by fakery.  In light of this, I’ve never been one to hold a strong desire to go hang out at a public pool.  I feel that if you’re sleeping with me, then you’ve earned the right to see me naked.  Have I made it clear enough that I do not put great value on bouncing around naked in front of strangers, I just don’t.

That being said, I typically know far in advance if the daunting pressure of beach or pool occasions or vacations are coming, so I usually have time to prep and dump 15 pounds so I can feel more comfortable and I also choose clothing to cover with out looking covered, if that makes sense.

I saw a woman who was fully clothed at the pool, but was soaking wet in her  floor length pants and t-shirt as she waved to her child and husband that were in the pool. She ended up looking like the grandma instead of the wife. I don’t want to be naked pool lady, but I don’t want to be fully-clothed-in-the-pool prude woman either.

Speaking of day light….it is so harsh on the naked body.  Ugh. So, in a perfect world…a person loves you for the beautiful person that you are on the inside…yada yada.

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On this particular week, we ended up on a quick jaunt and we knew we were going to unwind and share a cocktail at the pool area of our hotel.  My husband even made the statement as we packed to go…that he couldn’t wait to see me in a bikini. Huh?  I’m thinking to myself that he sees me naked pretty often so what’s the deal?  The deal is this…men are fed photos and movies of bikini women their whole lives.  It’s a fantasy.  Some girls and women thrive on every opportunity to sit in a string bikini with the general public because they feel the power involved. Me?  I just want to get through it, not look or feel too repulsive yet feel accepted by my mate.

Naked “fun” time for me, is at home, not in front of the universe. I wanted to let my husband feel relaxed and have a good time so I made up my mind to have fun and chillax.

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Here is the lovely part.  We decided people just don’t look that fabulous naked.  They just don’t.  Possibly about 5% of society might…but the rest of us are just acceptable. I could tell that my husband was shocked that there were no super model types lounging around…but it was instead…regular people, to my relief.

As for me and my poolside fashion, I think I am a product of my mom.  She used to pull me out of school and we’d often fly to Miami to stay at the Fountainbleu Hilton. That was her hangout.  There were models, movie stars, ball players, International fabulous types and mom would always be drenched in her diamonds, big hair done, sandals with heels and fabulous swim suits and cover ups.  Yes, I’ve turned into her, minus the bipolar alcoholism.  I realize this the more I think about it.  She never once had on a t-shirt. Diamonds were for every day.

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I threw together my poolside ensemble very quickly.  I am so glad that you can buy bikini tops and bottoms separately now, because the bottom half of my body is a small and the top is clearly not. A large, halter style bikini top gives structure to my upper body that a string bikini top just won’t.  The cover up was actually a top I purchased months ago which I had planned on using as lingerie.  It was perfect!  You’re in the required by law bikini, however covered up with just a peek of flesh showing through the lace. It is short and flirty, flowing in the breeze.

If you throw on some Mac Morange lip color, you immediately look as if effort was applied, and don’t mess with me about my hurr!  I just did my easy quadruple pony tail thing so it would be easy to maintain and I literally had the same hair later that night for dinner.  It may appear to be work, but it’s very low maintenance. Gucci sun glasses make up for a pale pool face ( and keep me from having to make eye contact with all the naked pool strangers) and of course my “Guido” style necklace that my husband gave me that used to belong to his father was perfect for pool glam in my book.  Honestly, if I’m wearing gold, I just keep it on, I’m not one to take of rings and necklaces and leave them around, my fear is losing them, so I just mainly keep jewelry on to keep from dealing with the stress of on again off again.

People, if I was swimming laps it would be different, but hotel pools are about relaxing and drinking and, in our case we had lunch poolside and enjoyed each others company.  It was cool that I ate a huge hamburger poolside, because my cover up hid the burger in my belly. I probably would have been much more comfortable taking photos before our burgers and beer…but it was sort of an after thought.

I’m not perfect. Like, at all.  So it’s a big deal to me to share this post.  But something happens as you get older…well, in my case anyway, I’ve learned to love myself and be happy!

-SDS

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TOP TWELVE SHOTS OF THE YEAR 2014

I welcome the year 2015 with open arms, but here are my top 12 picks for Shots of The Year from the blog!  Some are from products that sponsored me, and some of other people I got to shoot.  It’s fun to look back over the past year and gather some top shots.  2014 went by so fast, and in looking back, I see why… I was busy!  I look forward to challenging myself this next year!

 

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1.  GLASSES USA

I was so excited to learn about GLASSESUSA  and get an opportunity to try out their online prescription glasses service!  Too cool! Check them out for discount prescription glasses that you can order online.

glam, glammy, photography in The Woodlands, boudoir photos in The Woodlands, tattoo girl, makeup artistry, Luxor Living and Style, Houston style blog, Stephanie Sjoberg, fashion, style, 2. BOUDOIR

It was something totally new to try, and I had a blast doing last year’s Valentine Boudoir Shoot. The girls were fun and beautiful.  It’s not trashy… more fun and flirty than anything, but it was fun working out shots for the girls.  Out of all photos, I love this one the best.  The girl is a beautiful, edgy rebel, business woman and mom.  I loved the way this turned out.

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3. BLACK FEATHERED ANGEL

This is a girl I ran into one night while out with my husband.  We became friends and I was dying to do some portfolio shots for the aspiring actress.  On this shoot, we went to Galveston Beach, (although we joked about saying it was some exotic destination in the Carribbean) and we laughed so hard as we tried different shots. Imagine this tall, beautiful girl in full makeup and long black gown, on the edge of a jettie, as the waves crashed in.  Imagine the onlookers. Too funny. The rest of the pictures can be seen here. This was a great day!

 

Houston model, Luxor Living nad Style, fashion blog, blogger in Houston, Photography by Stephanie Sjoberg, makeup artist in Spring, Texas, Guess model, stylist, fashion blogger, Galveston Beach4. TEXAS GIRL

I’ve always loved the Guess advertising campaigns.  This was a spin on the Texas girl look.  This is one of my favorite shots from that day with her. See the rest here, on the American Girl blog post.

 

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5. SENIOR PORTRAIT TEXAS STYLE

Senior portraits in Texas are getting to be very elaborate, so I wanted to try my hand at a few!  I absolutely had a blast working on this shoot, and this one is my favorite from the Senior Glam Texas Style  shoot!

 

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6. YOUNIQUE

I did a review for Younique 3D Fiber Lashes.  This was one of the shots from the post that came out.  I mean, how do you really take a mascara photo anyway?  My vanity area was new, and it’s where I spend every morning getting ready, playing with makeup and trying new things.

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7. THE WOODLANDS, BIOTCH

One day after church, my husband and I stopped to snap photos for the Retro blog post.  I got this great shot of a nearby bridge in The Woodlands, and loved the way it came out!

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8. LA JOLLA

We took a trip to San Diego this year.  We wanted to return, since we had been the previous year.  I packed terribly.  I ended up buying a cool hat there, while we were shopping, and thus created a La Jolla outfit post out of scraps!  We stayed at La Valencia hotel, right on the Cove at La Jolla… and had an amazing time.  I love this shot that Ken took because it’s real.  It’s me. My clothes. My life.  I love that he lets me be kooky and fun.  Good times!

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La Jolla Cove

9.  PURE BEAUTY

Pure Beauty was seen daily as we photographed the Seals at La Jolla.  I was able to get inches from them and snap some cute photos.  This was one of my best memories of the year!  I adore nature and animals.

 

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10. HOLIDAY RIVER WALK

In December, we went to San Antonio to attend a church service by one of our favorite pastors, and stayed on the San Antonio River Walk.  It was my birthday, and Christmas lights were still up.  I took photos in order to create a Monet look and love the way they all turned out!

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11.  ANGEL

I was fortunate enough to make a new friend this year, when Angel Blanchard was referred to me by a friend, to recreate her hair salon web site, Angels Hair Designs.  She is a color and cut specialist in the Houston Galleria area, and also does extensions as well.  She did my hair recently as well.  Angel also is a jewelry designer, and is wearing some of her custom candy pieces in this shot! She does cuts for men as well!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

12.  YOU TUBER

One of my functions is that I work in Cosmetics and Fragrances.  I do makeup.  If you know anyone who does makeup, then you know we love You Tube Videos!  Everyone would love to try and make a video at least once, so I finally did a full You Tube presentation called GLAMMY GLAM in 19 MINUTES.  This shot was of the finished product after the video tutorial was made.  Making videos is so fun, but it’s more work than you think!  Check out my Channel here.

 

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