5 Things I Think I Need Right Now…

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Wow! Where have these been? Chic new styles are in from Old Gringo! The Carla is a 6″ shaft genuine leather boot featuring a beautiful multi color floral embroidery with side zip and rounded toe. I love these paired with either my favorite jeans or tunic dresses for a trendy, boho – country look! I am thinking I could get away with these booties for Spring or Summer as well as Fall. That’s my thing…I love things I can wear universally since the weather is mild-ish in Texas!

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The ONTHEGO bag from Louis Vuitton is sold out in the brown color…but I love her! I will be on the lookout, and if we go to Italy this year as planned, I may try to pick one up as a vacation souvenir…or at least that’s how I would justify purchasing it.

I am trying to spend less on common purchases to work towards my inner self agreeing that more expensive purchases are rationalized. I need her in my life.

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If you know meat all, then you would know that I have wanted a chicken coup for quite some time! My main reason for the delay has been that we moved to an area with more strict of an HOA so chickens are not actually allowed. While there was a bill in Texas last year, to attempt to override the bans that HOAs place on homeowners, in regard to chickens…it still has not passed.

I would have to build my chicken empire and then have to get rid of them due to HOA Nazis. I do understand though, that it should be looked at as a case by case issue. Some people would never clean up after their chickens, or would have makeshift chicken coups built out of crates or something. I would like to hope that my chickenry (my word) will be so fabulous, that I will rise above scrutiny. We will see if I take the plunge or not!

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Gardening is my jam! I have been planting tomatoes and peppers and whatnot here and there, but I need more room! I currently have a random concrete slab that the previous owners installed for whatever reason. It’s ugly, too close to the house and recently I thought of an idea for it!

A raised garden area would be perfect! There is nothing better than needing green onions for something I am cooking, and being able to go outside and cut some off of my onion patch. With a bit more work, maybe I could learn to be a more responsible, disciplined vegetable gardener!

I have had a huge composting area for a few years now and the soil is absolutely magical! f I have a plant that is near death, I can stick in my compost area and it gets brought back to life very quickly!

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Since I did my remodel on our current house, I have wanted to add a mirrored wall with antiqued glass to the dining area much like what they have done above. At the time, the price quotes I was getting were crazy high, so I decided to spend money elsewhere because a glass wall is easy to have installed after move in. Later, I considered wallpaper but my focus is back on the antiqued mirror look.

I designed the house around the concept of a modern Versailles type of look, so the mirror fits in with my original idea. There is also the point that the house is not super large, so mirrors help to give the illusion of a larger room.

There are so many ideas out there for mirrors but the look above is my final inspiration. I will share if I get it done this year! You can see my current dining room here.

These are my top 5 things I am obsessing over right now…as you can see, a little bit of everything is involved…a little fashion, a bit of nature and some home decor!

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EIGHT SHOTS FOR SEPTEMBER 2018

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  1.  #HAWAII

We ended up taking a last minute vacation to visit Maui again in September.  I had always wanted to go back and take better pictures, as well as visit Hana again.  Before our reservations at Mama’s Fish House…we took a few shots in their beachfront yard.  There were couples and families everywhere trying to take selfies, so I enjoyed offering help with their photos! Mama’s Fish house was wonderful and a dinner with an ocean front view that I will never forget!

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2. #ALOHA

On the way back from Hana…we pulled over to snap pictures of this perfect rainbow!  My husband loves rainbows (and puppies) so we were sort of competing with who could get the perfect shot. Maui is a magical place and everyone should be able to go once in their lifetime.  We toy with the idea of one day moving there, but for now we are happy with where we are.

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3.  #ART

We woke up to feed to Koi in our hotel’s pond every morning.  They were so big and their eyes are so big that they seem like little dogs to us!  I wanted to pick one up and hug it but the koi wouldn’t have liked that I’m sure.

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4. #BREAKTIME

Mama’s Fish House has an amazing beach front view…and as we were waiting for our reservations, this turtle had come up on the beach for a rest. He was huge!  It was nice to see nature undisturbed and doing it’s thing.

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5.  #SAILINGOFFINTOTHESUNSET

Our last night there, we just sat and enjoyed the sunset together. We rented a studio near Whaler’s Village and the beaches there were great.

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6. #KSTENNISUSA

He is always going a million miles per hour.  Sitting still and quiet is a rare thing. So this was a special moment. Watching him quietly enjoy the beach and sunset, trying to Iphone the perfect photo.

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7.  #HANA

I have wanted to get back to Hana for about 5 years!  The Road to Hana is magical to me.  It’s partially jungle overlooking the ocean.  It’s got winding roads with one lane bridges …which you really shouldn’t drive on your own.  It’s best to take a tour because the drivers are used to the dangerous curves and one lane areas of road.  It also frees you up to enjoy the view.  This is not the type of road trip that the driver can afford to take their eyes off of the road.

8.  #WIFELEADSHUSBAND

This is funny because there are those great photos from the travel blogger couple that shoots all of their photos this way…I think it’s #girlleadsboyfriendallovertheglobe or something…but either way my husband is getting artsy!  We were probably on our way back from our most recent shaved ice visit. Most of my photos end up across my instagram @stephaniedawnsjoberg or @bosscatbeauty for the beauty related posts!

 

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You Keep Asking How to Maintain White Blonde….

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Every single day, I am asked by strangers how I keep my hair white blonde without it being dry, brittle and orange tinted.  I’ve done product reviews for hair products that really help, but the ones I’m listing here are my main loves.

First of all, people want to know who it is that does my hair…well, it’s me.  I use a 40 volume developer which to me, is key.  The main thing with being blonde, is to NOT overlap!  No one cares more about me burning off my hair, than ME…so I choose to be mad at myself for free than mad at the hairdresser and paying her $200 to burn off my hair. Or be orange. Or yellow. I also do it every 4 weeks so I don’t have all day to sit in a salon.

On the rare occasion I may take it off too soon…then I use a 10 or 20 volume to hit the roots again the next time I wash it for a few minutes, to correct the yellow.

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I always use the “Purple Shampoo” that you all know about, but here’s the difference…if I really want a snow white color, I will put the Shimmer Lights Shampoo for Blonde & Silver on my hair while it is still dry.  Slowly, I will work it in, lather it up with small amounts of water and let it sit all lathered up for about 5 minutes on my head before rinsing.  Most people tell me that the purple shampoo does not work for them, but I really noticed the biggest difference once I started putting it on dry hair.  Also, come on ladies…if your hair dresser gave you orange highlights, nothing is going to make it blonde.  Just sayin.

Before blow drying, I use Biosilk Silk Therapy as a heat protector/smoother.  I’ve used this for a zillion years and keep going back to it. I feel that it keeps my hair from drying out and breaking off!

I’ve considered filming a video of the self bleaching process, but it’s very important that people know that it’s very hard to color your entire head blonde all at once.  I would advise going into chunkier and chunkier pieces first, until most of the head is blonde before attempting to go all the way.

Of course, once it is all the way blonde, you could, in theory, then start coloring it on your own, because there is only the root retouch to do.  The self root retouch is what I’m considering filming. It’s not hard at all and I love myself when there’s still $200 in my wallet after my hair is freshly done!

-SDS

YOU MAY HAVE MISSED…..

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LA VALENCIA HOTEL

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We recently ran off for a quick jaunt to California, and since we had business anyway in San Diego…we decided to stay in the La Jolla Cove vacinity, and make a break out of it!

Last year at this time, we were also in California, but toured through La Jolla, Carlsbad, Laguna Beach, Newport Beach, etc.  Because of that, this time we decided to stay in one area and actually relax in between touring tennis facilities, etc.

Last year, while visiting the seals on La Jolla Cove… I’d notice the huge pink hotel overlooking the ocean, so we (I) decided to stay there this time around.  It has a fabulous old Hollywood feel to it… coming from the fact that it was built in 1926.

I love how the room doors are the old style, in heavy wood, the hallways are skinny and the elevator is even smaller, as they were not industrial sized as we see in newer construction.

There are a couple of different options for fabulous dining, and who wouldn’t want their breakfast on the restaurant terrace overlooking the ocean view?

Our room was an Ocean View, but by going to the La Valencia website, you can see that they also have different type of Villas available, that I will try to book next time we go.

Our room’s terrace was equipped with birds that would literally bark at you for snacks.  Fortunately, I stopped for room snack and hairspray before getting to the hotel, so I had available a fat girl sized bag of Cheetos, which the birds loved.  I’m thinking the salty nature of Cheetos was fish-like for them.  Either way, the showed up like clock work every morning, some even taking the bites right out of my hand!

Between the seals on the nearby cove, the birds, the ocean view, fabulous food and a great hotel…we had an absolutely wonderful stay!  Check out the interesting video below if you love history and architecture !

-SDS

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