Posts that inspiring an elegant life

Weekend Christmas Events

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And Good Monday Morning Everyone!

We are just a few short days away from Christmas! I can’t believe it’s this week and honestly will be over so soon. A new year will be beginning and so will all of the promises of a new year. I think I shared this before that I never make new year resolutions. I just don’t see the point for me. If I need to make a change just do it now. I don’t see the point in waiting for a new year to start. 

I did want to share my weekend with everyone. On Saturday morning my family and I headed to the L.S. Ayres Tea Room for our annual brunch. This year they made some changes. We were told that it went to “buffet style” and honestly when I heard that my heart fell. I hate buffets. I am just being honest but all I see in my mind when I hear that word is people breathing all on the food, putting their grubbing hands everywhere, and thinking about how so people just don’t wash their hands. But when we walked into the room I was pleasantly surprised….

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

The entryway did not change much and that beautiful piano was still there….

 

 

Beautiful isn’t it? I still don’t know much about it. Maybe I will get info on it next time. 

 

 

 

I did snap a photo of this. This is a photo of some of the original staff. This photo was taken in 1905!

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

So when we walked in we were shown to our table and we sat down and ordered our drinks. After that, we were directed to the buffet line. The room was not crowded and the food was completed covered with servers behind it! I was so relieved. No one could touch the food, you were able to select what you wanted and could go back for seconds. There was a glass shield over the area of the food. I mean you could not even breathe on it. I was so happy! I know that sounds bad but some people are just gross. 

I selected the tuna tea sandwiches, some chicken salad, ginger peach tea, and chicken velvet soup of course. I shared the recipe for this soup and it is the most viewed post on my blog! They also had this wonderfully soft pumpkin bread. Oh, it was so delicious! I should have gotten the recipe for that. 

 

photo credit: Mr. Shockley 

It was a wonderful lunch with a beautiful atmosphere that we all enjoyed! On Sunday afternoon my daughter and I went to see the Nutcracker at Newfields. It was really nice this year and we sat in the balcony which wasn’t bad but we have decided to try another Nutcracker next year. I hope you all enjoy your Christmas holiday with your family this week. I will be taking the rest of the week off from the blog and I will see you all next week!

Merry Christmas!

 

 

 

 

 

Mrs. Higgins’ Room Tour

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Oh goodness, it’s only one week until Christmas! I can’t believe it! We still don’t have snow here in Indy but there is a rumor going around that we are expected to have some this weekend. It has been so warm here which has made the holidays a little sad to me.

For this week I have been trying new recipes. I have been bringing my own salads to work this week for lunch and making my own dressing. It has been delicious! I have also been adding apples with roasted chicken (my chicken from home) and that has been a wonderful combination. I wanted to try and make Nicolas Fairford’s cranberry sauce. Seeing that on those turkey tea sandwiches that he made had my glands salivating. Oh yum!

In today’s post I wanted to talk about the Mrs. Higgins home in My Fair Lady. 

 

photo via Pinterest

 

I adore this room. Whenever I watch this movie I replay this part over and over so that I can get a glimpse of the details. I learned that the room was decorated by Cecil Beaton. I believe he was inspired by C.F.A Voysey. I also believe that there is a little bit of William Morris inspiration as well. 

I love the chairs, table, just everything about this setting. I still can’t believe that people actually lived this way…. 

 

 

I paused the movie at this point and tried to take in all the details. I looked at the wallpaper, the blue and white dishes at the top of the cabinetry. Just look at the cabinetry! It’s timeless. I see cabinets in homes on Pinterest like this now. Oh and did you get a peek at the chandelier? It’s blue and white!

 

 

I tried to take up-close photos of the movie. There are so many wonderful details in this room. How about that beautiful brown wood floor? 

 

 

Oh, I did notice this section in the room as well. This beautiful white secretary desk with a stunning blue and white chair! I couldn’t find any information on this furniture. I think the lamp might be Wedgewood. It sure does look like it. 

Let me know in the comment section below if you know anything about Mrs. Higgins’s room. I would love to know what you love about the room or dislike. I hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday. 

 

 

 

 

A New Pen Pal

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Good Morning!

I’ve got a busy day today! Of course, I have to head into the office and have my normal workday but I made an appointment to meet with our Indiana Department of Revenue to make sure that I am all ready for the upcoming tax season for my boutique! This will be the first year that I file returns and pay sales tax for the boutique and I want to make sure that everything is in order. I am really excited about this meeting. I always enjoy things like this. I just hope that I get a “seasoned” individual that can answer all of my new business owner questions. 

Later on this week I will begin wrapping presents for family, friends, and staff. I will be finishing up my Christmas Eve dinner list and I plan on writing my pen-pal for the first time! 

I mentioned it before that I was a part of Jennifer from The Daily Connoisseur Chic Society. I love being a part of this group and I do enjoy the Zoom calls we have. So Jennifer had a pen-pal sign up recently and I signed up to receive a pen pal. Well, I was assigned to one recently and I wanted to have some new customized stationery to use when writing her. So where do I head to? Etsy of course!

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

I ordered this set from Chickadee Cottage Company on Etsy. This is called the stationery letter writing pen pal set. You can customize it to your preference. You pick the color of your envelopes and the color of your letters and font. I love the way my set came out!

 

 

I can’t wait to start writing her! I will be sending my first letter this week. I hope everyone has enjoyed this post and let me know in the comments below if you have a pen pal. I haven’t had a pen pal since 5th grade! My teacher at the time Mrs. Belmont became friends with another teacher in Phoenix, Arizona and they came up with the idea of their students becoming pen pals. I thought it was great! I wish I would have stayed in touch with her. My pen pal’s name was Victoria. Classic right? Have a great Monday everyone! 

 

Oh, I almost forgot! The boutique’s new plus-size arrival is ready. I decided to name this dress Maxine. The Maxine Balloon Sleeve Midi is super soft, comfy, and is the PERFECT mauve pink. It’s available in 1x, 2x, and 3x! 

 

This post was not sponsored.

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.

 

The Chinoiserie Scarf

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Good Morning Everyone!

Yesterday was a wonderful day in the office. I treated the staff that I supervise to a small Christmas luncheon! I made reservations at Capital Grille in the Conrad Hotel and it was amazing! The food was exceptional. I ordered the roasted chicken breast with mushrooms and parmesan risotto. It was so delicious. I am still thinking about the risotto!

Last week one of my glamour wishlist items arrived. A few weeks ago I shared my glamour wishlist and this item was on it. I saw this chinoiserie scarf and had to order it only it was sold out!

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

I tagged the company in one of my posts in my stories on Instagram and they reached out to me and told me that they had a limited stock and that I could order one! I shrieked and ordered one right away! Once it arrived I could not get over the customized packaging. It came beautifully wrapped in this blue paper. 

 

 

It had my name on it! Now, how wonderful is that?

 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

Once I opened the wrapping I just stared at the scarf. The illustrations and colors were so exquisite. It is made from 100% Italian silk from Lake Como (a dream destination for me), and is a timeless design. The illustration was inspired by the Renaissance and did you look at the tag? It’s thick and is tied to the most beautiful blue velvet ribbon. 

 

 

I ADORE this scarf! I have tied it to my bag and have been carrying it all week. It’s stunning as a bag scarf! I think luxury and beauty should be everywhere. Put it anywhere you can. Life is so short and many of us have learned this past two years. Enjoy your beautiful things and use them! Have a great Wednesday!

 

 

This post is not sponsored. 

 

 

 

New Fabric Purchase

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Good Morning Everyone,

I don’t want to complain but I am ready for some much-needed time off. I feel like I need another week of staycation! But as I look at the coming weeks things will start to slow down here soon. Honestly, I just want to sit in my bed, look at design books all day and watch my My Fair Lady with a cup of tea! 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

Okay, so today’s post is going to be a quick one. I was on eBay recently just looking around. Well, I was inspired by some of my favorite antique Instagram accounts to look for certain items. The first item has been this china pattern called pink Minton Cockatrice. I actually found some sets on eBay. The next has been chintz patterns. I started watching the pattern above about 2 weeks ago and it had quite a few bids on it. I only bid on the last day and at the last minute. I mean I literally wait until there are 30 seconds left and then I give my highest bid. It has worked for me on numerous occasions.

That is what I did for this fabric. I gave my highest bid and won! I was really surprised that I won. I am always apprehensive when I see that someone has set up automatic bids because you don’t know what their threshold is. But I won…. 

So now the question is what do I do with it? When I saw this pattern I thought, oh pillow covers. Now I am thinking pillow covers and maybe an apron. What do you guys think? What should I have made with this gorgeous fabric? Let me know in the comments section below. Enjoy your Wednesday! 

 

 

 

 

My Christmas Decor So Far…

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Good Morning Everyone!

It has been a wonderful five-day weekend! I loved every minute of it. I did a present review this weekend to make sure that we have gifts for everyone and I am happy to say that I am officially done Christmas shopping. Yay for me! I am now working on my Christmas dinner menu. It will be about the same as Thanksgiving but I am trying a new dessert recipe. I will attempt to make a caramel cake. We will see how it goes. In today’s post, I wanted to share my Christmas decor so far…..

 

I was asked to share some of my Christmas decor this year. I really did not put out a whole lot but I do have 3 full-size Christmas trees up! 

 

 

This is the family room. I always have at least 2 trees in this room. The kids love it! I must admit so do I. There is something about having these in this room and watching a Hallmark movie. It provides peace and gives you a feel of coziness. 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

I believe I shared my Santa last year. This year he is camped out on my table next to the blue and white tree. I think he fits well in this spot. I still can’t believe that I have these gorgeous blue and white ornaments. They are so elegant and are of good quality. 

 

 

The family tree is always hard to decorate. I really didn’t have a theme this year. I just placed my favorite ornaments on it. I did want some really big ribbon to wrap around it but I could not find the color I wanted. I love the white poinsettias on it! I may add more next year! 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

This is the Barbie tree. I have shared it before. It is in a different location this year but in the same room. I normally have it placed by the window but I decided to move it to the other side of the room. I do love having the little pink Victorian home under it and the feather tree skirt. 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

Isn’t it adorable? 

 

 

My nutcrackers are also making an appearance next to the Barbie tree. I think all the pink and glitter look great together. I have a dash of leopard around as well. 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

I also have some garland around our kitchen cabinets with lights. I added some garland around our mirror in our master bedroom. I did it last year and loved the way it looked. We have some stars in our windows that light up and our giant elk that I named Max is outside in our front yard. He lights up as well and looks so real! We’ve had people stop us about him because they thought he was real.  

Well, this is what my home looks like so far. I don’t intend on adding any more Christmas decor. I do want to go and get more poinsettias to add to my tree and stay on the hunt for ribbon. Let me know in the comments section below if your tree is up! Have a great Monday! 

 

 

 

 

A Quiet Thanksgiving…

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Good Friday Morning!

No Black Friday shopping for me! I plan on NOT leaving my house today. We had a pretty good Thanksgiving holiday yesterday. It was just me, my husband, and the kids. We sat, ate, and talked. It was really nice! I cooked the family favorites and we were finished eating before 5 which was great! I was done cleaning the kitchen by 7 and was in my nightgown by 9 and in my bed! I just sat in the bed and relaxed the whole time. 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

This was my table setting for this year. I normally use my Christmas plates but I wanted something different this year. I used my china that I found on Facebook Marketplace and I loved the way it looked! I did find a set here and here on eBay. 

 

 

Most of my china is second hand and I love that! All of the pieces were purchased from an antique store, eBay or Facebook. 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

My reindeer are from Target and are sold out but I did find these. I also found my casserole dish on eBay if anyone is interested. 

 

 

I used my creamer as a small vase for the table and it turned out so well! I love the light pink roses with the babys breath. 

 

 

 

I also used my beautiful Wedgewood wine glasses. Oh my goodness I love these so much! They are so high-quality. I am so glad that I purchased them. I did find some similar on eBay here and here. The wine that we drank was Oliver’s Lemon Moscato.  It is so good and light. It’s low-calorie and low alcohol. 

 

 

 

I made my cornbread dressing. I just use Jiffy and I add raisins, cranberries, pecans, walnuts, and all of my seasonings. It is so good. Martha’s dried-fruit and nut cornbread dressing inspired me to do this years ago. It is always a big hit!

 

 

My herb-roasted turkey was outstanding if I do say so myself. I put parsley flakes, minced garlic, salt, pepper, olive oil, and sage in a bowl and stir. After I butter the turkey, I rub this mixture all over my turkey. It is so good!

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

I also made the normal sides, homemade mashed potatoes, baked beans, green beans, and I made my cinnamon apple tea cake. There are tons of recipes for this online. My recipe is from 2014 and I have no idea where I got it from. I also made a banana pudding. The kids love that! Overall Thanksgiving was a success and we really enjoyed ourselves. I think for Christmas I may try a caramel cake recipe. We will see. 

 

I wanted everyone to know that the boutique’s Black Friday sale is still going on. Use code blackfriday21 for 20% off of your entire order and that does include new arrivals! Thank you to the lovely Rosenda for wearing the blue swiss dot dress in her latest video! I only have a few left and it is only $20. Use the code and it is only $16 plus shipping! It’s a great gift as well!

 

To watch Rosenda’s video click here. 

 

Have a great weekend everyone!

 

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.