A Little Outlet Mall Shopping

This is a quick little post about my girl’s day of shopping with my mom, daughter and good friend Brittany. We decided to head to the outlet mall near my city (I did this last year in February, see my blog post here if you missed it) do a little shopping and have some lunch.

It turned out to be a beautiful day and it was nice to hang out with my mom, daughter and friend for a day. My husband was not there to hold me back! But in all fairness I did not go overboard even though it could have been very easy to do so. I did however wanted to share what I picked up….

My mother stopped in Michael Kors and picked up a tote. It was very nice. We then did a quick pop-in Coach, sorry to say that it was very disappointing. But on we go….

I went into Ann Taylor and like always I find wonderful things….

I love the detail lace on the sleeves. I really regret not buying this!

Love the polka-dot eyeglass case

I loved this skirt as well but they did not have my size.
We then went and looked inside Banana Republic. These were the only things I saw….

The earrings above, this fabulous skirt, again they did not have my size!

and 
This wonderful necklace that I had to buy!
Sorry I had the sku# but could not find it online.
We then paid a visit to Nine West. I loved these but did not buy them.

Or these….

I purchased these. I wanted something comfortable and chic to wear on the weekends. 
This are called the Eladiao flats. I could not find them online anywhere. 
I also picked up these. They are called the Adelineo pump and they are hard to find!
This was the only pair I could find!
I love the gold ribbon on the back and I only paid $20!
And last but certainly not least is my Kate Saffiano tote.
I love the color and the gold hardware. If you wish to purchase it you will find it here. But move quickly, I don’t think it will be around too long. 
I hope you enjoyed this post and are able to find some of the beautiful things here.
Enjoy!
(photos via Mrs. Shockley)

Retro Customs Worth Reviving

I love lists about beautiful things. I recently stumbled on this list from Veranda called 25 Things That Should Have Never Gone Out of Style.

It is a wonderful list if you enjoy manners, dignity and wholesomeness. I wanted to share some of my favorite things from this list.

1) Handwritten notes: 
YES! I talked about this on the blog back in 2015. See it here if you missed it.

2) Recipe cards: 
Having grandmas vintage recipe cards are keepsakes

3) Modesty:
REALLY, we do need it!

4) Dressing up:
Again, we do need it! There is nothing more satisfying to me than seeing someone dress to the nines and enjoying it.

5) Baby Books:
I have one for my daughter and she enjoys looking in it all the time. She finds it rewarding to know that I care enough to “keep up” with her life. I still take a photo of her on her first day of school and put it in our photo album. I want her to enjoy these for years to come.

6) Memorizing Phone Numbers:
I grew up in an age where cell phones were a luxury! We had pagers and that was pushing it but I remember every number that was on my pager.

7) Saying “Sir or Ma’am”:
I still say this and we teach our children to do the same.

8) Privacy:
It can been tough trying to find the balance between sharing and keeping things private. But there are some things that you should keep behind closed doors and it should be common sense. But it is not anymore. See my blog post herehere, and here about keeping your life a mystery.

9) Printed photos:
I can’t stress the act of keeping memories enough. I love looking at old photos in albums. I even print off my blog post and keep them in binders. Who knows maybe one day the computers will crash and I won’t have my blog anymore. I want to be able to look back on this and smile and I want my grandchildren to see what I enjoy and be in my world for a moment.

10) Curves:
I have them and honestly who doesn’t?

11) Calling someone:
My husband is very adamant about this. He would rather pick up the phone than text.

12) Doing math in your head:
Yeah, I have seen some young people who were my cashiers and couldn’t do basic math in their head. It was really sad….

13) Knowing your neighbors by name:
Okay, this one I struggle a little with. We HAD some neighbors (they have since move out of the neighborhood). Our daughter’s played together then I let our daughter go over for a sleepover. It took me awhile to let her do this but I did. This mother was such a trouble maker on Facebook (I was “friends” with her) that I knew it was going to be a bad idea. She asked my daughter, “if I was really like that”? I was completely “floored” by this but not surprised. She asked my husband some questions in the past so I knew that she was trying to find dirt on us. Since she was reading my blog and on my page she saw what I posted and just thought I was fake. But the joke was on her, we ended up finding out that they were lying to everyone and telling people that they bought the house that they were in but it turns out they were renting and things just weren’t what they seem.  They have since moved and built in a neighborhood near us (going with our builder I might add) and I heard that she painted her house the same color as mine. Now who is not who they seem? Looks like I am the leader and she is the follower.

I have blocked her from my personal Facebook page and will continue to block her from all my social media outlets. She also stole a photo from my blog about some dinning room table ideas and presented it on her page as her own but what she didn’t realize was that one of those photos belong to my friend so I knew that she stole it. She probably still sneaks on here and reads my blog but I try to not let stupid people like that ruin the opportunity for me to meet the other neighbors around us.

14) Paper Address Books:
They are useful just in case that phone shuts down.

15) Teaching Cursive:
This is a beautiful technique to have with you. There was someone whom I met recently that was surprised that I could write in cursive and said that they didn’t learn that in school. How tragic? How do you sign your credit card slips? I wrote about cursive writing back in 2014 see it here.

16) Keeping a Diary:
I think this is a wonderful way to release some emotions and concerns. It is also a way to keep a record of victories and loses. I wrote about it last year see here if you missed it.

17) Drive in Moves:
I loved this as a kid and may have to consider trying this again….

18) Saying Please and Thank You:
There is no question for this. It’s unbelievable to me how rude people really are….

19) Going visiting and having Sunday dinners:
We still have dinners every night as a family.

20) Not using Bad words:
There is nothing more classless then hearing a woman curse on the phone. I try to never use any of these words in private or in public.

21) Table Manners:
Yes, phones have made a mess of things if you ask me. Read my blog post here about that.

22) Hats:
I love seeing the old photos when hats and gloves were worn.

23) Having a real LIVE conversation:
It’s nice to take some time and talk with people. I sometimes start a conversation with someone on the elevator just because I know that they are going to pull out that phone.



and last but certainly not least,

24) Holding the door for someone:
I do this always but I LOVE seeing men do it. I hope shivery isn’t dead.

Well, I hope that you enjoy this list just as much as I did and read the original article from Veranda. They always have the best information on their website.





(photos via Pinterest, list via Veranda.com)

Waterlily Sun

Whenever I visit my favorite store Von Maur the girls at the counter always have me try new products. This month it was Aerin Lauder’s waterlily sun body cream. It is the perfect cream to use. I use it as my desk hand cream at work and it draws attention!

My bottle at work
Let me tell you I had some on my hands and I took a document to one of my co-workers. I then walked back to my desk and sat down. She then came all the way down to my office and said, “What in the world are you wearing?”  I told her and she said, “Wow, that is wonderful!”
It is very refreshing and feminine. I went back recently to try the Mediterranean Honeysuckle. I think I may have to buy that next! We will see. 
(photo via Mrs. Shockley)

My Berry Tart


I remember trying this recipe 2 years ago see here if you missed it. The only mishap I had was that I used pie crust instead of puff pastry. Well, I fixed that and now I love making this easy, simple, and delicious recipe.

This time I used berries and strawberries. I was inspired to try berries because one of my favorite restaurants Carrabba’s  had this delicious dessert called the berry crostata. I LOVE IT! I mean really I do! They have not brought it back this summer so I decided to make my own.


I went to the grocery and picked up my fruit and rinsed it off. 


I followed the instructions for the puff pastry which was very easy and simple. You just have to let it sit out and thaw. After that, you put flour on your parchment paper and place the pastry on top. 




Put your fruit in the center (as much as you want) and add 2 teaspoons of sugar, a dash of salt, and fold the pastry around the fruit.


Cook for about 20 minutes at 350 degrees. Keep your eye on it and then you have this wonderful, crisp yet soft on the inside dessert. I eat my slice with some vanilla bean ice cream. It is heaven-sent. I enjoy this dessert so much and I hope you will try it and enjoy it too!


Please let me know if you do!

(photos via Mrs. Shockley)

Essential Oil Candle Collection

It should come as no surprise that once this candle collection hit Bath and Body Works I was going to be a fan. I purchased 3 but I bought two of the Rose scents. All of them are lovely.

The eucalyptus has some peppermint notes in it and is very light. 
 Eucalyptus 3-Wick Candle - Bath And Body Works
The lemongrass has lime and may chang essential oil. I have that in our bedroom. And the rose has lemon and orange essential oils and I have that in our family room. I love the three scents that I have. I did not realize that there was a lavender and cypress available. They did not have those in my store. I smelled the bergamot and I may go back and get that as well. I did not like the cinnamon and the almond. The almond reminded me of vanilla and the cinnamon had a hint of clove in it. But everyone likes what they like. I am a huge fan of floral scents.  But I do hope that my location will get that lavender and cypress soon. I hope you enjoyed this post and will go and do a “test smell” with them all. Enjoy!
(photo via Mrs. Shockley and BathandBodyworks.com)

Beauty from the Cans


I saw an article recently about a floral designer by the name of Lewis Miller who is turning trash cans in New York City into bountiful beautiful floral arrangements. It is quite remarkable and frankly the best thing I have seen in a long time…..

photo credit Lewis Miller 

photo credit Lewis Miller 


                

                            photo credit Lewis Miller 

    

photo credit Lewis Miller 

Goodness, if I saw this it would stop me in my tracks. This is seriously living elegant every day.



To view, the article see it here.

(photos via designbloom.com)

A Lunch Break at the Symphony

Earlier this month I attended a symphony during my lunch break! It was a wonderful experience. A co-worker of mine sent me an email called the “Lunch Break Series” with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra.

I had never heard of it before but apparently they have it every year in July. So I looked at the list of music that they had available and I purchased a ticket for the Classically Romantic Series.

I couldn’t wait to go and see what it was going to be like. So on Friday I stopped at Subway and ordered my sandwich and drink and headed to the theatre.

Walking inside
I went inside to find my seat and wait for my friend. 
I sat down and looked around. There were people of all ages and children. 
It was nice to be able to send eat your sandwich and enjoy the music! The conductor’s name was Ruth Reinhart and the music that they played was Overture to Egmont, Op. 84 by Ludwig Van Beethoven, Three Dances from the Bartered Bride by Bedrich Semetana and Romeo and Juliet Overture-Fantasy by Piotr llyich Tchaikovsky. 





My friend and I both sat and listened to the music. It was very serene and lovely. It was so nice doing something different for a lunch break for a change. The session was about 45 minutes. It was just enough time to get back to the office.
I wanted to attend the following Friday’s session. It was called the “Music of John Williams”. The conductor was Richard Kaufman and it was mostly Star Wars music. I am not a Star Wars fan but there was one piece that was going to be played that I wanted to hear and it was the music from the movie “Sabrina”. I love both versions but the 1995 version is my favorite. 
I can’t wait until next year. I am hoping to attend more concerts like this in the future. 
(photos via Mrs. Shockley & Google)