Posts that inspiring an elegant life

Silly Worries

Good Monday Morning,
I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. My husband and I are gearing up to drop my step-son off at college this week. I can’t believe it seriously. I will be worrying about everything for him. But I am trying to have a little faith in his new adventure. 


Worries are apart of life.  I wish they weren’t but I am trying to learn to master my mind and not let silly things worry me. That’s another reason why I wanted to share this article that I found on Real Simple


























It’s called “Do You Need to Worry about these 12 Health Symptoms”? I wanted to share a few from the list that I know that I worried about at some point or another. 




1) Okay, chronic headaches. Yes, I am one of the idiots that thought, “well could this be a brain tumor”? Stupid right? Well the doctor from the article said this…


“Headaches alone don’t make me look for a brain tumor,” says neurologist MaryAnn Mays, a staff physician at the Headache Center at the Cleveland Clinic. A brain tumor would typically involve symptoms such as sudden muscle weakness, headaches that wake you from sleep, numbness, personality changes, lack of coordination, vomiting, and changes in vision, hearing, and speech.








2) Breast pain
Of course, I think it’s breast cancer which is horrible. But the oncologist said this…


“Breast pain, in isolation, is almost never cancer,” says oncologist Richard Elledge, an associate professor of medicine at the Breast Center at the Baylor College of Medicine, in Houston. “You don’t need to worry,” he says, “unless you have symptoms, such as new lumps, that don’t come and go with menstruation; changes in the color or some other appearance of the skin over the breasts; or bloody discharge from the nipples.”


Whew…..


























3) Chest pain
I couldn’t tell you how many times I have called my doctor about this in the past. But the cardiologist said this…


Heart attacks are relatively rare in people under the age of 45. The average age among women for a first heart attack is 70. Because getting treatment within one hour of a heart attack increases the survival rate, experts say not to ignore intense chest pain that lasts for more than five minutes. “I’ve had female patients as young as 32 have heart attacks,” says cardiologist Richard Stein, the director of preventive cardiology at Beth Israel Medical Center, in New York City. If the pain lasts for more than five minutes, call 911.


and lastly


4) A New Mole, Pigmented Skin Growth or Spot
Since my mother in law found skin cancer on her about 2 years ago, I have been on high alert ever since. But what the dermatologist says is…


A harmless mole, a seborrheic keratosis (a wartlike growth common in people over 40), or an age spot. Skin is constantly changing, in part due to sun exposure. Many changes are harmless, but “if you’re over 30, take new moles seriously,” says Deborah Sarnoff, M.D., a professor of dermatology at the New York University School of Medicine. Do monthly self-exams and get a skin-cancer check from a dermatologist every three years if you’re between the ages of 20 and 40 and annually after age 40. The ABCDE warning signs for skin cancer are a mole or a spot that is asymmetrical, has an irregular border, is unevenly colored (or has patches of red, white, or blue), has a diameter wider than a quarter-inch, or seems to be evolving.




photo credit: Sepideh Doost





Well, this article sure did calm some of my nerves down. I hope it did the same for you. Please finished reading the rest of the article. There are more facts and reality checks that we all need. 




Thanks for reading!






(article from Real Simple.com)







Teaching Elegance & Homekeeping

Well, a new journey has begun with my daughter. As most of you have heard she has started high school! That means that she is getting closer to moving out and beginning her own journey as a woman. 








I have been working with my daughter each year trying to teach her ways to clean, cook, and take care of herself. Last year we worked on the laundry. I taught her how to separate clothes, how to work the washer and dryer, and how to properly fold. 





















Photo by Dan Gold on Unsplash



She was in 8th grade and I felt like that was the time to teach her that. We also worked on how to make pasta. She likes rigatoni with shredded cheese so I taught her how to make that in addition to making steam rice, roast chicken, and cleaning our rice cooker. 



Trying to find the right moments and age to teach her things is difficult. You can try to teach your children everything under the sun when they are 7 or 8 but are they absorbing it? I have learned that each child has their own way of learning and walk by their own course. 


I shared on my YouTube channel that I am reading a book called The English Etiquette. It’s been a wonderful read with lots of tips and hints on etiquette at home and at work. I am still in the first part of the book and author Alena Pettitt gave a list of items that your teenagers should be able to do while they are in high school. I wanted to share that list.



* Operating a vacuum cleaner


* Changing bed-sheets


* Replenishing bathroom consumables


* Dividing laundry and operating a washing machine on a basic wash cycle


* Correctly filling and emptying the dishwasher


* Making a cup of tea


* Buttering toast


* Making a sandwich


* Preparing a simple hot meal such as beans or fried egg on toast. (An English meal I presume, so I am working on pancakes with my daughter)


* Preparing vegetables


* Obtain profound knowledge and awareness of personal (we worked on shaving last year) and household hygiene (I taught her how to clean her bathroom)


* Taking out the rubbish and replacing bin bags


* Going to the local shop and confidently buying items for the household from a basic list (I do this every week and she sees me)


And lastly


* Administering basic First Aid and responding calmly and efficiently in an emergency (The school taught this last year but may need to rehearse this at home)

I thought this was a great list! If anything you can glean some ideas from it. I love it! Teaching our children and how to live well is huge. Especially now in this world today, everything is just handed to them. Learning to work and take care of your home can give you a sense of pride and order. Something that is greatly missing today. I have some friends who can’t cook or clean and I wonder all the time how they get through life.




Keeping a beautiful home is one of the greatest jobs on earth to me. I love walking into my home each evening and seeing my beautiful bouquets, starting my dinner for the night, and folding a basket of laundry while watching one of my favorite movies. Your home doesn’t have to be big and you don’t have to have a lot of money just a willing heart. Teach your children and lead. 



Thanks for reading!









(photos via Pinterest & Mrs. Shockley)

A Healthy Home






















photo credit Debbie Hutson 


It’s the end of the week and let’s keep things simple. Here’s a wonderful quote from Martha Stewart about having a healthy home….

” Your home should be a reflection of how you WANT TO LIVEright now, and for the next phase of your life.

photo credit Aerin Lauder Instagram 





It needs to have a good layout for your changing physical needs, and offer you a sense of security and calm. It’s a place to think, do, make, and enjoy.

When you get down to it, we need only a few of our creature comforts to live well- for me, that means having plenty of room to entertain, good light so I can read in bed, and sufficient space for all my animals.”





photo credit French Manoir Instagram 
I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. Dress for Success is having its VIP garage sale tomorrow! I am so excited!!! Those of us who volunteer will be able to purchase items that we could not give away in the boutique. Fantastic right? If I get any goodies I will make sure that I share them on the blog or on my Youtube channel. See you all soon!






A Dream Pop-Up Shop


Step Inside My First Pop Up Shop At East Hampton G

gardens!



Mrs. Tina’s specialty is blue and white of course. I have purchased some of her blue and white ornaments around Christmas time and love them on my white tree. 

I would really love having these salt and pepper shakers. Wouldn’t those be lovely?

Image result for enchanted home blue and white
You guys should definitely click on the link above and take a look at her blog post. If you are a fan of blue and white then you would find great joy in looking at all of her products and visualizing all of those items in your home. It would be hard not to with all of those beautiful pieces. 


Enjoy!!


(photos via The Enchanted Home.com)

Chic Assignments ~ July



It’s July already and Jennifer L. Scott from the Daily Connoisseur has already given us her assignments for this month. 


I must admit I am falling a bit behind due to our vacation. But let’s dive right into the assignments for the month. 


Her first assignment was to watch Andre Rieu- Grande Valse Viennoise. I watched it and must say it was 6 minutes of loveliness! My daughter saw me watching it and came into the room and stood and watched it with me! Wonderful right? 


We clapped at the end and said BRAVO! It was great!

The second chic assignment is to read the poems of Emily Dickinson. I listened to her poem called, “Because I Could Not Stop for Death”. There was a play button by this poem. So I just listened to it. It was lovely and the spokesman took his time. 





The third chic assignment was to notice when you are mindlessly snacking. Okay, I always notice when I do this and will tell myself to stop but when it’s those moments in the month where it is always a little harder for me to “fight that feeling” off. During our trip, I noticed that I wanted to snack the entire time. Now I did give into the ice cream and I did buy some of my Dove dark chocolate cherries while I was there but that was it. It is hard sometimes but I try to drink water when I have the urge to pick. 





photo credit Erol Ahmed
And the last chic assignment is to give someone a genuine compliment. I have already started this. I try to compliment my co-workers or women while shopping if they look wonderful. It always puts a smile on someone’s face when someone else notices that they made an effort today. I know when I volunteer at Dress for Success as a personal shopper, these women need to hear some kind words and we make sure that we provide it! I know whenever I tell someone you look lovely that little kid smile of theirs appears. Try it, it will make you feel good as well. 

Well, I will continue to work on these assignments for the month. Please share below if you have already started these and what impact it has had on you. I’m curious! 

A Few Reminders About Etiquette

I love a good etiquette list. Especially one with great reminders on it. I saw this list about a week ago called 25 Etiquette Mistakes You Need to Stop Making by 30. Some of these actually made me chuckle. “Wait a minute, people are still doing some of these”? Oh, I should know better. I see people do some of the craziest things all the time. 



















photo credit Elaine Howlin 
For instance, this past weekend when we were at the fair, I was watching my daughter on one of the rides and a woman came and stood next to me. She then turned around to get something out of her bag. While she was bending over she displayed about 7 holes in her leggings near her butt area! I hurried and turned my head. Oh my goodness! And another reason why it was so frustrating was that her boyfriend and/or husband was standing there watching her bend over! Did he not see those holes? Why not tell her!!!!  I was so confused. There was no way he could have missed those when they were leaving the house. But let’s move on…

Etiquette along with healthy eating, dressing well, and living well has become such a huge part of my everyday life. I wanted to share a few of these mistakes from the article. 

1) Sneezing into your hands
It took me about a year to break my daughter of this habit. If you sneeze into your hands just think of all of the germs that you are spreading. It’s your saliva in your hand. Eeewww, so gross! Please remember to sneeze into your elbow or away from people. If you feel more coming on, excuse yourself to the restroom. Very simple…



photo credit Nicolas Fairford
2) Using your napkin to blow your nose
Okay, I thought I was the only one who thought this was gross. The etiquette coach from this list says that drool, tears, and food are okay to wipe. Not your boogers! Please excuse yourself and go to the bathroom to clean your nose. I know if I had to wash those napkins I would not want to see that lurking inside! 

3) Sending error-filled texts or emails from your phone
YES!! I still believe in spelling words out and using correct grammar. I am not an English major but I believe those things are important.  The etiquette coach says, “Grammar and spelling should be properly presented and proofreading is a must. Remember, it may be “just a text”, but this is still representing you, your values, the quality of your work, and overall leaves an impression on the reader of who you are and the sophistication you possess.” 

4) Failing to RSVP
Oh..my…gosh! This drives me nuts! Not only do people not RSVP then they end up showing up anyway. Are you serious! Not only is it poor taste to not RSVP now you are making an appearance anyway? You are an uninvited guest my friend. You didn’t respond to my invite. So guess what you are not included. Dulles said, “Send your reply as early as possible- the reply by date is not a challenge for you to eke out at the eleventh hour. If you do miss the reply date, RSVP anyway and follow up with a phone call or email with a brief apology expressing your oversight and express gratitude for their kind invitation”. See… easy and simple!!! 


photo credit Annie Spratt 

These are just a few from that list. Please click on the link above to continue reading the article. It was pretty interesting. I was really intrigued by the tip on how to greet your boss. One of the experts said, “There is real power in a formal greeting, especially when interacting with other cultures or countries, etc”. Don’t greet your boss with Hey. Be respectful. 

I hope that you all enjoyed these tips and read the article. There is more information that may help you elevate your standards of living. 


Enjoy!
( tips via Charlotte H. Anderson)

Healthy Eating is Elegant

Good Monday Morning Everyone! I just wanted to post a quick little entry today about a recent holistic nutritionist that I found by the name of Meghan Livingstone.  


I found her just surfing on YouTube one night looking for healthy recipes. Meghan had some issues with her digestive system a few years ago and her story piqued my interest.



Learning how to eat well, continuing with my food education, and health journey has been on my radar constantly. Just yesterday we went to the county fair and I shared a funnel cake with my husband. Oh boy, did I feel like crap after I ate some! It’s amazing how foods can affect your health!


My salmon dinner at home

I have really enjoyed Meghan’s channel. I especially liked her “10 Foods I Always Buy” video. I have watched it a few times already and have started a routine list of excellent foods to buy.

Another favorite video of mine is her “Beginner’s Guide to Healthy Eating”. This is another great video if you need ideas on how to get started on your health journey. 
I hope that you all enjoy Meghan’s channel. I look forward to her new videos every week. Now I am not interested in her minimalist living but I am still inspired by her ways to eat right and her education as a nutritionist.  
My dresser at home

Have a great Monday!
(photos via Mrs. Shockley, videos via Youtube)