Evening Reading: A New Book

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Good Morning!

Whew has it been a week for me! I am still working on micro-managing my daughter and it has been tough. I have been practically doing Algebra with her. A few days ago we had a Google meet with her teacher that lasted about 3 hours! I have never done Math that long a day in my life! But I love my kid and want her to succeed.

As you can see from the photo above my book finally arrived! It took longer than a week to get here but alas it’s finally here. I have started to read it and it is wonderful. I still can’t believe that Alexandra wrote this back in the 80’s. 














photo credit Melnychuk Nataliya 

Each week I would like to share little tidbits from the book. I have only read a few pages and I found so many wonderful “nuggets” that I had to share them. The first thing that Alexandra discussed was rituals. I talked about this on the blog a few times ( see here and here). She said, ” Instead of rushing through our lives to get somewhere- instead of saving up real living for later- I think it’s important to remember that each single day is all we have. Single days experienced fully add up to a lifetime lived deeply and well”. 

I like that…. lived deeply and well… 


















photo credit Anthropologie

She went on and talked about rituals and making every day lovely. But I have to share one small story that she discussed. She talked about her friend who has made bill paying into a ritual. She said, “She puts Brahms on her stereo, she placed an arrangement of flowers on her desk, she dresses in a fresh blouse and skirt so she is actually ready to mail her bills (keep in mind no online bill-paying) as soon as she’s finished. She has elevated a necessary task- bill paying- into a ritual through the details surrounding how she does it”. 

I love that small story and I am sure that there are many in this book. I also noticed that at the end of each chapter she has a section called ” Grace Notes”. I am sure that I will be sharing those. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and enjoy the everyday! 

A Flower Refresh ~ Part 2

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Good Morning Everyone,

I decided to take Monday off from the blog and go to Hobby Lobby. I wanted to take a look at some Christmas ornaments because they were on sale for 40%! I found some really good items for my trees and some items for a wreath to put out on the front porch. 

Last Wednesday I mentioned that I was on the hunt for some faux magnolias. Well at first I went to Michaels then Hobby Lobby. I found some there but they were quite expensive. So I ended up going to Walmart for a few things and found the magnolia stems below. Aren’t they gorgeous!?

These are the magnolia stems from Mainstays are they are super affordable! There are other stems that are available if you can’t purchase these. There are these and these beautiful pink ones. I also added a beautiful faux fern bush to make the arrangement lusher. 

This is the new arrangement in our bedroom. Most of these stems were from Hobby Lobby. The last time that I did a flower refresh was in 2019 which was not that long ago. I noticed that my home decor style is beginning to change. It could be that I am about to step into a new decade. The flower refresh that I did last year was for my office. I have a few more arrangments that I will be changing out but I am not in a hurry. 

I hope this inspires you all to take a second look at faux flowers. They have really come a long way. 




(photos via Mrs. Shockley)



Scarves from Poshmark

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Good Morning Ladies,

Today’s post was prompted by one of my very dedicated readers and friend. She is on the hunt for some elegant yet affordable scarves on Poshmark and wanted me to share what I purchased.

Now I thought I had more but looks like I only purchased 3. I checked my Poshmark purchase history and realized that I had only purchased 3 scarves. That’s okay, I love them all. So here we go…

This is the very first silk scarf purchase that I made on Poshmark. This is a vintage Coach scarf that I paid about $50 for. It actually came with the vintage box and is “31×31”. It is the perfect size for me. 

I always get compliments on it when I wear it. 

The second scarf purchase that I made was another Coach scarf. This is called the Coach Signature Bloom Flower Scarf and I paid $30 for it. I loved the “C”s and the colors!

The flowers look like peonies almost! It is so pretty in person. 

And the last scarf purchase… so far is the Ann Taylor polka dot silk scarf. I paid $23 for it and it was brand new with tags. The size is 41×5.5. It also looks great tied to my handbags. 

I hope this helps you Mya and thanks for reading the blog all these years! The last two scarves were purchased brand new but I am not opposed to a used scarf. I love vintage ones so “used” does not bother me at all. I think Ebay and Poshmark are the best places to buy silk scarves. I especially love Poshmark. I love being able to negotiate. 

I hope you all enjoyed this post. I am off on Monday for Labor Day and will be venturing back to Hobby Lobby. They have their Christmas ornaments out for 40% off and I want to go and get a few. I know it’s early but this is the best time to get those items. I am also going to be going through my kitchen cabinets. I purchased some new plate charges from Hobby Lobby and I need to create an “entertaining cabinet”. I want to organize and get all of my entertaining items together in the same area. Wish me luck!

Have a great long weekend!

(photos via Mrs. Shockley)

A Target Run…

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Hello Everyone,

It’s September, yay! I hope this will be a great month. I am looking forward to the cooler and non-humidity days. My husband has been hinting around to birthday ideas. I gave him a few but I really don’t want much this year. I would love to have world peace but that’s a bit much to ask for now. 


I was scrolling through Liketoknowit and saw the photo below from one of the bloggers that I follow. 

I immediately fell in love with the magnolia branches. She said that they are from Target and that they were only $5 per stem! The problem was that they were sold out online so I thought, well I will just check out my local Target tomorrow. 

Well, I went you guys and found out that these are from last year and that they didn’t have them in stock either. What a shame but I walked around Target. I realized that I don’t come to Target often. I visit the same stores all the time. 


While walking around I found this beautiful blooming peony & cherry scent from Glade! I have never seen this before! I grabbed 4 packs! 

The next gorgeous scent that I found was this cranberry air spray from Febreze! So nice!
And the fantastic finds didn’t stop there. I was recently checking out the new mum scent for Mrs. Meyers and I found it at Target! It is so good you guys!

I realized that I have not had a “car scent” in over a year so I found these little vent clips from Febreze. They work great! Love them!

And I finally stepped into the 21st century. So my earbuds went “kerplunk” on me so I had to get a new pair. I was searching all over Target for the pair that you can actually plug into your phone but they didn’t have those anymore. I am an “old school” when it comes to some things. So I finally bit the bullet and purchased a pair of wireless earbuds! Now the link that I am providing is from a different website because Target does not offer these online but they are the same earbuds. I only paid $10 for them and they work great! 

And lastly, I could not help it but I picked up the “coming up roses” Day Designer. Now, this particular design is sold out online but my black and gold one is available and so is the classic stripe one. 

I’ve got to get to Target more often! I am still on the hunt for magnolia branches and will probably pay a visit to Michaels later this week. I hope you all enjoyed these great home finds. Have a great Wednesday!

(photos via Mrs. Shockley & Liketoknowapp.)

My Easy Week Day Dinner

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Good Morning Everyone,

I hope you all had a great weekend. Roses were on sale at my local grocery store for $6 a dozen! I had to get a few for home. 

Ahhh September will begin this week. I am hoping for cooler temperatures. I have been so desperate to open some windows but it has been much too hot!  

Today I just wanted to share one of my weekly dinner go-to’s. I love having an easy yet healthy dinner during the week. I really don’t like eating out so I try to have meals planned to stop my husband! 

One of my favorite meals is my roasted chicken, veggies, and steam rice meal. It is so easy and is ready in less than an hour. 


So I always buy chicken breast tenderloins. I noticed that they are much smaller and cook faster. I use to buy chicken breasts but I noticed that they were getting bigger and I didn’t like that. Also, they took longer to cook. 

I place the tenderloins in a baking pan but I do spray it with some Pam Olive Oil cooking spray. I love it. After that, I pour on some extra virgin olive oil, Montreal chicken seasoning, and some Lawry’s seasoned salt on both sides of the chicken tenderloin. 

It’s then placed in the oven at 400 degrees for about 45 minutes.

This is how it comes out. I also roast broccoli, carrots, or whatever vegetables we have. I buy a lot of frozen bag veggies. They roast great in the oven. We also have a rice steamer that cooks our rice in minutes. This is a family favorite and works well. 


I hope you all enjoyed this quick meal idea and try some of those seasonings. You might be pleasantly surprised! 

Have a great Monday!
(photos via Mrs. Shockley)

Elegant Pieces Under $50

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Hello Everyone,

So my last to Gal meets Glam dresses arrived and I could not be happier. They are soo pretty. I will show them later. I know some of you have been on the hunt on Poshmark trying to find similar dresses so I wanted to help out. Below are some recent internet finds…

Charming Charlie has resurfaced from bankruptcy (I believe) and you can now shop and order online! I found a few wonderful items on their website. 

V Neck Vintage Inspired Button Front Dress | Charming Charlie

The first is this Gal meets Glam inspired dress. I saw this and really wanted to order it for myself but they did not have my size. This is the V- Neck Vintage-Inspired Dress. It appears to have great reviews and looks absolutely lovely. 

3/4 Sleeve Floral Wrap Dress | Charming Charlie

The second is this gorgeous floral wrap dress in this beautiful olive color. This would be perfect for everyday wear or even a wedding. I seriously considered ordering this as well. They have my size but I need to slow down on ordering dresses!


Amazon.com: Charming Charlie Women's Glass Rhinestone Stud ...

If you need a pair of rose gold earrings these open flower rhinestone would be a perfect fit. 

Christian Siriano New York Christian Siriano Women's Analog Rosegold-Tone MOP Stainless Steel Mesh Watch 38mm

Lastly, if you are in need of a watch I saw this incredibly chic stainless steel watch for $65. Not quite under $50 but pretty close. The original price was $150. I know right now this watch is $150 on the Macy’s website. 

Charming Charlie also has these beautiful satin masks to wear for your Covid essentials. I am also interested in this facial pore vacuum. That sounds interesting. 

I hope you all enjoyed this post and like the dresses that I picked out. I hope someone was able to find something that they would enjoy! Happy weekend!



(photos via Charming Charlie.com)

August Favorites ~ 2020

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Good Morning,

I hope everyone is well. I tell you what… this homeschooling thing is hard! I believe that I told you guys that I am micro-managing my daughter and her assignments. It has not been fun but each night or every other night we have a “review day”. It’s where we go over the next few days’ assignments. We are getting through it and are getting into a schedule. 

Alright, enough about “adulting” and let’s get into my favorites this month. August flew right by and I had to ask myself what did I enjoy this month. There were a lot of things but I wanted to share these. 

The first is my daily lunch. I did not know how good scrambled eggs and avocado were together. My goodness! I have been eating this sandwich daily for lunch. 

It is so yummy! The next is this beautiful Youtube channel of Shirinatra! Shirin is a beautiful young vintage enthusiast from Germany. She has great taste and wonderful videos. This video has been one of my favorites. 


I hope you enjoy her style and channel!


Third has been my new chinoiserie inspired canvas! If you have followed my blog for a long time then you know how much I have been on the hunt for one of these! They are so expensive but my good friend called me and told me about this particular canvas and that it was available at the At Home Store. 
If you have had the desire to own one of these then click on the link above. It is absolutely beautiful in person!


Seven on Sunday - The Enchanted Home
My heart is still set on owning one like this and I believe that one day I will!
Fourth has been, of course, my Gal meets Glam dresses! I shared in Monday’s post that I was able to get a third dress. Well as of this morning I now have a fourth one on the way! I made an offer on the pink version of the dress pictured above and they accepted my offer! I can’t believe it! I love these dresses and hope that the two new ones that are on the way will fit well. 


Okay, now on to my fifth favorite. I shared in my recent Youtube video about my weight loss journey (down 5lbs. so far 20 more to go) and the new body analyzer scale that I found online. 

This scale tells you your weight, body fat %, bone density, muscle mass, and water weight. I seriously thought that I was going to be mostly water. Umm no. I quickly learned that I don’t get enough water! Something else to add to my list. 

And lastly is my (new to me) vintage mirror. I picked this up a new antique store that I found earlier this month. I only paid $30 for it and it is huge! I love the way it looks in my office. 

I hope you all enjoyed my favorites for this month and found a few new ones for yourself!

Have a great day!




(photos via Mrs. Shockley & Pinterest)