Posts that inspiring an elegant life

What’s Your Secret Garden?

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Good Morning Everyone,

It has been a nice long weekend and really needed. I slept in on Saturday and Sunday. Today I got up and walked my 2 miles around the neighborhood. It was beautiful and cool. During that time I talk to God a lot. I express my worries, concerns and I try to remember to give praise reports during that time as well. 

Last week while I was cleaning my loft/office I started staring at my bookshelf. My eyes landed on Fiona Ferris’s book Thirty Chic Days. I wrote about this book several times here on the blog. I decided to take it to work to read it while on my lunch break. My eyes landed on the chapter called, “Create and Guard your Secret Garden”. 

 

My sitting room at home

 

Fiona said, “Your secret garden is where you dream of how beautiful and successful your life will be. It holds safe all those plans and thoughts that you might think others will make fun of or scoff at and tell you to “get real” about, but you know better; dreaming of an enchanting future makes you feel happy and inspired”.

I know I have this “secret garden”. My morning walks have become a secret garden. It’s when I talk to God and express my feelings. I am so free during my morning walks. No one is around and it’s quiet. It’s a great time for me to talk with the Father in heaven. 

My lunch breaks have become a secret garden. I take that time to read other blogs, read books, journal, shop, send emails and gain inspiration for the blog. This is also a time when I enjoy my beautiful lunch. I set a place on my desk and enjoy eating. 

 

photo via Victoria Magazine 

 

Other places for me that I have designated as my secret garden are my front porch, my sitting room, the blog, the boutique, honestly anywhere I am I try to create this. Fiona also said that spending time with a great book could be your secret garden. Other tips that she gave in her book were “mindful secret gardens”. She said that setting an intention is a great way to be mindful. She gave the example of “ahead of time you decide that you won’t be snacking from all the bowls of sweets and nibbles around, that you will sip your drink elegantly, and that you will have only one serving at the dinner buffet. You’ve also decided that you won’t be drawn into any arguments or family drama, as well as speaking positively and not gossiping.”

I am sure many of us have done this before. Set a mindful intention of not overeating and gossiping. I know I have. 

 

photo credit: Aerin Launder Instagram

 

There are so many benefits to having a “secret garden”. It’s a world that you create and a space that you enjoy. I love my secret gardens! I am sure that many of you have them. What are your secret gardens? Are any of you willing to share? Put it in the comments section below. Let’s share our beautiful pleasures with one another. Have a great Monday!

 

 

 

New Etsy Shop Discovery

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Good September Morning!

It’s the third day of September already! I am seriously enjoying the weather now. Yesterday our daughter had a golf match and the weather made it such a nice experience. Everyone was much more relaxed and easygoing. 

It’s Friday and we have a three-day weekend! I am going to be pulling out my fall decor and going through my closet. I am also going to be washing some walls, washing some curtains and setting my table for autumn. I do plan on filming a video for my Youtube channel. I hope that I can get that done as well. 

In today’s post, I wanted to quickly share this article that I read in Victoria magazine. 

 

photo credit: Corrine Jamet 

 

It talked about a woman named Adriana and how she moved to Paris. It talked about her admiration for vintage pieces, and it shares her Etsy shop called, My Shabby Whites.  You have to check out her shop! It is filled with wonderful vintage Paris finds. I hope you enjoy it!

I hope everyone enjoys the weekend and don’t forget to pop on over to the boutique. The end-of-summer sale is still going on. Some dresses are as low as $5! The Gray Garden dress for instance is only $5 once you use code END50. You can use that code on practically anything in the boutique. Don’t have a birthday gift idea? Grab one of my dresses! The Rose & Dot dress is under $20! And don’t forget about the jewelry. It’s a great sale!

 

Have a great weekend!

 

 

 

 

Keeping Delicates Fresh

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photo credit: Mrs. Shockley

 

Good Morning Everyone,

Guess what? It is in the 50s this morning!! Yay! My morning walk was so great! Oh goodness! I enjoyed it a lot today. It was wonderful. Well, today I just wanted to share my delicate upkeep routine. I shared this delicate spray from the Laundress last week. This is what I use in my undergarment drawer.  I spray all of my delicates about twice a week. 

 

photo credit: the Laundress 

 

I also wanted to share this laundry checklist from the Laundress. What do you guys think? I know I follow the bra rule and when I do wash them I use my mesh bag to keep them from being caught in something or getting damaged in the washer. 

How often do you take care of your delicates? Also, do you know of any other products to use? Please share in the comments section below. Have a great Wednesday!

 

 

 

Loving Your Season

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photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

Good Monday Morning,

I had a good and hard weekend if that makes sense. Within 48 hours three people that I knew died. Two of them died from Covid and the other was a young man who was shot. I don’t understand all of God’s reasonings for these deaths. I try not to get into my “head” too much because I could get really sad and that would not be good for me or my family so I try to do what I can and pray. 

Okay, now on to today’s post. I was watching another video from Dominique Sachse and I heard her say, “love the season that you are in” and that stuck with me. My 39th birthday is approaching and with this year getting close to the end, I am trying to understand some things and learn to trust God more. It is very hard for me to trust the Lord. I don’t trust easily it is a hard thing for me to do. I think my childhood has a lot to do with it and the older I get the more I realize that. 

 

photo credit: Brigitte Tohm

 

As I am looking toward the future and also reviewing my past. I am seeing a lot and beginning to understand why I went through a few things. That’s another reason why I am so glad that I journal. I talked about this before. Journaling is so important. Especially when you are trying to grow as a woman. 

I was just recently thinking about how much I hated my 20s. I won’t lie I hated my 20s. I was super stressed all the time. I had a baby young, married young, and took on two stepchildren in addition to working full-time, trying to build my career, make a beautiful home, and don’t forget about the normal cooking and cleaning. My 20s were hard! I tried to enjoy them as much as a could because Lauren was young but it was so hard! 

 

photo credit: Brigitte Tohm

 

I journaled the entire time in my 20s and I am so glad that I did. Now when I read it there are a lot of, “oh that’s why that happened, or awe now I understand that”. I am so glad that I did. My 20s were hard but there were a lot of good things going on. The kids were healthy and growing, we bought our first home, purchased a brand new car, I started a new job at my current office with better health benefits and more money so that season was not all lost. “Love your season”.

Then my early 30s got a little better. There were still some challenges of course. The crazy ex-wife couldn’t stop being petty, then the co-worker crap began but in the midst of that blessings were still flowing. My husband’s company was doing well, I got promoted, we built our second home, got to go on more vacations, I traveled more for work, and started the blog! And honestly, this is when I started to “fight to enjoy my season”. 

 

There were still things going on but my mid-thirties was when I began to understand okay, you can’t control everything. Do your best and trust the Lord. Now here I am approaching 40. I got promoted! Honestly, this was the final position that I was attempting to reach. I didn’t believe that I would get it so soon but here I am. I am still blogging, I started a boutique (I hope to keep it), and I am really enjoying this journey so far. I am trying to love my seasons. I am hoping that I can. There is so much going on in life right now and it is very short. So I say this to you as well as myself. Love your season!

Have a great Monday!

 

 

 

Laurel Hall ~ A Historical Venue in Indy

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Happy Friday All,

So I made it through my first week of walking around my neighborhood. I got up around 6:15 each morning and left my house at 6:30. I walked for 2 miles and it took me about 30 minutes to walk the 2 miles. Each day I felt better and better.  And I noticed that in the evenings I would begin to look forward to walking in the morning which is a good sign. I hope to keep this up. I will keep you guys posted. 

Alright, so today I wanted to share this beautiful historic venue that I discovered on Instagram. I am always surprised when I find something beautiful in my city. I found this venue called Laurel Hall. Laurel Hall was built in 1916 for one of Indiana’s wealthiest families. 

 

 

photo credit: Instagram 

 

It’s stunning, isn’t it? 

 

photo credit: Instagram 

 

It is the perfect backdrop for insanely chic wedding photos!

 

photo credit: Amy Mulder Photography

 

 

photo credit: Ashley Link Photography

 

photo credit: Instagram 

 

I would love to take a tour of this home. It has wrought iron front doors as you are greeted, timeless details, luxurious oriental rugs, and rich hardwood. 

 

photo credit: Instagram

 

This is the romantic sweetheart table! What a great date night setup!

 

 

photo credit: Amy Mulder Photography

 

Oh I love this! I still can’t believe this is available in my city! What a great bridal shower dinner table setup. I love everything about it. It’s so regal. 

 

photo credit: Instagram

 

I would love to know where they got these beautiful roses from! They look almost like the roses from Grace Rose Farms. This venue has me thinking about my Renewing Vows post. I would love to have my renewal here. I may have to share this with my husband. I don’t think it would hurt having a tour in the future. But honestly, I think I just found my venue. Let me know in the comments section below what you guys think.

Well, it’s the end of August and summer is beginning to end slowly. The boutique is having its end-of-summer sale! If you use code End50 it will take 50% off of anything in the boutique with the exception of the Lillian Dress and the Autumn Mauve Cardigan. Those are my new arrivals and are not on sale yet but you can use it on anything else! Please don’t forget that I am offering international shipping. If you have any questions, please use the Contact page. Have a great weekend all!

 

 

 

 

August Favorites ~ 2021

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Good Morning Everyone,

I feel like saying, “it’s another beautiful day in Zamunda”. It has been so hot out! Goodness! I am trying my best not to complain but I can’t help it. Today was my third day walking in the morning. I mentioned on Monday that I started walking for exercise in the mornings instead of getting on my elliptical. It has been so great! I have enjoyed it. I can’t wait for the temps to drop and for the humidity to disappear. My husband did join me yesterday morning. He did a great job! He hates cardio but wanted to join me so we speed-walked and talked the whole time. It was nice. We walk about 4 laps around our section and it comes up to 2 miles. I am drenched with sweat when we come in but I feel amazing. 

So I will let you guys know how this goes for the rest of the week. I have been sore for two days but I know that in a few days the soreness will go away. Well on to my favorites for the month of August….

First is my new Poshmark purchase!

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley

 

Oh my goodness! I can’t believe that I found these on Poshmark, oh my! These are pink rose gold Banana Republic pumps and they are brand new! I had to get these. I didn’t even make an offer. The price she had was perfect already. I only paid $30 plus shipping. How great is that?

 

 

And there is a surprise detail, the heels are gold! I can’t wait to wear these for the holiday season! Oh and the earrings are from Etsy. I love vintage clip earrings. These are Weiss vintage clip earrings from the 40s. Whenever I am on Etsy or Poshmark I always type in “vintage Weiss clip earrings” in the search space and the most beautiful earrings appear. It is such a treat searching for these. 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

My second favorite has been my new lavender deodorant. I love Dove deodorant. I have been wearing it for years. I was so surprised to find it in a lavender scent and I have enjoyed wearing it so much this month!

Third has been Dominique Sachse’s Daily Wellness Routine video. I have watched this video a few times already this month and it has provided so much inspiration to me. She is the reason I decided to finally start walking around my neighborhood. My husband always told me to try it but I never did. I think I just needed some time to “grow” into the idea and when I saw her walk two miles around her neighborhood I thought, “you know what I need to try this”. I also love her eating routine, how she incorporates swimming into her day, the video just screams a great morning to me. I hope you all enjoy it. 

 

 

Fourth is and of course my new handbag. I do love my new Louis. I still can’t believe that I have one. I have this bag all over my Pinterest Feminine Accessories board so to finally own it is a very good feeling to me and a blessing. 

 

 

 

photo credit: Mr. Shockley 

 

Fifth are my new arrivals for the boutique. I love the new autumn mauve cardigan and our new Lillian Vine dress. These are great transitional pieces for the boutique. 

 

 

 

 

I will be beginning my end-of-summer sale on Friday so stay tuned for a 50% off code on Friday! Also adding international shipping was huge for me. It was a “boutique goal” set for next year but I was able to accomplish it this year. 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

Sixth was a humm I don’t know. So I tried a new polish color and it was suppose to be mauve but it looks lilac to me. I have never worn lilac polish before. What do you guys think? It’s not ugly and I do like it but it’s a bit out of character for me. 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

Seventh are the new products that I decided to try from the Laundress. I purchased two bottles of the delicate wash and one bottle of the delicate spray.  I love spraying the delicate spray in my bra drawer. It keeps them smelling fresh. 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

And my eighth favorite has been the $6 roses at Kroger! I can’t believe these were only $6 a dozen and our Kroger has had this sale going on for weeks! I am savoring every minute of it. You should do the same! 

I hope you all enjoyed my August favorites for this year. I can’t believe that September is next week! Crazy right. I feel like we have been in Covid part 2 this whole year. Goodness, I just want some normalcy back but we will see. I will be linking my previous years’ favorites below. Have a great Wednesday!

 

 

 

 

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.

 

Your Elegant List…

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Good Monday Morning Everyone,

I had a pretty good weekend. I got most of my house chores done and we went and picked out carpet for our home. We are going to be replacing our carpet soon and I CAN NOT WAIT! It is long overdue and I will be so happy to get rid of this brown carpet. 

On Friday I shared the 100 Ways to be Elegant list. As I said before, I love this list. How could you not but that got me thinking. We all have our own way of living well and beautifully. What’s on your list?

 

photo credit: Victoria Magazine 

 

Do you have an elegant dish that you like or a favorite scarf or shoe? What about activities? Is there anything that you do that gives you a sense of beauty?

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley (home life)

 

You all know that I can’t go without my fresh flowers. I love how they look and I adore the light scent that they give. I also love wearing perfume. There is something about smelling your favorite scent and living it behind when you walk out of a room. 

What about you? What is your elegant list? Please share your elegant list I would love to learn what they are!