A Simple Spruce Up Checklist

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Good Morning!

I am so excited! Tomorrow I am taking the day off to attend this year’s Indiana Decorator’s Show House & Garden Tour! Last year was my first year attending and I am looking forward to this year. I am still dreaming about that desk from last year’s tour. My goodness…

I was able to purchase a new Day Designer from Target this past weekend. I would link it but my particular design is not available online. This particular planner was a collaboration with The Home Edit so it was a different format. 

In the back of the book, they had an extra credit section and in that section, it gives you “home edit” ideas for each month. Since we are finishing the month of April I thought I would share their “spruce up for spring” ideas. 

 

photo credit: Pinterest

 

It said, “Don’t feel like staging a deep spring cleaning this month? Create space and clarity by purging outdated, unwanted items that are taking up valuable space.” Then they give a list of items to purge:

  • Stained or frayed dishtowels
  • Outdated technology and accessories
  • Appliance manuals (you can probably find them online now)
  • Outdated bills and policies
  • Medicines, drugs & cosmetics

Now looking at this list you are probably saying to yourself, “I can absolutely organize those items”. I know I plan on getting rid of old wash rags myself. I need some new ones. As far as technology items I have most of my cells phones since 2004! I really need to get rid of them. There are only about 6 of them but I need to purge them. I am hanging on to them because they have Lauren’s baby pictures stored on them. I need to find a way to get those off!

 

 

photo credit: Murphey Beckerart Instagram 

 

When it comes to outdated old appliance manuals we have a drawer dedicated to such books and now since it has been brought to my attention that we can get these online I will be purging that drawer! I would love to have the extra space. I always get rid of old medicine and cosmetics pretty easily. 

I hope everyone enjoyed this quick list of sprucing up. If you want something with a little more substance then read my “The Butler Speaks” blog posts about cleaning. Those are still reader favorites. Have a great Wednesday! 

 

 

 

April Favorites ~ 2022

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Good Morning,

And we have finally hit 80 degrees! I can’t believe it. I don’t know how long it will stick around. We actually had snow last Monday! Good grief! I hope everyone had a good weekend. I did some normal shopping, ran my errands, did a few house chores, and got ready for the workweek. My mother-in-law’s birthday is Tuesday so we took her a gift yesterday. 

We are still trying to figure out vacation plans for the summer. I know we are going to have to narrow things down here soon. Lauren gets out of school next month and then we only have about 8 weeks before school starts up again. Nuts right? 

Well on to my favorites for the month of April…

First on my list is my gorgeous new umbrella from Sarah Flint. Honestly you guys I have not had the chance to use it yet. We are expecting some rain this week so maybe I will have the opportunity soon…

 

photo credit: Sarah Flint.com 

 

The second is a dear sweet friend that I met on Instagram. Her name is Olivia Claggett and she is an accomplished harpist! She reached out to me and sent me her album and I have to say that it was such a joy to listen to. I love songs 1, 6, and 11. She is very talented and has a beautiful album. Check out her Instagram page and purchase her album. I listened to it while I was working and it was WONDERFUL! 

 

photo credit: Olivia Claggett

 

Third, are my lavender bath bombs from a company called the Honey Pot. I have been using their feminine products for over 6 months and I have to say that I am VERY pleased with the results. I use a lavender bath bomb every Sunday morning and I love the smell and enjoy all of the ingredients. I also love their feminine pads. They have mint in them and when you use them there is this overwhelming freshness in the area. It’s extraordinary!

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

The fourth was my delicious dinner at Carrabba’s. It is an Italian restaurant that my husband and I enjoy. I love their Tuscan grilled chicken, red mashed potatoes, and sauteed spinach. The bread with garlic herbs is delectable as well. Of course, I could not pass up a glass of white Moscato wine. Such a wonderful evening!

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley

 

Fifth is a new Amazon purchase. I am loving this casual but chic dress. It comes in different colors. I have worn it a few times already. It’s easy elegance. If you are interested in my shoes they are here and my new cell phone case is here. 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

The sixth is my morning walks. I love taking my morning walks. I walk about 2  1/2 miles around my subdivision and I enjoy every minute of it. Especially now with our trees beginning to bloom. Oh my….

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley

 

Seventh is a new recent purchase but a gorgeous one! I was on the fence about ordering this tote from MME. Mink but I went ahead and took the risk. I am so glad that I did. As soon as I opened my package just I sigh….

 

 

Stunning isn’t it? I am going to love this bag for all time. Oh my goodness the details. I love the gold accents. The chain, gold tag (with my name on it), the gold fox, the gold purse feet, and the “H” on the side. It’s one of those bags that you just stare at not knowing what it is but it exudes elegance. People just stare at it….

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley

 

Well that it is for April, well ….

 

 

I do LOVE this photo! My daughter took it. She helps out with some of my photos, videos, boutique, and blog. I may have to use this for future business photos. I hope you all have a great Monday!

 

 

fyi: This post is not sponsored. I use affiliate links, including Amazon affiliate links.

 

 

Shoes that Inspire…

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Good Morning Everyone,

I am looking forward to the weekend! I plan on sleeping in a bit and then heading to Target. I need to pick up some new Glade warmers and look for a new Day Designer. They have a few online but I like to look in person. I am hoping to find a floral one. In regards to purchases, I recently made another big one…

I have to share this third Sarah Flint purchase. I follow her and the company on Instagram and a few weeks ago she started a countdown with Gracie Wallpaper about a design that they were collaborating on! I love both companies and could not wait to see what they had in store. Whatever it was I was hoping for a chinoiserie print and both companies delivered!

 

photo credit: L. Shockley 

 

My goodness, I have always wanted to create a chinoiserie shoe and I am glad to see that it can be done. This is an absolutely gorgeous shoe! It’s called the Perfect Pump 85X in peacock. 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley

Sarah spends a lot of time designing her shoes and I must say that they are super comfy. You would think not but they are. They are the best arch support ever! 

 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

I paired it with my beautiful chinoiserie scarf from Lillou. Beautiful combination. 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

The print is stunning. It looks just like the Gracie Wallpaper that is handpainted and timeless. I love it when I can find beautiful designs such as this. The heel has a steel rod in it and it has a wider toe box for more space. The heel is 3.3 inches and the shoe will begin to stretch with more wear. I hope to have these in my shoe collection forever. They are truly timeless. I hope you all have a great weekend! I am trying to find new items to add to the boutique for spring and summer. The code “boutique10” is still active if you wish to make a purchase soon! 

 

This post is not sponsored. Please note: some links are affiliate links and if you make a purchase through this link, I will receive a small commission for referring you to the product. Thank you so much in advance if you decide to make a purchase through my link.

 

 

Is Your Worst Still Your Best?

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Good Morning,

Goodness, it is still cold! We had snow yesterday morning!!! Yes you read that correctly SNOW! Goodness, so over the cold weather. But in today’s post, I wanted to discuss Jennifer’s recent video that she posted about “3 Articles on Dress”. One of the subjects was “goblin mode”. Now, this has been the first I have heard of this phrase. I will post the video below if you missed it. So goblin mode is a new term for laziness and just looking at the photo that described it grieved my soul a little. Like Jennifer said in the video, “people can do want they want” but I just wanted to check my pulse and yours about this subject. 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

So lately when I go grocery shopping or out period I have been seeing a lot of people in clothes that I think they sleep in. I mentioned this before that it just grieves me. I know that people can live the way they want but when we go out and we see how people look it can inspire us for better or worse. When I see a woman looking her absolute best it totally inspires me to continue with my clothing style choices. When I see women in “goblin mode” I feel sorry for them sometimes. But I keep in mind that I don’t know what that person is going through and to extend grace. 

 

Photo credit: Memorandum.com 

 

We should live in a way that when we are down in the dumps we still have “elegant choices” around. The bad choices, whether clothing, food, or entertainment are not an option for you because everything you have is your absolute best. “Live your life so that your worst is your best”! That phrase popped into my mind while watching Jennifer’s video. Live your life so that your worst is your best! 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

I purposely choose elegant items in my life. There is no room or limited room for me to choose things that are not my best. I would encourage you to replace items, clothes, and entertainment that will enrich you to always use it. We are only on this earth for a short time. Make it count! 

 

 

Here is Jennifer’s video if you missed it. I hope that you all are inspired to use your best always and to begin to replace items that are worn with items that are the best for you. You must be fearless in this area and confident because not everyone will like it nor support it. 

As I have said before, “there is so much darkness in this world. Why not be elegant”. Have a wonderful Wednesday! 

 

 

 

 

 

Lilies and Easter Sunday…

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Good Morning All,

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter Day with your families. I am always humbled by what the Lord did. I always try to put myself in that situation and I always come up with, “there is no way”. I am being honest. That took so much to die for all. It really did…

We celebrated at home. It was just me, our daughter, and my husband. I kept things simple with a slow cooker chicken, homemade mashed potatoes, green beans, and southern-style biscuits. It was a nice quiet Easter celebration at home. The weather has been cold but it is bright and sunny. 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

Since there was only the three of us I filled the rest of the table with flowers. I mean why not! My local grocery store had these huge stalks of baby’s breath. They were gorgeous as well as the pink lilies that they had. I placed the lilies in one of my ginger jars. It looked wonderful! 

 

 

I also used my new (to me) vintage lily of the valley plates that I purchased from Pender and Peony. She also has an Instagram page where she auctions her vintage items. I ordered these last week and have been enjoying them ever since. This was also the perfect time to pull out my lily of the valley goblets from Monique Lhuillier. Everything looked wonderful on the table and were the perfect pieces for our Easter dinner. 

Let me know in the comments section below what you did or cooked for Easter dinner. I would love to hear about your family celebrations. 

Have a great Monday! 

 

 

 

The Boutique ~ 1 Year Anniversary!

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Good Morning Everyone!

It has been such a busy week at the office. I have barely had time to take lunch breaks! But I always make sure to do that. I either bring my lunch or go out and grab a salad or sandwich. Then I eat at my desk in my office with the door closed. I usually read while I eat (a book) and try not to touch my cell until I have finished eating. After that, I usually get on my phone and check emails. I make an effort to enjoy some quiet time during my lunch hour.

While I was on my break recently I realized that I did not discuss the one-year anniversary of the boutique! I can’t believe it has been a year already. It actually turned a year old on March 8th! I am still astonished that I made it this long. I have seen a few boutiques start last year and end immediately! It is a LOT of work! I don’t think people realized how much work it would be trying to get exposure for your items!

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

Running an online boutique is extremely time-consuming and takes a lot of management. The setup is really hard. You have lots of registration fees, trying to find vendors, and filling out applications to shop online. Yes, you have to apply to shop on vendor websites! The vendors that I use wanted all of my business info! After all of the setup work the fun really begins! And by fun, I mean trying to get the “pulse” of your consumer. The good thing for me was that I had my blog. So I had already taken the time to build an online base. 

I started this blog in 2014 and I still can’t believe that I am still going! 

 

 

I love shopping for the boutique but there is a lot of second-guessing. I always have to ask myself. “Do I love this piece?” “Will it sell?” “Does it fall in line with what I am trying to build”? On and on and on. Again, there is a lot of management that goes into running an online boutique. In addition to keeping the boutique stocked there is the blog. I have to make sure that I find inspiration in order to provide content. I love my blog more than anything and hope that I can continue to do it for years to come. 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley

 

The last part is money. Most small business entrepreneurs don’t make a lot of money from their businesses the first few years. I am here to say that this is true. Well, GOOD entrepreneurs usually don’t pay themselves. I am not taking a salary or paycheck from my business. All of the money that the blog and boutique make stays in the business account to help support the business! I refuse to pay myself at this time. It will probably take a few years to get it to where I want it to be and that is okay! I am really trying to enjoy the journey. This is something that I have always wanted to do and I am loving every minute of it. So thank you! Thank you for reading the blog, shopping my boutique, shopping my favorites, and the LTK app. I appreciate it all! 

To celebrate the boutique’s one-year anniversary you may use code “boutique10” to get 10% off of anything in the boutique! I do hope that all of you are enjoying it! Have a great weekend and Happy Easter! 

 

 

 

 

 

How I Shop for Vintage Earrings

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Good Morning,

I don’t know about any of you but I am having the hardest time trying to get some ideas of where to travel to this summer. I have so many places that I want to visit but it is so hard because I have to consider my family as well. I would love to visit the “Breakers” this year and do some antique shopping. I wrote about visiting in 2019. I have so many ideas for a vacation but we will see what we end up doing. 

In today’s post, I wanted to share how I find my gorgeous vintage earrings online.

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

Jasmine Pearl Brooch

 

Now the vintage earrings in this photo are a new Poshmark find. I am talking about the crystal earrings with the gold wings. These are stunning in person. Whenever I am on the hunt for vintage clip earrings my first stop is Poshmark. I love Poshmark because you can negotiate the price. These I paid under $30 for. The next go-to website is eBay and then Etsy. 

The phrase that I always put into the search bar is “vintage Weiss clip earrings”. This works every time! It doesn’t even matter if the earrings are Weiss or not beautiful vintage earrings always appear. I just purchased two pairs from Poshmark and I won’t be looking for any more until the holidays. Let me know in the comments below if you wearing vintage clip earrings. 

They will always remain my classic go-to’s for style! 

 

 

This post is not sponsored.