Weekend Wardrobe

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Good Morning Everyone!

Whew, another busy weekend! We had Lauren’s college orientation on Friday and her Open House Party on Saturday. We did a lot of walking at the college and her open house turned out very well. Next weekend we are headed to her roommate’s open house to support and hang out.

Yesterday I had lunch with my Guild Friends. We ate at a place called Shaprio’s and it was great catching up. The week before I had brunch with my cousin, and I am planning another lunch here soon with my co-workers and another friend. I am trying to get out and have more social events with people. I am trying to build relationships! 

Speaking of weekend and social events, I wanted to share my weekend wardrobe. Now I do have a few dresses that I only wear on the weekends but for the most part I wear all my clothes. If you follow me on Instagram you may have seen these pieces already.

 

photo credits: Mrs. Shockley 

 

In the first outfit I have my blue navy dress from Old Navy, my cream ruffle cardigan from H&M, my Quadrant tote from Tory Burch and my cream mules from Ann Taylor. 

This outfit is so comfortable, and I still feel elegant and put together in it. 

 

 

I paired it with my Vera earrings from Loren Hope. I still love these. They have such a glamourous, vintage feel!  

 

 

My second outfit is a dress that I purchased from Poshmark. It’s a Gal meets Glam. I get so many compliments on the green color. It reminds me of Kelly green. It’s quite beautiful. I paired it with my pink Coach scarf from the outlet mall, my floral tote from Express and my Ann Taylor mules. 

 

 

I paired my vintage earrings from Kimono Dragon. I remember seeing these on Instagram and just could not let them pass me by. My goal is to always look my best on the weekends. Honestly you just never know who you are going to run into. I have ran into people from my past and have been so glad that I was put together. It also helps with how people address me. I heard a quote recently that said, “Your clothes will speak for you first”. I think that I will always remember that.

I hope you all have found some weekend wardrobe inspiration! I will be sharing my favorite spring and summer scents next. Have a great week! 

 

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Peony Festival ~ 2023

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Good Morning,

We got some exciting news a few days ago. Lauren got her first job and it is at an antique mall that I shop at!!! Now how fun is that? She is so excited and so am I. I am really shocked that she would even be interested in a job like this but so far she likes the staff so we will see how this goes. 

Today we are headed to Lauren’s future college for her student orientation. She is excited and nervous about her new journey. Today will be a day of getting more information and getting her scheduling done. On Saturday her open house party will begin and on Sunday I have scheduled absolutely nothing so that I can get caught up on housework and take photos for my new boutique dress arrival! I hope to have it posted this weekend or next week.

I can’t believe that it has been two weeks already since this year’s peony festival. I hate that that season is so fleeting. I am still on the hunt for peony bunches. I may call my local Trader Joes to see if they have any. Oh well, here are some photos from this year’s festival and here is last year’s if you want to revisit it!

 

photo credits: Mrs. Shockley 

 

When we walked into the festival this was the very first vendor that I saw. Her blue and white olive oil containers caught my eye.

 

 

I did purchase one. I could not resist. I am trying to remember the name of the company but it escapes me. Sorry!

 

 

We did a lot of walking around and of course I had to get peonies from my favorite vendor JP Parker Flowers. I swear Mrs. Parker has the most flawless, and fantastic peonies ever!

 

 

Of course, I could not leave without my favorite candles from Linnea. They have a new candle called Passiflora and I had to take it home with me. It is amazing! I do hope that they continue to make it. Another tip that I learned about was “layering the scent of candles”. So they told me to burn Petals and Fields together and oh my goodness! The smell is amazing in my bedroom. I am also interested in getting their small travel candle to take me with on trips. I can burn it in my hotel room. They also gave me a sample of their Persian Lime lotion and my goodness. I could not stop smelling my hands. So wonderful…

 

 

I had such a good time this year. I wish the peony season lasted longer! I felt really comfy but elegant in my outfit as well. I got lots of compliments on my floral tote from Express.

 

photo credits: Mrs. Shockley 

 

This was the biggest and most fragrant peony bouquet that I have ever had! It was like a dream truly. Let me know in the comments section below if you were able to get a peony bouquet for yourself. Make sure you do. Just buy it for you and enjoy it.

Have a great weekend! 

 

 

A Hanger Refresh

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Good Morning,

The warm weather is finally here! It was just lovely this weekend. We are planning Lauren’s open house party for this upcoming Saturday and I am continuing to purge items from my home. 

On Saturday morning, I went and had brunch with my cousin. It was so nice and a great way to start my weekend. We had mimosas, waffles, and just chatted along. I am so glad that I scheduled this. We plan on going to shop at the outlet mall next month. I am looking forward to that as well. 

In today’s post I wanted to do a quick share of a simple yet beautiful update to my closet. In 2015, I shared how I decided to match all of hangers. I can’t believe that it was that long ago that I posted that. 

I was recently looking at my closet and thought, “you know I really want to update these and change my hangers to white”. And so I did and could not be happier. 

 

 

Here is the before look. It still looks better than what it did back in 2015. 

 

photo credits: Mrs. Shockley 

 

And this is after.. lovely, just lovely! I love these hangers. I love the velvet texture and rose gold swivel hooks. These come in a ton of colors so there are many options to choose from. If you have the 10- item wardrobe this would bring your closet up a level. You get 50 hangers for $29! It’s a great deal. 

I hope this inspired you to bring a simple closet refresh to your wardrobe. Enjoy!

 

 

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My Fourth FBMP Purchase

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Good Morning,

Gotta love these short work weeks. They always seem to feel longer to me. Lauren is out of school so I feel like I got my life back a bit. I am always waiting on her to leave in the morning and go to bed at night so it has delayed my schedule for so long that now I am in “schedule shock” a bit. Now when it’s late at night I have to catch myself and tell myself to start to get ready for bed. In the morning, I have to tell myself, “okay Lauren is not in school, get ready early”. It’s been quite an adjustment, but I am ready to be back on my own schedule for once. I have not had my own schedule in 20 years, literally! Life is certainly going to be different in the next few months. 

Not only is life changing but so is my home. I am now on FBMP so much looking for vintage pieces. I can’t get enough of Facebook Marketplace. I think I finally fixed my algorithm. It has taken me some time, but I now have vintage pieces showing up in my feed that I would purchase instead of junk. I think FBMP is a great source to use to discover or locate those vintage pieces that you can’t find in stores or even online. I was inspired to look for a vintage floral divider last year when I saw the photo below on Jenny from Tallwood Country House’s Instagram account. 

 

photo credit: Tallwood Country House (Instagram)

 

When I saw this on her reels I knew that I had to have one in some form for myself. It took me a while to find something. I typed the words “vintage floral divider” in the search menu for months and then something appeared. 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

THIS! And it was located in my city only 30 minutes away! I saved it and waited another week before I messaged the seller. It is all wood and hand painted. I just loved the floral design and the birds. Also the light green color or sage is a perfect fit in my home office with my pale green settee that I just purchased a few weeks ago on Facebook Marketplace. 

 

 

When I went to pick it up she had her garage door open and it was FULL of antiques! I turned and looked at her and said, “now what do you do?” She then proceeded to tell me that people hire her to help them downsize their estates! She helps them get organized and then sells their items on FBMP. She had chandeliers from France, dividers from Asian, vintage furniture from Pottery Barn, I mean it was marvelous!  I can’t believe that I keep finding these people on FBMP who have access to all these wonderful pieces, but I am so grateful that the Lord allows me to. Get busy searching your city for vintage furniture or antique pieces to fill our home. You never know who you may meet. To read my other FBMP purchases you may see it here and here. 

Please don’t forget that the boutique is still having a spring sale! Use code spring15 for 15% off of your entire order and that includes the Vintage Vanity Collection. I hope you all have a great weekend! 

 

 

May Favorites ~ 2023

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Good Morning Everyone,

It is so good to be back home and finished with traveling. I had a wonderful time in South Carolina. I got the management training that I needed and networked! I met more people and got more connections. Networking is so important, and I didn’t realize that until the last few years. I would encourage anyone to try to network. Get people around you to help you with succeeding and training people if you need to. It helps! Trust me it does!

Lauren graduated on Saturday, and we are so excited for this next chapter for her. It was so nice seeing her with her friends’ taking photos and making memories. Now we are in open house party planning mode, and I hope to get that list completed here soon.

Now let’s get into my favorites for the month of May.

 

 

First on my list is another bathroom organizing idea. I found these simple, yet beautiful bathroom storage containers from Amazon. They have been just wonderful having and using on my vanity. I have my cotton balls and reading glasses wipes in them. 

 

photo credits: Mrs. Shockley 

 

Second on my list is my new lunch bag and card holder from Notiq. These two items have been on my wish list for some time now. I have been getting lots of compliments on my lunch bag. It is so elegant and chic. It will inspire you to grow in your meal planning and be an elegant lunch companion!

 

 

Third are my new candles. There is a new candle collection at Bath and Body Works created by Chiaki Nomura. I absolutely love this new collection! It is rare for me to like all of the scents and I love all of the scents from this collection. What I dislike about Bath and Body Works is that most of the scents smell like foods and are just a little on the juvenile side to me. I want scents that are light, beautiful and classic. I purchased all of the scents that I could and will enjoy them. This collection will not be around for long so go and give them a try. 

 

 

The fourth item was my Mother’s Day gift to my mother-in-law. I saw a beautiful advertisement for these on Instagram and decided to take a look at their website. What I discovered was a company that made these giant, lifelike floral bouquet cards for all kinds of celebrations. I ordered the Nantucket Hydrangea card and she loved it! It was all she kept talking about. I also ordered the Cherry Blossom one for myself and the Sunflower card for a friend. I hope you order one for someone! 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

Fifth on my list is my new Sarah Flint Royal Kingdom Scarf! My husband got this for me as a Mother’s Day gift. I love it! I remember when Sarah was sharing this on her Zoom call with us. I fell in love then. Right now, there is a 60% off sale going on with an additional 20% off markdowns! And don’t forget about our brand ambassador codes that you can use and are now $60 off instead of $50! You can get a lot of elegant pieces with these sales. Use my code: SARAHFLINT-BASMSSHOCKLEY for your discount. 

 

 

And the last thing is my newest adventure, eating Vietnamese food for the first time! So on my recent work trip, a group of us wanted to go have dinner but one of our friend’s has severe food allergies so she mentioned Vietnamese food. I thought, “oh dear unknown territory for me”, but I felt my heart open to it and so I agreed. We went to a place called Pho Viet. I ordered the beef noodle soup and some spring rolls. It was so delicious!!! I immediately came home and began to Google places near me. I found one and will be going next week. 

That is all I have for my favorites lists. There are more items to share but they will be put into separate posts in the upcoming weeks. Also if you have subscribed to my newsletter please make sure to check your spam folder. I have been checking the reports and some of you are not getting the newsletter because they are going to spam. Please make sure to check that folder. I hope you all have a great day!

 

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Indiana Decorators Showhouse ~ 2023

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And Happy Sunday!

I am heading to Columbia, South Carolina in the morning for management training. I am looking forward to networking with other paralegal supervisors in the DOJ. I attended the peony festival here in my city yesterday. I got the most gorgeous peonies this season! I hate to leave them!!! I am begging my husband to keep an eye on them while I am gone. I hope that I can enjoy them a little when I get back. I will be sure to share some photos when I return. 

I did purchase some new chairs for my front porch and a small table. It has turned into a little oasis for me. I also got a new garage cabinet organizer for my gardening supplies. I am so in love with it and so happy to finally have an area to put my items.

In boutique news, I am trying to find a new plus size spring/summer dress. It has been really hard for me to find something that is a good fit. When I find a dress I either like the top part and not the bottom, the bottom part but not the top and if I like the entire dress then it is sold out! I am trying but it is hard.

Now that the Showhouse is over I feel like my schedule has gotten a little lighter. Being about of the Guild this year has been really fun. I am hoping to become a designer liaison next year so we will see. But let me show you some of my favorite rooms from this year’s Showhouse!

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

This was the outside of the house this year. It was tucked away in a quiet part of the Meridian Kessler area here in my city. This beautiful historical home called “The Failey House” was built in 1928 and was owned by the same family for over 80 years until recently. The total square footage of the home is 7,000. It is huge! 

 

 

When you walked into this home you would have seen this beautiful wallpaper from the Great Masters Collection from Historic Royal Palaces from Cole & Son. It was truly a work of art. 

 

photo credits: Mrs. Shockley

The living room had a lot of things that I loved about it. It was designed by Cornerstone Interiors. The floor was herringbone wood floors and marble fireplace are original to the home as well as the scones are the walls which were from France! The furniture and accessories were Asian inspired. 

 

 

My next favorite room was the kitchen. Now the orange wall color was not for me but the accessories and furniture really pulled it together. I loved this green settee! 

 

 

I loved the wonderfully large island that was quartzite countertop and had walnut cabinets. 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

And I cannot forget my dream stove which was this La Cornue range. Goodness, it’s beautiful. 

 

 

I really liked this piece that was in the kitchen. I believe the artist was Carolyn Bradley from Ohio and this was from the collection of Christel De Haan. 

 

 

Wallpaper is making a huge comeback. This bathroom was off the kitchen and near the butler’s pantry downstairs. 

 

photo credits: Mrs. Shockley 

 

The master bedroom was another favorite of mine. It felt like a spa. I actually got to docent this room during one of my shifts and the actually designer Jill Holt Dale was there with me the entire time explaining the process which was great!

 

 

 

I should have taken more photos of the master bathroom but I really just wanted to enjoy my docent shifts without the camera. I wanted to absorb everything that I could about being apart of the Guild, learning about designers, and understanding the process of these designer homes coming together. I just wanted to enjoy it and I did. It felt a little different being behind the scenes this time. If you want to read about the first showhouse that I visited and the second I have linked there for your reading pleasure. I hope you all have a wonderful week. I will return with some new posts and hopefully a new arrival for the boutique!

 

 

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Always Elegant Living- 5 Hobbies that You Need

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Good Morning Everyone,

My busy month of May is halfway complete. I still have lots on my calendar! I will be leaving this upcoming Monday. I am headed to Columbia, South Carolina for a work trip next week. I will be networking and getting training with other paralegal supervisors. I am really looking forward to that. Then Lauren will be graduating! I can’t believe it! It will truly be a celebration for her!

I have been meaning to share my recent favorite podcasts with you all. So I started to search for podcasts that I would enjoy and I put in certain search words in my Spotify app. I put in the word “elegant” and “women’s health”. I ended up finding “Women in the Middle: Loving Life After 50″ and “The Always Elegant Living” Podcast with Ashley Brown. Now I listen to both of these completely free and have been enjoying them on my morning walks. 

Last week during one of my walks, Ashley Brown from the Always Elegant Living Podcast mentioned a meme that she saw regarding “the 5 Hobbies that you need and I just had to share it!

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

The first hobby is to have something that makes you money:

I thought about this and asked myself, “do I have a hobby that makes me money”? I do! Well the blog makes a small amount each month, my commission on the LTK app, and the boutique. Now all of these hobbies are not making me a fortune, but they help keep A Home for Elegance running. The money is used to pay for my website fees, orders for the boutique, taxes, business fees, and supplies. I don’t take a salary from any of these but it keeps my small business running! 

 

The second hobby is something to keep you in shape:

My hobby is of course my morning walks. I started walking in the mornings in 2021. I don’t know why but I thought I would give it a try. My workout before then was some workout videos on Youtube but I just got tired of them and being in the house. I wanted a new setting but I refused to go to the gym. I hate the gym! It’s just a meat market and if I do go I want a trainer so that I can stay focused on my workout. 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

Royal Kingdom Scarf 90 (Sarah Flint)

 

 

The third hobby is something that helps you stay creative:

I have so many activities that help me to stay creative. This blog for one was the number one thing. I started this in 2014 as a way to share beautiful things that I love and to document it. I always come to my website and search for things that I have written about to remind me of my ideas. I love my blog! I love antiquing and this helps me to create a beautiful environment at home. I love having a beautiful home and antiquing is a way for me to create it. Instagram is another platform for me to be creative. It’s hard work trying to make sure that your content is different from everyone else but it keeps me inspired. 

 

The fourth hobby is something to build your knowledge:

I read and listen to lots of things. I read my bible and lots of other books. I listen to podcasts every day! Building your knowledge is something that we should take seriously. I have always wanted to be someone who could talk to anyone or listen. I read a lot of self-help books, leadership books, magazines, and home decor. 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley

Teatime Discipleship 

 

And the last hobby that you should have needs to be something that grows your mindset:

For this hobby I would agree with Ashley that listening to podcasts has been helping me to grow my mindset and networking. I remember going on one of my morning walks and I spoke out loud, “I want to network”. Once I said that the gates were opened to me. I joined the Guild, got accepting on the DOJ EARS Evaluation Team, have been asked to attend lunches, joined the state’s Paralegal Association, and lots of other things have happened. In regard to podcasts, I have been listening to Women in the Middle, Maxwell Leadership, The Career Contessa, The Wall Street Journal, Suze Orman’s Women & Money, and a few others. 

All of these resources have been growing my mindset and educating me on so many things. One of the podcasts from the Women in the Middle talked about farting! Yes farting and honestly I learned so much about health and laugh while listening to that podcast. It was great! 

I hope these tips will help you to look at your life and encourage you to add some of these hobbies to it. Life can be beautiful if we live it with purpose. Enjoy! 

 

 

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