Posts that inspiring an elegant life

A Little Italy

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Good Morning,

My family and I have been venturing off and going to new restaurants. We normally have about 4 or 5 that we rotate every week but I told my husband that I needed some change! So it has been nice going to and finding new locations to go and have dinner. 

I wanted to share this beautiful new restaurant that I found out about last month during the Indiana Decorators Showhouse tour that I took in April. Remember this painting below?

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley

 

I was told by one of the hostess that this was a local restaurant here in my city called Iozzo’s Garden of Italy. I told myself that my family and I would go for dinner and we did! 

photo credits: Mrs. Shockley 

 

Here is the inside of the restaurant. I do like the exposed brick and floors. I wonder if they are original?

 

 

We waited only a few minutes before we were taken outside to the beautiful outdoor space! I loved it especially the trees! 

 

 

 

 I loved how small and cozy it was. It was not a huge space which made me happy. That beautiful small space meant small groups of people and a very intimate setting. 

 

photo credits: Mrs. Shockley 

 

 

 

For a small moment it did feel like we were in a little garden restaurant in Italy. It felt like we were so far away from the city even though this restaurant is located in the downtown Indianapolis area. 

 

 

After we soaked in the atmosphere, we looked at the menu and placed our orders. We started off with this homemade Italian bread and dipping sauce, so good!

 

 

Next was this crispy market green salad. It had marinated cucumbers, lemon vinaigrette, and breadcrumbs. I could have eaten two of them!

 

 

photo credits: Mrs. Shockley

 

For my entree I chose the chicken piccata with broccoli. The chicken was tender, and the pasta was homemade. Really good! Overall, we had a great dining experience with superb customer service. The weather also played a good part in our fortune. There was just enough crisp in the air to make the outdoor dining experience worth the wait and journey!

Have a great Wednesday! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Peony Season ~ 2022

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Good Morning,

I spent a nice quiet weekend at home. I was really tired. I think all of the running around from the last two weekends kind of wore me out. On Saturday I started my day early and went grocery shopping then spent most of the day at home doing a few house chores and then sitting on the porch and reading!!! Oh I loved it! 

While I read I went and put my favorite dessert in the oven, a berry tart. I then put it on my favorite blue and white plate and took it outside to enjoy on the porch. It was a nice afternoon. On Sunday I finished laundry and watched the Schmacher1889 channel on Youtube. 

On Friday I did walk to Whole Foods to look around. I forgot that once the weather breaks I normally take a stroll there once a week during my lunch break. I got some more peonies and I found white tulips for my tulipiere!  I will do a separate post sharing that later. Now let me share my beautiful peonies for this season!

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

I still can’t get over how beautiful these were! This was my first peony bouquet of the 2022 season. I purchased these at JP Parker of course. The corals are my favorite. They don’t smell as wonderful as the pink and white ones but they are still expectational!

 

 

This bouquet was actually from my front yard garden! My peonies did so well this year! My husband and I kept going to smell them every day. They were truly wonderful! 

 

 

My husband said that we should plant more in the backyard! I am totally on board with that but we still need to get some other things done back there before we plant. 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

These are my white ones. They bloomed first and where the most fragrant. I don’t remember what they were called. I think we have the peony called “bride’s dream”. I remember it being something like that.  I took some to my office the first chance I got. 

 

 

These are also from my garden. I still can’t believe that these were mine! Each year they get bigger and I get more of them. I hope it continues to grow.

 

 

photo credit: L. Shockley 

I don’t remember if I mentioned this already but while we were at the peony festival I got to meet Mrs. JP Parker herself. She was incredibly nice and enduring. I have to give credit to my husband for walking around and talking with people. He networks pretty well. Because of that I got to meet her and her husband and I told her how much I loved the flowers and the company. She then gave me 10 free peonies! I went to pick them up and they were stunning! Just look at them!

 

 

My house has been so beautiful and so fragrant these last few weeks. Each morning that I came down to go out and do my walk I would just stare at them. It’s the small beautiful things in life that make it wonderful! Enjoy your homes!

 

 

 

 

My First Peony Festival

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Good Morning,

Friday already? Gosh, this week went by really quick. I don’t have much planned for the weekend. Just some errands and I need start looking for my Father’s Day gift. That is right around the corner as well. I do want to ride my bike when I get home from work. I am feeling a bike ride today. 

While I am out shopping I do hope that I can find some white tulips. I purchased this tulipiere about 2 weeks ago and I cannot wait to use it! Wish me luck!

Well earlier this week I shared that I found out about a peony festival here in my city! You know how someone will “like” an event on Facebook and then that appears in your newsfeed? That’s what happened here and I am so glad that it did! 

 

photo credits: Mrs. Shockley 

 

So this was the 2nd Annual Peony Festival and the peony is our state flower! Lucky us! I told my husband that I was going and I did not care if he wanted to go or not. He wanted to and so did our daughter. My step-son and his girlfriend joined us as well! It was a great family day!

 

 

There were beautiful fresh peonies everywhere! And the scent was heavenly! They also had food trucks and vendors selling items. It got me thinking about setting up the boutique! I may have to consider that!

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

This was one of the vendors. It’s called the Indiana Paper Company and they make faux peonies out of paper! They were so detailed and looked extraordinary. This company also offers workshops. They will teach you how to make these beautiful stems. They were incredibly nice individuals as well. 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

Everywhere we turned I wanted to grab peonies! They were everywhere!

 

 

 

Beautiful floral vendors. 

 

 

I did end up getting a bouquet of course. The florist looked at me as I was picking out my flowers and she said, “You know how to pick them don’t you”. I said, “yes, I know what I want”. She then said, “look at the colors you picked”. It’s lovely. I smiled and thanked her.

 

 

 

photo credits: Mrs. Shockley 

 

This was one of my bouquets. It was the most gorgeous stock I had ever seen and it lasted over a week! 

 

 

 

Me and Mr. Shockley 

 

We had a great time. Honestly, it was like a dream to me because it was a giant garden. The whole park was full of smells and beauty. We did grab a few cupcakes from Smallcakes. They were good but I am a huge Flying Cupcake fan. I love their cupcakes! 

This event has already been added to my “Elegant things to do in Indy” list. Yes, I started one to keep track of events or to schedule my favorite things to do. I did want to go back to the Butterfly Garden at the zoo but the closed it! I was so shocked! I couldn’t believe it. But this event will make up for that loss. 

I hope this encourages you to seek out beautiful things in your city. Even if you have to attend things alone then so be it. Don’t let that stop you from enjoying your life!

Also, I want everyone to know that the Beverly Rose Tote is on sale for only $20! I only have 4 left! Order one for your spring/summer wardrobe. I will NOT be restocking this item. Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

Is Your Worst Still Your Best?

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Good Morning,

Goodness, it is still cold! We had snow yesterday morning!!! Yes you read that correctly SNOW! Goodness, so over the cold weather. But in today’s post, I wanted to discuss Jennifer’s recent video that she posted about “3 Articles on Dress”. One of the subjects was “goblin mode”. Now, this has been the first I have heard of this phrase. I will post the video below if you missed it. So goblin mode is a new term for laziness and just looking at the photo that described it grieved my soul a little. Like Jennifer said in the video, “people can do want they want” but I just wanted to check my pulse and yours about this subject. 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

So lately when I go grocery shopping or out period I have been seeing a lot of people in clothes that I think they sleep in. I mentioned this before that it just grieves me. I know that people can live the way they want but when we go out and we see how people look it can inspire us for better or worse. When I see a woman looking her absolute best it totally inspires me to continue with my clothing style choices. When I see women in “goblin mode” I feel sorry for them sometimes. But I keep in mind that I don’t know what that person is going through and to extend grace. 

 

Photo credit: Memorandum.com 

 

We should live in a way that when we are down in the dumps we still have “elegant choices” around. The bad choices, whether clothing, food, or entertainment are not an option for you because everything you have is your absolute best. “Live your life so that your worst is your best”! That phrase popped into my mind while watching Jennifer’s video. Live your life so that your worst is your best! 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

I purposely choose elegant items in my life. There is no room or limited room for me to choose things that are not my best. I would encourage you to replace items, clothes, and entertainment that will enrich you to always use it. We are only on this earth for a short time. Make it count! 

 

 

Here is Jennifer’s video if you missed it. I hope that you all are inspired to use your best always and to begin to replace items that are worn with items that are the best for you. You must be fearless in this area and confident because not everyone will like it nor support it. 

As I have said before, “there is so much darkness in this world. Why not be elegant”. Have a wonderful Wednesday! 

 

 

 

 

 

Lilies and Easter Sunday…

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Good Morning All,

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter Day with your families. I am always humbled by what the Lord did. I always try to put myself in that situation and I always come up with, “there is no way”. I am being honest. That took so much to die for all. It really did…

We celebrated at home. It was just me, our daughter, and my husband. I kept things simple with a slow cooker chicken, homemade mashed potatoes, green beans, and southern-style biscuits. It was a nice quiet Easter celebration at home. The weather has been cold but it is bright and sunny. 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

Since there was only the three of us I filled the rest of the table with flowers. I mean why not! My local grocery store had these huge stalks of baby’s breath. They were gorgeous as well as the pink lilies that they had. I placed the lilies in one of my ginger jars. It looked wonderful! 

 

 

I also used my new (to me) vintage lily of the valley plates that I purchased from Pender and Peony. She also has an Instagram page where she auctions her vintage items. I ordered these last week and have been enjoying them ever since. This was also the perfect time to pull out my lily of the valley goblets from Monique Lhuillier. Everything looked wonderful on the table and were the perfect pieces for our Easter dinner. 

Let me know in the comments section below what you did or cooked for Easter dinner. I would love to hear about your family celebrations. 

Have a great Monday! 

 

 

 

My Office…

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Good Cold Friday Morning!

Goodness, I still can’t believe how cold it is here! So frustrating. We are suppose to finally climb into the 70s next week. Hallelujah! I have been m.i.a. from the blog and social media a bit. I had to upgrade my phone and it has literally taken 2 days to get everything transferred from my old phone to my new phone. I still have to move some of my videos! 

I like my new cell. It is a huge upgrade to my old one. I have a better camera for photos and videos! So we will see….

In today’s post, I wanted to share a few photos from my downtown office. I know I have not shared much from this space. I have a different position now and wanted to give it some time before I did. I still won’t be showing the entire office but I thought a few photos would be okay. 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

This is the doorway to my office. When you open the door this is the first thing you see. It is a little bigger than my last office but the downside to this space is that I do not have a window view. I do miss my view in my old office but this location is soooo much better. 

I have my faux flower arrangements, my blue and white ginger jars on my wall, my beautiful “lady in blue” picture, and beautiful antique items on my desk. I love my chinoiserie tissue holder, ginger jar vases, and family photos. 

 

 

Here is another view from the door. These items were in my previous office. The tall brown piece of furniture in the distance is a coat closet.

 

 

 

 

Here is another view of the sitting area. I do love this area. All of the colors that I have just seem to blend together so nicely. I am still loving the painting that I found at the antique store. I stare at it every time I can get a moment.

I do hope that you enjoyed this tiny tour of my office. I hope that it provided some inspiration for your very own office space whether downtown or at home. Have a wonderful Friday!

 

 

 

The Grandmilliennial Style of Ms. Rhimes

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Good Morning,

I am loving this quiet week at the office. Yesterday I did leave early so that I could run to the antique store before they closed to buy some antique crystal salt and pepper shakers. When I got there she had closed about 30 minutes early. Sighing…. I am trying to decide if I want to wait until this weekend or try again today. We will see….

In today’s post, I wanted to share a recent photo that I saw in Architectural Digest magazine. 

 

photo credit: Michael Mundy 

 

Have any of you seen this gorgeous photo of writer Shonda Rhimes in her NYC apartment? O.MG.! When I saw this photo I thought oh yes! This sings to my soul! I had to read the details about this apartment. 

 

photo credit: Michael Mundy

 

So the wallpaper is from De Gournay (not a shock), the mirror is a Regency gilt mirror and it hangs above her custom Jasper sofa in Clarence House damask. Her pillows are from Fortuny, Claremont, and Chelsea. The room is a complete dream. The best part is there is a video on Youtube of her giving AD a tour! Watch it below.

 

 

I hope this left you feeling inspired or gave you some inspiration for your home. I can’t wait to show you guys my recent antique purchase! It’s grandmillennial of course! Have a great Wednesday!