Nicola Bathie ~Spring Table Styling Tips

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Good Morning,

It’s the last week of March! My goodness! I have been so busy this month and I am gearing up for a busy April as well. In the first week of April I am taking the flower arranging orientation class for Random Acts of Flowers. I am so looking forward to arranging bouquets for hospital patients! Then we have Easter! I look forward to listening to my favorite preachers and teachers discuss our Lord’s triumph and spending time with family. This year I decided to make turkey and dressing along with Jennifer L. Scott’s black forest cake. I will share how that all goes. 

We also have our daughter’s freshman day at her soon to be college, and the Guild’s Decorator’s Showhouse starts! Lots of things going on! I also hope that the weather will be a little better. I am so looking forward to seeing the peonies this year. I know everyone is looking forward to spring. I was recently looking at my Victoria magazine and saw an article about Nicole Bathie’s beautiful tablescapes. 

 

Photography via Nicola Bathie McLaughlin

 

In the March/April issue she gives her tips on how to decorate with vintage pieces and antiques. Nicola mentions to “not be afraid to layer.” I am learning about and experimenting with this technique. It truly is all about what you want. I know things that I put on the table have been conversation starters. 

 

 

She also mentions that “petite bud vases add intrigue in between other accessories; they also make the perfect take-away treasures for guests.” I love that idea! Using a single bud vase as a gift? It’s simple, elegant, and I guarantee you the guests will love it. I know I would. If you want to see the rest of Nicola’s ideas just read the rest of the article here. 

I really love Nicola’s style and I get a lot of inspiration from it. I hope this article brightens your day. It did for me! Have a great Monday!

 

 

Shopping with Discernment

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Good Morning Everyone,

I am so ready for sunny weather. It doesn’t even have to be really warm just sunny weather. We have had snow flurries, rain, snow, rain, bitter cold temperatures, and more rain. Goodness! My peonies are starting to come up and I am getting a little worried. I am also ready to wear some of my pretty Amazon sandals! I purchased these in blue and black. I can’t wait to wear them!

Speaking of shopping, in my post today I wanted to talk about how I am trying to shop with more discernment. Remember a few years ago how I was talking about how I did not want to do any “bogus shopping”? I am still working on that, and I must say that I am getting better and better as the years pass.

I was doing some shopping recently and noticed how I take more time to purchase an item. I think about how this would fit into my wardrobe. How I can wear multiple items with it. I think about the colors and if I have colors that go well with it. How is the fit? Is the dress or skirt long enough?

 

 

I then begin to ask myself a few serious questions. How long do I think I will have this? Will this item stand the test of time? Will I be able to wear this in 10 years? 

 

 

I also noticed that when I have my eye on something I dig a little more. I try to find videos on YouTube of someone giving a review. I read the reviews on the website. I am even pulling out a measuring tape trying to gauge how big the item is and where it will land on me. Honestly, I was not doing all these things before. 

 

all photos via Mrs. Shockley

 

So what has changed? I think all of the “bogus shopping” that I have been doing all of these years finally caught up with me. I noticed how lots of those items ended up in my donation bag or on Poshmark and it really started to bother me! Because once you start to add up how much you are spending and how much is ended up in that donation bag you then realize that you are literally throwing money away! I am trying to hardest at this point in my life to really pay attention to my wardrobe and really get serious about how I want to look and how much I want to spend! 

What do you all think? Tell me below what your wardrobe journey has been like? I would love to hear your stories and learn something from all of you. Have a great weekend! 

 

 

A Busy Worktrip…

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Good Morning Everyone,

I hope you all had a great week last week! I am happy to be home but I really enjoyed my work trip. We worked pretty late most nights. I didn’t get back to my room until about 6:30 sometime almost 7 but I learned so much this trip! I have a lot of work ahead of me in my office this week but I am glad to be back.

This was the first trip that my husband and I have ever taken without kids. It was so weird to be honest, but it was very freeing. Our daughter and step-son really enjoyed being home alone and have a little bit of freedom.

When we got to the airport, I was a little worried about how my TSA precheck would go. I signed up for it back in January and got a “known traveler number”. I put that number when booking my flight and was curious as to how this would work. I am NEVER going back you guys! Oh my goodness! I literally went to a different line at the airport and practically walked through security. It was wonderful!

Once we landed we checked into our hotel room. I will be honest. I did not like our hotel room but I was not paying for this trip so beggers can’t be choosers. After checking in we headed to the National Gallery of Art. 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

Here is my airport outfit. Comfy and chic to me. These shoes were my saving grace! The office was a 12-minute walk from my hotel room. I am saw glad that I purchased these. I got them from DSW. My lilac coat was a Goodwill find from several years ago, and tote from Kate Spade which is now sold out. 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

I always love coming to the National Gallery of Art. I love seeing the Monets’ and the azalea garden. Isn’t it stunning? It truly takes your breath away when you see it in person.

 

 

So pretty….

 

 

photo credit: Mr. Shockley 

 

I did not take a lot of photos this time. I really wanted to walk around and look at the art. There were a lot of kids everywhere too. I completely forgot about spring break. There were kids and guides everywhere. You can never really enjoy it when it’s crowded. So my husband and I did the best we could. 

 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

My favorite painting this year was this. It’s Daniel in the Lion’s Den. I did not get who the artist was, but I just could not stop starting at it. I loved it so much. I loved how Daniel’s eyes were focused on the Lord and not his fears. It spoke to me greatly!  

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

I will say this. Our hotel was located on the same street as the Capital. Now how great of a view is that? Just lovely! I hope everyone enjoyed catching up with me today. I wanted to let everyone know that I have reached out to a few of my favorite influencers to ask their thoughts on elegance. I am calling it my “Thoughts on Elegance” series. I hope that they all reach back to me and I can post their ideas on how to be or live in an elegant way. Have a great Monday! 

 

 

 

The Whole World is a Garden…

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Good Morning Everyone,

I have had a rough week and weekend. I got sick! I have not been sick in about 2 and a half years. I have no idea what I had but I needed a few days to rest and recover. I will also be taking next week off because I will be in Washington, D.C. for a work trip! I am really excited but nervous. This trip is not for training, but I will be evaluating another district. I am excited to meet other supervisors in my field and to learn more about leadership.

As far as sight-seeing, I am not sure how much time I will have to get out and look around. I am so glad that I got to see a lot in my previous trips so I will not be so disappointed about this one if I can’t see everything. I will be flying in early on Sunday and I hope to get to the National Gallery of Art before they close and before my evening meeting with my team!

I will be sure to share whatever adventures that I may have. In today’s post I wanted to share what I recently read in the March/April 2023 issue of Victoria Magazine.

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

“Gardening is a sort of metaphor for so many areas of life. What we plant with intentionality, water with love, and cultivate over time is what will grow throughout our lives. Frances Hodgson Burnett said it this way in her book The Secret Garden: “If you look the right way, you can see that the whole world is a garden”. 

I often ponder that we do not merely have the potential of cultivating and nurturing beauty through our physical gardens; we also possess the ability to become gardeners of souls, friendship, life. We plant a vision for loveliness, goodness, and love by sowing word of encouragement and wisdom. We water the seeds with expressions of kinship and add sunshine through life-giving affirmation. In relationships, these moments of creativity, personal attention, and integrity foster growth. 

I often told my daughters that I love women, in general, and love being a woman so very much. Women seem to be those who light candles in dark places, bring order from chaos, express love to hearts longing to be noticed, add intelligence to conversation, and give healing and hope to the weary of body or soul. Women are born with the capacity to civilize. In short, as those who plant seeds of inspiration in all the small and large actions of our lives, we have the potential to cause our people or culture to grow more refined, more honoring of others, more respectful of virtue. Women at their best are born gardeners, bringing to life all that is good and beautiful.” 

“Cultivating Seeds of Imagination”, writer in residence: Sally Clarkson. 

 

I absolutely loved this excerpt from that story! This really resonated with my soul. I do believe that we can plant a seed of loveliness, and goodness. The world has made it so hard to accomplish this lately but reading this gave me a little more hope. Let me know your thoughts in the comments section below. I hope you pick up a copy. This is not sponsored but I genuinely enjoyed reading this and hope that you did as well. Talk with you all very soon!

 

Similar post…. “Beauty from Mom”. 

 

 

Upcoming Elegant Activities

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Good Morning!

I can’t believe it but our daughter is 18! Wow.. she’s 18 everyone. It’s actually kind of incredible. She was only 9 when I started the blog. Goodness gracious. It really is incredible. This weekend we are going out as a family to her favorite restaurant. I just want to enjoy this time with her and my family. My husband’s and stepson’s birthdays are the same week. We plan to just hang out and spend time together.

I also hope to film a YouTube video soon. I am trying to watch some videos on how to do a better job at editing. We will see how things go. I plan on sharing some new organizational items that I got for my upcoming work trip to Washington, D.C. I will try to squeeze in a few sights while I am there, but we will see. 

Speaking of sights, I get regular emails about ballets and new art exhibits for my city. I recently received a few that I really want to attend. 

 

photo credit: Newfields

 

A museum that I visit quite often is having a floral exhibit called Art in Bloom. Local florists came together to create beautiful floral exhibits and showstoppers! I really want to attend this!

 

photo credits: Indy Ballet

 

The second event is Sleeping Beauty.  Although I have always wanted to see Swan Lake, this looks like a wonderful opportunity as well. You know, I really don’t mind going to these events alone. It really doesn’t bother me. I want to experience beautiful things and sometimes you just have to do it alone. I will let you all know if I decide to go. Let me know in the comments section below if there are events that you want to attend this year. Have a great weekend! 

 

 

 

February Favorites ~ 2023

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Good Morning Everyone!

It’s Monday again… gosh I am not ready for this week. I really want to stay home and purge some items in my home. I started going through cabinets and drawers and just got honest with myself. We don’t use most of the stuff in these cabinets. So I am planning a purge day. I am trying to plan it while my husband is at work. He has hoarder tendencies. I never purges anything and I mean anything! While I will get rid of something in a heartbeat and will feel like my life is complete! 

I also made a big purchase this weekend! I ordered my new desk! I am so excited! It will not be available until April which is okay. I was a little disappointed that I could not get it sooner but it will be worth the wait. Right now, I am using my dining room table from my first apartment! You all have seen it before. I purchased it in 2002. It is time to move on for sure.  I want more substantial pieces in my home, and I am trying to move things out bit by bit. 

Now on to my favorite things in February….

 

photo credits: Mrs. Shockley 

 

February was already a rough month for our family. Most of you know that we had to put our last dog down earlier this month. He was diagnosed with cancer and watching him suffer was horrible. He seemed to be in good spirits, but he was dwindling away right in front of our eyes. Getting these beautiful roses from my husband the day after he passed was wonderful!

 

 

Second on my list has been my salmon salads at lunch. I am actually making these at home and they are so delicious! I bake the salmon the night before, put it in a container, pack my salad in a separate container and then mix it all together for lunch the next day. The other great part is that no one is smelling it in the office! They have been so good!

 

 

 

photo credits: Mrs. Shockley 

 

Third on the list was my first digital magazine newsprint! I shared this on the blog. I ordered a magazine newsprint of the article. I will get a frame for it and hang it in my office somewhere soon!

 

 

Fourth is this fantastic Amazon find! It has been really hard for me to find great dresses. I am really picky and want a certain look and fit and I love this dress from Amazon. It comes in several different colors and fits so well and is very elegant. I just ordered it on violet and hope to order it in burgundy soon. 

 

 

The fifth has been this “Lady in the Blue Dress” picture. I had it upstairs but then decided to move it downstairs to enjoy. I love it here! I did have some information on it. I will try and find it. 

 

 

Sixth was a new restaurant that my husband and I went to for Valentine’s Day. It was called Monterey Coastal Cuisine and it was divine! I got the roasted chicken, mushroom risotto, and honey roasted brussel sprouts. It was soo good! My goodness I loved this meal. The restaurant was beautiful, and it was so nice going somewhere different. 

 

 

The last favorite on my list was the flower workshop that I just did this past week. I enjoyed that so much. It was so nice to be with other women working towards a great cause and enjoying the beauty that God created. 

I hope you all enjoyed my favorites for this month. I can’t believe that we are headed towards March. Mr. Shockley and I will be celebrating 19 years of marriage on Tuesday and 20 years together in May. Have a great Monday! 

 

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

My First Flower Workshop ~ The Guild

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Good Morning!

I am so happy that it is Friday. Honestly, I feel like this week went by really fast! I mean really fast. I don’t know. The days are just moving quickly to me. Oh well, so this weekend I want to go to a furniture store called Value City.  We purchased our dining room table from there a few years ago and our sectional. I still love both pieces, but I recently became very discouraged about my office furniture. A few days ago, I walked into my office and turned around because it made me so depressed walking in here and not inspired. So as a quick fix I re-arranged my desk and now I feel much better about my space, but I still want a new desk and will be looking this weekend. Wish me luck! 

On Wednesday I did something really fun! My group the Guild had a wonderful volunteer opportunity. We were given the opportunity to sign up for making flower arrangements for patients at hospitals, nursey homes, etc. for a place called Random Acts of Flowers! This non-profit organization was started by someone who worked on the HGTV set. The story is he was working one day, fell off of a ladder, broke every bone in his body and ended up in the hospital. While he was there, he received lots of flowers, but he noticed that no one else was getting any. So he took his flowers and began to pass them around and saw how happy people were when they received them! Now how great is that!

 

photo credits: Mrs. Shockley 

 

This is what it looked like when you walked into the studio. You can smell roses everywhere! So lovely!

 

 

 

 

I had to take a look at all of the flowers. I smiled from ear to ear. You all know how much I love flowers. This was right up my alley! After the Assistant Director gave us the story and the instructions we were then allowed to go and shop for flowers. We got to choose as many as we wanted and whatever kind. We had to make two bouquets. They were both going to patients at a hospital. 

 

 

So exciting….

 

photo credits: Mrs. Shockley 

 

 

This was the first bouquet that I made. I loved it so much. I had roses, lilies, hydrangeas, and lots of greenery. 

 

 

After making my second bouquet, I was able to shop for my own vase and make my own bouquet. Of course, I just made a duplicate of the first bouquet. This was a blast!

 

 

These were all the bouquets that our group created. I had to take a photo. Now how great of a cause is this? All of the flowers were donated by Kroger, Whole Foods, and a few wholesalers. The vases are donated by everyday people. I loved this so much. I want to be able to volunteer often. They need flower arrangers twice a week. I am hoping to do this a few times a month so I am checking my schedule to see if I could fit this in. 

Check around your city to see if you have something like this. I guarantee you it will put a smile on your face. Have a great weekend!

 

 

 

Don’t forget to shop the boutique’s new arrival. The Sylvia Midi Shirtdress is really chic! It has a classic silhouette and beautiful dusty blue color!