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Chic Dogs & Magnolia Dreams

The Art of Intentional Living

Chic Dogs & Magnolia Dreams
The Art of Intentional Living
  • A Woman’s Right to Choose: On Shoes, Womanhood, and Quiet Revolutions

    A Woman’s Right to Choose: On Shoes, Womanhood, and Quiet Revolutions

    May 25, 2025March 30, 2026 Quiet Notes
    1 Comment

    I’ve always loved watching the original series of Sex and the City, not just for the fashion or city scenes, but for the connection between the women and how fiercely they protected each other’s well-being. At first glance, the show seemed fun and lighthearted, but beneath the surface…

    Read More A Woman’s Right to Choose: On Shoes, Womanhood, and Quiet RevolutionsContinue

  • 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

  • Reclaiming My Focus: Is Instagram Still Worth It?

    Reclaiming My Focus: Is Instagram Still Worth It?

    March 31, 2025March 31, 2025 Quiet Notes
    8 Comments

    In a world designed to capture and monetize our attention, maintaining focus has become a daily battle. Reclaiming our attention, focus and energy has become a quiet, yet profound act of defiance. Five years ago, during the Covid pandemic, I found myself in a similar place—reevaluating what truly…

    Read More Reclaiming My Focus: Is Instagram Still Worth It?Continue

  • Note to Self

    Note to Self

    January 25, 2025March 30, 2026 Quiet Notes

    Stop rejecting yourself! Stop rejecting your sensitivity, your emotions, your wants and needs. Stop rejecting your darkness and your light. Yes, even your own light makes you uncomfortable. We spend a lifetime of rejecting ourselves and for what? Are we waiting for someone else to give us permission?…

    Read More Note to SelfContinue

  • Note to self

    Note to self

    November 24, 2024November 24, 2024 Quiet Notes
    1 Comment

    Slow down You have time. This idea of not having enough time is what makes you feel anxious, agitated and in a continuous state of perceived urgency. It’s what makes you feel overwhelmed to the point of shutting down. It makes you enter into freeze mode which results…

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  • Note to Self

    Note to Self

    November 7, 2024March 30, 2026 Quiet Notes
    2 Comments

    Dear readers, I’m starting a brand new series on the blog and I’m calling it ‘Note to Self’. What are ‘Notes to Self’? These are words of comfort, encouragement  and inspiration to help remind you of certain things while navigating this world and this human experience. I write…

    Read More Note to SelfContinue

  • What does it mean to have the courage to stay in your own lane?

    What does it mean to have the courage to stay in your own lane?

    February 10, 2024March 30, 2026 Home & Garden, Quiet Notes

    The allure of others Just think about how much time, energy and effort we expend by focusing on other people’s lives. Time, energy and effort we then lack for ourselves and the lives we wish to build for ourselves. It often manifests as comparison to others which then…

    Read More What does it mean to have the courage to stay in your own lane?Continue

  • The power of acceptance in our daily lives and relationships

    The power of acceptance in our daily lives and relationships

    January 3, 2024January 3, 2024 Quiet Notes

    Before I decided to sit down at my desk and start writing, I had a clear picture of what it was I wanted to write about. Practically an entire paragraph mapped out of why the word ‘acceptance’ has been lingering in my mind for weeks, if not months….

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  • The sensitive child and her dog

    The sensitive child and her dog

    July 7, 2023September 3, 2023 Quiet Notes

    It must have been the early 90s and I was around 7 or 8 years old. We still lived in Portugal, not far from Lisbon, the capital, and we lived in an apartment on the 6th floor. I remember it was a beautiful and spacious apartment with two…

    Read More The sensitive child and her dogContinue

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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

Gilmore Girls Season is officially in full swing! Gilmore Girls Season is officially in full swing!

Bring on the cozy oversized sweaters, apple pie on repeat, crispy mornings with cinnamon coffee, a garden full of dahlias, crunchy-leaf dog walks in the countryside and warming stews made with seasonal vegetables.

Hope you slow down enough to revel in all the deliciousness that this season has to offer.

Sending you cozy autumn filled vibes, wherever you may be.❤️🍂🥧

#gilmoregirls #autumn #cozy
September so far. 🍎Adjusting to a new school year September so far.

🍎Adjusting to a new school year.
🍎Farmer's markets on weekends.
🍎A nasty viral infection.
🍎The shifting of the light and energy levels.
🍎Apple and cinnamon on repeat.
🍎Weekend trips with the husband.
🍎Nature and countryside villages.
🍎Puppy walks with the Chic Dogs.
🍎Gardening for mental clarity.
🍎Naps.
🍎Pumpkins to welcome Autumn.
🍎Doubting everything.
🍎Cotton candy sunrises.
🍎The company of animals.
🍎The harvest full moon.
🍎Might be feeling an even bigger urge to move to the forest.

Hope you are well, wherever you may be.🥧🍂🌻

#September #autumn #simplelife
May every senior dog have their very own Secret Ga May every senior dog have their very own Secret Garden.🐕💛

#seniordogs #adoptdontshop #dogsandgardens
The Chronicles of Chic Dogs! 12 and a half year o The Chronicles of Chic Dogs!

12 and a half year old Marlow and 3 year old Stella "fighting" over a croissant.

#rescuedogsofìnstagram
Dahlia season in full swing.🌸 #dahlias #gardening Dahlia season in full swing.🌸

#dahlias #gardening
Marlow🩷 Marlow🩷
Snippets of Indian Summer and the gentle art of no Snippets of Indian Summer and the gentle art of noticing the tiny details that make up a life. 

Always with the Chic Dogs by my side.🐕🐕🐕🩷
The moral support we all need and deserve!🦊❤️🙅🏼‍♀️ The moral support we all need and deserve!🦊❤️🙅🏼‍♀️

 #encouragement #dogsofinstagram
Snippets of late summer. We're ready for Indian s Snippets of late summer.

We're ready for Indian summer.🌻🐕📚🩷

#latesummer #indiansummer
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