Decor Evolving

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Dear June,

Please don’t go by so fast! I hope the Lord hears my request. I am ready for it to get a little warmer here but not humid. I hate the humidity! I don’t have many plans for the weekend. I did just order my first etiquette book! I know, I know… I don’t own one. Well, I don’t own an official etiquette book and I felt like it was time. So I ordered the Emily Posts Etiquette, 19th Edition: Manners for Today. 

I am really excited to see it and read it! Of course, I will share it once it arrives. In today’s post I wanted to share a recent photo that I found in my phone’s photo gallery.

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

This was our living room in our first home in 2008! It’s funny, my husband and I were just talking about this house. I still remember the day we closed when we purchased it. I couldn’t believe that I was a homeowner at the age of 25! It was a great feeling. 

When I look at this photo I remember what I purchased, how much I paid, and why I purchased it. The two pink chairs should look familiar. I still have those but they are in my boutique/ home office now. My mother found those at a Goodwill store if you can believe it!

The gold curtains are from Walmart and I still have that giant floral arrangement. I paid only $10 for that thing! My mother-in-law’s friend sold it to me. I adored it and still do. I still have that as well. It should look familiar. It is in my sitting room on the left side of me if you watch my Youtube videos. I replace the flowers every couple of years. 

As I stare at it I realize that I was a “grandmillienial” at 25 and maybe younger. I remember sharing my bedroom in high school in one of my blog posts. I had “old lady” stuff then. 

But I do know that as time has passed my style has changed a bit. In this photo, you will notice that there is no blue and white. I didn’t own any.  I did start to notice it at this time. I see other things in this photo that are not there that I love now, and it just brings a conversation back to my mind. 

I had a dear friend tell me that every 10 years your style will change and I continue to believe that she is right. So what do you all think? Has your home decor style changed in the last decade? If so what did you love back then that you don’t now?

Leave a comment below. I would love to know. Have a great weekend!

 

 

 

May Favorites ~ 2021

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Good Morning Everyone,

I completely forgot to share my May favorites for this year with you guys! I have been so focused on other things that I almost missed May completely. Oops… so here we go with my favorites for the month of May…

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

My first favorite is this new faux floral arrangement that I found at T.J. Maxx. This photo does not do it justice. It is gorgeous and large in person. I have it in my new office space. 

 

 

The second was my surprise gift box of goodies from a fellow reader. If you want to read it you may do so here. 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

Third is my new watercolor print from an Etsy shop called, “A Thing Created”. I have gotten tons of compliments on this piece. Even my step-son likes it. If you wish to read about this you may do so here. 

 

 

Fourth is my Chanel-inspired necklace from Etsy. This necklace is only $25 and looks beautiful in person. It’s a wonderful classic piece of jewelry to have in your closet.  The seller has them in two different colors. 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

The fifth is the Claire cream midi dress from my boutique. I love this dress and believe it is the perfect white dress. I was so excited when I opened the box and saw it. The dress sale is still going on right now!! I may extend it a little while longer. Make sure that you check it out!!!

 

 

Sixth is my peacock trinket tray from Anthropologie. It’s such a classic accessory to have. It would look fabulous anywhere and you can use it for holding just about anything. 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

The seventh is my azalea bush from the Biltmore. My husband and I were so proud when this began to bloom this month. Now all of the blooms are gone and we are excited about next year and we hope that it gets bigger!

 

 

Eight is the Audrey Ruffle Maxi from my boutique. I can’t tell you how excited I am to have a plus-size dress so beautiful. It fits wonderfully and I am trying my hardest now to keep one. It is a beautiful dress and would be great to have in your closet and ready for this surprise events. 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

May would not be the same without my peony visit. This was my ninth favorite. My visit and purchase of this year’s peonies from JP Parker Florist. You may read about my visit here. 

 

 

The coral peonies were sensational this year. So full of color!

 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

The tenth favorite for this month was this little ootd (outfit of the day) that I put together. I loved all of the colors and accessories that I wore with my very own boutique dress! The green garden maxi is on sale right now in my boutique and has a lot of room! My Tory Burch tote is here and my headband is here if you are interested. 

 

And last but certainly not least is my very own garden of peonies! I was so proud of my peonies this year! That did so well and multiplied! They smelled wonderful and looked great in some of my bouquets. 

 

 

Wow, May is over already and here we are starting June! I hope you all enjoyed my favorites for this month. Please don’t forget about the dress sale that is still going on. Later on this month our HOA will be having its yearly garage sale and I thought about setting up my boutique in my driveway! I thought that would be a great way to have exposure and to sell some more of my items. I will share it with you guys when it gets closer. So if you have something from the boutique that you are interested in you may want to consider it. Who knows it just might be gone once I have the pop-up shop!

 

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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Summer Purse Essentials

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Good Morning and Happy Memorial Day!

My family and I are keeping it simple today. We are just hanging out at home, we will grill a bit and wash the cars. Most of my house chores I finished yesterday so it will be nice just to relax. I picked up this most recent issue of Victoria magazine and there are quite a few beautiful articles that I can’t wait to read. I am looking forward to that. 

In today’s post, I wanted to share my summer purse essentials. I shared my Covid purse essentials last year and thought this would be good to share now since it is June! Can you believe it? We are halfway through the year already! 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley

 

Oh before I get into my list I had to share this photo. I stopped by JP Parker flowers again to pick up some more peonies. I could not help myself. 

 

 

Whenever summer arrives I always check my purse for my summer must-have products. I love the anti-bacterial hand spray from Bath and Body Works. This french lavender scent is my absolute favorite. I also add my small bottle of Caudalie facial spray. It helps me to feel refreshed after a hot day. I love spraying this on my face for a cool-off. I also always decant my favorite body spray in a smaller bottle. This is a small bottle of Amazing Grace from Philosophy. I have to have a small bottle of some scent in my purse. I hate coming into a building and have that “outside smell”, oh that drives me nuts!

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

Now on to some items that are a little more personal. It gets really humid here in Indy and sweating is everyone’s problem. I love buying these Summer’s Eve personal wipes. They are great for your personal area and whenever I use them I feel so refreshed. I also love using this spray. You can spray it in your lower area and some of the scents are floral. They are wonderful. I have been using them for years!

 

Mrs. Shockley, home

 

I hope you all have found some useful and helpful information in this post. I know talking about summer sweat and personal products is never a fun thing but for me it’s necessary and it’s how I maintain being elegant. Let me know in the comments section below if you have used any of these products! Have a wonderful Monday and enjoy your holiday!

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

 

 

My Flower Garden Thus Far…

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Happy Friday and Happy Memorial Day Weekend!

 

Thank you to everyone that has served our country. We know what it costs to keep our freedoms so thank you!

 

In today’s post, I wanted to share my flower garden so far. It is always a struggle to grow flowers and learn about them. I am certainly not an expert but my husband and I try our very best and sometimes it works out. 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley

 

If you have been following the blog then the flowers above will not shock you. I am a huge fan of mandevillas and have to have them every year. They grow so well and I enjoy having them on my porch. It makes me happy when I begin to see the vines get longer and how they droop from the planter. It’s so gorgeous to me. 

 

 

My rhododendrons bushes are doing okay this year. For a few weeks, I didn’t think that they would bloom, but they surprised my husband and me. But I think we may be replacing them next year. 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

This year was the first year that I purchased roses bushes. I actually purchased these from Costco. I didn’t get a chance to put them in the ground because we couldn’t get over 30 degrees at night and we had snow! So I just put them in the planter because they had already begun to grow in the box!

 

 

They are doing well in the planter. I am beginning to have some rosebuds open, but I noticed that something has begun to eat the leaves! So frustrating! I have no idea what little bug is doing this. Does anyone have any ideas?

 

 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

This new azalea bush did excellent this year! This was another plant that we were worried about. We purchased this last year from the Biltmore and we didn’t have any flowering last year but this year it was beautiful! I was so happy with it! 

 

 

Next are my peonies and I am in absolute bliss with these! They multiplied! I couldn’t believe how many more blooms we had this year!

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

 

 

They are so healthy and strong!

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

So happy!

 

 

 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

We only had a few white ones and they smelled like a dream. My husband just kept going over and smelling them. It was quite enjoyable! Well, I hope you all enjoyed my little garden tour. I hope everyone enjoys the long weekend and enjoys the DRESS SALE for the boutique!

Some of the dresses are as low as $15! Head on over and grab a dress or two! No coupon code is needed! Thank you again in advance for your support and have a great weekend!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wednesday Shares…

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Good Morning Everyone,

Today’s post is going to be short but I forgot to add my recent Youtube video to Monday’s post. I show my peonies, talk about my beautiful gifts from a subscriber, and show the Beverly tote from the boutique. I hope that you enjoy it. 

 

 

And one more thing, I wanted to share my recent order from Anthropologie. I ordered their peacock trinket tray and I could not LOVE it more! It has an incredible vintage-inspired look to it. It looks like a piece passed down to me from my grandmother. It is a wonderful item to have. 

 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

 

 

Isn’t it stunning? It is a beautiful piece. I believe that I will have this piece for a long time. I hope you all enjoy the video and 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.

 

 

 

A Weekend with Peonies

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Good Morning Everyone,

It was finally warm here in Indy. We were in the 80s and it felt very nice. On Saturday I ran my normal errands and I went to JP Parker Flowers to pick up some peonies and they did not disappoint this year! 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

I always try to get a “bucket of peonies” photo when they bring it out to me. They always pull out the bucket and let me pick my favorite ones. I just love this photo!

 

 

Initially, they did not have the bucket of coral peonies out, but I ask for some, and I am glad that I did. They were gorgeous!

 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley

 

I could not wait to get home and create my bouquets. It was such fun putting these together. The greenery I picked up at Kroger. It was only $4 for the greenery.

 

 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

I could not get enough of the coral ones! Goodness! The color is just breathtaking and the scent was amazing as well. 

 

 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

I was so pleased with this years’ peony loot! I really want to go back this weekend coming up and get more. We will see. I also wanted to let everyone know that my new dress arrival is available for purchase. The Audrey Ruffle Maxi is a gorgeous addition to the boutique and is plus-size! The blue and white color is classic and the quality is wonderful! I was very pleased when I tried the dress on. This dress is available in 1x, 2x, and 3x. I hope you all enjoy this post and the new arrival. 

 

Have a wonderful Monday!

 

 

 

 

 

Staying the Course…

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Good Morning Everyone,

We are winding down the month of May and of course, this month flew by. My daughter’s last week of school is next week. I can’t believe we are ending her sophomore year and she will be beginning her junior year this fall. It’s incredible. I will be heading to JP Parker Flowers in Franklin, Indiana this weekend. They just got their shipment of peonies! I hope to buy a few. The downtown location closed during the pandemic. I was very sad to hear that news but very grateful to hear that their second location is still open. 

In today’s post, I want to talk about something that has been sort of weighing on me. It’s about running your own race. Since I started the boutique in March I noticed that there are TONS and I mean TONS of other online boutiques! I noticed this during my online search to make sure that no one else had my blog or soon-to-be business name.  I mean it is incredible! There are so many out there and what’s unfortunate is that it will leave you thinking, “well what’s so different about your boutique?”

 

photo credit: Micheile Henderson

 

As I scroll through other websites, Facebook pages, and Instagram accounts, I begin to think long-term about what I want to accomplish with the blog and the boutique. Do I want to continue to do this? Where do I see this going in about 10 years? Will I still be in love with the website and the boutique? Do I have the stamina to continue with this and honestly compete? Because let’s just be honest. I am competing. 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

I am going to be honest. Finding your own voice in this overly saturated area is hard. There are a lot of boutiques that are wonderful and there are a lot that are terrible. We all have our opinions. But finding your voice and being able to run your race is the goal. My goal for the website has always been to inspire, to learn, and to share. What I love is not always popular and what I share is not always loved. But what I am sharing is my honest self. 

I remember when I was a little girl. I loved beautiful dresses and accessories but I never had access to it because of my home life. Now that I am older I find myself trying to bring those daydreams to life. And what I want to do is to be able to encourage my readers and followers to do the same. Don’t be afraid to be a lady. It’s more acceptable than you think. Everywhere I go someone is always staring and wondering. I see it and that’s okay. I remember when I was walking in Kroger and I had on a pair of small heels. One of the workers heard me walking down the aisle and when I got closer he said, “It’s been a long time since I heard a pair of heels and I love it”. I told him thank you but my inner man said, “wow”….

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

My goal for the boutique (right now) is to provide elegant options. I see many boutiques, and most of them I wouldn’t wear more than half of it! I am almost 40 years old. I don’t want a dress with graphics all on it and I don’t want a dress that I have to wear shorts under because it’s so short and I don’t want anything see-through. Now I know we will have those dresses where a slip is necessary (especially a white one) but for the most part, I don’t want to have to wear extra clothes to make up where a garment can not. 

Dressing in the mornings should be a wonderful treat. You should smile when you pull out a dress. My goal with my boutique is to help you produce that smile. I want you to smile when you pull out one of my dresses and know that you are going to be put together, that the garment can be trusted, and that you will feel a “simple elegance” to your appearance. Not over the top but just simple elegance. 

 

Mrs. Shockley, home. 

 

So these are the goals and now I must be able to find my voice in this boutique madness and run my race. I hope you all continue to come with me on the journey. 

 

Have a great weekend!