Loving Your Season

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photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

Good Monday Morning,

I had a good and hard weekend if that makes sense. Within 48 hours three people that I knew died. Two of them died from Covid and the other was a young man who was shot. I don’t understand all of God’s reasonings for these deaths. I try not to get into my “head” too much because I could get really sad and that would not be good for me or my family so I try to do what I can and pray. 

Okay, now on to today’s post. I was watching another video from Dominique Sachse and I heard her say, “love the season that you are in” and that stuck with me. My 39th birthday is approaching and with this year getting close to the end, I am trying to understand some things and learn to trust God more. It is very hard for me to trust the Lord. I don’t trust easily it is a hard thing for me to do. I think my childhood has a lot to do with it and the older I get the more I realize that. 

 

photo credit: Brigitte Tohm

 

As I am looking toward the future and also reviewing my past. I am seeing a lot and beginning to understand why I went through a few things. That’s another reason why I am so glad that I journal. I talked about this before. Journaling is so important. Especially when you are trying to grow as a woman. 

I was just recently thinking about how much I hated my 20s. I won’t lie I hated my 20s. I was super stressed all the time. I had a baby young, married young, and took on two stepchildren in addition to working full-time, trying to build my career, make a beautiful home, and don’t forget about the normal cooking and cleaning. My 20s were hard! I tried to enjoy them as much as a could because Lauren was young but it was so hard! 

 

photo credit: Brigitte Tohm

 

I journaled the entire time in my 20s and I am so glad that I did. Now when I read it there are a lot of, “oh that’s why that happened, or awe now I understand that”. I am so glad that I did. My 20s were hard but there were a lot of good things going on. The kids were healthy and growing, we bought our first home, purchased a brand new car, I started a new job at my current office with better health benefits and more money so that season was not all lost. “Love your season”.

Then my early 30s got a little better. There were still some challenges of course. The crazy ex-wife couldn’t stop being petty, then the co-worker crap began but in the midst of that blessings were still flowing. My husband’s company was doing well, I got promoted, we built our second home, got to go on more vacations, I traveled more for work, and started the blog! And honestly, this is when I started to “fight to enjoy my season”. 

 

There were still things going on but my mid-thirties was when I began to understand okay, you can’t control everything. Do your best and trust the Lord. Now here I am approaching 40. I got promoted! Honestly, this was the final position that I was attempting to reach. I didn’t believe that I would get it so soon but here I am. I am still blogging, I started a boutique (I hope to keep it), and I am really enjoying this journey so far. I am trying to love my seasons. I am hoping that I can. There is so much going on in life right now and it is very short. So I say this to you as well as myself. Love your season!

Have a great Monday!

 

 

 

Laurel Hall ~ A Historical Venue in Indy

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Happy Friday All,

So I made it through my first week of walking around my neighborhood. I got up around 6:15 each morning and left my house at 6:30. I walked for 2 miles and it took me about 30 minutes to walk the 2 miles. Each day I felt better and better.  And I noticed that in the evenings I would begin to look forward to walking in the morning which is a good sign. I hope to keep this up. I will keep you guys posted. 

Alright, so today I wanted to share this beautiful historic venue that I discovered on Instagram. I am always surprised when I find something beautiful in my city. I found this venue called Laurel Hall. Laurel Hall was built in 1916 for one of Indiana’s wealthiest families. 

 

 

photo credit: Instagram 

 

It’s stunning, isn’t it? 

 

photo credit: Instagram 

 

It is the perfect backdrop for insanely chic wedding photos!

 

photo credit: Amy Mulder Photography

 

 

photo credit: Ashley Link Photography

 

photo credit: Instagram 

 

I would love to take a tour of this home. It has wrought iron front doors as you are greeted, timeless details, luxurious oriental rugs, and rich hardwood. 

 

photo credit: Instagram

 

This is the romantic sweetheart table! What a great date night setup!

 

 

photo credit: Amy Mulder Photography

 

Oh I love this! I still can’t believe this is available in my city! What a great bridal shower dinner table setup. I love everything about it. It’s so regal. 

 

photo credit: Instagram

 

I would love to know where they got these beautiful roses from! They look almost like the roses from Grace Rose Farms. This venue has me thinking about my Renewing Vows post. I would love to have my renewal here. I may have to share this with my husband. I don’t think it would hurt having a tour in the future. But honestly, I think I just found my venue. Let me know in the comments section below what you guys think.

Well, it’s the end of August and summer is beginning to end slowly. The boutique is having its end-of-summer sale! If you use code End50 it will take 50% off of anything in the boutique with the exception of the Lillian Dress and the Autumn Mauve Cardigan. Those are my new arrivals and are not on sale yet but you can use it on anything else! Please don’t forget that I am offering international shipping. If you have any questions, please use the Contact page. Have a great weekend all!

 

 

 

 

August Favorites ~ 2021

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Good Morning Everyone,

I feel like saying, “it’s another beautiful day in Zamunda”. It has been so hot out! Goodness! I am trying my best not to complain but I can’t help it. Today was my third day walking in the morning. I mentioned on Monday that I started walking for exercise in the mornings instead of getting on my elliptical. It has been so great! I have enjoyed it. I can’t wait for the temps to drop and for the humidity to disappear. My husband did join me yesterday morning. He did a great job! He hates cardio but wanted to join me so we speed-walked and talked the whole time. It was nice. We walk about 4 laps around our section and it comes up to 2 miles. I am drenched with sweat when we come in but I feel amazing. 

So I will let you guys know how this goes for the rest of the week. I have been sore for two days but I know that in a few days the soreness will go away. Well on to my favorites for the month of August….

First is my new Poshmark purchase!

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley

 

Oh my goodness! I can’t believe that I found these on Poshmark, oh my! These are pink rose gold Banana Republic pumps and they are brand new! I had to get these. I didn’t even make an offer. The price she had was perfect already. I only paid $30 plus shipping. How great is that?

 

 

And there is a surprise detail, the heels are gold! I can’t wait to wear these for the holiday season! Oh and the earrings are from Etsy. I love vintage clip earrings. These are Weiss vintage clip earrings from the 40s. Whenever I am on Etsy or Poshmark I always type in “vintage Weiss clip earrings” in the search space and the most beautiful earrings appear. It is such a treat searching for these. 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

My second favorite has been my new lavender deodorant. I love Dove deodorant. I have been wearing it for years. I was so surprised to find it in a lavender scent and I have enjoyed wearing it so much this month!

Third has been Dominique Sachse’s Daily Wellness Routine video. I have watched this video a few times already this month and it has provided so much inspiration to me. She is the reason I decided to finally start walking around my neighborhood. My husband always told me to try it but I never did. I think I just needed some time to “grow” into the idea and when I saw her walk two miles around her neighborhood I thought, “you know what I need to try this”. I also love her eating routine, how she incorporates swimming into her day, the video just screams a great morning to me. I hope you all enjoy it. 

 

 

Fourth is and of course my new handbag. I do love my new Louis. I still can’t believe that I have one. I have this bag all over my Pinterest Feminine Accessories board so to finally own it is a very good feeling to me and a blessing. 

 

 

 

photo credit: Mr. Shockley 

 

Fifth are my new arrivals for the boutique. I love the new autumn mauve cardigan and our new Lillian Vine dress. These are great transitional pieces for the boutique. 

 

 

 

 

I will be beginning my end-of-summer sale on Friday so stay tuned for a 50% off code on Friday! Also adding international shipping was huge for me. It was a “boutique goal” set for next year but I was able to accomplish it this year. 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

Sixth was a humm I don’t know. So I tried a new polish color and it was suppose to be mauve but it looks lilac to me. I have never worn lilac polish before. What do you guys think? It’s not ugly and I do like it but it’s a bit out of character for me. 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

Seventh are the new products that I decided to try from the Laundress. I purchased two bottles of the delicate wash and one bottle of the delicate spray.  I love spraying the delicate spray in my bra drawer. It keeps them smelling fresh. 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

And my eighth favorite has been the $6 roses at Kroger! I can’t believe these were only $6 a dozen and our Kroger has had this sale going on for weeks! I am savoring every minute of it. You should do the same! 

I hope you all enjoyed my August favorites for this year. I can’t believe that September is next week! Crazy right. I feel like we have been in Covid part 2 this whole year. Goodness, I just want some normalcy back but we will see. I will be linking my previous years’ favorites below. Have a great Wednesday!

 

 

 

 

Please note: some links are affiliate links and if you make a purchase through this link, I will receive a small commission for referring you to the product. Thank you so much in advance if you decide to make a purchase through my link.

 

Autumn Review

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Good Morning Everyone,

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. It is still horrible hot here, but I recently heard about some terrible storms around the country. I hope everyone is safe. This morning I decided to try something different. It has been years since I have walked. I normally work out on my elliptical but I have been craving some walking recently. I have a lot of neighbors that walk around the neighborhood so this morning I decided to get up and walk two miles. It went great and I hope to keep it up for the next several months.

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

I recently watched Jennifer L. Scott’s video about Fall Wardrobe Planning and thought, “well great minds think alike” because I was already planning on going through my wardrobe here shortly. Even as a glance at my closet, I already see several pieces that I will be donating to charity. I have so many items that I have not worn in over two years. It’s time… 

 

The boutique’s new cardigan arrival. 

 

I am very much looking forward to the autumn this year. I love those crisp mornings. Goodness, I always feel so good going to the office on those days or running errands. I am excited about my grass turning green again and being able to take my dogs on evening walks. It has been way too hot the last few weeks. 

As I glanced at my closet this year I realized that I am prepared for autumn. I have everything I need. I have TONS of dresses. I purchased so many dresses this year and last. I found so many that I loved and that would be great transitional pieces. The area that I am struggling with is skirts. I can not seem to find decent skirts. 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

I have searched high and low for skirts and can not seem to find any that I like. I checked Ann Taylor, J Crew, etc. I even checked Amazon and still had no luck. But I will continue to search. I like for my skirts to look a certain way and trying to find what I want feels like a needle in a haystack. Very hard…..

The other item that has been on my list is black heels. So I ordered a pair from Ann Taylor Loft and they are way too tight. I wanted to return them but they were clearance so I couldn’t at that point. I am still on the hunt. I don’t own a pair of black heels but I did find a pair of studded black kitten heels from Poshmark. Those just may have to do. 

 

 

I will be working on my closet the weekend of Labor Day. We get that Monday off so having that extra day will give me time to go through everything. I will also be putting out my autumn decor that day. I will show you guys the process then. Let me know in the comments section below if you are preparing for autumn as well. Have a great Monday!

Also please send me an email if you would like to be added to the blog’s weekly emails. Every week, I send out an email with recent blog posts, new arrivals, boutique news, discount codes, recent internet finds, and favorite Youtube videos. Please email me at ahomeforelegance@gmail.com with your info. If you have a friend that you think would love my emails forward them to her!

 

 

 

 

 

Friday Night Salmon

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Oh, it has been a long week! We had three golf matches this week and it was so hot. The golf match at the Brickyard was very nice. The scenery was beautiful and the other teams were pleasant. Today I will be leaving the office early to take care of a few things and start my weekend early. I do have some news. I am working on getting international shipping added to the boutique this weekend and I wanted everyone to know that my new arrival is available for purchase. Fingers crossed that I can get this accomplished! I have had a lot of interest in international shipping so we will see….

Now on to today’s post…

You guys know that on Fridays or one day a week I have my weekly salmon meal. I thought I would share it today with you all. 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

So I start off by spraying down my pan with this Simple Truth Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil Cooking Spray. I love this spray! It keeps everything from sticking and gives my meals a nice flavor to them. 

 

 

Next I pull out my salmon and it already has this dill butter on it as well as the herbs. I get my salmon from Costco. They have the best salmon if you ask me. 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley

I do add a little more seasoning to it. I add this zesty lemon pepper seasoning salt, regular salt, and McCormick’s Organic dill weed. This combination is so yummy! I then place it in the oven for about 40 minutes at 375 degrees.

Once the salmon gets close to being done, I then sauteed my spinach in the pan. 

 

 

I add a little extra virgin olive oil and a little bit of salt and then I cook my spinach until it wilts down a bit.

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley

 

After a few minutes of cooking my spinach, I check my rice steamer to make sure that my rice is finished. Once done I plated my wonderful food and enjoy it! It really does not take me long to prepare this meal and it’s one of my favorites. I love this dish and look forward to it every week. 

What’s one of your favorite dishes? What do you look forward to making and eating every week? Please share in the comment section below. We would all love to know. I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Challenges in the Office ~ An Update

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Hello Everyone,

Today is our third golf meet for this week. I only pray that Lauren is enjoying this season. We are trying to keep her involved but that’s been a chore on its own. I ordered some new vintage Weiss earrings on Etsy. I sure hope that they are as lovely in person as they were in the picture but we will see.

In today’s post, we are going to get a little serious. Well, I can’t really say that. I am going to give you all an update on the “classless co-worker” situation at my office. Some of you probably remember my post from 2016 called, “Challenges in the Office.” In that post, I discussed a classless co-worker that I work with who has been “Petty Patty” for years. You have to read that post in order to understand this situation. 

 

photo credit: Pinterest

 

Okay, so now I hope that you have read that post. What’s interesting is that when I read it I just smiled. I mentioned that I wanted to be a paralegal supervisor and I accomplished that goal in April! I still can’t believe it! I am a supervisor. I am so glad that I stayed the course and ignored her. So the environment for me has changed. Since I am in management now my office was moved. I am now far away from her and it is so great! I know some of you have been wanting an office tour but I don’t feel quite comfortable doing one now. Maybe in the future. 

 

photo credit: Pinterest

 

Since I am a supervisor I now have staff to train, keep track of workloads, attorneys to communicate with, trials to prepare for, meetings to schedule, so I really don’t have time for her shenanigans. She still rolls her eyes every time she sees me which has become comical because I think goodness, it has been about 6 1/2 years and you still have not grown up. I mean honestly, there has been no growth in her! I think she is almost 50 which is really sad. 

I have also talked with other staff who have said that she did the same things to them and all of them have said that they just ignore her. Honestly, it’s the best thing to do in this situation. The good thing is that she is not in management and probably never will be because she can’t get along with people and everyone knows it. It’s a little sad. 

I continue to paint my Sistine Chapel and just ignore her. I know she was not happy when I got promoted. You could see it and you could tell. I just continue on with my path and run my race. It has been hard dealing with such a petty person but I knew that somehow and in some way the Lord would work it out. I prayed constantly that I would not fall into the trap with her and that I would eventually get to the “snake line”. 

Have any of you heard of the “snake line”. There is a line in the mountains that poisonous snakes cannot live. Below that snake line, you are subject to all kinds of deadly reptiles. Above that snake line is clarity and peace. Nasty people live below the snake line. Sometimes in life we have to live in that environment and deal with all of the attacks while we are there. But if you keep your eyes on the Lord and on your path eventually you get above the snake line and the snakes cannot live there because they are not meant to climb that high. I finally reached above the snake line. She can’t be where I am because she isn’t built for it. With the Lord’s help, I will continue to climb. Keep climbing, you’ll eventually get above the snake line. 

Have a great Wednesday!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What’s in My Bag?

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Good Monday Morning,

I hope everyone had a good weekend. It was finally cool in Indy! Oh my goodness the weather was so much better. I was not sweating at all. It was so nice. On Saturday we went to HomeGoods to get the last few items for my step-son. He will be returning to campus this week. I hope he does well this year. He has a new roommate. Oh, fingers crossed they get along!

I am actually teleworking today for the first time since April. Boy, I have forgotten how much I miss it! But it will be back to the office tomorrow. I have been able to get a lot of projects done since we have not fully returned to the office yet.  

In today’s post I wanted to do a What’s in My Bag post. The last time I wrote about this was in 2017. During that post, I was carrying my LV Neverfull. I still have it and love it. What’s incredible is the price increases! They are beginning to skyrocket and I don’t understand why.

I have been wanting the Louis Vuitton On the Go tote for the last 2 years. I went last year in April to look at it in person and it was $400 cheaper then! 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

I don’t know what’s going on. I was wanting to buy it used because all of my other LV’s are used but buying it used was horrible! It’s $1,000 more if you buy it used because everyone knows that they are sought after! It’s cheaper if you buy it from Louis Vuitton yourself! Anyway, enough complaining. I got my dream bag. It was an early birthday gift and the last one in the store.

 

 

It is beautiful and I do love it.

 

 

This is the inside. There is a zipper pocket, inserts for your phone, and tons of space. It does have two shoulder straps as well. 

 

Not much has changed as far as items inside my bag. I have been carrying the same cosmetic bag, eyeglass case, and I did just get this new wallet from Coach. It has so much room and space for my cards. I love it! I do still carry my face masks in my Coach drawstring bag. I shared this last year in my Covid Essentials post.  I just ordered two new face masks from Etsy. I ordered this blue Shabby Chic face mask and this pink antique garden Shabby Chic mask. I can’t wait to see them! 

 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley

 

I have had my tote for about a week and love it. It truly was my dream bag and I intend on having it forever. Have a great Monday! Also, check out the boutique. A couple of dresses are on sale and we should have some new arrivals coming soon!

 

 

 

Please note: some links are affiliate links and if you make a purchase through this link, I will receive a small commission for referring you to the product. Thank you so much in advance if you decide to make a purchase through my link.