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Chic Dogs & Magnolia Dreams

The Art of Intentional Living

Chic Dogs & Magnolia Dreams
The Art of Intentional Living
  • Cleansing the Energy of Home: A Gentle Summer Ritual for Calm and Clarity

    Cleansing the Energy of Home: A Gentle Summer Ritual for Calm and Clarity

    August 14, 2025March 30, 2026 Home & Garden

    A Summer Spent at Home As a teacher and a lifelong homebody, I’ve always savored my summers off. But this year has been even more delicious and soothing. We’re halfway through the season, and apart from a week in France, we’ve stayed home. Our summers are usually filled…

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  • 7 Ideas to Create a Soft and Nourishing Morning Routine

    7 Ideas to Create a Soft and Nourishing Morning Routine

    March 22, 2025March 30, 2026 Home & Garden
    4 Comments

    Mornings set the tone for the rest of the day, and how we begin can make all the difference in how we feel, think, and move through life. A soft and nourishing morning routine isn’t about productivity. It’s about honoring yourself, your needs, and the rhythm of your…

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  • How to Thrift for Home Decor

    How to Thrift for Home Decor

    February 5, 2025February 5, 2025 Home & Garden

    A Guide to Unique & Budget-Friendly Styling One of the most underrated places to find unique and budget-friendly decor, is at thrift stores. In fact, I often find the most beautiful pieces in thrift stores or flea markets. I always loved old world things and have found that…

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  • 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…

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  • Cozy “Little Women” inspired Christmas decorations

    Cozy “Little Women” inspired Christmas decorations

    December 8, 2024December 8, 2024 Home & Garden
    2 Comments

    A cozy home! My favorite part about the Christmas season, is decorating the house. Nothing feels more comforting to me than to make the house super cozy during the coldest and darkest season of the year. The warm fairy lights, the scent of oranges and cloves, red velvet…

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  • 14 Autumn garden chores for a healthy garden

    14 Autumn garden chores for a healthy garden

    November 17, 2024March 30, 2026 Home & Garden

    A rookie mistake would be to think that gardening only happens during the growing season (Spring and Summer). In fact, if you want a beautiful, lush and healthy garden, you need to know that most of the ‘behind the scenes’ work is what actually makes your garden thrive…

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  • My cozy home office makeover

    My cozy home office makeover

    October 28, 2024October 28, 2024 Home & Garden
    1 Comment

    Cozy home office My home office is one of my favorite places in the house. It’s the place where I do my writing, make new teaching material and it’s the place where most of my books live. It’s not a big office but it’s cozy and inspiring to…

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  • My “Practical Magic” inspired garden and how to create one

    My “Practical Magic” inspired garden and how to create one

    September 23, 2024March 30, 2026 Home & Garden
    4 Comments

    September is one of my favorite months. Okay yes I know, Summer break is over and school starts again. And no, I don’t particularly enjoy all the chaos and stress that accompanies all of that… But, there is a palpable shift in nature that makes me want to…

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  • French inspired Summer skincare routine

    French inspired Summer skincare routine

    July 26, 2024March 30, 2026 Home & Garden

    Did you know that your skin is the biggest organ you have? Not only that, but it’s also the only organ that is exposed to the external world. So no, skincare is not just a vanity thing. It is in fact, about your health. Our skin health is…

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  • 14 ways to have a soft and intentional Summer

    14 ways to have a soft and intentional Summer

    July 2, 2024March 30, 2026 Home & Garden
    2 Comments

    The long-awaited Summer break has finally arrived! At least on my side of the world. Friday was officially the last day of the school year for both teachers and students. Though at the end of every school year I tend to feel the bitter sweetness of time passing,…

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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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𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐴𝑟𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝐼𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝐿𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔
Gardener // Storyteller // Writer // Dog Mom
Flowers, dogs, books & Paris

July in the countryside. Quiet, simple, full of b July in the countryside.

Quiet, simple, full of beauty and happy dogs.

#julyinthegarden #summerinthecountryside #happydogsclub #slowlife #gentlesummer
We live in a world, that in many ways, tries to im We live in a world, that in many ways, tries to impose what we should believe in. What we should stand for.

Luckily for me, I've always been a willful child and even more so after being on this planet for 40 years now. 

The more something tries to push me into a certain direction, the more suspicious I become. And as a consequence my rebellion setting, shifts into a higher gear. This is when I get quiet and try to listen to what my heart truly believes to be true. 

These are some of the things I believe in part 1:

* That nothing is more elegant, timeless and a sure sign of rebellion, as a bright red lipstick and nail polish.

* That some humans are pure Magic while others are as rotten as they come. 

* Being a human being does not automatically set you free from the consequences of having inflicted intentional cruelty to others. And by others, I mean all species. 

* Being human does not place us above other species. The belief that we are, is nothing more than a human construct. We are PART OF a living ecosystem, not above it. And the sooner we realize this, the greater our chances of surviving as a species.

* I believe in giving people their flowers while they are still alive. If I think someone is wearing a great outfit, is doing a great job, is an inspiration to me... I will tell them. If I hear others say something beautiful about them, I will tell them about it. We often think that people 'know' that they are beautiful, doing a great job, succeeding at life (whatever that means.. ) but the truth is that most of us are incredibly insecure, anxious, exhausted, full of doubts and fighting internal battles that the outside world knows nothing about.

* I believe that dogs know a lot more about us than we will ever know or understand about them. They see who we truly are, not what we're trying to perform. Us on the other hand, when we look at dogs, we often see them through a very limited lens. This lens does not do them justice.

* I believe writing, pen to paper, will make us more intelligent, considerate and better speakers. It also makes us pay attention to the seemingly invisible things that make up a life. It makes us think for ourselves.
June so far has been colorful, full and gentle. W June so far has been colorful, full and gentle. 
With a garden full of flowers, friendly and happy dogs to keep us company and a table filled with delicious homecooked food and people I love.

Can't wait for summer to officially start.
So we can revel in slow and soothing mornings,  garden until the sun sets, have trips to the beach with the dogs, cozy picnics in the forest, and  afternoons of writing and reading under the shade of a tree.

What do you look most forward to this summer?

#junethings
The more we pay attention, the more magic we will The more we pay attention, the more magic we will find. 

Beauty is all around, we just need to sharpen our senses and get still enough to notice.

But it demands vulnerability and a willingness to be open to the world around us.

Look for the helpers.
Look for the light and the flowers.

You'll be surprised by how much of it you will find.

Yes, even in dark times.
Even in the chaos.

Also, naps! 
Don't underestimate them.😉

Hope you are well, wherever you may be.🩷

#gentle
Snippets of everyday life and things that brought Snippets of everyday life and things that brought me joy. And documenting as much as possible in order not to forget.

At times I find it extremely hard to find joy in this world. 

I am blessed with comfort, safety and beauty. I have good people and animals around me, I have built the life I've dreamed of as a child... A home full of love, calm and beauty. A home and garden full of animals, books, flowers and freshly baked goodies in the kitchen. A husband that is the love of my life and has been for 2 decades.

And yet, my mind and my heart struggles at times. I can feel overwhelmed by grief and a sense of hopelessness when I look at the state of the world. 

It's not all gloom, but the gloom that does exist is brutal and relentless. 

This grief is something I thought I had to get rid of because who am I to struggle when I have so much. But now I understand that this grief is what makes me human, open and connected to the beauty of the world, and as a consequence, to the cruelty of it.

I don't want to numb any of it. I don't want to become hardened by it either. If there is one thing I have made my mind up about, it's that I don't want to become part of the darkness of this world nor indifferent to it's impact on all of us.

To be in this world but not of it. 
To keep an open mind and heart because closing it off will protect me from the darkness but it will also shut out the light. 

And I for one, need the light to grow and bloom.

I hope you have a gentle week ahead, wherever you may be. 🩷🌸🫖🐶

#simplethings
Blue Moon Energy is heavy today. 🌕 These snippet Blue Moon Energy is heavy today. 🌕 

These snippets of everyday life remind me to pay attention to the seemingly small moments. Life is made of a collection of tiny, everyday moments.

But more often than not, we forget to pay attention. And life starts to being lived by default, instead of with intention. It becomes cluttered instead of curated.

It's a great time to release what no longer serves you, so you can make room for what does. Turning your life into a work of art and storytelling. 

There is always beauty.

Even in the midst of panic.

Even in the midst of grief and confusion.

We just need to remind ourselves.
Again and again.

💙
Stella! Stellita! Stella Bella Mozzarella! Judging Stella!
Stellita!
Stella Bella Mozzarella!
Judging us all since 2023.🦊🤪🩷

@care4shelterdogsvatradornei
Everyone deserves to be loved like Snooty the Shar Everyone deserves to be loved like Snooty the Shark.🦈🩷🐶
Using Instagram for what it was initially intended Using Instagram for what it was initially intended (according to my mind).

As a visual gratitude journal of moments and places worth remembering.

Hope you are having a gentle Sunday.🩷🌸
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