LJ’s style…where did this conversation come from…oh, now I remember: one of my gfs was talking to me about her 15 year old daughter and how she had so much style for her age. Not just the style of her clothes but also how she wore each piece – well. She made such an impression that she was constantly receiving praise from her teachers, family members, other girls her age, etc…It definitely got me thinking, Growing up Hollis I really didn’t have any style. I was the baby girl of the Hollis family and one of 9. My father Jonie B., my mother Jean, one older brother, one younger brother and 4 sisters. And since I was the “baby girl” of the family, my style was whatever clothes I could fit into that year that had been passed down to me (smile).
To this day, my style will forever be eclectic and sometimes even out of the ordinary. I’m not complaining, merely stating a fact (double smile).
Here are some of the many styles that I (LJ) possess today…
Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner:
My Caffeinated Wake Up look
My Healthy Lunch Choices look
My Fave Sushi Dinner look
Work:
My chit chat at the water cooler look
My “Taking Care of Business” look
My “I’m feeling myself” look
Church:
My ‘Too Blessed to be Stressed’look
Gym:
My daily workout gear look
Post Work Events:
My ‘I hope they like this arrangement’ look
My ‘I hope I picked out the right outfit out for this event’ look
Romantic Dates:
My Valentines Day Birthday (VDay/BDay) Look
My Dinner and a Movie Date look
Play Dates:
My Jumping into the Weekend Look
My Ski Date look
My pool party look
My Good Book with a Cup of Java look
Vacations:
My ‘On My Way to Vacay’ look
My Second Day of Vacay look
R & R:
My Contemplating This Life look
Bedtime:
My Hot Bubble Bath Before Bedtime look
And finally, My Getting Ready for Bed After A Loooooong Week of Work look!
I am sooooo excited because I’m about to turn 56 years old next week andmy braces are coming off – wait, what?!? Really?!?
Like I have mentioned before in previous blogs, I do almost everything backwards (smile) so its’s only fitting that I would be sporting braces during my middle aged years (double smile).
As it turns out, I am in good company…
As a matter of fact, more and more Adults are sporting clear braces (or Invisalign) now than ever before. In most cases Adults are comprising up to 50 percent of Ortho patients today! And, according to the American Association of Orthodontics,any age is the right age for ortho care.
By the way, insurance usually does not cover orthodontics for adults over the age of 25…I found that one out the hard way…
However the good news for me was that my braces are light and clear, unlike back in the day when they were heavy metal. Eeeck!
And I’m proud to say that I only have 8 of them – all on my upper teeth – (4 on each side) which is what my orthodontist suggested.
So here are the top 2 reasons why I decided to get braces (besides my regular dentist, Alan Friedler, DMD recommending them):
Looking to close the gap between my two front teeth
Looking to decrease my overbite.
My Orthodontist told me it would take up to one year to achieve these goals so I figured: ‘I’m not getting any younger’ and ‘Now is as good a time as any…’ (smile).
Me, before my braces…
Me, sporting my clear braces…
Here are some helpful tips if you are an Adult considering braces:
Daily Maintenance:
Good news: you may brush with an electric toothbrush – it doesn’t get in the way of the braces at all.
You need to rinse out your mouth and brush after each and every meal.
You need to floss daily and often…
You need to use the wax they give you in your “kit” on a regular basis to keep the wire from the braces from cutting into your cheeks.
Monthly Maintenance:
You have to make appointments to visit the Orthodontist at least once a month for check-up and tightening – look for an orthodontist that first of all comes highly recommended and secondly is convenient to where you live and/or work as those 4 week visits come up rather quickly!
Watch what you eat:
Here’s what I truly enjoy eating but have a tough time with now:
Sushi
Pizza
Grilled Chicken
Steak
Popcorn
Here are foods the Orthodontist recommends you eat with braces:
Seafood – fish without bones, tuna, salmon, crab and crab cakes
Cost:
It cost me around $3700 but again that was just for a total of 8 braces on my upper teeth…most Ortho offices do offer monthly payment plans which helps…
Post Braces:
When my clear braces are removed next week I have to wear a thin wire removable retainer for up to 8 weeks (full-time) and then another 4 weeks (part-time).
That brings me smack into Summer – free of braces and ready for my next adventure~ Yay!
It’s officially Winter in CT which for the most part makes me feel low-keySAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) as it means the weather is extremely cold, the days short and the nights, super dark on my drive home from work…
To compensate, I try my darndest to look for fun, free, enlightening and/or educational things to do just to keep me from participating in my favorite pastime, i.e., sitting in my La-Z-Boy to watch TV and eat snacks (smile).
So here (in no particular order) are some of the ways (in the past) I have kept myself occupied (and far, far away from the snacks) during the dark, dreary days of Winter in CT:
Ice skating – Since I enjoyed this activity so much as a child growing up in Groton, CT I figured I would try it out again as a full-grown adult – I must admit it was easier said than done (smile).
Northford Ice Skating Rink
This is a fun and easy activity, especially in the Winter: taking a hot bubble bath after a long day of work: Put your slippers on…
My bathroom 🙂
Visiting a local museum – this free activity is not only educational but truly enlightening.
The New Haven Museum
Relaxing in a salt cave. This was such a unique activity I had to write a blog post about it: Cave Girl
Saltana Cave & Spa
Going to a live taping of The Viewin NYC – a truly magical day from beginning ’till end: The View (from Lajeune)
ABC Studios in NYC
Spending the day enjoying a special exhibit – educational for sure: Harlem for Days!
Yale’s Beinecke Museum – the Harlem Renaissance exhibit
Going to see a free lecture at the local university. I recall this event quickly becoming “standing room-only.” To me this proved the staying power of the written word…
Quinnipiac University featuring Margot Lee Shetterly, the author of “Hidden Figures”
Spending a relaxing Day at the Spa – this never gets old…
Norwich Inn and Spa – Spa Day with my “Sisters in Christ”
Skiing in the month of February – Super fun and exhilarating! SkiDate
Mount Southington Ski Resort
Spending time (and money) at the casino…
Mohegan Sun Casino or Foxwoods Casino
So whatever activity you choose to participate in this Winter in CT, do try to make it memorable 🙂
I was chit chatting on the phone with my girlfriend Christine the other day and we (two middle-aged women with highly stressful careers) were discussing different ways we relax. Here’s what we came up with:
Full Moon Yoga once a month at the Community Yoga Center
Zumba classes at the local community center
Monthly back and neck massages at the local massage center
Drinking green, black or Chamomile hot tea
Listening to relaxing music
Reading books, magazines, etc.
Cooking and/or Baking
Playing with our canine pet(s)
Meditating
Coloring with crayons in Adult coloring books
True story: I recall about 17 years ago watching a Paid Program on TV one sleepless night and the next thing I know a Softubarrives at my front door. I ordered the Softubbecause I was still working in the same highly competitive stressful industry I work in today so I figured it would be nice to come home from a super long day of work and soak in a tub that’s not in my bathroom (smile). I enjoyed my Softub for about 5 years and only sold it because I was selling my home in Westville and looking to downsize…
Here are some of the reasons why I initially purchased it:
stress relief
affordable price
simple portable unit with easy set-up
the simple Hydromatic unit uses a standard 120V outlet (no high electric bills!)
hot water is therapeutic
exterior of tub is weather resistant (withstands all 4 seasons)
Aesthetically pleasing to the eye – in 7 designer colors (I chose dark blue)
Everything is included in the price (Softubhot tub, Hydromatic Power Pak, Sealed High-Density Insulated Cover, Underwater Illumination, your choice of exterior decorator colors, and a 5-year limited warranty).
A basic 2-person spa Softub (the one I ordered) comes with four Hydrotherapy jets, Hydromatic motor unit, security straps, an accessory bag including a foam connector cover, matching exterior cover, filter, owner’s manual, warranty card, large assembly sheet and water treatment kit. It costs about $3500.
However, I checked online, and you can get a GoplusPortable Inflatable Bubble Massage Spathat seats 4 for just $319 from Wal-Mart! That’s with free shipping and no tax! Here’s what a Goplus looks like:
Not too shabby (smile).
So if you, like me, are looking for ways to relax, the options range from a simple Adult coloring book and crayons to a SoftubHot tub…
Anyone who knows me knows I love me some Doxies! “Doxies,” short for dachshunds, are those “short-legged, long-bodied, hound-type dogs.” Dachs meaning badger, hund meaning dog.
Dachshunds originated in Germany and were developed to “scent, chase and flush out badger and other burrow-dwelling animals.” Some people refer to them as the Hot Dog, or the Weiner Dog or even the Sausage Dog. I just call them adorable (smile).
So whether I’m on a staycation in Connecticut or on a real vacation in the U.S. or Abroad, I am often on the look-out for what my girlfriends have come to know as a “Cute Doxie Surprise.” These are the moments when I spot a Doxie in an unexpected place and go nuts – running after it, taking pictures of it, rolling down my car window to ask questions of the pet parent, etc.
Fun fact: While Growing up Hollis in Groton, CT, a neighbor named Mrs. Brown had a beautiful long-haired golden Doxie aptly named Goldie Von Bruen. Goldie gave birth to a litter of full-bred Dachshund puppies. I’m not sure when but at some point my late mother Jean did something kind for Mrs. Brown that caused her to offer my mother one of her prized and valued Doxies at no charge. My mother happily picked out a male puppy. We were so excited because this was our family’s very first canine pet. My older brother Michael came up with the name. He called him Rapper and it stuck (smile). Rapper was a standard (or loooooooooong) red, smooth-haired dachshund with a good disposition. Dogs were not pampered back in the day so Rapper was not “walked,” rather he ran from the house, sometimes disappearing for days at a time (smile).
This is the closest image I could find of what Rapper looked like back in the day as I could not find any of the Polaroid pictures we took of him!
The closest thing to what Rapper looked like
Rapper mostly ate from our plates (often times eating what we didn’t want) despite the fresh, dry dog food sitting in his bowl on a daily basis…
And it was apparently clear who Rapper loved the most – my mother Jean. So much so that when she and my father Jonie B went out on a date, we Hollis girls would take turns putting on my mother’s coat, hat and shoes to trick Rapper into believing she was still home. It worked like a charm (smile).
5 years ago I had two Doxies of my own…I was living in New Haven, CT at the time in a 90-year-old Colonial style house that I owned in the Edgewood neighborhood.
Crimson!Coby/Coby/Coby & Crimson
I named my 2 Doxies Coby and Crimson Hollis. Coby was a black and tan smooth-haired, male miniature Doxie and Crimson, a red, smooth-haired female miniature Doxie …They were equally energetic, loveable and fun so lots of good memories were made in that house.
I adopted them both from the same breeder in Canterbury, CT. Coby was just 3 months old when I adopted him and I had him until the ripe old age of 17 (in people years). Unfortunately he died of kidney failure in May of 2012. Coby was 8 when I adopted Crimson, a “breeder dog” who wasn’t producing many pups so the owner “fixed” her to sell her off. On top of this Crimson had social interaction issues since in her world adults coming to visit were coming for the sole purpose of taking away her puppies so I was able to get her at a much lower price than I did Coby. She was 4 1/2 when I adopted her and lived a happy and “normal” pet life to the age of 9 before she was struck (1 month after Coby passed!) by a hit and run driver on a busy residential street.😥 Life was rough without my 2 Doxies but the passing of time eventually healed my broken heart…
Today I am an Insta girl who loves her Instagram pix and I’m happy to admit that the majority of my own collection of saved pix are of the Dachshunds of Instagram. Here are just a few of my personal faves with my very own captions:
Are you talking to me?!?
Do these glasses make me look fat?
What do you mean no hoodies?!?
Special delivery!Is it the New Year yet?!?
Halloweiner!
No caption needed
No caption needed
Pretty in Pink!
Don’t hate me cuz I’m beautiful!
Crusoe the celebrity dachshund
If I have to do the laundry every week, at least I can look cute!
Doxie Love – it’s no small wonder that my fave breed,the Dachshund, according to the American Kennel Club, remains one of the top 10 breeds of dogs in the United States.
