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You’re thinking about getting a puppy.  Now what?  I have you covered.  If you’re going to do this right, a puppy is a lot of work.  Whenever I see a cute puppy picture I do the opposite of a lot of people & let out a ginormous sigh.  Puppy’s look precious & cute, but they have the actual devil inside of them, disguised by soft fluffy fur.  & the devil that had 17 cups of coffee this AM.  I may have pushed the boundaries a little with my maturity & adopting Bernice because I don’t think I fully understood it would be like having a human 2 yr old.  The nice thing is, it doesn’t have to be out of control for very long if you train the puppy right.

Lucky for me, I made 3 decisions in the very beginning with Bernice that makes her the easy dog that I have now.

It’s been awhile since I shared my Amazon Prime favorite orders!  We’ve been through this, Amazon Prime is better than Target. OMG I went there.  Don’t worry, Target still has it’s place.  It’s evolving into a store that has more than your random pretty nail polish color & hairbrushes – it has beautiful home furnishing & unique clothing.  So no, Target ain’t going anywhere.

BUT Amazon Prime is here to stay as well, so if you’re not on board it’s time to be!  The key to using Amazon well, is getting used to ordering things you need right away, rather than making a list & waiting until your next trip to the store.  Once I find the products I like, I reorder so easily because you can see you’re order history. Great for people that can’t remember anything.

And if you’re on the hunt for new products, Amazon is particularly awesome because review’s reveal all!

10 Recent Amazon Prime Finds | Summer ’18

2 pack Collapsible Dog Bowl:

If you have a dog, and you don’t own 1, 2, 3 or 7 of these collapsible dog dishes – then you’re either not giving your dog enough water, or you’re not taking your dog on enough walks.  Ha! I’m hardcore.  These little bowls are tiny enough to throw in my purse, so anytime I have Bernice out of the house – I also have one of these bowls.  Just in case.  I also leave one in the car.

Rose Gold Bulldog Paper Clips:

I’m not sure what these clips are made for but I bought them because the plastic chip clips I had in my kitchen were braking, DAILY!  These clips are sturdy, & pretty.  I LOVE THEM. I use them to seal chip bags, popcorn bags, frozen french fry bags, oatmeal, or anything else that needs a clip!  They really seal everything easily.

A couple things;  I have fallen down a long, dark path that is Target Online Shopping… AND I hate throw away plastic more in the summer than any other time of the year.

UGH.  Throw away paper plates, red solo cups, plastic forks equal the sounds of summer days at the pool & BBQ’s.  I’m NOT into it.  I can’t stand how much trash accumulates.  Because glass isn’t allowed near the pool, boats, water – plastic is the next best thing.  Enter >> paper throw away crap.

This year I figured out a quick, cute, easy way to avoid this mess.  NICE PLATES that are plastic & reusable. Dishwasher safe.  Easy.  Pretty.  All from Target.  I was UBER inspired by the Opalhouse Collection at Target recently which is what sparked this entire shopping adventure.  Opalhouse is my summer style to the T.  And incredibly more affordable than it’s pretty counterparts: Pottery Barn, CB2., ect.

For anyone that doesn’t know – I work with Wafiq in Residential Real Estate.  My history in real estate goes as follows:  I assisted several people through multiple positions with commercial real estate after college, when I moved to Dubai I worked in residential real estate because they don’t separate commercial from residential, and now I’m assisting Wafiq in residential real estate in Austin.   HE IS SO GOOD AT IT.  I just wanted to cut to that point.  There is nothing better than coming home to someone who is happy in their work everyday.  It makes the worlds difference to our everyday happiness, relationship, and goals.  SO MUCH BETTER than complaining about work.  And he thrives, it’s the most fun to be a part of it!

We are both of the mindset that life is short & we should spend every day figuring out what we love doing – and do it.

Since working in Residential Real Estate in the U.S. we’ve met several first time home buyers (& the experience is much different than it was in Dubai).  We have a few tips that we see w almost all our first time home buyers in the market right now.  I was overlooking sharing this here but it finally clicked for me, this is some good info if you’re trying to make your first BIG purchase; a home.   Once you have these 5 things figured out – you should have a smoother & smarter process.

5 Tips For A First Time Home Buyer
Don’t be Afraid of Multiple Offers:  This is a tough one to get people to believe, but it’s true.  All you can do with a multiple offer situation is put in your best offer & see if it works.  If it doesn’t, it wasn’t meant to be.  I KNOW that sounds very cliche but I have proof!  In almost every deal Wafiq did in the summer – the clients lost homes in multiple offer situations, and were obviously bummed.  BUT 100% of them ended up closing on a different home saying  “I’m so glad that other offer didn’t get accepted, we love this one so much more.”  Guys, I’m not lying to you.  Trust the process, trust you’ll find what’s right for you!

I recently downloaded a ton of new albums because I needed a total refresh of the music I have on my phone.  Pandora & Amazon music stations were absolutely not cutting it anymore.  There’s not enough variety!  Am I right?  No matter where I am, I feel like I’m listening to the same things over & over again.

And music is important to me.  Like I’ve said before, I listen to different genre’s for different moods & can always depend on music to give me the perfect lift.  & I like to dance.  The deal w downloading an entire album rather than a single, is that you get the full story.  PLUS, the radio stations don’t play full albums soo – it’s all new new new.

New music was a must.  These albums below are the favorites from my downloads,  if you’re needing a refresh too – go try them!

Let’s not pretend furniture shopping is affordable.  I was fooled into believing I could go buy unique furniture pieces that I loved for reasonable prices due to the fairytale that is: INSTAGRAM.   On my last move I knew it was time to be an adult & purchase my own furniture.  It appears as though everyone else can easily make their home pristine so I should be able to too!  Well well well, little did I know you had to be a multi-millionaire to purchase new, quality, unique furniture that you actually liked.

I don’t know how it works across the world, but that’s how it works in America.

Who would have thought 1 single, basic dinning chair would be $500?  Not me.  I have a new appreciation for fully furnished homes, & Ikea.

Needless to say, I’m glad most of my major furniture shopping is done because it was a fucking gut punch & took a lot of time.  I’m here to help, even if you didn’t know you needed it, you do.  The new furniture experience will hit you someday too.

The perk to badass new furniture?  How your home will make you feel.  The energy can change dramatically when you have furniture that you love – trust me.  After redoing my bedroom, I realized everything else had to change as well.  As painful as furniture shopping is, it’s worth it.

5 Tips For {Affordable} Furniture Shopping

1.  Look For Sales
Yes, furniture goes on sale.  And even then, it’ll be sickening to pay for, but a sale can make it manageable.  I have a Pottery Barn Outlet close to my house & I went OFTEN.  One lucky day that I stopped in the store, all sale pieces happened to be an additional 40% off.  I ended up getting one of my comfy, white sofas for $100!  That’s fucking insane pricing btw.  Try shopping for a badass sofa & you’ll feel me.  So pay attention to sales & outlet furniture stores, that was as close to finding a gold mine as I can imagine.

Well here’s a little known fact about myself to chipper you up on your Thursday – I prefer/can only write a blog post when I’m listening to the Kygo station on Pandora.  It has that perfect mix of vocals & instrumentals, inspiring me to get my deepest words out to the world!  It can also take a turn for the worst & get me too emo, when I go back & read posts I can always tell. Ha!

TODAY is one of the best days for you guys because I’m forcing you to listen to me rave about these fucking incredible knives that I’ve ONLY cut my fingers on ONE time.  And that may or may not been because I was under the influence.. of something other than wine.

ALL HAIL IKEA $2 KNIVES!

I’ve tried other knife sets & knives from different companies that claim they have the baddest, bestest, sharpest knives in the world!  Not because I’ve owned many of them, but because I’ve gone to other homes & asked to use their knives.  And as predicted, they fucking suck!  They either have to be sharpened, be polished, or go through some other bull shit procedure in order to cut a tomato… BUT THESE IKEA BEAUTIES REQUIRE NOTHING BUT LOVE.  And they slice through a tomato like butter!  Are they the prettiest knives with their bright yellow & red handles?  Depends if you like ketchup & mustard.  I have no shame, I proudly set them at the table, especially with guests over.  I’ve thrown out the other prettier knives Wafiq inherited, no more pretending Ikea knives aren’t the only things in our kitchen that matter.

We’re moving in a few weeks & I’m in the process of purging all of our furniture & starting over.  We adopted all the furniture & decor we currently have when we first got our apartment.

I’m not a huge climate change advocate but it does break my heart to see what mother earth is going through, especially with some of our wasteful decisions – so I try my best to do little things that will hopefully make a difference. Creating less trash sounds like a good start.

I hate getting comfortable.  I’m 50% a lover of routine & my home BUT I’m 50% ready to pack a suitcase & start a new life-altering adventure next Tuesday.  Too much comfort gives me anxiety. That’s why, with the change of seasons, I try to get my shit together.  Mix in a couple planned trips, organize my memories, and throw things out!

What the F do I buy on Amazon?  That’s what I first asked my friend who mentioned she stopped going into stores because she literally orders anything she needs off Amazon.

 Did You Know? Hoarding disorder is a persistent difficulty discarding or parting with possessions because of a perceived need to save them. A person with hoarding disorder…