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Chic Dogs & Magnolia Dreams

The Art of Intentional Living

Chic Dogs & Magnolia Dreams
The Art of Intentional Living
  • Your Brain on Beauty: What Monet Taught Me About Art and the Mind

    Your Brain on Beauty: What Monet Taught Me About Art and the Mind

    April 28, 2025March 30, 2026 Books, Quiet Notes

    Stepping Inside a Painting Last month, I stepped into a painting and I don’t mean that metaphorically. I found myself standing in a softly lit space in Antwerp, where Claude Monet’s brushstrokes bloomed across the walls, floor, and ceiling. Water lilies rippled around my feet. Flowers shimmered and…

    Read More Your Brain on Beauty: What Monet Taught Me About Art and the MindContinue

  • The Quiet Rebellion of Reading: Choosing Depth Over Distraction

    The Quiet Rebellion of Reading: Choosing Depth Over Distraction

    April 21, 2025May 26, 2025 Books, Quiet Notes

    There’s something quietly radical about curling up with a book in a world that urges you to scroll. Even more so when you choose a physical book, your eyes will thank you for the relief. We often don’t realize just how surrounded we are by screens until we…

    Read More The Quiet Rebellion of Reading: Choosing Depth Over DistractionContinue

  • 10 Inspiring Lessons I Learned From Ina Garten’s Memoir

    10 Inspiring Lessons I Learned From Ina Garten’s Memoir

    January 12, 2025March 30, 2026 Books, Home & Garden
    2 Comments

    Be Ready When the Luck Happens I’ve read some pretty amazing books in 2024 but the one that stood out the most, and the one I was most eager to start reading, was Ina Garten’s memoir Be Ready When the Luck Happens. The title is absolutely delicious if…

    Read More 10 Inspiring Lessons I Learned From Ina Garten’s MemoirContinue

Welcome to the Chic Dogs & Magnolia Dreams Blog! So glad you are here. If you are interested in cultivating the art of intentional living, you are in the right place!

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Gardener // Blogger // Writer // Fur mom
Inspiring you to create a soft and nourishing life!

The April Garden There are many things I love abo The April Garden

There are many things I love about April:

The return of strawberries

Happier dogs galavanting through the garden

Birdsong.

Soft morning light illuminating our bedroom.

The scent of lilacs blooming.

The sense of hope when a seemingly dead Winter garden wakes up after a long slumber. Making everything lush and beautiful.

#April #Garden #springgarden
Snippets of Paris! The Parisian Art of Flâner. T Snippets of Paris!

The Parisian Art of Flâner.

To stroll and indulge in the surrounding beauty, details and delights. 

Without urgency.

Without destination.

Intentionally being in a world of mindlessly doing, is also rebellion. 

#paris #flanêr #artdevivre
The deliciousness of everyday life. Sometimes we The deliciousness of everyday life.

Sometimes we grow so accustomed to what we have that we become blind to it. 

In today's world, I am particularly grateful for:

- calm mornings
- homemade dinners
- reading
- planting trees
- sitting close to the ocean
- noticing how a dog's breathing softens as they fall asleep
- enjoying coffee and a warm waffle
- buying fresh flowers
- opening up all the windows
- invigorating walks in the countryside 
- the comfort and safety of home
- chatting with a colleague, not about work but instead, about gardening.

Intentional living is by definition an act of defiance, because it forces you to pay attention to the seemingly small things of everyday life. It nudges you to soften. 

In a world that pushes us to harden, suppress and be distracted... this is rebellion. It isn't loud and it doesn't roar, but it is rebellion nonetheless.

It is a quiet resistance.

Hope you are well and safe, wherever you may be.🩷

#intentionalliving 
#everydayliving
A cozy home that feels like a warm hug. Filled wi A cozy home that feels like a warm hug.

Filled with books, dogs and candles.

One that feels both grounding and soothing to the soul, and nourishing to the heart.

#homebody #cozyhome
I started instagram a decade ago. I have been usin I started instagram a decade ago. I have been using it as some sort of a visual diary ever since, capturing the beauty of small everyday moments that bring so much light, warmth and comfort to my life. 

It reminds me to pay attention to the seemingly small things that make up a life and to be grateful for it. To not take any of it for granted, because as we know, it can all be gone in a blink of an eye.

Instagram had always been something positive to me. A place to inspire and be inspired. But now, once you start watching a reel, it sucks you all the way down to the brainwashing abyss. 

And it happens to the most conscientious of us. No one is immune to it. It gradually transforms us into exhausted, enraged and frustrated sleepwalkers. 

I think what this world needs is not more rage and hopelessness. What it needs is anchoring. It needs to believe that it can create something that is sustainable instead of burning everything to the ground. And it starts with each and every individual. It starts by keeping our eyes open and protecting our energy and what we want to stand for, rather than what we are against.

I have been moving away from the enticement and lure of the digital world for a while now. Not entirely rejecting it but being more intentional and aware of how it gradually erodes my attention and sense of presence. 

Setting firmer foot in the real world.

Keeping my eyes on beauty and light. Because that is the only thing that keeps me from drowning in a world of such persistent brutality.

I hope you are well, wherever you may be.🩷

#intentional #analog
"I would rather you'd say thank you!" Marlow's sp "I would rather you'd say thank you!"

Marlow's speech whenever I tell him to stop barking!🤣

#funnydogs
This is what I love most about Winter... Slow, co This is what I love most about Winter...

Slow, cozy and gentle Sunday mornings spent at home with the Chic Dogs.

Sipping tea, wearing warm, fuzzy socks and soft oversized sweaters, reading books, and eating crispy croissants... 

The deliciousness is even more palpable when there is snow outside.

Pure bliss in my book.❄️📚🐕

Hope you are warm, safe and paying attention to the tiny luxuries in your life.💙

#cozysunday
This little life is what I dreamed of as a child. This little life is what I dreamed of as a child. 

A warm and cozy home, where I'm surrounded by love and warmth. 

A happy home that feels like a gentle hug. Especially on days in which the world feels like a suffocating place, loud and harsh. 

A home that smells like warm toast and salted butter on a quiet Sunday morning. 

A home filled with dogs, books and flowers.

A home that is surrounded by my very own Secret Garden... a garden that heals, restores and shelters the heart of gentle creatures.🩷

#homebody
December in the countryside.🎄 Calm, gentle and in December in the countryside.🎄

Calm, gentle and intentional.

Filled with small, everyday luxuries and seasonal warmth.🥧

With dogs of course! 
Always with dogs.🩷

#cozyhome #softness #simplicity
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