Rose ~ Soft Lip Cream

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Good Morning,


I hope everyone had a great holiday. We kept things simple. We grilled some steaks, corn, hotdogs, and hamburgers. I cut up a watermelon, made baked beans, chips and we had ice cream. A very simple day. It was so hot this weekend and we are not expected to get any rain for days now. 


I hate the summer but I try to make the most of it. I also went through my house and took note of things that need to be done. I went through my closet again and donated lots of clothes to the Goodwill. 


It’s always nice to have an orderly closet. I also made a few purchases this week which I plan on sharing soon. The first is this lovely rose lip cream from Fresh.

I have been “stalking” this on Instagram for quite some time now. It just looked so beautiful and I love anything to do with roses. 

I ordered my lip cream from Instagram and got free shipping!
It comes in a beautiful blush container and it is quite a large size! I was so pleased when I opened the box. 

It is a wonderful cream and I have been wearing it for a week. I love it! The scent is very light so you won’t be overwhelmed with roses. 

The Fresh Company always has great products and I have never been disappointed by one. I hope you can grab a container to try. It is quite elegant. 


Enjoy!

(photos via Mrs. Shockley)

An Office Find ~ A Vintage Table

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Good Morning Everyone,


I am off today, YES! I am so happy. I have quite a few errands to run today. I have to pick up my dress from the seamstress, grocery shop, and pay a visit to HomeGoods.


I purchased a new vintage table for my office last week. The one I had was too small (see my Youtube office tour below). The table served me well but I needed more room. 

I saw this table at the antique store last week. I thought it would be perfect for my office but I was not quite sure. Now that I have moved it in here it looks good! 




I have more surface room which was a must!

Underneath the tablecloth is an old vintage table that was green. The previous owner then painted it white which looks much better I think. 

And there is a shelf for my vases! I must admit that is what sold me. I needed more room for my vases and had no other place in my office for them. It’s great!

You will notice in my Youtube video that I got rid of the previous chairs. For one they belong to the office and for two they were too small. Our rears could barely fit in those. Talk about a shot to your ego. Those chairs seriously made you consider diet and exercise all the time. Also, I didn’t need two chairs. I hardly have more than one visitor so I thought I could free up some room by getting rid of both of those chairs and bringing in one of mine that I loved. 

I think it turned out great. Now I am on the hunt for a new lamp and mirror. I like the gold one but it doesn’t “sing” to me. 


I hope you all enjoy your holiday and your weekend!




(photos via Mrs. Shockley)



Pending Plans

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Good Morning,




Sighing….. I have become antsy these last several weeks. Being quarantine has not been fun but I know it has been necessary and with Covid still spreading I feel like wanting to leave my state is a crime. 


At first, my husband and I decided that we were not going to go anywhere for vacation. He does not want to wear a mask and I don’t want to worry. But then I remember how our daughter has never been to an amusement park. 


We took her to Disney in 2013 but she has never been to Kings Island or Kentucky Kingdom. She has never been on a roller coaster and has been craving to experience one for a while now. 

So we began making plans to take her to Kings Island. We planned on arriving early, spending the day there, and then getting a room for the night at a nearby hotel. In the morning we were going to get up and head to the nearby outlet mall. 



























Now I do not intend on riding any roller coasters. Been there done that, no interest. It’s about Lauren getting her experience. I hate roller coasters!


That was going to be the extent of our trip. Well, then my step-son mentioned the Biltmore. He really enjoyed it and wanted to revisit! Shocker to me! I would have never thought he would have liked that place. Too old and stuffy, quite not. Since he is starting his second year in college and is studying architecture he has become enamored with structures. 



So here we are adding the Biltmore to our trip! We went to the Biltmore in 2016, see here, here, and here. I loved it and certainly didn’t think we would be back so soon. 

Also, I also planned on visiting this place again for antiquing. I absolutely loved it. 

This place has been added to our list. It’s called Looking Glass Falls. It’s a huge waterfall that you can walk up to and swim in. I don’t plan on swimming but hope to find a rock nearby and just take in the scenery. 

Apparently, North Carolina has about 60 waterfalls around. That’s quite a bit. I also looked into taking a tour in a hot air balloon! But after seeing those prices….. no thanks.





























Well, these are our plans so far. We will see how things go. I don’t know if the world is going to fall apart again so I am being very open to that. I hope a second quarantine doesn’t happen but you never know. 

Enjoy your day! Also, let me know if you have any summer plans. 



(photos via Mrs. Shockley)




June Favorites ~ 2020

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Good Morning Everyone,


I hope you all enjoyed your weekend. I ran a lot of errands on Saturday. My cousin texted me about a new antique shop that she found. The photo that she sent had tons of blue and white in it. I had to go and visit but they were closed!


I don’t understand why so I am hoping that they will reopen soon. All right let’s get into my favorites for the month of June. 


I know everyone may get tired of seeing this but I just love my April Cornell blue and white tea set from Victoria Magazine. I use it every day! It’s hard not to. 

My second favorite are my new customized cell cases from Etsy. 
I did order a second one. 

They are lovely. My third favorite was and of course PEONIES!!!

I have enjoyed them this year despite the limited amounts I was able to buy. They were dreadfully expensive this year!

A fourth favorite was outlet mall shopping. We did a little as soon as some of the stores were allowed to open. It was quite nice having only a few people allowed at a time. It felt like you had more of the store to yourself and were able to look around more. 


I purchased this beautiful Coach wallet and Coach scarf. 

And last was my comfy and feminine milkmaid dress from Walmart.  I LOVE this dress! I have worn it several times already. I can’t help it. It’s so beautiful and lightweight. It has been perfect for these hot humid days now.  


I seriously think I need to purchase a second one. I hope you all enjoyed my favorites for the month. I know here soon I will be taking some time off. I do enjoy taking time away from work and the blog. Don’t get me wrong I do love my blog but sometimes finding inspiration can be quite burdensome. 

Especially with all of the upsetting things in the news. Have a great Monday everyone!






(photos via Mrs. Shockley)





A Little Antiquing….

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Gosh, it’s Friday already. This week went by really fast. Today I have to go into the office for a bit and then I have a hair appointment with my daughter. I am just getting a trim. I haven’t had one since January of this year so I am due. 


I really don’t have anything planned this weekend. With Covid still lurking around, I am still a little nervous about going places. I have been on the Tubi app on my t.v. trying to find “good” movies to watch. It’s been really hard but I have been watching a lot of movies from the ’80s and early ’90s. 


I posted on my Instagram page last weekend the beautiful treasures that I picked up at a local antique store. I only paid about $22 for everything. I love antiquing. It gives me such peace and allows me to step back in time. 

I managed to find this beautiful picture of a flower, love the gold frame, this beautiful bust, and this gold cup which I didn’t realize at the time that it had someone’s name on it. 

It says “Pete” but it is so faint no one will notice it. I plan on using the cup as a holder for pens on my desk and the picture will go in our bathroom. 

The beautiful bust has found her way into my office. 

She looks quite comfy and chic on my table with family photos. I love adding pearls to a bust. I think it’s so fun and unexpected. Plus who doesn’t look good in pearls? 

I hope you all enjoy your weekend and if you want to let me know what your plans are below. I have been wanting to take a picnic for months now. Has anyone done that yet?
(photos via Mrs. Shockley)

Thoughts on my Youth

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photo credit This is Glamorous



Today I wanted to be honest and open in my post. Do you ever think about things you wish you could have done differently?


For me, I married young and had our daughter at age 22. At that age, most people are still in college and still have some sort of freedom. When I moved out of my mother’s home at age 19 I had only lived in my apartment for about 6 months before my husband and I started dating. 


He already had been married and had two children. They were 6 and 3 at the time. About 9 months later he asked me to marry him. Now I will be honest, I did not want to at the time. I thought why in the world would I do this. I was still young and still had my own dreams and goals. 



























photo credit Ulker Mammadova 





But I did and here we are 16 years later. The boys are gone and our daughter will be starting her sophomore year in high school this coming fall. I heard a quote recently from Beyonce that made me sit and ponder for a few days (see the interview here). She said, “Make sure that you have your own life before you become someone’s wife”. 


How do you guys feel about that comment? Never mind who said it… but what do you think about it? It for one moment made me think, did I do that? Did I have my own life? And the truth is… I didn’t. 

Now please hear my heart I am not mad at my husband nor do I regret where we are today. But as I think back I wish I had someone back then telling me to explore the world, take chances, and take risks! 
My heart still craves adventure and for taking chances but now since I am almost 40 everything has to be a calculated step because it will affect my family, not just me. 




























photo credit Zay



Now I have gone to the Lord in prayer and asked, what shall I do? Here I am Lord, wishing that I had studied abroad, lived in a different country, explored the world around me, but can I still do that? I keep telling myself, there is still hope.


Now that I have almost finished my “motherly duties” and once my daughter is settled in her college life then maybe the Lord will allow me some “adventure time”. I want to do things in his will so maybe the early marriage and early motherhood was the purpose he had for me. 


There is something grand about being finished early in life. A lot of my co-workers who are in the late ’30s and early ’40s have very young children. They are tired constantly and have had to give up things now instead of early on. One of my co-workers who is the same age as me has a 1-year-old. Prior to his arrival, she had an extra bedroom that was her entire closet!

At the same time, I was getting those new closet cabinets I came into the office so excited, and then she shared how she had to change her closet into a nursery for the baby. I felt bad immediately. But then I realized we made different choices in life. She studied abroad, lived in Japan, and went on trips. While she was doing all of that, I was at home with a newborn and two step-sons. But now I see that we are about to flop lives and that is okay. 

So I will say this. I am learning that the Lord has a different plan for each of us. I still don’t understand why my plan turned out this way but I am hopeful that I will know in the end. I do know this. I am telling my daughter that she does not have to marry early and have kids. “Have your own life before you become someone’s wife”. Go out and see the world, enjoy it!


What are your thoughts?














Using Your Best…

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Good Morning Everyone,


You know… it just dawned on me that I am starting year 7 for the blog. Wow… I have been doing this 7 years already. With all of the issues and concerns in the world going on today I think our minds are just on overload. 


While it seems that the world is going crazy, I am still trying to live my life the way I want to. The photo above is a little shopping that I did at Homegoods. I have not been to Homegoods since February. It felt wonderful just walking around. I have been on the lookout for hand towels for my home. 


I am still trying to use my best…. every day. 


These pink towels have been the rave on the LiketoKnowit app. I was very pleased to find them for only $10 when they are selling for $60 on Wayfair. 


I am a true believer in using your best things. I have written about it since I started this blog.




A beautiful Waterford table linen that I found at Homegoods for only $22. I love the hydrangea detail. 



I think that if your heart requests beautiful things you will receive them. 




I placed it on our table at home…. why not use it? 






I made a roasted chicken dinner and I pulled out my Royal Albert Old Country Roses dinner plates. My husband always says, “oh we get to use these tonight”. I tell him these are no different to me than the other plates we have. I want my family to get use to this. Use your best always…..



Enjoy your day!




(photos via Mrs. Shockley)