My Phone Gallery Wishlist

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Happy Friday,

This will be our last pizza dinner with Lauren for a few weeks. I am trying not to get sad about it. Goodness, I still can’t believe that we are moving her in her dorm room next week. I continue to pray that the angels are with her and her brother as they start their school year. I still see her little pigtails on her head. Time goes by too fast. 

Okay let’s move on. Today’s post should be a fun one. I am sharing my wish list on my phone. I keep a photo album on my phone called “My Wishlist”. I created it a few years ago. Every time I saw a place, dress, bag, antique, really anything that I wanted I would take a screenshot of it on my phone. I then realized that I needed to keep these photos in their own separate album. 

 

 

This is an actual screenshot of my wish list on my phone. You will see all kinds of things. These are all photos of inspiration. There are photos of rooms, movies, accessories, homes, antiques and honestly items that I would LOVE to create for my own brand. Oh dare to dream? What I also realized was that every time I took a photo of something, whatever it was, that item would appear, or that opportunity to visit it would come. I mean it has been very, very interesting for the last few years since I have created this album on my phone. 

 

 

I know that Habakkuk 2.2 in the Bible says, ” The LORD answered me: “Write down the vision; write it clearly on clay tablets so whoever reads it can run to tell others.” With this wish list photo album, I am “writing down” my vision. I am making it plain for the Lord to see. 

And each time that I get something on this list, I just smile and delete it. But I thank the Lord in the process. Now I am not one of those, “fake it till you make it” people or prosperity, but I do believe that you can tell the Lord the desires of your heart. He already knows what they are but if you enjoy beauty like I do, then there is nothing wrong with having it in front of you. 

If you look in the upper right-hand corner of my second album you will see the Swan House and Swan Coach House. We just booked our room for next month to go and visit. I am so excited! Continue to write down your vision! Keep those dreams in front of you whatever they may be! 

Have a great weekend!

 

 

Your Gratitude List…

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Good Morning Everyone,

I hope you all had a great weekend! I am still busy at work, and we are now on our last full week of Lauren being home! I can’t believe it. It truly is amazing at how fast time does really fly. My husband and I have been sending each other pictures of the kids of when they were little. I still can’t believe that Lauren will be off to college next week. 

Having that thought pushed me into thinking about being grateful for things in my life. I was listening to another Tonya Leigh podcast and this one was called “2 Ways to Upgrade your Gratitude Practice”. 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

I still can’t believe that I took this photo!! It is just so magical. I still remember standing in this garden last year in Newport, RH. It truly felt like a dream…. even now I am taking in this moment and being grateful that I got to see this with my family.

Tonya mentioned this in her podcast…

“I also think we can get into gratitude slumps, gratitude ruts. And for me, what that feels like is I’m going through the motions of being grateful but I’m not really feeling it. Do you know what I’m talking about?

Like, you write it down in your journal, “I’m grateful for my family. I’m grateful for my job. I’m grateful for my house. I’m grateful for the food. I’m grateful for my friends.” But you’re not really feeling gratitude. You’re not feeling the emotion of gratitude”. 

Oh yes, I have been here which is why I don’t have a gratitude journal. I always felt like that was all I was doing. Just writing things down just to be writing things down.

 

 

 

Tonya said, “When it comes to gratitude, I think it’s about quality not quantity. I don’t think it’s about the numbers of things that you’re grateful for, but the depth of the gratitude that you have for some things.

Deep gratitude is when you get into the emotion of gratitude. And the way I like to do that is to think of one thing and go deep into why I am grateful for that person or that thing.

I could not agree with this more. I have found myself in the past just going through the motions of making a gratitude list and found myself just blowing right through things. But if I take one thing at a time, I find myself exploring that item, person or event more deeply. It brings more quality to my thoughts of gratefulness more than anything. Let me know in the comments below if you have done this before. How do you apply gratitude to your life?

 

In boutique news, the Vintage Vanity Collection is now on sale. There are a few pieces that are down to $15! You may order on the website. 

 

 

Past Inspiring Posts

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Good Morning Everyone,

Well, the new large antique mall that I went and visited on Saturday was just okay. Don’t get me wrong it was huge, but the quality of the antiques was just not there for me. There were no substantial furniture pieces, no large cabinets, antique chairs, fabrics, drapery, and I mean the list goes on and on. I went to the vintage jewelry selection, and they had nothing but rings. I did see one piece of artwork but that I was it. I did purchase a Waterford vase and a Lenox vase but that was it. The quest continues. 

I do plan on visiting a new antique store this weekend. The seller that I purchased my vintage cabinet from will be returning from her vacation and she has a store front. I will be messaging her later this week to see if she will be open. 

In boutique news, I will say that things have been really slow, and I have been taking a small break from it. I am taking a step back to re-evaluate where I am with it and what will be the next step. I am looking into a few things. My goal is to find my own manufacturer to work with. I do want to create my very own pieces for my store so we will see what the Lord leads me to. I am also having issues with my PayPal plugin. I have reached out to my web support team to try to get that fixed. Sorry if you have tried to purchase something and could not. Please know that most of the items are on my Poshmark page. I will be moving more of the dresses on there until we can get this problem fixed and you are more than welcome to make an offer! 

The Equestrian scarves are only $10 on my website but if you got to my Poshmark page and make an offer for $10 I will accept it! I only have 3 left! 

In today’s post I wanted to share past inspiring posts. There are a few posts that I myself keep going back to and sometimes I am a bit surprised that I share certain things. 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

It’s funny how you can look back on something that you may have written and you can pinpoint exactly where you were in that moment. In my blog post A Time to Focus, I was at a point in my life where I was working from home and taking a step back to think about my career. Now reading it I am so glad that I was able to put things in perspective. 

 

 

Another great post and reminder is Be Someone of Quality. I shared this post in 2105. I can’t believe this was 8 years ago but still relevant to today. 

Becoming a First Lady in your Life was another popular and well received blog post. I loved sharing this and will enjoy reading it in the future. 

Beauty from Mom is another great post full of inspiration and hope. A few people reached out to me to let me know that they were in the same position as me and did not grow up with mom’s who cared about beautiful things. Whenever this post shows up I have to read it. 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

Needs some inspiration for making lists? Then elegant evaluating is a great post to remind you that getting things in order can be done slowly. I find myself doing this often. 

Enjoy certain things in your life then Things I Savor in Life is a great post to read. This is the updated version that I wrote in 2021. If I am still blogging in a few years then I may have to do another update! It will be interesting to see where I am in another 10 years. 

This post just popped into my mind. A Paris All Your Own, was such a fun short story to read. I hope you enjoy it! I hope you all enjoyed this post. 

Simple Elegant Foods I Am Enjoying

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Good Morning All,

I am a little excited about this weekend. I found a new Antique Mall! I hope to visit it tomorrow while our daughter is away on her little trip with her brother! My husband and I also plan on having dinner at a new restaurant. It’s called Cooper’s Hawk and it’s also a winery. I, of course, already have my dinner entree picked out. It should be a good weekend!

Speaking of food, I wanted to share some food items that I have been enjoying for the past few weeks.

 

photo credits: Mrs. Shockley

 

For the last few weeks, I have been going to Trader Joes to buy different items. I feel like we have gotten into a bit of a food rut, and I wanted to get some different items for meals. I also love having some sort of pastry on the weekends to enjoy at home. I found these delicious apple blossoms deserts. They are so good! The apples are just sweet enough and the sprinkle of crunchy granola on top is just perfect. I add a scoop or two of vanilla ice cream and it is absolute bliss to me!

 

 

My second delicious find are these bags of mushroom risotto and asparagus risotto. These were perfect side dishes to my weekly roasted chicken meals. All you do is pour it into your skillet, add some water, let it simmer and voilà! It is creamy, tasty and very flavorful. 

 

 

My fourth food find is not from Trader Joes but a recent new tea bag find. I am such a fan of Harney & Sons tea and this vanilla comoro was quite exceptional. This is a delicious vanilla black tea. It has the perfect balance of vanilla. It also had a very creamy texture to it. It’s delicious and I need to order another tin! 

 

 

The last new food favorite are these vegetable spring rolls from Trader Joes. These are so good! I simply place them in the oven at 400 degrees for about 30-40 minutes and they come out so crispy and tender. I normally pair them with some steam rice and viola another easy and delicious meal.

It’s amazing how having these simple dishes can change up a weekly dinner night rut. I loved trying these new items and Trader Joes has some of the best prices that I have ever seen! I don’t have one near my home so I can only go every other weekend, but I love going and really like the staff. Oh, and one more new favorite of mine is their dark chocolate peanut butter cups. Oh my word! The staff let me try these for free and oh my word! So good!

I hope you enjoyed my new food finds. Let me know in the comments section below if you have tried any of these items. I would love to know.

July Favorites ~ 2023

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Good Morning Everyone!

I am on a mission this week to eat less sugar (food in general) and get into the bed on time. I felt awful this past weekend. I was so tired. I know it was because of my bad bedtime habits this past week and my bad eating habits for the last two weeks. I really need to get it together! 

I also have some fun news! I found my vintage cabinet that I will be using for my books. I have a photo of it down below but I have not moved it to its new spot in my office. I am waiting on my step-son to clear out his room next month. He will be taking most of his furniture to college so that will be exciting. 

Now let’s get into my favorites for July!

photo credits: Mrs. Shockley 

 

First on my list is my English inspired floral pillow cover. I love it and have gotten so many compliments. It is the perfect and quintessential English inspired pillow cover. 

 

 

Second on my list is my matching English floral inspired napkins from Pottery Barn. I have enjoyed using these at meals. They are large and look lovely sitting on my lap. These are small things in life that make it lovely. 

 

 

My third favorite is my new Chanel-inspired travel luggage bag from Amazon. I could not resist ordering this! I saw it and watched a few videos on it and just had to give it a try. I knew that if it was really bad, I could send it back. Amazon had an awesome return policy. I have not used it yet. I may use it in September for our Atlanta trip. 

 

 

Fourth on my list is my garden. Now it’s very small but I love what little flowers I do have. This year’s hydrangeas turned out so well! I have cut a few and put them inside the house and taken them to work. They are so beautiful!

 

 

The fifth favorite are my beautiful, elegant blouses from Express. I love a blouse with sheer sleeves. It is the epitome of elegance to me and whenever I can find one under $50 then I must have it. They are so versatile and offer simply the best coverage and sophistication. 

 

photo credits: Mrs. Shockley 

 

The sixth favorite is my new MME. Bentley tote with rose ribbon. I have been stalking this on the website since it launched and really wanted a beautiful straw bag. The bigger one that I have is not something that I could carry every day and the Bentley is. So glad that I ordered it! They come in smaller sizes. 

 

 

And last on my list is my (new to me) vintage china cabinet. A few of you know that I have been on the hunt for a vintage china cabinet with wood shelves so that I can use it as my new book library. I am so excited! I found it on FBMP of course and it is in incredible condition! There is hardly any damage. This was the fourth cabinet that I went to go see and this was the BEST looking one. It is from the 70’s and I can’t wait to clean it up and style it. I am waiting until August to move it to its new spot in my office. My step-son will be moving out of his room next month to attend college with Lauren! I will style it and show photos then. I may even record a YouTube video! I will let you all know soon! Also should I paint it? Let me know in the comments section below!

 

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A Beautiful Table Setting with Disposable Plates?

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Hello Everyone!

I just realized that some of the students here in my city will be heading back to school next week! I am so happy that it is not us this year! Lauren still has another month before we drop her off at the college campus! So happy! I will miss her but that school schedule that she had was for the birds! Way too early to go back to school!

Which also reminds me that my cousin and I are suppose to head down to the outlet mall here in my city tomorrow. It’s probably going to be crowded because of all of the back-to-school shopping! Oh boy….

In recent news, did any of you hear about Phyllis Hoffman Depiano’s recent passing? I can’t believe it! I was so sad. I love Victoria Magazine and was so happy to hear that she was the one that revived it!

This magazine has provided so much inspiration for all of us. I still have my very first copy of Victoria Magazine. I purchased it when I got my first apartment at age 19 in 2002. I hope that the work and inspiration that Phyllis inspired continues. 

I was on the website recently and saw this table setting…. 

photo credit: Victoria Magazine.com

 

Now isn’t this beautiful? I got so excited because I thought it was a real china set that they were now selling only to realize that it is a disposable table setting?!!! Isn’t that crazy? It looks so real! 

 

photo credit: Victoria Magazine

It’s called the Victoria Timeless Table setting and you can buy all of it on the website. There is a list of all of the pieces that come with it. I would love to have these, but I would use them for every day. Let me know in the comment section below what your thoughts are. Would you use these for everyday dining? Have a great weekend everyone! 

 

 

Style Tips for Elegant Women

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Good Morning!

Oh goodness, I am finding myself to be so “froggy” lately and honestly, I know what it is! It’s because we are normally on vacation this month and all of our vacation memories are coming up in our Facebook memories and it is not helping me! I need a change of scenery!

I just keeping telling myself “calm down September will be here soon”. I am so ready for our trip and for getting away. It is really going to be so different for us. We will have no kids, no dogs to worry about, and will be able to stay where we want! Oh goodness! I am really looking forward to it. 

I have been on the hunt for lots of ideas and new podcasts to inspire my daily life. I recently found Tonya Leigh on Youtube and then on Spotify. I loved her “elegant woman series” and had to share some of her tips on style with you all. 

 

 

The first commandment is elegant women wear what they love. That’s right, they just wear what they love. They don’t depend on the outside world to tell them what’s in style, what they should wear, what the season is telling them is appropriate or what’s acceptable.

The second commandment of elegant women is that they dress for their dreams. And this is where self-image comes into the picture. Because we can get so used to seeing ourselves in a certain way that we continue to choose clothing to reconfirm a certain image that we have of ourselves. (I love this commandment!)

The third style commandment of elegant women is to choose quality over quantity. Now, I know that those sales are tempting. And you’re thinking, “Why don’t I just get a bunch of these things right now because they’re 50% off?” But this is not how elegant women think. Elegant women are not about quantity. They are about quality. They don’t want to invest in things that fall apart after the first few wears. And I believe it is better to have one quality piece than 10 crappy ones. (But I do keep in mind that everyone has their own budget)

Style commandment number four of elegant women is a big one, and it’s one that I have to remind women of often in my programs. And that is, elegant women dress the body they have now.

How many of you are waiting until you lose the weight to invest in clothes that make you feel beautiful? It’s like putting yourself in purgatory. And it doesn’t work. And the reason why it doesn’t work is that you are reconfirming a self-image that is out of alignment with the version of you who has lost the weight.

 

 

Now, I get not wanting to go and buy really expensive things if you know that you’re going to lose the weight, in a year from now, chances are you won’t be wearing those things. But that doesn’t mean that you neglect the body that you have now.

I have been guilty of a few of these and especially the last one. I have held off buying clothes because of my size. I have always had issues with my weight. But I have never wanted it to stop me from being elegant.

I hope you all have enjoyed these tips. I am linking the rest of the style commandments here for you to read and enjoy. Until then have a great day! 

 

 

(style tips from author Tonya Leigh)