Elegant Evaluating

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It’s the beginning of a new year and I don’t make new year resolutions but I do begin to evaluate for the upcoming year. I make mental goals and ask myself questions….

photo credit Ilyas Bolato 

1) How is my health? Am I exercising enough? Have I been consistent? 


2)  How are my eating habits? Am I getting enough sleep? Do I drink enough water?


3) Am I happy with my wardrobe? 


4) Where am I with my faith? 


5) Do I need to change my career goals? 






photo credit Alyssa Hurley 
6) How is my daughter doing? Does she have what she needs? Do I pay attention to her enough? Is she afraid to tell me things?




photo credit Pinterest 

And honestly, I can go on and on. Here is the thing. I am constantly evaluating. Not just at the beginning of the year but on a monthly basis. I am constantly asking myself questions. 


But honestly doing this keeps me honest with myself. I recently went on a “purging spree”. I got rid of a lot of clothes in my closet that just wasn’t fitting well. I start saying to myself, ” Are you really going to wear that. Let’s just be honest here”. With me having that conversation with myself I was able to let go of some of the pieces that needed to go. I will donate most of it to Goodwill, some will go to Poshmark and I did take a few pieces to my seamstress Mrs. Sunny. There were 3 dresses that I just LOVED but the top part was too loose. So I asked her to turn those pieces into skirts. I pick them up later this week. Fingers crossed!
photo credit Mrs. Shockley 



I also began to talk with myself about “bogus shopping“! It’s a quote that I came up with when I began to purge some of the clothes, shoes and purses that I kept. Some of the items that I purchased were apart of bogus shopping. I purchased it because it was on sale, or I felt like I “needed” to buy something because I hadn’t made a purchase in a while (maybe like a week), just stupid spending. That could have been a lot of money that I could have saved. Even today I was at HomeGoods looking at all of the Christmas ornaments on sale. I began to say to myself, don’t start “bogus shopping“! Buy only what you love, and I did. I am very happy with my purchases. 

photo credit Mrs. Shockley 


Then last week I did a “home purge”. There were a lot of things taking up space in closets, pantries, and cabinets. It was a lot of home decor that I didn’t need. So I bagged all of it up and will donate it this week. I now have a lot more room in my cabinets. I only want the items that I use. I will also begin an “office purge” this week. I need to get rid of the items in my office too.



I have also been thinking about making appointments and seeing specialists this year. I have made an appointment with my doctor to review my cholesterol and other levels. I am also having issues with my legs. I had my daughter take a photo of the back of my leg and I have a few varicose veins. Oh no! So I made an appointment about that. I heard that natural witch hazel could help with those. So I purchased a bottle and I have been seeing results! Fingers crossed!

I have also made this a year to have my first professional facial. I have never had one, shocking I know. So that is on my list too! I look forward to making some changes and to see where some of my new decisions will take me. I hope that this inspires you too!


December Favorites

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I hope you all had a great Christmas! I did…. I was so worn out from all the cooking. I try to explain to my husband that there is a lot of work that goes into putting up Christmas trees, decorating, meal planning, cooking, and wrapping presents. I enjoy it all but it is a lot of work.

Well I wanted to start of this week with my December favorites. I have enjoyed sharing my monthly favorites with everyone. It does force you to take account of items or events that you have enjoyed for the month.

First on my list is….

my bedroom in high school. This was my room when I was 18. I pulled out this picture recently and posted it to my Instagram account. I could not believe it. It’s been so long since I have seen this picture. I graduated from high school in 2001 so it’s not that long ago but it is. When I look at it I see….. a young girl who has not changed at all. 

At the time of this photo I had actually just graduated from high school and was finally able to work full time at my current office now. I was a student assistant at the U.S. Attorney’s Office during my junior year and senior year in high school. I also worked there during my first year of college. I left around my second year of college and began working as a legal assistant at a private law firm. The lead attorney actually offered me the job in my 20th birthday. This photo holds so many memories. This was actually the first time I was able to have my own bedroom. My sister and I always shared a room but our mother had moved into a bigger home with more rooms. I was so excited to decorate. This makes me smile…. 
Second on my list is my surprise bouquet of peonies! I found these earlier this week. It is so rare to find peonies during this season. I had a huge smile on my face when I walked into the grocery store and saw these. So happy!!!
Third on my list are these elegant Kate Spade earrings. I found these at Von Maur a few weeks ago. They are called the full flourish flower stud and the studded pearl earrings.  Both are comfortable and lovely. 
Fourth on my list is my blue and white wrapping paper from the Enchanted Home. I purchased this last year and was so excited to use it. It looks stunning in person! 
Fifth on my list is this pin that I saw on Pinterest. Now I LOVE these lace stockings but I am so torn. I can see myself wearing these with my leopard print pumps, black flowing skirt, white collar shirt, pearls and cardigan. But my question is are these too sexy for the office? I don’t know. I tried to imagine one of my co-workers wearing these or maybe one of our attorneys and ask myself would I be offended or think that these stockings are too sexy. What are your thoughts? Be honest. 
And last but certainly not least is this scene from a movie called Princess that was released in 2008. It’s a cute little movie. I watched it one day with my daughter while folding laundry. This movie is about a princess that protects mythological creatures. While I was watching it this scene appeared and for some reason it dazzled me. I love the decor in the background, the silver teapot that “Nana” is holding, the blue and white tea set and the elegant pink blush scarf that Princess Ithaca is wearing. This scene was just so elegant to me. It has so much grace and poise. I had to take a picture of it. Loved it!   
Well I hope that you enjoyed my list of favorites for the month of December. I can’t believe that I will now be starting my 5th year of blogging!!! I can’t believe it! I was just telling my husband that I will be blogging 5 years this coming March. Even he was shocked! I hope that I can continue to bring beautiful content for 2019. 
(photos via Mrs. Shockley & Pinterest)
November Favorites


October Favorites


September Favorites


August Favorites


July Favorites

Have a Lovely Christmas

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photo credit Dilayara Garifullina 
It’s Friday!!! Yeah! I have a 5-day weekend ahead of me and I am soooo looking forward to it. Christmas is in a few days and I am looking forward to spending time with my family. I have such a busy schedule for the next few days so I am going to take some time off from the blog. My day designer is packed with ideas and tasks that I want to complete for the next few days.

I am hosting Christmas Eve dinner with my husband’s family. His grandfather passed away earlier this year and his 88-year-old grandmother always cooks Christmas Eve dinner for us so this year I decided to take the reigns since it has been such a rough year for her. I am hoping that this will help her a little. This has been her first holiday season without Grandpa Leroy. It’s going to be different for us all.



One of my co-workers shared this recipe with me. It is called slow cooker pumpkin white hot chocolate. I am really looking forward to making this for Christmas Eve dinner so fingers crossed! I know that it sounds like it should be more of a fall kind of drink but why not. 


I hope that you all enjoy your holidays with your families and thank you all for reading my blog. Honestly, I have my moments when I don’t feel inspired and don’t want to write anymore but I keep going because I want to stay committed to what I am doing and I love meeting new like-minded friends on here. 


Please enjoy your holidays and Merry Christmas! See you in January!
(photos via Pinterest)

The Civil Life

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photo credit Aerin Lauder Instagram


Sorry for the no post on Monday. I have been so busy here at home trying to get ready for the holidays. Last night I decided to wrap presents. Apparently, you use different muscles when you wrap presents. I am so sore from it! It is the strangest thing.

So in November, I mentioned some books that I was interested in reading. I did order the Inviting Life and the second book that I ordered is the Civility Solution; What to do When People Are Rude and I must admit I have NOT been able to put it down.

In the opening part of the book, the author P.M. Forni (who just passed away on December 1), starts with this….
“Rudeness may be everybody’s everyday problem, but millions remain unprepared for their encounters with it. This book aims to help you find exactly what rudeness is and how it works. Most important, you will learn how to defend yourself effectively and civilly from its daily challenges. Being civil is a sterling strategy for rudeness prevention. If you are respectful and considerate, most of the people with whom you come in contact will be motivated to be the same in return. When rudeness can’t be prevented, civility is still your best choice, as the stories that follow over and over again….. 

Mr. Forni then goes into a story from his life. He talked about how on some airplanes there is a sign giving a suggestion, not a regulation on being a courtesy. The key words are “as a courtesy” and “we suggest”- nothing more than a gentle prodding. But why should we clean out a basin that a perfect stranger will use next? Why spend time and energy on something that does not benefit us directly? Because it is the right thing to do. Being courteous to the next passenger is its own reward, the sole incentive. A remarkable notion!  


I know that I never leave a sink without wiping it down before I leave. It’s common courtesy and it shows that you are neat and care about order.

photo credit Brigitte Tohm 

I am still in the first chapter of the book but it is so wonderful. I am especially loving the section called “Unfocused Rudeness”. I experienced that this weekend when my daughter and I attended the Nutcracker Ballet. People were still on their cell phones during some of the show and showing up 40 minutes after it started!!! Come on people, really! 

This book has been such a pleasure to read. I also wanted to share some of the chapters that Mr. Forni discusses. 

Look at some of these chapters…. Your Spouse takes Your Housework for Granted (oh my), Your Mother in Law Criticizes You, Your Child Talks Back to You… 

The New Neighbors are Noisy, Your Boss Reprimands You in Public, Your Colleague in the Next Cubicle is Noisy (yep been there)…. 

A Supervisor is being Unfair, Another Driver is Tailgating You (not everyone at once), and my friend got a kick out of this chapter, “The Infamous Finger Makes an Appearance“. There are more great chapters but I didn’t want to keep going. I just had to share this book with everyone. I got a pretty good feeling that this one will be one of the “great ones” for me. I hope you enjoy it!
(photos via Mrs. Shockley)

Fur Boot Socks

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It’s cold, it’s cold! And it’s a horrible feeling when your feet are cold. I was (once again) perusing through the mall and I spotted these beautiful things.

Aren’t they fantastic? The are called faux  fur cut boot socks and they are by Hunter. I just loved them! They looked so warm and chic. 
They also have them in black! Oh I had to have a pair. I quickly asked the sales associate if they sold these separately and she said yes!!! 
So when I got home I tried them on of course. This is what they looked like on. Very comfortable and warm. I then realized that I didn’t want to wear them with my rubber boots but with my fur brown boots. I normally wear those when it begins to snow here and I don’t mind getting them wet or stained. So I begin to wonder if I could fold these down into that pair. 
And I could. I have been wearing these all week and people keeping asking me about my boots. I kind of laugh and say, “No it’s not the boots, it’s the socks”. They are a great investment if you live in cold climates and they look great. 
I hope that you enjoyed this find and are able to go and take a look at these. They are quite nice and stylish. 
Enjoy!!

(photos via Mrs. Shockley)

Pearl Gloves

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Are any of you like me? You lose gloves? I know I do but that does not stop me from buying them. Like these pretty pearlized crystal gloves from Ann Taylor. 
I love pearls and these have just enough “sparkle” on them. Now I know that I will have to keep my eye on them. I don’t want to lose these. 
They are very comfortable and are long. I do like the “long” look. I don’t feel like they are too short for my coat. 
They are a pretty gray or what the site is calling “burnt charcoal” color. They are a very neutral color and will probably match with any color coat you may have. I was able to purchase them for about $20 which is great for me. 
I do hope that you enjoyed this find and are able to pop on over to Ann Taylor. Your gloves can be elegant too right?


(photos via Mrs. Shockley)

A Lovely Mind

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I was recently listening to a conversation between a co-worker and my supervisor. They were discussing all of the current events in the news and what’s going on with this and what’s going on with that. At that moment I realized something horrible….. I had no idea what they were talking about.

What’s even worse is that they were discussing some things that were going on with our government. I work for the federal government. Not good. They weren’t discussing things that were going on with our office per se but they were discussing current events that could potentially effect us.

It was then that I also realized that I had to do a much butter job in keeping up with the world around me. I hate watching and listening to the news. I don’t even like watching our local news here. I hate the news…. I really do….but in order to have an educational and in-depth conversation with those around me I do need to be aware of issues going on.

In 2015 I posted this about the news and “mental chicness”. I have to admit that I have still not done my very best at keeping up with current events. It is very hard not to take what’s going on in the world “as your own”. A lot of us are guilty of accepting the news into our emotions. I am guilty of it too.

But in order to be an alert, well-rounded woman, knowing what’s going on and being able to discuss world events is very important. For the last two weeks I have been listening to NPR Now on my satellite radio station in my car in the morning or evenings. I try not to listen to it too much. 

I do enjoy listening to this station. They discuss a variety of things including cooking, the arts, economics, etc.

I will say this, after this last week of listening to NPR I do feel a little more confident about the information that I received and when I heard my co-worker and supervisor discussing more headlines I knew exactly what they were talking about. I was able to engage. 
Being an elegant woman is very important to me. Dressing well, thinking well, and being emotionally and spiritually well are some of my top priorities in life. I believe that God wants us to be informed but not afraid and that is my goal. 
On a side note, the other stations that I have on my favorites are Real Jazz, Siriusly Sinatra, Holly (Christmas music), the Symphony Hall, and Joel Osteen. I try to make sure that I have wonderful stations to listen to. 
What are you thoughts about the news? Do you enjoy watching or listening to it? Please share….
(photos via Pinterest)