KS Tennis

LEVI STRAUSS and TOMMY HILFILGER for HIM

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Tommy Hilfilger sweater, Levi's Jeans, KS Tennis

 

     It is a very rare event when I get my husband to appear in a post here, but I bought him this Tommy Hilfiger sweater, Van Huesen button down shirt and a new pair of Levi’s 501 Button fly jeans for Christmas, so agreeing to a mini shoot was only right!

     The last time I was able to get him to do a shoot for me was a year ago, in the Classic Levi’s Day blog post.

Tommy Hilfilger sweater, Levi's Jeans, KS Tennis, Tennis in Spring, Texas

Sometimes, when we go somewhere, I have on heels and I am dressed up, but he is dressed for tennis.  I don’t shop for him enough, mainly because he is rather finicky, but I see now it benefits me to get him dressed on occasion!

We took the photos at one of the tennis facilities he works out of, and the landscape is beautiful for photos. It’s my secret place for when I do photography here and there.

     As for actually styling a man-shoot, it’s entirely different than shooting a female.  Their skin is different, the photos need to be more rugged…not delicate, or else ick!  I don’t think men sit up at night pouring over fashion sets, so I think in terms more of a woman trying to maintain her guy and what she might like to do for him.  I say this, however, my Pure Speculation blog post called  It’s a Fact, Bald Men Are HOT is quickly climbing the chart of popularity among my blog posts.   I tend to think I am getting a lot more male readers than previously suspected!

Tommy Hilfilger sweater, Levi's Jeans, KS Tennis

The sweater is so cool and also looks great with a simple turtle neck or t shirt underneath.  

    He desperately needed a jean update.  The fit on these Levi’s is fabulous and kinda hot and I love the new faded wash they just came out with.

Tommy Hilfilger sweater, Levi's Jeans, KS Tennis

While the pictures may appear peaceful and romantic, the shoot was anything but!  you know how you try to take your dog’s picture, and it’s restless?  It may be standing there still and stiff, but it’s stressed and not wanting a photo taken, occasionally looking away, and not posing how you would like?  This was that!  The good news is that at least he’s not vain at all, and I would be worried if he actually enjoyed getting his pictures done! 

     Ken enjoys vacation type, fun photos, but that’s about it! He doesn’t think it’s funny when I state that we are preserving and documenting his last ounces of youth.

Tommy Hilfilger sweater, Levi's Jeans, KS Tennis, Stephanie Sjoberg, Ken Sjoberg, Luxor Living and Style

I shouldn’t have given him this Christmas present early, but it would have tortured my soul to no end, waiting until Christmas to see if he liked it or not! He loved the set.  I wonder what improvements I can make next?

     Also, do we want more man style blog posts? No? Let me know what you think!

 

-SDS

-December 17, 2013

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Hola, From Cincinati!

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Cincinnati Bridge, travel blog, Luxor Living

     It was once stated about my husband…(the one I call Liverpie when he’s rotten and Alejandro when he’s being a sexy Latin man…think “Buzz Lightyear in Latin mode)…isn’t interested in going down the road unless there’s a tennis match at the end of the line.  He would go to the moon if there was to be a tennis match there, so the individual was correct.

     As luck would have it, we didn’t have to go to the moon…only Cincinnati.  There was an ATP Tournament there in which it turned out that my two favorite tennis pros would actually be playing each other!  

Rafa Nadal plays Rodger, Cincinati Tennis, Ks Tennis Usa, Houston tennis, Ken Sjoberg, www.kstennisusa.com, Tennis in The Woodlands

     The match between Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal started right after we got there. These two top ranked players had not played each other in years in the U.S. so it was really a thrill to get to see them both together. You would have to be a tennis lover to understand I suppose, but it was a great event. I took photos for our tennis business site, but gosh it’s so hard to get great action shots in tennis, and I really wanted one with both of these guys in it. 

     There were many other matches after this one, but in our hearts…we’d already seen the best match a person could see in 2013.

Ken Sjoberg, Stephanie Sjoberg, KS TENNIS USA, tennis in The Woodlands, Director of Tennis, Tennis management,

 

For the fashion readers of the blog, however, back to me!

SIDEBAR:  I came across a Youtube video a few months back by Jenna Marbles named WHAT BITCHES WEAR TO THE AIRPORT and I laughed so hard (despite her unnecessarily foul language) because I am the bitch she’s talking about. She believes we should all wear sweatpants and flip flops I guess, when we travel because she doesn’t want to have to wait in line as we unbuckle our strappy heels and take off our accessories.  Sorry, Jenna, but I like being dressed up, plus we had somewhere to be right after we landed…but since seeing the video I’m always worried she’s going to happen to be there to call me out.  My suggestion is that she be on time, so she won’t be in a rush when the TSA feel me all over and probe me. 

  That was just a sidebar on fashion and today’s travel, show when you see this next picture, in which my top is a wee bit wrinkled, understand that I do at least, travel very light.  I’ve learned over the years. These days you can be on a 7 day dream trip, but my husband forbids me to bring anything more than one carry on!  


Other than tennis affairs, we made time to relax and enjoy time here and there, even taking a boat ride up and down the river, and of course the Realtor in me checked out the architecture on surrounding real estate. I also like to compare the cost of living from state to state. (This way, when a future client calls me from an area…relocating to Texas, I have an idea of what they are used to when they think $599 will get them a three bedroom apartment!) Cincinnati is so much more beautiful than I thought it would be.  I’d lived in Kentucky before, years ago…but never made the drive to Cincinnati.


     And yes…it’s my gold straw hat, again! It made quite a few outings this summer which is actually a good thing in the real world because it means that I got my money out of it.  Not only that, but it’s just good planning.  When you are going to be outdoors all day watching tennis, or boating… who really wants to mess with a bunch of hair blowing all over? Not me.


This next picture may seem a little odd, however, close to our hotel and the tennis facility in Mason, Ohio is the absolutely biggest surprise at Outback Steakhouse.  

  

     I have never been a huge fan of Outback in Texas. There are many nice steakhouses that are elite and prime in Houston. We were tired and hungry and it was close by, so we stopped into Outback in Mason.  

     We noticed the people were fabulous, and the food was exceptional.  We ended up asking the manager why the food was so much better than the ones back home, and we were told that this one was an owner/operator location.  

     We had actually already eaten and were about to leave, but the owner, Sam Bonasso brought us a prime rib and crab cakes to sample.  Immaculate. Impeccable. It turns out that Sam is a top of the line Chef, and apparently there are 42 million ways to cook beef, one of which, takes basically all day. Not only that, but the menu is not a typical OUTBACK menu. They have crab stuffed mushroom caps and such! So if you are ever in the Cincinnati area, you really ought to try this place! This is embarrassing, but I have to say, we ended up eating there three times in a relatively short period.

     And that’s my Cincinnati story!

 

-August 28,2013

-SDS

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STAR IN YOUR OWN CHRISTMAS CARDS

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christmas card

    Thanksgiving is around the corner and that means Christmas is on it’s way so you better hurry up and decide on your holiday card ideas!

     As a society, we have buried ourselves with responsibilities, and we do not have as much time for friends and family as we once did.  Because of that, I feel it’s important to still communicate your thoughts of one another  so that people know you do care!

     Recently, I was getting the mail of an older lady who was out of town last holiday season, and I was shocked at how many Christmas cards she received daily!  It was old school class and charm. We actually only received about four and one was from the Chiropractor and another from a Dentist!

     Every year, I usually make my own.  On Thanksgiving night, I usually allot time to put up my Christmas tree and other decorations.  To me, that is also the perfect time to take 20 minutes to snap some photos appropriate for a family Christmas Card. 

     Last year, the card above was the shot I chose, but I applied a sort of “Toon” app to the photo which turned us into cartoons, which is actually fitting! (Because we are funny like that.)

     I simply uploaded the picture to photoshop.com and then chose “edit.”  From there, you simply click the “Sketch” button on the left…and it gives you a few options to choose from.  

     If you do not have the photoshop.com available, some cell phone photo programs or cameras have the same option. Chances are, some one you know has this and can do it for you within a few minutes.

     Next, you just choose whatever verbiage you wish your card to say…and you could do this with either Photoshop or even a simple Paint program.  

     Then, after your finished product is downloaded to a disk, you simply go down to a place like Walgreen’s or Costco, that usually has a photo printing machine with apps for greeting cards. (Or just print from home on card stock.)  You can choose from whatever selections you want there, and they can print your cards within an hour!

     On my cards, I already had the lettering added on Photoshop, so all I had to do was have them print the photo postcards for me for about $10, and I was done!

    I’ve even made Jazzy pose in a Santa suit before for my Christmas cards.You don’t have to cheese your own grill in your photos!  If there is a great winter shot you took and were proud of, or maybe a really old Christmas photo, you could reproduce, that would be great as well! 

     The point is to have fun and connect, and more inportantly, make someone feel special that you went old school and thought enough of them to use a stamp! Just sayin.

     This is just a fun activity to keep in mind as Thanksgiving approaches!

-November 18, 2012

–SDS

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TWELVE SHOTS FROM MAUI

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    Maui was the most amazing place to me.  It seems eerily close to the descriptions of Heaven that people who have “died” and then been brought back to life, describe. 

     Beaches are wonderful and all, especially the amazing Black Beach, shown above, which was on the road to Hana.  For me, however, it was the rain forests and surrounding areas of Hana that took my breath away.

     This very narrow one lane bridge on the road to Hana was just beautiful to me. It was the lush  and colorful foliage that was most amazing.  It struck me to the core, that this is what heaven will be, and probably what the earth now, was meant to be.  When you think about the nutritional value of our fruits and vegetables declining, I assume they are not studying the samples from here.  The colors of the plant life here is so bold and intense, a sure indicator of the unspoiled ground.

        The colors on this thick, beautiful tree bark were astounding. 

     

      The stories of Heaven you continually hear, is that Heaven is the same as Earth, except the colors are better, more vibrant. This surely must be what is meant.

l    This shot was of the Oheo Pools which is a beautiful place to park and swim.

     Charles Lindbergh had a farm and was buried here and it’s now a Memorial. it was peaceful and serene, and basically is on a cliff overlooking the ocean.

     Out of the 600 pictures that we took, I’d decided on the 12 best that showed the true wonder of this magical place.  It is sometimes so hard to capture true beauty with a flat snapshot.  If you do go to Maui, you must take a tour to Hana.


     While Hana was amazing, there were other great areas as well. 


      This picture was taken from our table on the deck of a restaurant while having lunch in LaHaina.

     

     Another day trip we took together, was the drive up to the Haleakala National Park.


     It was great to be able to stop and take our time as we drove through the rural mountain side.  The temperature changed drastically from the bottom, which was around 83 degrees, to the top, which was about 50 degrees with the wind blowing like crazy, which made it feel like 35.


     

     As we made our way through the clouds, we eventually arrived at our final destination – over the clouds and on top of the mountain.


     

    That is my Maui.  It was the most wonderful time I’ve ever had, and a wonderful opportunity to see beautiful land at it’s finest, un-tampered with state.    


THE   END 

–November 12, 2012

–SDS

 
 
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CLASSIC LEVI’S DAY

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levi1 levi1bw levi shoot 003 levi shoot 068levihug
     Today was a classic Levi’s kind of a day.  Today consisted of running errands together which included a quick meeting for business at a local Starbucks (any visit to a Starbucks by this man is completely rare…he does not require caffeine to operate as the rest of us do) then there were more errands followed by a quick lunch.
 

     One of my day’s challenges was getting him to stop long enough today to take a few shots for this Levi’s blog post!
 

     
     We actually laughed so hard and it was really fun when we stopped to snap pictures at a place I used to consider to be my own personal hidden swampy place.  However, when we got to my super secret swampy place, we found that it wasn’t a secret anymore. Tables, benches, an asphalt trail and bridge had been added, so it’s not a secret anymore! It is still an extremely secluded spot in the middle of our town. 
     I guess I feel strongly about the Levi Strauss & Company products because I feel that now more than ever, we need to support our American companies and jobs.  If you don’t support America, who will ?
 
     Levi Strauss is a worldwide company that’s been around since 1853 and its headquarters is in San Francisco, California.  Levi jeans are a classic…forever, sort of like animal print. Levi’s are for every age.
 
     It would not matter if I were wearing a $300 pair of jeans…my body is still my body, any pair of jeans isn’t going to magically transform me into a supermodel.
     He has on a black tuxedo styled shirt by Guess and his favorite Levi’s Authentic cut. (Skinny jeans on a guy freak me out!) My black short waist blazer is from Guess as well.
 
     Join in the fun and send in any hot shots you may have in your Levi’s!  I would love to post!
 
-November 8, 2012
-SDS
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HOW TO CREATE YOUR OWN WEDDING PHOTO BOOK ONLINE (on the cheap!)

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     Somehow, when we planned our small wedding last year, it grew and got more complicated than I cared for.  The one thing we both knew we wanted was to have at least a few nice photos to remember the day with.


     I’ve had friends get married in the past that had paid thousands of dollars for a photographer to snap their every move, as well as pay thousands for a published “photo book.”


     I, on the other hand, knew that I only cared to have a few great pictures, rather than the current trend of having the photographer snap 1,500 average pictures.  I also knew, I would create and publish my wedding book, on my own, online, for 1/20th of the price others pay.


     I chose to mix black and white prints with some color prints to add a professional touch to the album.

     My husband, for one year, kept asking me to put the photos in an album, but I never did. I had secretly decided to make him the photo book and give it to him on our 1 year anniversary, which I just did in April.


     I chose, and edited the photos online using PhotoShop to crop or brighten or change to black & white.  One picture, my 14 year old cousin had taken with her Iphone and I edited and added to the album.

     

     I then researched and found a site called blurb.com to help me create and edit the book!

     This is a copy of mine, take a look! The link is below if you decide to try your own!

     My wedding photo book was shipped to my front door for under $70 within a few weeks of completing it online. 

     My next photo project will be just clearing all the old pictures off my computers and making a regular photo album again with blurb.com !

-September 14, 2012

–SDS

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