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The Beautiful Style of Jessica Fletcher

Good Morning Everyone,

I had a pretty good weekend. I watched a new action film called Infinite with Mark Wahlberg and it was not bad. We went and had dinner at Chic fil A on Friday and someone dumped a cup of ice in the parking lot near our car and I slipped and fell on it! I just laughed when I hit the ground. My purse somehow shifted behind me and I landed on it! It was perfect! I could not have planned it better myself. Once I recovered my family and I just laughed all the way home. I told Lauren, “well I guess I was due”. I had not slipped and fallen on ice in about 3 years. I was due”.

I am planning my year. I’ve got to get doctor’s appointments scheduled and I am trying to meet with a dietitian this year! That is one of my goals for 2022. I am also gearing up for my first tax year for A Home for Elegance. I can’t believe it! I am going to be a nervous wreck until this is done. Goodness…

I am also teleworking today, yay! I have not teleworked in months and I am so happy to be able to do this today. I know the rest of the week will be busy but I am going to enjoy this today. Alright now on to today’s post.

Have any of you ever watched Murder She Wrote? I started watching it a few years ago. It was on one of those nights that I could not sleep and needed something good to watch. One thing I noticed was her clothes. Did any of you ever pay attention to the outfits she wore during those episodes? Here are a few to jog your memory…

photos via Pinterest

She looks sensational right? I wish celebrities and T.V. stars still dressed this way but unfortunately being nude has become more popular.

I have to say I am a big fan of how she wears her scarves. I mean how chic is that? I read online that in a 1992 interview a costume designer by the name of Eilish Zebrasky was “careful” to fit Angela Lansbury in fashions that reflective her age. I would have to say that she did a wonderful job!

I spy a blue and white lamp…

I will surely be taking some tips from her fashion. In most of these photos, I would say that you can still wear these outfits today. I also love the mysteries. Murder She Wrote is just a classic television series that I am so glad to be able to still watch. It could be that I am getting older but I crave more shows like this. I always pray that the Lord can help me to find beautiful things to watch. Let me know what your favorite classic shows are.

Have a great Monday!

Thriving is Elegant…

January 3, 2022/4 Comments/in Elegant Living, Inspiring Posts /by mrs.sshockley

Good Morning and Happy 2022!

Do you remember my post in December called “Word of the Year”? Did you pick your word yet? My word is trust. I need to trust the Lord more. I am not good at it. I have several reasons why but that is another blog post. Have any of you picked up the January/February issue of Victoria magazine? Oh it is good but then again they always are.

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley

I picked up my issue a few weekends ago and have been savoring it ever since. Sometimes I read the “Reader to Reader” section and sometimes I don’t. For some reason, I read this month’s section and I am so glad that I did.

A lot of readers were giving their hopeful expressions for the new year. Two of the letters that were sent in captured me. One reader wrote:

“The other day, I was going through my stash of inspirational greeting cards when I ran across one that a close friend gave me years ago. The purple-and-gold note has a saying from Maya Angelou emblazoned on the front: “Surviving is important. Thriving is elegant”. This sentiment resonates with me, particularly now as I am looking to make some big changes in my life. I am setting “Be Elegant” as my theme for 2022. That phrase will remind me to move beyond mere survival thinking and, hopefully, will motivate me to become a woman of style, and grace, to flourish, to grow, to succeed, and to live life to the fullest”. ~ Jacquie Koewler (Redmond, Washington)

Now, how great was that? I marked this in the magazine and plan on absorbing this myself. I have never heard of this quote before from Maya Angelou but I can assure you it will remain in my mental rolodex from here on out! Maybe I should change my word of the year to this quote for the year.

I just loved this letter from Jacquie and will be keeping it close by. Another item that I wanted to share that I found in this month’s magazine was the Antiques and Garden Show in Nashville, Tennesee. I really want to attend this! I spoke to my husband about it and we are trying to see if it will work with our schedules and finances. Did you see who the speakers are?

Well for starters Martha Stewart is one! Oh my gosh! I have been wanting to meet her for years. Bunny Williams is also a speaker as well as Alexa Hampton and Christopher Spitzmiller. There will be antiques and gardens and it would just be a dream to me. It really would. Of course, I will keep you all updated if we make the trip.

Let me know in the comments below if you have ever heard of this quote for Maya? Have a great Monday!

Caramel Cake ~ New Recipe

December 31, 2021/7 Comments/in Recipes /by mrs.sshockley

Good Morning and Happy New Year!

We have nothing planned this evening. Just a quiet dinner at home, my cheeseboard, some wine, and maybe a movie. I am putting up my Christmas decor today, washing bed linens, and vacuuming my entire home. I am also burning my fresh cut roses candle from Yankee Candle. It is one of my favorite scents. I want to wish you all a Happy New Year filled with peace, health and of course elegance!

Now I want to share my glorious semi-homemade caramel cake recipe!

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley

Okay, so this is a semi-homemade recipe. The cake part is actually a basic yellow cake. I used the Betty Crocker Super Moist Yellow Cake mix and it turned out so wonderful. It was so moist and delicious! I also decided to use a bundt cake style pan and I loved the way it turned out.

Now the caramel icing is homemade and I decided to give this recipe a go and it worked out beautifully! It only required 4 ingredients and a lot of stirring but it was so worth it and my entire family loved my cake! Now the recipe did not call for pecans but I just kept looking at it and my husband asked me if I was okay with how it looked and I said, “you know I do want to add some crushed pecans”! He said go for it and I did. It added the perfect amount of crunch and salt to my sweet caramel cake! I could not be happier!

This was my table setting this year. I wanted something with blue in it. Last year and the years past I always had red and this year I wanted something different. I do love the way it turned out!

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley

I can’t believe how fast this year flew by. I hope 2022 is a year of peace for everyone. Have a wonderful weekend!

December Favorites ~ 2021

December 29, 2021/6 Comments/in Monthly Favorites /by mrs.sshockley

Good Morning,

I feel like I am the only person on the planet who has not taken down their Christmas tree. All of my friends have shared that they have already taken down their trees but then I was reminded that I have 3. That’s completely different. I will be leaving the office early on Thursday to get started on taking them down. I did order a new flocked tree! I am so excited. Every time I order a new tree I donate an old one. I am also going to be adding some new decor. I want more ribbon and some velvet bows for my trees next year. I will be getting those ordered here soon.

Okay time to share my favorites list for December. I can’t believe it’s the last week of 2021!

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley

Okay, I could not help it! I had to get these and I have no regrets! They are gorgeous in person. I love them so much. The fabric is so rich and sophisticated. It is a timeless shoe seriously! I hope Tory continues with these kinds of designs! I wish I could get this fabric on one of her totes!

The second is my chinoiserie-inspired scarf. I shared it on the blog here. I believe it is still sold out but I would keep an eye on the website if you are interested!

Third is my Christmas cactus. It begin to bloom in late November and then by early December I had this. It turned out so wonderful this year. My old supervisor gave this to me in 2016. It was the smallest little plant and I am so proud that I have been able to grow it to this size. I hope that I can continue to keep it alive.

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley

Fourth is my beautiful Nutcracker! I found her while grocery shopping. I saw the hair and thought, oh my she looks very similar to me. I think she is gorgeous and is a wonderful addition to my Nutcracker collection!

The fifth has been the poinsettia that I had in our bedroom. It added such a Christmas feel and was a beautiful arrangement to have. I would recommend you get one for your bedroom next time!

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley

Sixth has been this year’s wrapping paper. I love the colors and the velvet ribbon that I used. It looked so sophisticated.

And the last is my new Van Gogh Irises picture frame that I picked up at the Newfields Museum after my tour of the Lilly Manor. Once I saw it I knew that it would be a great addition to my office!

Okay, I almost forgot this! I don’t know how I have not seen this on Youtube! This movie was directed by Karl Lagerfeld and was released on Youtube in 2013! If you are a Chanel fan you will enjoy this immensely. It is only 30 minutes but is deliciously elegant!

Oh, one more. I found so many wonderful things to watch on Youtube this month! I found this wonderful Youtuber to follow. Her channel is AMAZING! She lives in Paris and takes you on her brocante flea market excursions and she recently toured the Ritz Hotel in Paris. Oh, magnifique!

I binged watched her channel after Christmas! It was wonderful!

Well, that does it for my December favorites and the end of 2021! Goodness, the years are going by too fast. The boutique does have a new plus-size arrival. The Flora Ruffle Blouse is available for purchase! I am so happy to finally have a plus-size blouse for the boutique finally! I do hope that you all are enjoying the boutique. We will see how year 2 goes!

My Tour of the Lilly House

December 27, 2021/2 Comments/in Elegant Living, Home Décor /by mrs.sshockley

Good Morning Everyone,

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! My Christmas was good. I was exhausted on Christmas Eve. I did all of the cooking and decorating so at the end of the day I was really tired but we enjoyed ourselves. This should be a light work week (I hope). We don’t have any plans for New Years’ Eve. I just plan on making my cheeseboard, opening a glass of wine, and enjoying a quiet evening.

I did want to share my recent home tour. I have been wanting to visit this home for quite some time. I took the afternoon to tour the Lilly House.

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley

It is a two-minute walk to the house from Newfields. The house is on the property. The Lilly family donated the house to the museum. It was made a National Landmark in 2003.

The whole time I am walking up to the home I am daydreaming that it belongs to me!

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley

It truly is my dream home. I have always wanted a home that looked just like this. So this home sits on 26 acres and has a beautiful water view in the back that I did not get to see. It was built in 1913.

They had it decorated for the holidays. There were Christmas trees everywhere! This is what it looked like when you walked in.

I loved these chandelier lamps. I would love to have one for my dresser. The ornate vintage mirror was gorgeous as well.

I walked into the study and this room was filled with Christmas trees. And look at the ceiling? All of the wonderful details!

Oh my goodness this was the next room and you guys know that I LOVED the chinoiserie wallpaper! I think this was added some years later.

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley

Okay, now I just learned about Nancy Lancaster’s yellow room. This color reminds me of that? What do you all think?

I was told that the furniture is original to the home. How great is that?

This tree was mostly decorated with peacocks. They looked as if they were homemade because they were made of felt.

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley

I loved the mural painted in this hallway. The Chinese lanterns made it fun!

I then walked into the dining room. I wish I would have gotten the details about this room.

The butler’s pantry! I have always wanted one of these. I got upclose to see if I could get pictures of the china.

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley

I believe this was the family’s china. I loved all of the prints here!

Here is the kitchen. I don’t believe it has been updated. I read the card about the room but I can’t remember the last time they updated the kitchen. It may have been in the 60s.

Here is the other side of the kitchen. I believe the desserts were fake but still lovely and added to the Christmas decor!

This was the second entryway in the home. I loved this area and the chandelier. They did not let you tour the upstairs so I was bummed about that but so happy that I got to see the home. I did learn that Lilly House was designed by Landon’s brother-in-law, Lewis Ketcham Davis, in the French Château style. The house is positioned on a bluff overlooking the White River, taking advantage of expansive views to the west.

The house includes a service wing, pavilions on the east and west with access to balconies from the second floor, and a large terrace atop a garage and service area. While occupied by the Landon family, the main floor originally included a music room, library, sunroom, living room, dining room, kitchen, and porch. The second floor was made up of private suites, bedrooms, bathrooms, the servant’s suite, and a study. A third-floor ballroom was also present in the Landon home and was used for storage during the Lilly’s occupancy (from Wikipedia). At that time the estate also included a formal garden, greenhouse, tennis court, and several outbuildings. If you want to read about the history of the Lilly Manor you may read it here.

I hope you all enjoyed this beautiful home tour. I do hope that I can tour more homes like this in the future. If you miss my home from this past spring you may read it here. Have a wonderful Monday everyone!

Weekend Christmas Events

December 20, 2021/6 Comments/in Elegant Living, Inspiring Posts /by mrs.sshockley

And Good Monday Morning Everyone!

We are just a few short days away from Christmas! I can’t believe it’s this week and honestly will be over so soon. A new year will be beginning and so will all of the promises of a new year. I think I shared this before that I never make new year resolutions. I just don’t see the point for me. If I need to make a change just do it now. I don’t see the point in waiting for a new year to start.

I did want to share my weekend with everyone. On Saturday morning my family and I headed to the L.S. Ayres Tea Room for our annual brunch. This year they made some changes. We were told that it went to “buffet style” and honestly when I heard that my heart fell. I hate buffets. I am just being honest but all I see in my mind when I hear that word is people breathing all on the food, putting their grubbing hands everywhere, and thinking about how so people just don’t wash their hands. But when we walked into the room I was pleasantly surprised….

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley

The entryway did not change much and that beautiful piano was still there….

Beautiful isn’t it? I still don’t know much about it. Maybe I will get info on it next time.

I did snap a photo of this. This is a photo of some of the original staff. This photo was taken in 1905!

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley

So when we walked in we were shown to our table and we sat down and ordered our drinks. After that, we were directed to the buffet line. The room was not crowded and the food was completed covered with servers behind it! I was so relieved. No one could touch the food, you were able to select what you wanted and could go back for seconds. There was a glass shield over the area of the food. I mean you could not even breathe on it. I was so happy! I know that sounds bad but some people are just gross.

I selected the tuna tea sandwiches, some chicken salad, ginger peach tea, and chicken velvet soup of course. I shared the recipe for this soup and it is the most viewed post on my blog! They also had this wonderfully soft pumpkin bread. Oh, it was so delicious! I should have gotten the recipe for that.

photo credit: Mr. Shockley

It was a wonderful lunch with a beautiful atmosphere that we all enjoyed! On Sunday afternoon my daughter and I went to see the Nutcracker at Newfields. It was really nice this year and we sat in the balcony which wasn’t bad but we have decided to try another Nutcracker next year. I hope you all enjoy your Christmas holiday with your family this week. I will be taking the rest of the week off from the blog and I will see you all next week!

Merry Christmas!