Thursday: A.M. Walk w/ Essentials

WEARING: UNIQLO FEDORA HAT | CLIC GALLERY TOTE BAG | 
RAY-BAN CLUBMASTERS 

Good morning, everyone! Happy Friday Eve! Today's blog is on our morning walk around the city toting our daily essentials. The heat is creeping its way back in, which is nothing out of the ordinary this time of year. New York in August is not cool. At all. But, I'd like to think, just like last summer, we've been pretty lucky with the temperature. Recently I've been wearing a lot of hats to protect myself from the sun when running around. (Sadly I'm not getting any younger!) My new go-to is my Fedora hat from Uniqlo. I've had it for years and I've always loved the quality of their products. My tote bag, made by one of my favorite galleries in New York, Clic Gallery, accompanies my current readsβ€”Time Out and Charles Bukowski's, On Writing. In Bukowski's collection of letters to publishers, editors, friends, and fellow writersβ€”the writer shares his insights on the art of creation. I'm pretty excited to dive right in. And I am totally digging Time Out's free handouts, as I'm sure many readers like myself were pleasantly surprised to see them circulating around their mailboxes again.

To carry some of my favorite but smaller beauty products from Body Shop and Fresh, I have a vintage pouch wallet once gifted to me many years ago by my lovely friend, Tyler while she was visiting Paris. I love it so much because of its uniqueness as well as it's size. I can fit cash and credit cards along with my keys and some lip balm. You can tell I sort of wore it out! I love any of the SPF lip balm from Fresh. Not only are my lips smooth with just a touch of color- they're healthy! And the Body Shop's tea tree oil face wipes are a total life saver on those especially hotter, more humid days. They are so refreshing in this heat and really balance out my skin tone. Plus, they actually smell greatβ€”like your face stepped out from the spa!

So with my bag and hat in tow, we ventured off to roam the streets. Today we stumbled upon two different artists, Hanksy, and Kelsey Montague, on the corner of Kenmare & Mott Street. Their murals, polar opposites of each other, both have excellent bodies of work. Kelsey's detailed, black-and-white angel wings make anyone look surreal, even innocent, for only a moment in time. A wonderful humanity piece and such a great spot to snap a memorable photo! She did a similar mural last year at the same location. I really admire her work! Hanksy's depiction of Homer Simpson's 'Avocad 'oh!' is cheeky and downright cute. What can I say, you put avocado on it and I'll be sure to like it! ;)

MaQ really enjoys posing for me in front of anything and it's a great exercise on impulse control. He's gotten to be really great at it and will not release his place until told so. I'm pretty proud of myself as well as with him because we are constantly working together- learning and growing as a teamβ€”a partnership one could only dream about. We've built a lasting bond and a trust worth dying for. It's no wonder German Shepherds are the most chosen breed for police and military working dogs. I have always had such a deep connection to GSDs, I sometimes swear I was one in a past life! Anyone else feel this way? I know we all think our dogs are the greatest dogs and you know why? Because they truly are.

I'd throw in a cute throwback puppy photo (because that's what #tbt's are for), but I'll save it for Instagram. Follow both of us @suzannespiegoski + @maq_life for our daily adventures.

We hope you enjoyed joining us on our morning stroll. Have a kick-ass Thursday! Catch you tomorrow!

LOVE & XX'S

FOLLOW MAQ + SUZ

Wednesday: Boudoir Sneak Peek

WEARING: NOTHING BUT TULLE. LOTS OF TULLE.

Happy Hump Day! We've made it halfway, phew! This week has been going supremely well! Blogging again has put a new pep in my step. I can't wait to get up the next day just to share with you all another piece of me! It has been a lot of fun and I'm so happy doing it! Today's blog post is talking about boudoir!

When I graduated from college I was approached by a photographer to do a boudoir shoot, unfortunately to my dismay, it was NOT a very good experience. It made swear off these types of shoots because the photographer made me uncomfortable. I felt exposed. A few months ago, I took a mini-retreat up to Sherman, Connecticut and stayed at my dear friend Agnes's magical tree house for some much-needed R & R.  Agnes is a wonderful, talented NYC photographer and a close, personal friend. She had been asking to work on a shoot together for the longest time and when she presented me with the opportunity, I decided to step out of my comfort zone and to get jiggy with it! I'm a firm believer in whatever you are in fear of, face it and then you will conquer it. And I did just that!

I felt the overall experience was empowering, uplifting and joyful. She made me feel 100% woman and completely confident and secure, which is not at all how I feel about myself. I actually couldn't believe how carefree I felt throughout the entire shoot! Below are few sneak peek shots from our shoot. Kudos to you, my lady! You made me feel like an enchanting fairy! I cannot wait to see the other shots! Thank you for your friendship, love, and support through the years. I hold a very special place in my heart for my favorite Hungarian photographer! If you'd like to see more of Agnes's work, feel free to check out her website, Yellow Brick Collective.

Now, I'm not saying boudoir is a risk to take or that it's for everyone, but it should be light, fun, engaging and most of all, trusting. If you don't feel right about it, trust your gut! Don't do it if you think you'll be more a deer in headlights than anything else. I'm so grateful to be able to have done this with such a close friend, it just made it that much more meaningful and personal!

Enjoy the rest of your day, my beautiful peeps! Take care of each other and yourselves.

LOVE & XX'S

FOLLOW MAQ + SUZ

Source: http://www.yellowbrickcollective.com

Case of the Monday's

WEARING: PURE DETROIT T-SHIRT 

β€œB-b-b-b-b-but, I don’t compete with nobody
I just go hard, do the rope-a-dope Ali
Shuffle, and dance around my opponents, do donuts”
— Eminem, 'My Darling'

Yo, Monday! We don't like you. Why must you return every week with such a vengeance?! In honor of the case of the Monday's, my pooch and I are showing our best, 'Monday, Get Outta Here' faces. Tee-hee ;) No really, though, I'm ready to kill it! Especially with this awesome t-shirt my good friend Agnes got me! Though, I think MaQ looks more confused than anything else. Like this derpy boy? He has his own Instagram account. Yes, I really do love my dog that freaking much, I'm shameless! For more adorable, funny, heart-warming daily moments with my best bud, check him out on IG @maq_life.

Now that I'm blogging again, I've been thinking a lot about changing the name of my blog and giving it a fresh, new start. What is it, you might wonder? ::Drum roll please:: MaQ + Suz! The Q is capitalized for the meaning of one of my most favorite words - quicksilver /ˈkwikˌsilvΙ™r/ noun: used in similes and metaphors to describe something that moves or changes very quickly, or that is difficult to hold or contain.

We, ourselves, are always changing. In a city like this, that tends to go quickly. Sometimes it's for the better and sometimes, unfortunately, it happens whether you like it nor not. We're all reaching a goal. A destination. A yearning. An acceptance of belonging to something.  I would like to think this way in terms of my new way of blogging. It will always be transforming with many different topics and discussions, and because of this, hopefully, this will also affect my readers.  The simple idea of sharing social media about our different cultures, backgrounds and style, it's something we can all relate to because we are all connected; no matter how far we go, geographically or emotionally, we are always constantly growing and changing. Together, as one, like quicksilver.

Speaking of change, I have to discuss last night's episode of the season finale of True Detective. All in all, I was truly disappointed in Season 2. Comparatively to Season 1, this season was weak. The first season was so in-depth with their characters and the story. It was clean, smart and compelling. In prep for the second season, I re-watched the first season not only to get hyped up for the new one but also for study and research on my current work project, my second crime novel. Last night's episode and overall feel, I thought the strongest character, Ani Bezzerides played by Rachel McAdams (and no it's not because I love strong female lead characters) were kind of swept under the rug. I wanted to know more about her background because even though the writers did give us some, I still wanted to know more to better understand her. I wasn't satisfied with just her relationship's with her father and her sister. Yes, I liked the sentiment of change, which I feel to be the focused theme of this season. Ani's final change was her firstborn son. His father, Detective Ray Velcoro, was killed before he even knew he was going to be a dad again, sadly repeating the same vicious cycle with his other son, (who looks way too much like a 'redheaded stepchild') of not being able to really connect with him and therefore, not ever really knowing him. His final change is death. 

Frank's death was lame. I know he's supposed to be one tough S.O.B, but watching him get stabbed felt like getting sucker punched. I mean, really? He's supposed to be this hardcore gangster, even though he detests the label when his wife uses it on him. The last scene of him and his wife, Jordan, was not my favorite. I really wanted to have a deeper rush of emotions, a kind of reaction to his sadness of not making it to his wife. Because their relationship between each other was very complicated and good, the ending between them should have been more, not some cheesy goodbye inside a train station. And the damn crows. Overkill.

I did find the scene with Jordan and Ani's baby touching. Her eyes said it all. Bittersweet. Even when Velcoro's ex-wife finally gets the paternity results it's no real shocker if you've been paying attention. I didn't like all the weird last names. It is one thing to keep names of characters original and memorable, but not to the point where I have to look it up online to make sure who is who. Too confusing. And don't get me started on all the aerial shots throughout each episode. Guys, you can totally do better than that! I swear I've seen them in every single episode! Transitions are made to be used in meaningful ways not to fit in a minute of California freeways and desolate lands. I figure you can't win one without losing one, so maybe if they do a third season, it'll be better like the original one! I look forward to what they will come up with and change from this season. See? Everyone's always changing. :)

To end off on a better note, I leave you a snapshot of my work desk... oh boy, looks like another manic Monday! To see more about the products in the photo, please check out my Instagram @suzannespiegoski for more details. And lastly a Monday Quote or as I call them, 'Monday Suzisms' of my current mood/thoughts.

Got to get back to the grind! I hope you all have a wonderful week! Come back tomorrow for some foodie goodie deliciousness!

LOVE & XX'S

FOLLOW MAQ + SUZ