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!

 

 

 

Blue Elegance

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Good Morning Everyone,

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. I did a little running around. I did not make it to Simply Chic but I did go to Style Encore which is a consignment store near me. I went in and walked right out. I don’t know if it is me, but I saw nothing that I wanted and I saw nothing elegant. I used to be able to find a skirt, a blouse, cardigan, and a handbag. Now it’s all this weird looking stuff that looks like you can wear it at home. 

I don’t know. I feel a little frustrated with fashion recently. Even finding beautiful, elegant dresses for my boutique has been hard and expensive. I also went antiquing. I did not find anything there either. It’s okay. I am on the hunt for a new dining room table and new chair. I will be using that as office furniture, so the hunt continues. 

This morning I am headed to my second house shift duty for the Guild. I will be there for only a half day. Then after that I hope to be picking up my car and then headed to a funeral. Enough sad stuff for today, I did want to share the next Sarah Flint fashion item that is on my radar! 

 

photos via Sarah Flint. com

 

I don’t know about you, but I shrieked when I saw this new silk scarf on the Sarah Flint new arrival launch. In all fairness, I saw it weeks ago and shrieked then! It is gorgeous! It’s called the Royal Kingdom Scarf 90 and is a sheer must for my wardrobe.

 

 

It is hand painted by an artist named Sucharita Sengupta Suri. Just look at all the details.

 

 

 

I am loving all of the colors, the regal peacocks, cheetahs, and whimsical details. 

 

photo credits via Sarah Flint.com

 

 

I honestly cannot wait to order this! It’s so beautiful. I wish a had a store close by. I would love to see this in person. What do you all think? Do you love the designs? I know I do. I hope you all enjoy the new collection and of course do not forget to use my code if you find that you cannot live without a pair of her shoes! Use code SARAHFLINT-BASMSSHOCKLEY for $50 off! 

Have a great week everyone! Oh I do have something planned for Wednesday. My group the Guild is a having a flower arranging party! We are going to be making bouquets for patients at the hospital and making one for ourselves! I will be sure to share it on the blog!

 

This post is sponsored!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New Beauty Product- Dove Lavendar Bar

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Good Morning Everyone,

These last few days have been really rough for my family and I. We had to put down our second dog on Monday. He was diagnosed with cancer in October and just became very sick and did not eat hardly any this past weekend. It has been really hard but the good thing was he was older so we were a tad bit more ready for him. We are not getting any more dogs for a while. It is just too hard to say goodbye.

So I plan on doing some things that make me happy this weekend. I plan on visiting a consignment store called Simply Chic. We have three locations and I need to decide which one I will visit. We have Monday off for President’s Day and I have house duty that day for the Guild but after that I want to go and visit Surroundings again. I just love that store!

In today’s post I wanted to share a new beauty product find for me. 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley

 

I was in Walgreens looking for other products and spotted this. I use a Dove pink bar every day and have for years. I have seen different scents but I don’t think that I have ever seen a lavender bar scent. I had to buy it to give it a try. 

 

 

Now I will start off with the color. Isn’t it just so pleasing to the eye? It looks wonderful in my bath bar dish. The scent is wonderful, and I have using it all week and I will say it smells “very clean”. It’s not a strong heavy perfume scent. It is very light and smells really clean. 

If you love bath bars I would say give Dove a try. This is not sponsored but I genuinely love their products and have for years! I am really curious about the pomegranate and hibiscus tea scent as well. 

Speaking of scents my husband got me a very fragrant and beautiful rose bouquet this year for Valentine’s Day. I hope you all had a wonderful Valentine’s Day or Galentine’s Day. Have a great weekend!

 

FrenChic ~ New Antique Store!

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Good Morning Everyone,

Happy Valentine’s Day! I know it is tomorrow but I just wanted to say it early. Yesterday Mr. Shockley and I went to a new restaurant. It was called Monterey Cuisine. I ordered the roasted chicken, mushroom risotto, and honey roasted brussel sprouts. My husband got the filet, with house purple mashed potatoes, and broccoli. It was so delicious! We are definitely looking forward to going again. 

If you read my blog post on Friday, then you know that I took the day off went and watched Funny Face at a vintage theater and visited a new antique store. It was such a wonderful day. I went and visited two antique stores. I went to FrenChic first and it was a really cute store. 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

Walking into the store I spotted this beautiful bird cage and lots of beautiful porcelain surrounding it. 

 

 

It spent a lot of time on the first floor looking at all of the art, light fixtures, vintage rugs and jewelry. 

 

 

 

I walked around the corner and saw these huge tassels. I loved the colors! The black and gold looked so sophisticated. I knew that I had to find a place for it in home. 

 

 

photo credits: Mrs. Shockley 

 

I then turned around another corner and saw this gorgeous tablecloth! It was only $20! I had to have it!

 

You can see my gold tassels in the distance hanging on the curtain rod. 

 

I purchased the tablecloth and tassels. Once I left there I went and visited Vintage Whimsy . I didn’t see anything there, so I left and headed to the vintage movie theater. I grabbed a small popcorn (no butter) and a small lemonade and went and got a seat. There only about 30 of us in the room and it was wonderful! I sung along and absorbed all of the vintage fashion and decor in the movie. I enjoy Funny Face. It reminds me of the movie called, “The Devil Wears Prada” but I love this so much more! I am thinking about buying it on dvd. I found it on Amazon recently. 

I don’t mind spending days by myself. Never be afraid to explore your city. Find all of the elegant things that you can! Have a great Monday!