Posts that inspiring an elegant life

An Elegant Welcome

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Hello Friday,


We are still adjusting to the time change. I know some of you are too. In today’s post, I wanted to know if any of you have a three-tier cake tray? I just realized that I don’t own one. 

I saw these beauties on Etsy and figured I think I would like to have one of those.

Aren’t these gorgeous? I will be searching eBay and Etsy for the next few days to find one that is perfect for my needs and our home life. 


Whenever we have guests, I always put out some sort of food or drinks. It makes everyone feel welcomed and appreciated. I believe it helps people to know that you were thinking of them. 


I know that if I walked in and saw a beautiful stand like this I would feel welcomed and it would make me smile. Receiving guests is very important in this age of technology. Receiving them well. 


Please let me know in the comments section below if you have a cake stand? I would love to know if you use it. Have a great weekend everyone!




(photos via Pinterest)



Plates in Bloom

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Good Morning March Everyone!


It is March 2nd and we are on our way to spring! Hopefully…. we have been known here in Indiana to get snow but honestly, if we do I won’t complain. We have had a pretty mild winter. 


I hope you all had a great weekend. I took Lauren ice skating with her girlfriend for the last day. It turned out to be a wonderful night. After skating my husband and step-son met us at the Cake Bake Shop again for dinner. My husband loves the chicken velvet soup. I did end up getting the salmon dinner again but changed up the cake. I decided to get the carrot cake this time. 


Her carrot cakes are made without nuts or raisins so I was a bit skeptical. It was DELISH! I am so glad that I ordered it!

I try not to take too many pictures when I am there. I want to savor the moment but everything is so pretty. It’s hard not to take photos.

The beautiful carrot cake. So good!

On Sunday I did go and visit Pier One because an advertisement passed through my Instagram account with these beautiful plates. I had to go and take a peek. 



Beautiful florals were everywhere. 
The Moody Bloom Plates were beautiful in person. They are painted in rich colors and are microwave and dishwasher safe. Now, these are only salad plates so they are much smaller but I don’t see a problem with that seeing that we need to eat smaller meals anyway. 


They come in a set of four and are only $34.99! It would be a wonderful addition to anyone’s collection. 

I hope you all enjoyed this post and have found some spring inspiration. Enjoy your day!





(photos via Mrs. Shockley)




A Few Beautiful Things

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Have you ever had a weekend where you found lots of beautiful things? It happens to me more than often and sometimes I like to take a step back and just take it all in. 


I did some shopping recently and decided to change my curtains in my home. I have always been afraid of white or cream curtains. I like to keep my privacy so I always steer clear of these but I decided recently to take a chance.

I really love these beautiful cream DKNY curtains that I found at HomeGoods. The room feels like it has been refreshed some how. The original curtains that I had were gray and with these cream curtains the room now feels bright. The price made the decision easier too. I only paid $29 per set! Wonderful right? 

Once I saw how great they looked I hurried to HomeGoods to get the last set and hang them in our loft. This is where the office is. I love the way these look and they are nice and thick. So my room looks elegant without showing the inside of my home. 

The next item that I found was this beautiful blue and white pillow from Ralph Lauren. I also found this at HomeGoods for only $20! It’s gorgeous in person! 



Last weekend my family and I went to our outlet mall here in Indiana. I am not a huge fan of our outlet mall. We don’t have a lot of selections there. I did stop by the Coach store and picked up this beautiful cognac tote for under $200. These beautiful nude Coach pumps I found on Poshmark (brand-new) for under $60!

I also saw these down in the Ann Taylor Factory store. It is so much better to see items in person. These rhinestone pumps are stunning in person!  I had to get a pair. 



And last but not least is this arrangement sitting in my clear chair. Now that may not be a big deal to anyone else but I just love it there. You know how you may be moving things around in a room and you place something somewhere and look over and think, “well I actually like that there”. That is how this happened.  Accidentally beauty…. 

I am still in a funk at the office. Trying to decide what to do, see here if you missed my blog post about that. But I am trying to find the beauty in things and focus on gratefulness and learning to just be still and know that he is God.

I have searched and read some of my past posts about beauty and poise. Life is interesting but worthwhile when you found your purpose. 




(photos via Mrs. Shockley)








Chinoiserie Gift Bags

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Good Morning and Welcome to November!


I can’t believe we are saying that… November. Well, we had an interesting weekend. My step-son called and said that he wanted to come home for the weekend…. with his new girlfriend. 


Oh Lord…. so they came down and we all had dinner and she slept in his room and he was downstairs (she is from Ohio and has no family here in the city). It was a little awkward to me but I wanted to make her feel welcomed. 


It turned out okay. She is a very nice girl and is studying to become a pediatric surgeon. Lots of school ahead of her so we all hope she does well. 


In today’s post, I wanted to share a recent beautiful find. You all know how much I love blue and white so when I saw these on The Enchanted Home’s website I knew that I had to purchase a few. 

Gorgeous aren’t they? Now the blue and white chinoiserie gift bag is pretty sturdy and wonderfully beautiful. 

The inside is spacious and is the average size of a gift bag.




The ginger jar and pink blossoms gift bag is lovely also. She has it in large and small so make sure that you pay attention to the description box if you order one. 



Such classic and beautiful bags. They come in sets of two so you will get two bags with each order. I am interested in ordering the classic topiary gift bag. That looks pretty chic too. Now I am keeping my gift bags to myself. I will use them to carry things to the office and other office-like tasks. I would not recommend gifting one to someone unless you know that they are a die-hard blue and white fan. 

Most people would just throw these away. These are something to be enjoyed over and over. I hope all of the blue and white fans enjoy these. Can’t you just see these with beautiful tissue showing at the top of these? So beautiful. Have a great Wednesday!


(photos via Mrs. Shockley)


Eat Like the Queen

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Good Morning Everyone,


This was a very short week and honestly, it went by rather rapidly. I don’t have much on my agenda this weekend. Although, I can’t wait to get to the nail salon. I need a “fill-in”, and I need my nails cut down really bad. I hate it when they get too long. Typing is my profession and having long nails is not an elegant feature that I would like to have.


I am also torn about the color. Since autumn has arrived I would like to leave my pink blush color and get back into my reds. I think that might be the color that I get this weekend. I was also thinking about a lilac color but I don’t know yet. Maybe for my toes. 


I still want a do-over for my movie day. I will try to convince my husband to take me to see Gemini Man but we will see. I am also catching up on my favorite Netflix series called “Call the Midwife”. I am currently on Season 7. I just finished Season 6 and I am still loving it! 


Okay, let’s get on with my Friday post. I recently read an article called “ I Ate Like a Member of the Royal Family for a Week and Here’s What Happened”. I found this article very intriguing. I have never read about what any of the Royal Family members eat let alone the Queen. 

















Photo by Mark de Jong on Unsplash







The author Elizabeth Licata talked about her experience trying to follow what the Queen ate for a week. It was quite interesting but what intrigued me the most was what the Queen ate and how often. She eats four small meals a day! I know for a fact that I can’t do that. I have to keep my schedule at three and that is okay. I have different genetics to fight with!



I learned that she doesn’t like garlic (not even in the palace), she plans her meals a week in advance, and she likes her food, fresh, seasonal and local. Okay, your Highness! Those are tips that I will take in as my own!

I also learned that she has a very strong cup of tea in the morning and Special K is her favorite cereal. That’s fun to know! She also thinks that brown eggs taste better than white. I couldn’t agree with her more! I noticed a difference in taste. Her jam is homemade and she has a cocktail before lunch. Interesting…

































photo credit Alessia Cocconi 






She also doesn’t eat starches. Huh? Oh boy, I would struggle with that. I love some roasted potatoes! Other than that the Queen has a pretty good diet with lots of items that keep it interesting. I doubt she eats a whole lot. She is so tiny. 


I hope you all enjoy the article and can maybe take some tips for yourself. I hope you all enjoy your weekend and thanks for reading!












My New China Additions

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Good Morning Ladies,

Sorry for the no-post on Friday and for not having a video this past Sunday. I have been really busy! I took Friday off to go to the license branch to renew our plates and to get information about our new driver’s licenses that we all have to get. 

It’s insane! I don’t know about you all but by October of next year we (residents here in Indiana) all have to have these Real ID driver’s license or we won’t be able to fly or enter federal buildings. I have a feeling that these licenses are going to be required for lots of other things. 

So after I dealt with that we took our daughter to see the new Adams Family Movie. It was okay. Okay, I won’t lie. I fell asleep in the theater. It was quite boring. It’s for smaller children which is fine. Once we left I looked at my daughter (who is in high school now) and said, “We should have gone to see Gemini Man and she said, “Yes”! 

I also got another private invitation from Von Maur to attend their cosmetic show this past Saturday! It was wonderful! I had such a good time and got lots of free products! I also had my first mimosa. Not bad if I may say. 

Alright, let’s get into my new (to me) Royal Albert Old Country Roses plates that I ordered from eBay. 


Let me start off by saying that I have been trying to win a bid on these plates since 2014. It has been a very LONG journey. Normally when I place a bid someone always bids higher than me at the last minute. It has been very frustrating. 

When I placed my bid for these I truly did not think that I would win. So I was shocked on the last day of the auction that I was the only bidder and that I had won!
I got four dinner size Royal Albert Old Country Roses plates. They were from an estate sale and I paid $35 total! Outstanding! 

I cannot tell you how excited and happy I am! I have loved these plates the moment I saw them. I remember Trina Levers from Youtube showing her collection. I really miss her!

This is a simple table setting at home. This is nothing fancy just a typical dinner night. 

I’m loving my new napkin ring holders. I found these at Sur la Table last year. They look vintage but are not. I just love them!

This is where I would sit. I am the only one who would have a cup of tea with dinner. This is the only Royal Albert teacup that I have. I have my large breakfast tea set but that one stays at the office. I am hoping to get more soon. 

I feel like home life is elevated when you can dine like this. As simple as it is. Dining well and living well at home can cause you to forget some of the crazy people out there. 

I always move my large arrangments to the end of the table. It’s mostly just me, my husband, and daughter. They don’t mind it being a garden at the end of the table. 

I also have this Royal Albert set. This is called Hawthorn. All I need is one teacup and saucer. I have three so I need to get on eBay soon!

Okay, ladies, I am going to start my day. I have today off because it is a federal holiday and I have a list of things that I need to get checked off. I plan on posting a new video today as well so we will see. Enjoy your Monday!




(photos via Mrs. Shockley)






Welcome Autumn!

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Well Hello Autumn Morning,

Yesterday we all got up early to go to the 9:30 service at our church and when we open the garage door the crisp autumn air hit. It was 50 degrees and raining. It was wonderful! I put on a chunky cardigan and grabbed one of my cozy scarfs and beautiful brooch and just grinned at my husband who just shook his head. He hates the cold….

I have started transitioning our home and my clothes over to welcome in the changing trees and cooler weather. Last weekend I changed my bright pink and lavender wreath over to the wreath above. I love it and think that it adds just enough to our porch. 

I pulled out my faux light blue and white pumpkins and moved my mandeville over and placed it on the blue and white stool. Love the way that looks!
I also pulled out my pillows and placed them on the chairs. You can see my noisy dogs in the window. They are always watching what I do. 

This is what the other side of the pillow says. I try to remind myself of that every day. 
Now is the time to start swapping over my shoes. Sorry for the mess, but this is just a glimpse of what I do when seasons change. 

I actually wore these to church on Sunday morning. A little glitter never hurt anyone!
I’ve been looking at my faux fur scarves and trying to determine what I can wear now and what can wait. We have a few days this week where the low will be around 40 degrees! 

Love my pink blush scarves!

Ann Taylor Orange tote (Poshmark find)

Time to pull this out. It is the perfect orange for the season.

I also took a look at all of my cardigans. I have A LOT of cardigans. I don’t know why but they are my favorite thing to buy. 

It was also nice to have a hot cup of tea on Sunday. I sat down and watched the Phantom of the Opera on Netflix. It was free so I had to take a chance. It was wonderful! I watched the 2004 version with Gerard Butler whom I thought did a nice job. 

Well, I hope you all are receiving cooler weather in your parts of the world. I particularly enjoy this time of year. Let the reign of pumpkin spice begin!



Thanks for reading!




(photos via Mrs. Shockley)