What Plants Do You Fan Out On

My Eucalyptus Plant

Since I’ve became an empty nester during the pandemic I needed something to love on and to care for so I started buying a variety of plants and propagating them. It took a few weeks to a month to learn what they like, how much light and water they needed. Each plant is like a child, they definitely have their on personality. So, once I learned that, I had a routine of how to care for my new babies. Nothing like seeing a new leaf bloom and seeing them getting taller and fuller. I LOVE Fiddle Leaf Figs Trees, Monstera, Philodendron, ZZ Plants, and Aloe Vera plants.

I keep my babies cleaning and their leaves shiny by using Miracle Gro Leaf Shine every 2 weeks on them. I usually clean them on Sundays because I’m off and I can take my time lovin on them. I use a soft white towel and I spray directly on the leaf and gently wipe. I find this product not only keeps my babies pretty but it helps with their growth and healthy large leaves. If you’re heavy handed spray on the towel a good amount in then wipe the leaf so you don’t spill any on the floor or carpet.

I use my guest room to propagate

What plants do you fan out on?

The Last Child Is Leaving Home So I’m Now An Empty Nester

img_1652I ❤️ this kid, met Jordan my 23 year old son. I’m trying to get him straight for his first apartment in Connecticut. He’s leaving us here in Hawaii for the mainland. We shipped his car so he should have it some time in July. Today we will work on furniture and getting everything ordered before he fly out.

He had me so tickle when I said I would help him decorate his new place. Jordan tells me don’t get him Walmart dishes. What college boy you know is picky about dishes? Plus, it’s his first pad don’t you suppose to struggle first.

He wanted the same dishes we had at the house. He ❤️ the store Crate and Barrel so I’m looking to set his kitchen up with all white kitchenware, something similar to what we have here at home. Then for his dinnerware and bar set that must be from Crate and Barrel or either Z Gallerie. He’s like his mama, so he want a nice bar set up in his apartment because he also enjoy entertaining. 

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I’m just soaking up every minute with him before he heads out on Tuesday. This kid makes me laugh so hard his personality is the best. Everything about him is so infectious. I don’t know how mother’s do it. Where do you get your strength from when your kids leaves home to start their life💔. I’m not ready to be a empty nester. The great thing about it is he will be living about 45 mins away from his older sister who’s 28. So, she could look out for him and as a parent this will make them closer, I hope.

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On @justgirlfriends Instagram, I will share an emotional story about how we were both almost a hashtag. 🙏🏾

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So share with me how do you handle being an empty nester? Was it hard for you to let your college kids go or your adult kids move out…HELP!

 

Are You Trying To Decide Between About Surrogate vs Adoption

surrogate vs adoption pics

Starting a family hasn’t been easy for many couples. Lately, in the media we have been hearing a lot of celebrities sharing their challenges with having kids. As a result, some have used a surrogate and some have chosen adoption. On, “Just Girlfriends”video podcast the ladies share their views about the difficult decision that many couples are having between surrogacy and adoption. Girlfriends, let us know your thoughts on this topic.

Hawaii Lifestyle Blogger Ask What’s The Correct FaceTime Etiquette

img_0685Alright guys, I have a question for you. Do you just call your friends/associates at anytime on FaceTime or SKYPE?

With majority of the world being LAID OFF or FURLOUGH we’re home and available to talk all day and night. No more excuses of I’M BUSY or I’M WORKING. You can barely get away with I was busy…yeah right, busy wiping down the food you just got from the store. So, friends and associates think it’s ok to just randomly FaceTime since SKYPE and Zoom video conferencing is all the rave. 

But, I don’t agree with that. I don’t know if it’s just that I’m old school and we don’t play that but you should never FaceTime a person without giving them heads up. I’m like this with people who just randomly pop up and knocking on my door. I have left many people outside knocking and ringing my bell because they just showed up and then showed up with an entourage, OH HELL NO!!! 

I strongly feel the same way with Face timing me. Just because you see my light on in Facebook or Instagram that don’t mean I’m wanna talk or better I want to Facetime with anyone right now. 

Now don’t get me wrong, I love my friends and like my associates, but you have to still be respectful. I might not be in a good mood, might be having personal things going on in my home, or better I might be having couple time, shit. Yes, I want to see your faces and I want to love on you but it’s at my TIME! 

If you know me, then you know I have a lot of rules. If we are talking on the phone, I want ALL OF YOUR ATTENTION. I don’t want to see your cute kids, your cats or dogs, I don’t want to say Hi to whomever is at your house. Another rule of mine is, don’t you dare call me and then you take your phone with you while you go to the bathroom. Cuz, I’m now hanging up and you’re no longer able to FaceTime with me ever. #PERIOD 

The only thing I wanna see in your surroundings is a bottle of bubbly’s that’s it.

So, I would love to know your FaceTime Phone Etiquette.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What Item Do You Get Excited About Scoring During The Coronavirus Pandemic

Eimg_0401very time my husband or my son leaves our beach house to go to the store I’m always reminding them to check for LYSOLDisinfecting Wipes, Sprays or any kind of cleaning products they can find.

During the pandemic besides lots of alcohol, and David’s sunflower seeds, LYSOL cleaning products is always on my list.

Because of my health (Lupus, RA, Asthma and Hypertension) I don’t leave the house. I have been in this house now for 45 days and I don’t plan to leave until it’s safe. I don’t even chance walking to the beach, nada. I get my fresh air by having the Lanai doors open while I’m sitting on the living room sofa.

So, when the guys come home they strip in the laundry room, shoes off and clothes in the wash, then they dash off upstairs. And like a crazy woman, I follow wiping down anything that they could have touched along the way. I probably have the cleanest floors in the world because I also wipe them down daily with my LYSOL wipes. I go through these wipes because I’m so afraid of bringing germs in the house.

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When they come back from the store, I take one item at at time and I’m wiping down each box, or meat, or bags before it goes in my refrigerator or my kitchen cabinet. Here in Hawaii we bring our own bags so I spray them down with Lysol and let them air dry in the laundry room. Before being quarantine, I kept a container of Lysol in my car, in the kitchen, in the laundry room and each bathroom has a container. I was always a person that was scared of getting any virus, again because of my health, so I’m use to living in a bubble. Now…it’s out of control. I find myself still picking up germs from my family and I have many horrible flare up’s and have been using Albuterol more now since then ever. So, I can never run out of LYSOL, this is why it’s a big deal for me to always have.

What do you get excited about scoring from the store?

Celebrity Makeup Artist and Lifestyle Blogger Share Her First Christmas In Hawaii

img_3567Merry Christmas Everyone!!!! This was our first Christmas here in Hawaii and it couldn’t have been any better. We stayed home the entire day and my daughter and I stayed in our PJ’s all day. 3 out of 4 of us were still under the weather. Because we all work with the public we definitely picked up some type of virus. Because of my Lupus I always do around this time of year. Now that I’m working with international customers and they come to Hawaii sick wearing mask’s and shit that still doesn’t keep me from picking up something. The doctor said I had a Swollen Lymph Glands in my neck and a Viral Prodrome. I managed to do the tradition for the babies, cranberry muffins, cinnamon rolls and mimosa’s, for lunch we had seafood; crabs, crawfish and spicy potatoes. Us girls we stick to the bubbly’s and the guys like to do eggnog with brown liquor. Around 2:45pm I had to take a quick nap, my body needed more rest. While we were gifting I put the roast in the crock pot and sauteed the vegetables. Before movie time we ate dinner and snacked on a pumpkin pie while watching 2 movies.

The biggest gift my husband and I received was having our daughter fly in from Connecticut. It was definitely a treat to all be together here in Hawaii. Even though the boys, Miko and Ani are no longer with us we still put there little stockings up and we have their ashes joining the family every holiday.

 

 

 

 

The bubbly’s started to kick in so the pics stopped here (lol). I hope everyone had a lovely time with their families and friends on yesterday. I know I’m so blessed to have mine, it’s the best feeling ever. We work hard, we play hard and we love on each other hard. Merry Christmas Guys!

 

 

Honolulu Hawaii Lifestyle Blogger and Makeup Artist Brandy Gomez-Duplessis has 22 years of experience in the Beauty & Entertainment industry. Brandy is located on Oahu Island but you can find her working doing makeup in Waikiki, Waipahu, Waikele, and Kapolei. Being Hawaii top social media influencer & a Hawaii blogger don’t be surprised to see her writing beauty articles anywhere in Hawaii and taking selfies for her 60K followers on Instagram on the beautiful beaches in Honolulu or Haleiwa…and YES, there are black people living in Hawaii. 

Relaxing At Home After Going Through Pre-Op To Remove Fibroids And Polyp Tumors

img_0090I’ve been through my pre-op, now I’m home just sitting here patiently waiting for the big day. I have only been coming outside after 6pm when the sun goes down. The doctors told me to stay out of the sun and because of my Lupus I have to not get a lot of sun on my body without being covered.

I never had surgery so I didn’t know what to expect at the pre-op. For me it was broken up in 2 days. The first day was blood work and urine testing.

The second day was my pre-op clearance with anesthesiologist. About 2 hours of questions asking me about my health history then they did an EKG and another urine test. My doctor went over my lab work from yesterday blood work. It’s very detailed. Because I’m anemic my blood was a little low, it was a 10.2 and she need me to get it to 11.2 before surgery. So that meant eating a lot of protein to get my iron up. So that meant no processed food which is hard for me

Then I was sent home with special instructions such as;

Do not eat or drink anything (even water or chewing gum) after midnight.

Do not take aspirin or aspirin for at least 1 week before surgery. (say what, nah)

Avoid soda and alcohol (oh lord, this is all I drink)

Avoid sun

Bathe with the special Hibiclens wash they send you home with the night before and the morning of. Use clean soft towels, do not scrub just softly wipe and pat dry.

No makeup, no nail polish just on 1 finger (this was the hard part)

Eat healthy food drink 8 glasses of water a day (this was hard cuz I don’t drink water daily)

Brush your teeth four times a day and before bed

No smoking no street drugs no vitamins and herbal supplements (didn’t pertain to me)

Try to not get a cold/flu, fever, sore throat or cough. (this is why I had to stay away from people cuz of my Lupus I pick up germs instantly)

 

 

The best part about this down time is I’m able to focus of my future. I have been working a lot on my book because this entire experience has given me a lot to write about.

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I also finished working on my blog and managed to get a nice nap with all this wonderful breezy coming through. The next time you will hear from is after the big day.

See Ya Bye & Luv U Mean It!

Honolulu Hawaii Lifestyle Blogger and Makeup Artist Brandy Gomez-Duplessis has 22 years of experience in the Beauty & Entertainment industry. Brandy is located on Oahu Island but you can find her working doing makeup in Waikiki, Waipahu, Waikele, and Kapolei. Being Hawaii top social media influencer & a Hawaii blogger don’t be surprised to see her writing beauty articles anywhere in Hawaii and taking selfies for her 60K followers on Instagram on the beautiful beaches in Honolulu or Haleiwa…and YES, there are black people living in Hawaii. 

It’s Tea Time Somewhere, What’s Your Favorite Tea

 

img_8582For  me, having my morning tea, afternoon tea, a relaxing cup of tea when reading/working on articles, or my big mug for when I have a cold/cramps tea. It’s something quite fabulous about my setup. Brewing, then the add-ins (lemon, honey, stevia, mint, cough drops, rum) to making my tea perfect.

My add-ins definitely gives me a different experience with my tea. Be creative with them because there’s no right or wrong way to  drinking your tea. It’s all about what you like. I find tea to be healthy for my body, caffeine free and so damn soothing.

I feel that I’m a serious tea lover who will never ever convert to coffee. The most you will ever get me to drink is a StarbucksStarbucks, Caramel Frappuccino with extra caramel which doesn’t happen often.

I know some call it high tea or low tea, shit I just make myself tea whenever I want it. And I have different types of mugs depending  on my mood of when I’m drinking my tea’s.

Here’s are the teas and brands I have in my kitchen cabinet today; Lipton, Teavana, Triple Leaf Tea, and Celestial Seasoning.

What about you, what’s your favorite? Maybe I’ll get it a try.

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Lipton Greentea Superfruit Orange Passion Fruit Jasmine

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Teavana Lavender Dream

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Triple Leaf Tea Cold & Flu Time

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Teavana Silver Vin Zhen Pearls

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Celestial Seasoning Honey Vanilla Chamomile

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Teavana Serenity Flavored Herbal Infusion

 

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Can’t forget your tea filters for your Teavana tea’s

Honolulu Hawaii Makeup Artist & Lifestyle Blogger Brandy Gomez-Duplessis has 22 years of experience in the Beauty & Entertainment industry. Brandy is located on Oahu island in Ewa Beach but you can find her working doing makeup in Waikiki, Waipahu, Waikele, and Kapolei. Being a top influencer & blogger don’t be surprised to see her writing beauty articles and taking selfies for her 60K followers on Instagram on the beautiful beaches in Honolulu…and YES, there are black people living in Hawaii. 

 

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