A Lovely Birthday ~ The Cake Bake Shop in Carmel

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Happy Monday Morning Everyone!


Thank you all for the wonderful birthday wishes! I had a great weekend. I didn’t do a whole lot but going to the Cake Bake Shop was everything. 

Walking into the shop this is what you saw. Grand chandeliers everywhere! Gwendolyn did not skimp on the glamour for this restaurant. 

Loved the mirrored walls and elegant sconces. They were everywhere!

This was our table. The tables and chairs were just as stylish as the walls and floors! I adored these salt and pepper shakers. I asked if they were available to purchase and they were! If you are interested here is the link.

Once seated I immediately ordered the sparkling lavender lemonade and it did not disappoint. It was delicious! I love lemonade that doesn’t taste like a cup of sugar! The hint of lavender was just enough. I loved the real fresh rose petals too!

I ordered the turkey and gruyere sandwich. It was on a toasted french baguette with maille dijon. It was served with an arugula salad lightly dressed with a lemon vinaigrette and parmesan cheese. Delicious!

I could not help myself. I ordered a side of the herb potato salad. It’s baby red potatoes with dill, Italian parsley, basil, green onions, lightly dressed with lemon. It was mixed with their homemade mayonnaise.  

My husband ordered the lemon parmesan chicken breasts with pommes frites. He also could not help himself and ordered a bowl of the chicken velvet soup. It was sooo delicious ladies! We ordered four bowls to go!

And lastly, for my birthday cake, I ordered the millionaire cake. It is three layers of Valrhona french chocolate with house-made caramel, vanilla bean buttercream, and house-made butter shortbread cookies. It was topped with Callebaut Belgian chocolate fudge, more shortbread, and caramel.  

Once we finished lunch I had to visit the ladies room. I know this is weird but I love beautiful bathrooms. Is that bad? This one had beautiful sconces and gold hardware. It was hard not to admire. 

Mrs. Gwendolyn’s article in Tea Time Magazine. 

Love the paint color and gold hardware!

Sorry I know it’s toilet paper but how chic!



Once I was finished in the ladies room, I decided to visit the bakery section of the restaurant. 
Tasteful Halloween decor in the bakery

Look at all of the lovely Lenox china. I really wanted the teapot but the price was a little scary.

More and more delicious desserts. We did grab a few of the macaroons before they sold out. 

I thought these snow globes were so charming!

Of course, I could not leave without seeing the teacups and saucers. 


I also loved these silicone spatulas! These would make great gifts!

Oh, the cookies and cream cake!

I still have not tried the red velvet cake. I really need to try that!
I took one more walkthrough before leaving.

The bar scene was pretty elegant also.

Of course, I could not leave without a teacup and saucer. These are pricey but I only purchased one which is enough. 

I also could not pass up these gorgeous pink pens and the ink is blue! Yay, my favorite!

It was a wonderful birthday lunch with my husband.

We enjoyed ourselves very much and look forward to returning.




Thanks for reading!

Cake Bake Shop Visit 2016

Cake Bake Shop Visit 2018




(photos via Mrs. Shockley)

A Lovely Friday

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My office bouquet this week

Good Morning!


It’s a lovely morning. I am taking the day off! I am so happy that I did. Today should be a great day (I hope)! I am going to take my daughter to school and then come back and make a lovely breakfast, get some housework finished, then head to the Cake Bake Shop for lunch!


I hope that it is just as lovely as the smaller location in Broad Ripple. My husband and I visited that location in 2016 and 2018. It is suppose to big bigger and have more items on the menu. I have been following the renovation from beginning to end on Instagram. Based off of the photos and videos it looks absolutely stunning. 


I will take as many photos as I can. I took a look at the menu and narrowed down my selections. For my drink, I plan on trying the sparkling lavender lemonade. For my entree, I am torn between the broccoli quiche and the turkey gruyere sandwich. I love her herb potato salad. It’s made with red potatoes which are my favorite. I also saw that she has the chicken velvet soup which is an L.S. Ayres Tea Room classic and for my cake selection this year I want to try the millionaire cake which has layers of French chocolate, in house carmel and homemade shortbread butter cookies. I am also looking forward to maybe buying one of her teacup and saucer sets but we will see if those are available. 

Lastly, there is a Goodwill nearby and I am hoping to slide in there and take a quick peek after lunch. My 37th birthday is Saturday ladies and I plan to do nothing but we will see! 


Enjoy your weekend!



(photo via Mrs. Shockley)

What Are You Reading?

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photo credit Tuft & Trim.com


Hello Everyone!



It’s been a busy week for me! I think I’m in the clear for right now and things are in order. In today’s post, I wanted to know what you ladies were reading?


Does anyone care to share what books they are reading or what audiobooks you are listening to? I have been toying with the idea of joining Audible. I have heard nothing but good things. 


I love the idea of listening to a great novel on my way to the office or on my way home. I try to listen to the world news about twice a week, jazz or classically music the rest. 




















So please if you would share in the comments section below whatever books, articles, and magazines that you are reading. And if you are using Audible, please share your thoughts and your concerns with us!


Thanks for reading!


September Favorites

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Good Morning All,


I’ve got a busy week this week. I am filling in for my friend while she is away. She is the executive assistant to the U.S. Attorney in our district. It always overwhelms me that she picked me to be her fill in for this. I am truly grateful and honored by it. 


I hope you all had a great weekend. It always feels like these weekends only last for one day. It goes by too fast. I am so excited you guys! I can’t wait to visit the Cake Bake Shop on Friday! I hope it is just as nice as the smaller location. 


Let’s get right into my favorites for the month of September….

First on my list is this new Estee Lauder replenish lip balm. Oh my do I adore this! My lips are so hydrated after using this and I love the hint of pink. So perfect!

Second on my list is this velvet wristlet by Ann Taylor Factory. It has sold out unfortunately so I can’t share the link. I am using this as my makeup bag for my tote. I think it will be a great addition to my autumn accessories. 

Third on my list is the beautiful faux pearl necklace from H&M. I could not find it online. This is the closest that I could find. Sorry… I only paid $5.99 for it and I think that it is so chic. 

Fifth on my list is my sophisticated and lovely cocktail ring that I found at the Toggery Consignment Store here in my city. I have no idea what it is or where it is from but it is wonderfully exquisite. 


My closet at home
And last on my list has been my closet. I have been purging like crazy. I am being really honest with myself as far as my clothes and my true style. The photo above is from last week. This is what I usually do. I place my clothes, accessories and shoes out for the next day. I always like having what I am going to wear in order. I don’t like go through my closet the day of. That is a nightmare to me. 

Other favorites have been fresh pears in the morning with my breakfast. My cherry blossom tea that I purchased while we were in D.C. in March. Some recent pink roses that I found at the organic store and did you guys hear that Lady and the Tramp will be released in November of this year? I hope that it will be good. It’s so hard to find good films to watch these days. 

I hope that you all have a great Monday and enjoy your day!


Thanks for reading!

(photos via Mrs. Shockley)

Daily Poise & Grace

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Another end to another week. I had a few people reach out to me regarding my blog post on Wednesday. A lot of people are having “people issues”. At least I know that it is universal and not just me. 


But honestly not to get too religious about this but the Lord warned us about this. “Men would become lovers of themselves.” We all have to be so careful about this. It can happen very easily to any of us but it is also so fascinating to watch. It is happening right in front of our very eyes. 


I have noticed that on some days I don’t want to be gracious or kind at all. I get so sick of people being rude and me just standing there. I did try something recently. There were a few people at a few locations who I always spoke too and they never spoke back. I stopped speaking to them and I noticed that the last few times I came by they were looking at me waiting for me to speak and when I didn’t they looked lost. 


So then I came in the third or fourth time they spoke. I just said hello and kept going. Interesting right? People are funny and I believe that the Lord is taking me on some odd journey with this. I don’t know why or what this is but I am trusting that I will pass this test or learn whatever it is I need to learn. 

photo credit Carolyne Roehm
I know this for sure. I must continue on my journey of being pleasant, gracious, respectful, and firm. There have been some recent situations where I believe I was “pushed” to be firm and the Lord still honored me in those circumstances. 

I also believe that he wants me to continue on with my path of beauty otherwise he would not have given me the gift to love beautiful things. 




photo credit Micheile Henderson 



So let’s continue friends. It’s hard I know but let’s continue to love beautiful things, share beautiful things and be beautiful things. 


Enjoy your weekend!

My Elegance Tested ~ Part 2

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Oh, the world is changing so much and the last several weeks have been really, really horrible. 






























So I will start with our homeless people here in my city. They have gotten really out of hand. They are really self-entitled (I hate to say that but it is true) and extremely aggressive. Now I have worked downtown for many years and I have never seen it this bad. My co-workers and I have had enough and we are not sure what to do. 

My first horrible incident was with a homeless woman who stood beside me at a stoplight. I was leaving Panera and she came and stood next to me. She tried to get my attention but I ignored her because most of our homeless people have been down here for YEARS and just continue to ask for money. 

Well, of course, she became irate and just began cussing me out. I continued to ignore her but she began to follow me and continued with her profanity. I turned and told her to go away but she just kept saying, “I can follow you if I want”. Oh boy…. so one of the Panera employees saw her following me and came running out of the store and told her to stop. She did but I had to grab the employee because they began to scream at her making the situation worse. 





photo credit Erol Ahmed 


The next time was a few weeks ago and I was in my car. Our city has shut down numerous highways and roads due to construction so everyone is upset and impatient. I was simply turning out of my parking lot trying to go home. Now because the traffic was so bad I could not turn completely turn into my lane so some of my vehicle was left into oncoming traffic. No big deal the individuals on the other side simply went around me. Well, there was a man in the OPPOSITE lane of me having a fit because my car was left into oncoming traffic. 

Here is the thing I was not in his lane, I was not turning in front of him and what I was doing did not in any way hinder him from moving forward. So he began screaming cuss words at me and I thought are you serious? I am not even in your lane buddy. I did not scream back but just waved him off. Well, he became even more ballistic because I was dismissing him and screamed even more. What was funny was that he did all of that yelling then he cut off some people and cut through the Arby’s parking lot! You can’t be serious! 

Here he was trying to yell at me for what he believed was a traffic violation but then committed his own. Wow… I say all of that to say this. The world is changing and some days you feel helpless. Not only is it people around you but it’s your family and co-workers too.





photo credit: Guillaume Lorain 


I wanted to scream at both individuals in both of these cases but I didn’t. I maintained a quiet spirit and kept my dignity. It is not always easy but I pray constantly. I don’t want to let people like that win. I always tell myself, “you will never see this person again in about 10 minutes”. Maintain, maintain. 

Now with co-workers and families, it’s harder and tricker. But during those times I weigh my relationship with that person and if I need to continue it. In the work area, I in most cases ignore classless co-workers and that bothers them but they get my point.  

I hope sharing these stories inspires you and lets you know that you are not alone. Please share your “elegance tested” stories below. I would love to hear how you all rise above it!

If you wish to read my first post about being tested, you may view it here and about my classless co-worker (who is still classless) you may read that here.


Have a great Wednesday and remember to rise above it!

Floral Wall Decals

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Hello and Good Morning!


Thank you to everyone who reached out and gave wonderful comments about my bag. I really appreciate it! I hope you guys enjoyed the Youtube video as well. 


Before I jump into today’s post I just wanted to share how some porn people are back on my blog again! Geez… I got some new followers on Bloglovin and they all have these Russian porn sites connected to their names. Some guy named Jake, some person name Gion, and some person name Claudia. All have some porn connection. Yes, I am calling you out. Get off my page! I don’t want your support. Go away!!! Now back to my regular program. 


Today I wanted to share a small recent project that my husband and I attempted to do. A few weekends ago we took a visit to Ikea which most of you know I am not a huge fan of. My step-son had never been and we wanted to take him for a visit. 


I looked at a few things and I must say that I do like a lot of their kitchen setups and huge islands. I wrote about some of my favorite things here if you wish to read it. 


Ikea is a great place for college students or for couples or individuals who are just starting out. I think that their kitchen basic utensils are wonderfully priced and have great quality. 


When we were there last week we decided to just look around. I saw a few things but then I found these wall decals and thought, “this might be a good way for me to get wallpaper”!

These peony decorative stickers looked so great at the store. I thought about how I would love to have them at home. 

So we purchased about three and brought them home and began to piece them together. You have to come up with your own combination. Each peony is in pieces but it gives you the opportunity to create the size and variation that you want. 



They were bigger than expected. 


And the verdict is…..no. Here is the thing. I don’t think that they are ugly. They are quite lovely but it’s not the look that I am going for. I really want some wallpaper and I really want chinoiserie. 

These for some reason to me just look really cheap in this area and I think that they would be great in a college dorm room and a girl’s bedroom at home. That’s just my opinion. 

If you are interested in these I provided the link above. Again, Ikea is a great place for affordable home decor but not if you love antiques. 


Thanks for reading!
(photos via Mrs. Shockley)