Posted on by Stephanie's Corner

A Holiday Gift Guide

The holiday season is creeping up on us! We will be seeing advertisements galore for the next 2 months. So to ease you into the holiday season….. here are a few sites to check out.

  1. www.stephaniedolce.com – this is my BRAND new site filled with gifts like this:

There is A LOT more! Plus there are some great books you can get as well. I am also looking for guest bloggers to share their products… so please reach out to me if interested.

2. Follow me on Pinterest for my list of my Favorite Things- in my board titled: “Holiday Extravaganza”

3. I will also be doing GIVEAWAYS on my Facebook page AND Instagram page – so join in on the fun!

Posted on by Stephanie's Corner · 2 Comments

Trevor Lawrence Is NOT The Answer

April 26, 2018 on Twitter: ( FYI I retweeted some of these on my Twitter feed)

You know what the best part of Sam Darnold is? He’s not Josh Allen. #Jets

The #Jets traded up to 3 and were mocked. They have arguably the best QB fall into their lap and take him. Well done Maccagnan #NFLDraft

Uncle Sam gonna take us to the promise land

I have been saying it for 2 years now. Suck for Sam!!! And it came true. Spoke it to existence.. Welcome to the New York Jets Sam Darnold!!!!! #jets #nfl
#myqb #winner

The #Jets ended up with Sam Darnold. The @nyjets
I’m still in shock and filled with joy. Special shout out to the #Browns
and #Giants too for making this happen. Love it! #NFLDraft

Still hyped about the #SAMDARNOLD pick by the #Jets. Getting the best QB in the draft at 3 is a steal. #NFLDraft

There were MANY happy Jets fans gushing that they indeed did get the BEST QB in the draft in 2018, yet they all want to FORGET this and forget that it’s a process, DROP him and go with the new Shiny New Toy …. again. Yes, I know that Trevor was the talk of town yesterday against Georgia Tech. Yes, I know that beat writers and everyone who talks about football is gushing over him. And yes, I know Trevor Lawrence beat Alabama in last year’s championship and I am NOT taking that away from him BUT here is why Clemson won, and it was NOT because of Lawrence.

First off, the defense on Alabama only rush only four and drop seven into coverage.

Four didn’t get it done against Clemson. Note that Trevor Lawrence isn’t the most mobile quarterback in college football, but he didn’t need to be against Alabama because he was allowed to stand as long as he pleased in the pocket and pick out his receivers. With Alabama neutralized up front, that left the defensive backs vulnerable to Lawrence and his talented receivers. Lawrence completed 20 of 32 passes for 347 yards, and while he’s good, he needed star receiver Justyn Ross to bail him out on bad throws twice! ( Oh my God … he had bad throws … just like Sam makes at times!)

Last year it as “Tank for Tua.” Now, Tua Tagovailoa is a talented player, no question but he seems to have only have one gear. He did it twice against Clemson, with one pass returned for a touchdown and the second pick setting up another score. So the defense of Alabama scored not because of Trevor Lawrence. Alabama turned over the ball on downs three times, including once on that fake field goal. The problem is that Alabama’s offense can never waste opportunities, because its defense rarely creates turnovers. That has nothing do with Trevor Lawrence and everything to do with Alabama. FYI: when Nick Saban faked the field goal rather than having Joseph Bulovas try a medium-range kick, was he doing so because he didn’t like Bulovas’ odds of making it?

Right now Trevor Lawrence is the shiny new toy that everyone wants. The Jets haven’t done enough to surround Darnold with actual, talented football players, and chances are, if Trevor Lawrence is put in a similar situation, he might not be better off. The Jets need a blueprint on how to properly nurture and develop a QB, they had Josh McCown here during Sam’s rookie year, but they stupidly let him go after that. Remember, draft picks mean nothing unless you can develop young players; the Jets are the epitome of that notion.

Now I know passing on a “once in a lifetime talent ” at quarterback might be a mistake, but drafting one and setting him up to fail — like his predecessor — might be a bigger one. You can’t just always go for the SHINY NEW TOY. It’s like relationships, people give up on those these days way too easily. They don’t want to put in the work, they just want the perfection and the trophy. To have a relationship you need to start with a foundation before you can have the roof. To have a winning team you need to have the core and build around it. To have success you can’t keep dumping and building. Go ask those who given up if they succeeded, they will have to tell you that they failed. You can’t look back at where you’ve been, but where you are going. Yes, the past shapes us in every aspect, but if we ever want to be in the promise land we can’t keep making the same mistakes.

Dropping Sam Darnold for Trevor Lawrence is making the same mistake. Especially if you look at Tanehill’s numbers post-coach Gase: With Gase 65.9% COMP PCT Without Gase: 69.9% COMP PCT With Gase: 93.2 Passer Rating Without Gase: 115.4 Passer Rating.

So may be the answer for Sam Darnold is simple: Once Gase goes, Sam’s stats go in a better direction: UP.

But giving up on him, should not be the option. Surrounding him with talent and a coach that showcases his strengths not highlights his weaknesses should be the first thing Joe Douglas does. If the Jets ever want to be successful, then they need to stop the madness and save the Quarterback who has the skills and the talent needed to be their franchise for the next ten years. Or they risk giving another team that opportunity when they trade him for the shiny new toy. Maybe one day the Jets can thank themselves for not giving up on Darnold but for believing in him and building a team around him. Ambition is the path to success. Persistence is the vehicle you arrive in.

“Successful people do what unsuccessful people are not willing to do. Don’t wish it were easier; wish you were better.”

Posted on by Stephanie's Corner

Bend ( A song)

One of the things I love to write are songs.

I have written many songs – I have been trying to put them on Youtube as best I can.

Here is the latest song that I have placed on Youtube – it’s called Bend. The Lyrics are included on this link for the song. It’s not the best listening quality – but …. it’s good.

LINK <——-

I also will throw out another link for another song I wrote called “Let It Go” Click on the title to be taken to the song.

Song writing is so much fun and it also can get personal. But I especially love writing songs when I need a little creative juice flowing.

**** Working on my follow up book, to my best seller, ” Hello Love, Where’s Cupid 2nd Ed” called, “Relationship Impossible” which should be out in 2021

Paperback is also available for those who still love to hold them

Posted on by Stephanie's Corner

Can we retire this awful dating myth in 2020

Dating today has made it easier than ever to find and list data points that quantify, and place value on, our romantic prospects. A little LinkedIn sleuthing clears up questions about wealth and education; Facebook and Instagram fill in the looks and social status gaps. And somewhere in the cauldron with all that is a “league.” Dating based on a league system is making a judgment call as to how it stacks up against your own, and using the result to inform the way you treat others who might be interested in you. Put that way, it’s clear: It’s rude. The whole thing is classless, narcissistic and shallow.

Despite what model agencies, magazines, dating apps and the rest of the world would tell you, there is no Top-Tier League of people. You are the keeper of your own value and your own worth.

Have you ever crushed on someone that you never even considered asking out or flirting with because you thought there was no chance they’d say yes? Go ahead, raise your hand, you know that I am talking about you!

When we say “out of someone’s league,” often we’re talking simply about looks, but sometimes it’s a combination of attractiveness, wealth, social status, and other assets. The idea is that one person is distinctly and recognizably “above” another person in these ways, so of course they wouldn’t date them.

I’ve come to believe that the “out of someone’s league” concept traps us in thought patterns that are both harmful and false. When we do this, we’re saying that certain people, with the sum of all their qualities that we really don’t know yet, by assumption, are objectively worse or better than others – and more or less worthy of romantic love.

When we rank people like this, we’re ignoring a basic truth: People want different things in their romantic partners. It’s ridiculous to think that we can reduce all those different qualities into a single universal ranking of “leagues.” Which again, it just utterly rude and obnoxious.

Men often say, “She’s out of my league,” but what these guys are actually doing is creating an imaginary system of worthiness in dating, and then deciding that’s the only basis on which a woman should be allowed to choose a dating partner.

Never mind chemistry or personal tastes. If she’s within his league, based solely on her adherence to socially constructed beauty ideals, then she should be willing to date him. If she’s not, then she’s a stuck-up bitch who thinks she’s too good for him. You know, her “standards” are too high.

Ranking women in “leagues” is a way for men to avoid thinking of women as individuals with unique needs, interests, and desires.

The concept of “out of my league” was created by a guy who didn’t want his confident friend to go out with a girl HE had HIS eyes on, or felt was attractive, so he INSISTED that she was “out of his league” so this way, he didn’t pursue her.

It’s classic jealousy.

It’s also RIDICULOUS to think that guys will LISTEN to other guys when they ask the dumb question, “Do you think I have a shot with her?” Basing happiness on what OTHERS think is not only harmful but wrong. You are the one who lives with all the decisions you make, your friends and family don’t.

So in the craziest year possible, 2020, it’s time to retire this nonsense dating myth called Out Of My League. No one is out of anyone’s league. Dating is all about self-confidence, self-worth, and finding a partner who not only builds you up, but someone who holds you down when times are tough.

There’s no “sports” league for that.

Posted on by Stephanie's Corner

Sassy Style Brand – Fashion

This here is just a few of my fashion line that I have created called Sassy Style Brand.

Clothing should be comfy.

Why wear something that may look good but doesn’t make YOU feel good?
Why wear something that may be trending, but isn’t comfortable to wear?
Clothing should be fun, flirty, sassy, but also comfy.
That’s what Sassy Style Brand Is All About!
To purchase any of the above pieces or to visit the store-click here.
Posted on by Stephanie's Corner

Say His Name: Cannon Hinnant

I’ve been torn about how to react to news of the killing of the 5 year-old little North Carolina boy that’s making the rounds on social media and NOT the mainstream media. As he rode his bicycle, the perpetrator (his next door neighbor) walked up to him, placed a gun to his head and executed him in broad daylight. Because the child was white and the shooter is black, many are contrasting the news coverage (or lack thereof) and reaction to this killing to the reaction to the death of George Floyd.

Though he was no saint, George Floyd didn’t deserve to die in the fashion that he did. BUT… George Floyd was a 5-time convicted felon. He once held a pregnant woman at gunpoint while she was assaulted, threatening to shoot her in the stomach. He was well-known by the police.  We gave George Floyd four televised funerals, a folded American flag, over 70 days of rioting and millions upon millions of dollars donated to his family. Hollywood held massive protests for George Floyd, including the NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL players, paid tribute to this man.

What does this child get?

Where is Lebron James, Malcolm Jenkins, J.J. Watt, Dwayne Wade,  Odell Beckham Jr.  Demarcus Lawrence, Lamar Jackson, Carson Wentz , Derek Carr, and others? Did these athletes tweet or post that they’re “heartbroken”  at the news of Cannon Hinnant’s execution death?  Did Black Lives Matter even condemn the actions of Darrius Sessoms? Of course not!  Why do you think the mainstream media never covered it?  It’s not the agenda. We all know that if the colors were reversed, we would never hear the end of it. But because the color of skin is what they are, most people will never know that this heartless crime took place. The way the media is manipulating us is to purposely to divide us.

This child was sinless. He saw no color. He’d committed no crime. I can imagine him smiling at the approach of a neighbor, who he’d likely seen before, never suspecting that he was about to be harmed, much less have his brains splattered on his own lawn. There will be no protests, no riots, no cries for justice. Young black men won’t be targeted and killed in retaliation, as many police officers have been. Hollywood celebrities won’t provide him with a golden casket or fund multiple funerals in cities across America that will be televised and broadcast live across social media.  “Black privilege” won’t become a trendy phrase and this child’s name won’t trend on Twitter. Tens of millions of dollars won’t be raised to support the battle against systemic child brutality and abuse, and “CHILDREN’S LIVES MATTER” will never be painted on Broadway in New York and have justice for Cannon billboards put up all over the town thanks to Oprah.

Black Lives Matter doesn’t care about the gun violence happening in Chicago and New York. Black Lives Matter doesn’t help the black kids in the ghettos and doesn’t try to help those kids stay out of drugs and gangs.  It’s a group that only shows up when a white cop ( who really never should have been allowed to stay a cop) kills a black man.  And the fact that every Sports League; NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL paid “homage” to George Floyd and Black Lives Matter is a joke.  These leagues don’t have backbones, instead they want to appease their players.  These players don’t understand that the reason we should stand for the national anthem is to honor all those lives that we lost on 9/11.  Those innocent people were all of different colors, religions, backgrounds, yet we HONOR them simply because it happened on our soil.

Holding a sign,  wearing a T-shirt, chanting a song, taking a knee, or going on your soap box  ( Twitter and Instagram)  isn’t going to change a damn thing!  It’s the actions that will finally make a difference.  Getting your hands dirty to be part of the solution, not part of the problem.

I believe that we are all created in God’s image. I believe that an evil, wicked hatred is spreading in our nation like a cancer.  My heart breaks over the division we are seeing.  People have become so jaded.  They look at everything that happens and have to “add” color to it.  They look at everything that happens and have to blame someone for it.  Instead of showing compassion and kindness towards everyone.  That is the one thing I remember from 9/11- the kindness that everyone showed each other afterwards.  We cared about one another. Not because of skin color, but because we all bleed red.

I pray daily for our nation and everyone in it.

His name was Cannon Hinnant. He wasn’t racist. He wasn’t violent. He wasn’t a criminal. He was an innocent five year old boy.

When you honor a black man who was a criminal just because he was killed by a cop- you aren’t changing the narrative, you are continuing the narrative.

 

 

Posted on by Stephanie's Corner

An Open Letter To Men Everywhere

Do men get pinched, groped, ogled, catcalled, stared at, followed, intimidated and stalked regularly by other men?
Do they get rape threats from strangers online for having the gall to express a strong opinion?
How about unwanted comments on their profile pictures, unsolicited pictures of male genitalia, persistent romantic propositions even after rejection?
How about being talked over at work, admonished for standing one’s ground, assumed to be less skilled, being singled out among other colleagues for clerical tasks, told that their place is “in the kitchen” and “at home, raising kids?”
You are being asked to give women, the same bare-minimum, basic, fundamental respect that you afford men. You know, the sort that should be afforded to all human beings, simply for existing. We aren’t asking for amazing treatment, simply for being female. Far from it, actually. We’re asking for respect as people,  something we are deprived of simply for being women with a regularity, severity and degree that should absolutely alarm you.
Respecting women can’t be a rule, but surely it can be a responsibility that shouldn’t be taken lightly.  Women are tired of having to be taught how to protect themselves from men, but rather why can’t the men be taught not to rape, harass, or abuse a woman? Dress does not dictate if a woman is valued or respected. Nor does it protect her from being violated. But I am, as are all women tired of hearing guys ask, “well, what was she wearing?” Or, “She was probably asking for it.”  No.  No woman is ever asking to be raped, harassed or abused.  No woman wants to be judged based on what she was wearing, how she was wearing it, and just how much attention she was craving. 
It’s about time society started appreciating the important role that women play. Women today contribute more than half to the world’s economy.  More than 11.6 million businesses are owned by women, employing nearly 9 million people, and generating $1.7 trillion in sales as of 2017. Women-owned businesses (51% or more) account for 39% of all privately held businesses and contribute 8% of employment and 4.2% of revenues.
We just aren’t about having babies, raising babies, and baking some cookies.  Women are smart, savvy, and go-getters.  Women want to be seen for WHO we are, NOT for what we look like.  Ever notice that a man especially, can only compliment a woman on her looks, not on her other personality traits?  “Oh, she is hot,” “She’s gorgeous,” or, “What a beauty!”  It’s never, ” You’re amazing at what you do,” “I always learn so much from you,” or,  “I like your style.”
If we want to prevent sexual assaults and sexual harassment, then parents have a responsibility to their sons to have a much more uncomfortable conversation. Overall, the media has told a man, in this society, treating women with disrespect is the cool or easy thing to do. The only way to change this, is to make sure that as boys, they know that this behavior is unacceptable, and that no matter who they come in contact with during their lifetime, they are to be treated with respect.  Remember, it costs NOTHING to be kind, to be respectable and to be responsible.

Posted on by Stephanie's Corner

Your Tip For Tuesday

The recipe for happiness is trying to stop controlling everyone else. Worry about YOU!


1. Stop trying to tell people to wear the masks- your posts aren’t changing minds instead they are working against you.
2. Stop trying to tell people who to vote for- your posts aren’t changing minds, mostly everyone knows who they are voting for already.
3. Stop judging people- you only walked in on the chapter that they LET you walk in on, social media posts don’t tell you anything about what people go through, who people are and the battles they are fighting in silence.
4. Again, your nose belongs on your face and NOT in other people’s business- control YOUR emotions- control YOUR reactions and then maybe you’ll be happier.   hearts

Posted on by Stephanie's Corner

Words Matter: Be Ashamed If You Body Shame Others Online

Yesterday was my cousin’s wedding ceremony.  Due to Covid19, the wedding has been postponed twice, so they decided to have a legal ceremony on the day that they had their first date.  That’s not what this post is about, but it’s the partly the reason I am writing it.  Yesterday I wore this little black dress that I recently bought.  It was a dress that was not loose fitting, but a little snug in the midsection.  Every time I ever need to dress up to go to a function, I spend hours in the mirror criticizing myself about how I “think” people are going to perceive me. ( Of course I am wrong, but my brain doesn’t think so at the time.)  I put this dress on and spun around looking at myself in the mirror, looking to see just how much of midsection was “noticeable.”   I hate to go out and not look “skinny,” in whatever I am wearing.  I say to myself that If I don’t feel comfortable that I will have a lousy time.

Yesterday was very different.

I usually end up talking myself out of wearing something and put on something else, but yesterday I didn’t. I kept that little black dress on and went to the wedding and enjoyed myself.  Now, I am not fat. I am not obese. I am not heavy or big-boned. I am of a normal weight for a short girl.  I don’t wear a size 0 or size 4 or even a size 6.  Depending on the brand, I am any where from a size 8 to a size 12.  Seriously, the way that clothes are made today is unreal.  I should be the same size no matter what brand I buy, but I am not.

This got me thinking yesterday of all the body shaming going down on social media lately. I see young girls on TikTok posting videos of,  “How to get skinny.”   I see young women posting videos of them telling others that they have to get back to being skinny and so forth.  I also see guys, body shaming women.  Some of the comments are so over the top nasty.

1) ” I don’t know what you are doing but you look so much better now! Look at all the weight you lost!”

2) “If you lose weight someone will love you.”

3) “Look at that fat body. What a waste of a pretty face.”

4) “You don’t have the right body to be doing that.”

5) “Why are you posting a picture of you in a bikini when you are no where near being a bikini model!”

6) Now that Pat Mahomes got his big contract he can now dump that disgusting girlfriend.”  ( yesterday, he got the biggest contract in NFL history)

Now body shaming isn’t just about saying rude and obnoxious things, but it’s also when a guy ONLY pays a woman a compliment on HOW she looks.  ( Beautiful, gorgeous, hot, sizzling, etc,”  Why can’t guys ever just compliment  a girl/woman without using her looks as part of the compliment?

Now we all can do one day with a bad hair day, or wish that parts of our bodies were different, but sometimes it is overwhelming which stops us from doing all kinds of things.  We start to develop anxiety about our bodies. We start to question why someone would even want to love us or even be with us in a romantic situation.

This is why body shaming has to stop.

We then become ashamed of our muffin tops, love handles, or flat bums. We then pick apart other parts of our body like our noses, thighs, arms,  and legs. And for what? To be accepted by a bunch of immature, self-conceited , superficial guys who don’t look like the Ken doll that they should be as they want to be with ever girl that resembles Barbie!

Give me a break!

Looks don’t make the man or the woman.  What should matter most is the person they are on inside; their personality.  Would you rather be with someone so vain or be with someone who was caring, compassionate, funny, and who supported your vision for the future?

Looks fade, who that person is from the inside out stays forever.

The next time you see someone body shaming someone else on social media tell them this; ““I do not give a &$#! about what men think about my body. I don’t care about what women think about my body. My body is not for other people, and the only person whose opinion matters about how I look is mine.”

 

Posted on by Stephanie's Corner

What The Beach Can Teach You About Relationships

While at the beach, one summer, I remembered how the weather went from clear and sunny, to cloudy and stormy in a flash. The waves were crashing, the wind was blowing and the lightning was remarkable. Then about two hours later, the clouds vanished, the sun came out shining and the storm was over. That got me thinking about relationships.
Sometimes a relationship can start out sunny and in a blink of an eye it can get stormy out of the blue. Sometimes a relationship can be just like the ocean; calm one minute and then stormy the next. Sometimes a relationship can get very stormy and you think it is never going to get better when all of a sudden, the sun comes out, the skies clear, and you feel that the relationship just took a major step forward for the better.
People these days are so quick to end a relationship when times gets stormy. They want the “sunny skies” all the time, but in reality that is just a fantasy. We are human therefore it is normal to disagree, it is normal to fight, and it is even healthy to have arguments from time to time. Not one relationship goes through life without a disagreement from time to time. The movies and TV shows you watch that show how perfect relationships are, are simply fake. The scripts that show a conflict in a relationship and how “easy and quick” it is “fixed,” has poisoned our minds. It is a mistake to think that your life can be mirrored from the movies and TV shows you watch.
Ever hear of Cinderella and Prince Charming? Growing up with the fairy tale,  that one day a tall, handsome man is going to come riding into town and sweep me off my feet is the reason why many women have an unrealistic view on love. The same could be said about men having unrealistic view on sex thanks to porn. But getting back to to how being at the beach has made me think more and more about relationships.
The beach is just like a relationship whereas when you stumble on a seashell that you had no intention of looking for or finding, your excitement for finding that seashell is overwhelming. The same could be said for relationships. When you aren’t looking, that is when love finds you. Love is a funny thing, the harder you look to find it, the harder it is to find. But once you stop looking, someone will walk into your life and you’ll find it.
I hate seeing girls act desperate for a man these days.  They are on dating apps, social media apps, all for the purpose of finding their one true love.  They are going about it wrong.  They call it falling in love because you just fall. You don’t force yourself to trip. Lighthouses don’t move around looking for boats. They stay in one place and shine, letting the boats come to them. Just remember that, the person who dances with you in the rain will most likely walk with you in the storm. And that is the best relationship to have and to find.