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Stephanie

@stephanilately

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Skin therapist & glow strategist ✨→ @skntuitive Author of 24/7 Mind Over Matter: an introspective journal. Available on @amazon

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They said it was a phase. I said it was forever ♾️

Captured by my beloved @lindsaylevinphoto
Mua @bygenesismontilva hair @vivalatrenza dress @jennyyoonyc by @stephanilately

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8 months ago

We’ve greatly exaggerated the risk of sinking, without celebrating the value of swimming. -SG 🐠 taken in Santorini by @stephanilately

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8 years ago

Maybe you should stop overthinking so much and trust the way life happens. Things change. Every year you grow into someone else and you should always welcome all the things that make you feel free. -rmd taken in Duomo di Siena by @stephanilately

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8 years ago

August has got me feeling sundrunk & sentimental. by @stephanilately

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a month ago

A San Francisco Love Story. taken in San Francisco City Hall by @stephanilately

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8 months ago

Honored would be an understatement. I had the privilege of witnessing one of my longest friends make her love story official. With happy tears blurring my lens, I was able to capture the day and tell their story. Stephanie and Nadia, may your love be beautiful, enduring, and everything you both deserve.

تنها عشقِ من
❤️ taken in San Francisco City Hall by @stephanilately

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8 months ago

From an American, for Iran

Before you read anything else,
please pause.

Tonight, while my lights stay on,
while my streets remain familiar and quiet,
Iran is holding its breath.
Homes are dimmed.
Phones are clutched like lifelines.
Every sound is listened to twice,
as if the night itself might decide something.

There are people there
living through a chapter
no one should have to endure alone.

I do not speak for governments.
I speak as a human being
who knows that borders do not stop fear,
that pain sounds the same in every language,
that a mother’s heartbeat
does not need translation.

Please pray for Iran.
Not as strangers,
but as neighbors you have yet to meet.
Pray for the children whose nights are restless,
who sense the heaviness before they understand it.
Pray for the elders
who have watched history repeat itself
and feel its weight returning.
Pray for the families holding each other
a little longer than usual
because the future feels uncertain.

Love them out loud.
Love them even when the news makes it complicated.
Love them when the story feels far away
and your own life feels full.
Especially then.

Iran is more than a crisis.
It is poetry passed down like inheritance,
hands that cook for one more guest than planned,
voices that keep singing
even when silence is demanded.
It is a people enduring quietly
and that alone should undo us.

Because endurance is not strength
when it is forced.
Because survival should not require heroism.
Because no one should have to be brave
just to make it through the night.

As an American, I ask this humbly:
do not let fear harden your heart.
Do not let distance dull your empathy.
Do not confuse a people
with the weight placed upon them.

Send your prayers like light.
Send your compassion like shelter.
Send your love without needing it returned.

In moments like these,
our greatest power is remembrance-
to remember that every life trembling tonight
is sacred, that suffering does not need permission to be real, and that none of us are free
when others are forgotten.

With hope.
With reverence.
With a heart turned eastward.
I stand with Iran. 🦁 🌞 by @stephanilately

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9 months ago

As of lately:

My heart has ached for the world we are in,
so much that I’ve silenced my own words.
Not because I wanted to,
but because the ache became physical-
a heaviness I could not speak through.
And still, beneath the sorrow,
there are moments like these of grounding,
small roots of peace,
reminding me that even silence
can carry its own kind of prayer. by @stephanilately

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a year ago

Some people, places and moments in time will alter your brain chemistry in the most beautiful way possible in definitely 🫶🏼 by @stephanilately

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a year ago

Japan, an answered prayer I never even knew I needed.

ありがとう、愛してる
Arigatou, aishiteru
🌸 by @stephanilately

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2 years ago

The Unspoken Beauty of Japan

In Japan, words are often unnecessary. Meaning exists in the spaces between them—woven into the gentle bow of a stranger, the soft rustle of a noren curtain as you step into a quiet teahouse, the way a shopkeeper places your change carefully into your hands, as if offering something sacred.

Respect is not demanded; it is given freely, instinctively. It lives in the synchronized flow of bodies moving through train stations, in the silent understanding between travelers who never need to say, “Excuse me,” yet shift just enough to make space. It is in the precise placement of a teacup, the way a business card is handed with both hands, the deep nod exchanged between sumo wrestlers before a match—acknowledging not just the competition, but the spirit of their opponent.

Kindness, too, is quiet but omnipresent. It is the old woman at the corner store who places an extra sweet in your bag, simply because she sees your delight. The station attendant who walks you to your platform instead of pointing the way. The stranger who notices your struggle with a vending machine and, without a word, presses the right button for you.

Synchronicity breathes through the country, not as an imposed rule, but as a rhythm deeply understood. It is why thousands can move through Shibuya Crossing in perfect harmony, why a kaiseki meal arrives in a seamless sequence, why even the cherry blossoms seem to know their cue—blooming in unison, falling in unison, leaving behind a fleeting beauty that lingers long after they are gone.

In Japan, beauty is not just seen. It is felt, in the unspoken language of respect, kindness, and harmony. And once you notice it, you cannot help but carry it with you—long after you have left. taken in Japan by @stephanilately

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2 years ago

To Be Seen 2.22.25

I once believed that love like this
only existed in a world that could never belong to me—
a love so deep, so unwavering,
it felt like a distant dream.

Never in a million years
could I have imagined being chosen,
not just for a moment,
but for a lifetime.

To be seen—truly seen—
is the rarest gift in a world that forgets how to look.
Where settling has become comfort,
and love, a quiet compromise,
we trade longing for certainty,
passion for what feels safe.

But then there was you.
Eyes that did not glance past me,
but through me—
seeing every light and every shadow,
and still, choosing to stay.

In a world that teaches us to settle,
I have found the courage to belong.
Not just anywhere, but here, with you.
Where love is not a question,
but an answer I have waited a lifetime to hear.

#FinallyHome 🙏🏼🤍✨
Thank you @makeupnad @nadsmoments__ for capturing the most beautiful moments dreams are only made of... and to the friends who came together to create the surprise of a lifetime. by @stephanilately

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2 years ago