Posts that inspiring an elegant life

Empress Stationery ~ A New Find

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Good Morning,

It is a cold Friday! We are forecasted to only get up to the high 50s today. Oh my… a little cold but still lovely. I am a little excited about this weekend. I have a hair appointment. I have not had my hair officially done since 2019. I think that I shared that the woman who was doing my hair passed away unexpectedly last year. She had a stroke in 2019 and then a massive stroke in 2020. Then she caught Covid and passed away. It has been very hard for me to let anyone do my hair. My loyalty was with her and it still is. I miss her so much! I was with her for 17 years. But I know that she is resting and it is okay for me to allow someone else to do my hair so we will see. It is the woman who does Lauren’s hair so I trust her completely. 

Okay, enough sad stuff.  In today’s post, I wanted to share this beautiful company that I found. It is called Empress Stationery and it is the most gorgeous stationery company that I have ever seen! I mean the work is beautiful!

 

photo credit: Empress Stationery.com

 

Isn’t it stunning? This is called the Louisa Suite collection. Honestly, I think that I am in love with all of it!

 

 

photo credit: Empress Stationery.com 

 

They offer custom artwork. All of the custom pieces are created with watercolors. Another section that you all should take a look at is the holiday section. 

 

photo credit: Empress Stationery 

 

These Christmas gift tags are my favorite. I would love to have something like this on my gifts this year.  I hope everyone enjoyed this fantastic find today. I love finding and learning about companies like this. It always makes me smile when I see a company create beautiful items for everyday living.

In other news, the boutique, blog, and Instagram page were shared on Inspired by Nikki’s Youtube channel! I loved being included in this video. My dresser vanity along with another subscriber’s closet was shared in her video. I think these are so fun to watch! I hope you get a chance to watch Nikki’s Video! I also have a coupon code for anyone who wants to make a purchase from the boutique. If you use code InspNikki20 you will get 20% off of your purchase. Have a great weekend!

 

 

 

 

This post is not sponsored. 

 

New Painting in my Office

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Hello!

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! It finally cooled off here in Indy. Sunday was a beautiful day! During the day I did a few house chores, wished my niece Happy Birthday, work on the blog, and took Lauren and her bestie to Harvest Night at Newfields. It was a wonderful evening. 

 

I have been wanting to share my new piece of artwork for my office. I found this beautiful painting at Manor House Antiques.

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

I learned from the antique store owner that this is the Chicago Water Tower. I thought it was a church but it’s the Water Tower. When looking at the back I found some more information. 

 

 

So on the back, there is a gold sticker that says, “Artistic Impressions Inc., Oil Certified, and a serial number”. There is also a stamp that says, “Genuine Lithograph Oil Canvas, Chicago, Illinois”.  I am assuming that this is an oil painting. There is also a handwritten date of 2-17-1994. This painting was completed by Eve Turner. I did find it online. Here is the link. 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

Now from the website link, there was an appraisal of $295! I don’t know when that was but that made me smile. I don’t think mine is the same. The frame is different but does that happen often? Does an artist paint more than one of the same painting? I certainly hope so. I only paid $34 for mine. The original price at the antique store was $100. Then it dropped twice in price.

 

 

I am loving it in my office downtown. I received tons of compliments on it. One of my co-workers mentioned getting it cleaned and said that it would be “spit cleaned”. I had never heard of that before but she said that a lot of people who restore antique paintings use that method. 

What do you all think? Have you ever heard of that method before?

 

 

I also added this glass pumpkin to my office. It is the cutest thing! The color is perfect and feels as though it is handblown. I hope to have my painting looked at by an appraiser. I do hope that the Antiques Roadshow returns to Indiana soon! I will be taking this and a few other things if I can. Have a great Monday!

 

 

My Staycation ~2021

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Good Morning,

I have quite a few things planned this weekend. I will be heading to the dealership to look at a new vehicle, well possibly, I don’t know yet. Cars are so expensive and I don’t really know what I want to do yet. We will be heading to Newfields again for their Harvest Night celebration and I am really looking forward to it. Last year we missed it because of Covid. I am also about to start looking for tickets to the Nutcracker this year. I am not sure what it will look like on stage so we will see. Okay, let me share what I did last week during my staycation….

If you follow me on Instagram then you would know that antiquing was at the top of my list. I visited my normal antique stores around my city. 

 

photo credits: Mrs. Shockley 

I really liked the dog but the dealer wanted a $1,000 for him. Umm I’ll pass…. 

 

 

Lots of china everywhere… 

 

 

This was beautiful but I did not have anywhere to put them! They only wanted $50 for the big one and $35 for the small one!

 

 

I stumbled on some blue and white! I did purchase the giant pitcher in the middle. I loved the handle. 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley

 

I did purchase this lovely Jasperware vase. I loved having my purple roses in it from my husband. I paid about $35 for it. 

 

 

This was at the third antique store that I visited it. I loved this vase. I purchased it! It was handpainted. 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

I saw this gorgeous piece there as well. I was going to purchase it but I found something else. Isn’t it stunning?

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley

 

 

I could not believe that I saw this there. I thought, “oh we are getting close to finding my vintage Louis Vuitton trunk!” This was $900 and it was pretty old. I am not sure of the year but it was old!

 

 

 

 

 

 

I did end up finding these gorgeous nightstands. He wanted $450 for both but then I asked if he would take less and he took off $100! Sold!! I also saw this gorgeous vintage lamp and substantial vase. I could not leave these items there. 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

I love these in our bedroom. I added the lamp, my new Jasperware vase, and other home decor favorites to the top of it. Inside I have my favorite books that I like to read in bed. 

In addition to antiquing we visited the Lume and here are some photos from that.

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley

 

It was stunning. This was the digital exhibit of the artwork of Vincent van Gogh. 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley

 

This was my favorite…

 

 

And I just adored this piece. It is all stained glass and was created in 1904. It is called the “Angel of Resurrection”. Oh I just loved it! We went and walked around the entire museum and looked at more exhibits. 

 

 

I especially loved this settee from the 1800s. They don’t make furniture like this anymore! Later on in the week, we visit the Cincinnati outlet mall and it was great. It had a lot more stores than our outlet and was very empty. There was no waiting anywhere and it was nice just taking our time. 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

I did pick up these gorgeous vintage-inspired Tory Burch tote from the outlet store. I have been trying to find this all over the internet but could not locate it. It is stunning! I’ve never seen this print before. It is called the Tory Burch Blake tote. 

 

 

 

I also picked up these lovely and autumn-inspired accessories from the Coach outlet. These ballet flats are so incredibly chic and comfy. The red scarf is perfect for the upcoming holiday season and I love elegant keychains. 

After the outlet mall, we went and had dinner at the Cheesecake Factory and came home. In addition to all of the shopping, I did get some things re-organized around the home, got rid of old documents, and found a new carpet for some of the rooms that we want to replace. Since our daughter was away for a few days with her bestie my husband and I did have a few date nights which was very nice! 

Above all, I LOVED my staycation and want to do one again very soon! 

 

 

 

 

Please note: some links are affiliate links and if you make a purchase through this link, I will receive a small commission for referring you to the product. Thank you so much in advance if you decide to make a purchase through my link.

 

 

 

A Chinoiserie Tissue Holder

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Good Morning Everyone,

We are back into the swing of things. Lauren is still on fall break and my step-son Ely came down from college for a few days. It was nice seeing him. Lauren had a wonderful boat trip with her bestie. They sent me all kinds of photos of her being in the outdoors. Not my kind of thing but I do love the scenery. 

It is nice being back in the office but I still hate our traffic. We have construction everywhere and I do mean everywhere! Even in front of my office where I work there is construction. It’s such a pain in the rear. 

Anywho, let’s move on to this beautiful new porcelain find!

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

I saw this beautiful porcelain tissue holder on Instagram a few months ago. Each time they ran a sale I kept missing it!  Well, I finally caught it in September before Lauren’s last golf match and was so happy that I finally got one! 

 

 

This is a gorgeous porcelain piece. I ordered it from Tortoise and Hare Vintage on Etsy. I love it so much!

 

 

Now this porcelain tissue holder is much more user-friendly than my other one. With this holder, you can place the entire tissue box in it and with my other one, I have to remove the tissue from the box and fold them in half and place them in the holder. Not a big deal but a little less difficult. 

It is such a gorgeous and timeless item to have. I know that I will have these for years to come. This one is in my office at work. I have two in my home right now that are blue and white and I could not love them more. If you want to purchase this particular pattern I would suggest that you follow the shop on Instagram. They announce all the time when a new shipment comes in and you have to make a decision quickly if you want one. I knew that I wanted this design so as soon as they announced that these were available I went right to Etsy and ordered one. 

I hope you all enjoyed this beautiful find and happy hunting!

 

 

This post is not sponsored. 

 

HomeGoods Success

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Good Morning Everyone!

I had a really good weekend. On Friday I left the office early and stopped by Hobby Lobby, HomeGoods, and the grocery store. I found some wonderful things at HomeGoods so I was very pleased with that visit. On Saturday we attended Lauren’s last golf tournament. She did very well and they played 18 holes which took us about 5 hours to finish! It was a long and hot day. Afterward, we went and had an early dinner at one of our favorite restaurants and came home to rest.

On Sunday I stayed home and got a lot of chores done, planned out my week, and started planning my vacation time. I will share that in a later post. In today’s post, I wanted to share my lovely finds from HomeGoods.

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

I spotted these lovely flowers as soon as I walked into the store. I rushed right over to take a look!

 

 

I could not leave these in the store. They were way too pretty for that! I purchased about four bunches and I could not be happier with this arrangement. It looks stunning in the green ginger jar that I picked up in Boca Raton about 3 years ago. 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley

Similar peonies here. 

 

 

 

I picked up this soft jeweled pumpkin from HomeGoods as well. I think it has a little bit of glamour and belongs on my dresser. 

 

 

When I was walking around the store I also spotted these. Now you guys know I am a true fan of blue and white but I found these to be quite hideous! I don’t know why but I think these are very ugly. 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

I did find this lovely teacup and saucer. I loved the pink rose color and the rose gold trim that it had. I will be taking this to the office for my morning tea. It looks small in the photo but it is quite big!

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

And I finally found my brown and white plates!! I am so excited. Now I mentioned in Friday’s post that I did not like the ones that had ducks on it. The pattern that I saw in the other HomeGoods was not this pattern. The other pattern that I saw I did not like. These are lovely! I managed to find six which I was happy with but I could not find any salad plates which made me sad. The quest continues. 

I hope everyone enjoyed this post and let me know in the comments section below what your favorite dish autumn pattern is. I would love to know some names of other patterns. Have a great Monday everyone!

 

 

 

Reminders of Routine…

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Good Morning!

It is Friday and I am a little excited. I am hoping to leave the office early today. I really want to head to Hobby Lobby and look at some of their autumn decor. I will share if I find anything. I also want to go to the antique store just for a quick second and have a peek. I am still on the hunt for some brown and white transferware plates for the autumn season. Our daughter’s last golf match is on Saturday. She will have 18 holes and I am praying for nice weather because it is going to be a long day. 

The boutique should be having a new arrival soon. A cream plus size cardigan is on the way. I am hoping that it will arrive next week. If you want updates on new arrivals and to see photos, follow the boutique here on Instagram. 

In today’s post, I wanted to share some past posts of my routines and daily living rituals. I have been blogging for so long it still shocks me how I am able to come up with blog posts every week. I sure hope that I can continue. I hope you enjoy the inspiration!

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

An Elegant Routine– I wrote this in 2016.

Mornings at the Office– from 2017

 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley

 

The Dream of Consistency & Discipline – from 2018

 

Beautiful Morning Rituals– from 2019

 

One Chore at Time– from 2019

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thoughts on Eating….

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Good Morning Everyone,

I hope everyone is doing well. This is our last week of golf for our daughter and I could not be happier. I know that sounds bad but it has really cut into her study time and she really needs that. Golf sectionals are this Saturday and we are looking forward to it ending. 

Our temperatures have skyrocketed again. Oh boy…. I miss my crisp morning walks already. A co-worker shared a new app with me. It’s called Map my Run and it’s by Under Armour.  It is the coolest fitness app ever (well to me it is)! I started using it this week and it keeps track of everything and the best part… it’s FREE! You guys should check it out. 

Speaking of fitness I recently read a list that inspired me in many ways and wanted to share it….. 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

Of course, I am still reading Fiona’s book and it is full of “life tips”. On page 198 she gives a list of ideas on how to achieve being slimmer. And by slimmer, I mean whatever “slim” is for your body. Here are some of her tips….

  • Make it fun to be slimmer by finding inspiring role models- celebrities or people I know. 
  • Feel empowered instead of deprived when I skip foods that I know aren’t good for me.  (I tell myself this all the time)
  • Focus on nourishing my body with gorgeously real foods instead of thinking about the unhealthy foods I can’t have. 
  • Repeat affirmations to crowd out old, unhelpful ways of thinking.
  • Declutter my home, starting with my kitchen.
  • Declutter my wardrobe, keeping only what I feel amazing in. 
  • Line up great podcasts and audiobooks so I can’t wait to go for a walk each day. 
  • Visualize myself as slim and trim and know I am changing my size and shape to reflect that. 
  • Stock my pantry and fridge with healthy snacks such as raw almonds and other nuts, fresh fruit, and sparkling mineral water.
  • Commit to becoming healthier for good- my weight will follow. 

 

I hope you all found these tips helpful and inspiring. Staying healthy and losing weight is always a battle and it gets harder as you get older. I know for me I want to develop habits now so that when I am in my 40s and 50s I am not miserable with my health but happy, healthy, and beautiful. Enjoy your Wednesday!

 

Other blog posts on my website about eating:

The French Way of Eating

Healthy Eating is Elegant