Posts that inspiring an elegant life

Thinking about Weddings

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I was recently reading some of my first year’s blog posts. I remember my first post about weddings. I was so inspired at that moment. I had just started my new Pinterest board and was getting the swing of social media. 


Do you ever look back on some of the pins that you posted to your own boards? Do you see a change in how your taste in clothes and decor may have evolved? I know for me my taste in things is changing but I still love weddings!


In 2016, I wrote about Renewing Our Vows and we still want to. Our 20 year anniversary is about 4 years away so we will see. I was recently pinning some new photos to my wedding board and wanted to share a few that are just so magical and elegant. I thought this would be a wonderful way to start a Friday morning. Looking at wedding dresses….













photo credit Jonathan Borba 

I really love how delicate and exquisite this is? It’s stunning!
I don’t know why I love this dress but I do. I love the white and blush together and how the shoulders are showing. I don’t mind that at all. I could definitely see myself wearing this with my hair down and lots of curls. 
I also love this. I believe you could wear this again. It’s simple yet elegant. 
Another dress you could wear again. I don’t know why I am drawn to these simple dresses. I guess it could be a sign of age? Not sure but I want much more feminine and delicate clothing. 
Love the details in the sleeves and the layers and layers of tulle. 


Other photos that I have been pinning are ceremony decorations and details. 
I would love to have a ceremony like this and renew our vows in dress one or two. 
Like a dream….



I hope you all have a wonderful Friday. Oh, fingers crossed you guys! I posted my new dining room table and hosts chairs last week. They are suppose to deliver my four Queen Anne chairs, a new host chair (the zipper is broken), and my daughter’s new bed on Tuesday. I hope everything comes. It’s been a long wait and we have not been able to use our new table. Then on June 22nd, my new dresser will arrive I am looking forward to that new piece also. I may not post anything on the blog on Monday but hope to have a full blog post on Wednesday with my new complete dining room set. 

We will see…




(photos via Pinterest)
If you wish to follow my Pinterest wedding board you may do so here.







Everything Beautiful in its Time

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I was recently in the car with my husband and I started thinking about certain events, foods, and flowers that I enjoy throughout the year. For instance, it’s peony season!!! I love this season and I went a few days ago to check and see if they were available at my local florist shop and I was able to get a few bouquets!


 My peonies

I told my husband about a vintage Martha Stewart video that I have about weddings and how the florist in that video was talking about how he loves to WAIT for certain seasons to come for certain flowers. He said, “I don’t want lilac when it’s not in season, nor do I want roses. I love waiting for those seasons to come around so that I can enjoy those flowers in their proper season”. Now this DVD was from 2006 so I was about 23 years old.


My peonies at home




I recall thinking, “No, I don’t want to wait!” I want these flowers now! I want blueberries now, I want grapes now!


So now that 13 years have passed and I am a little older I can now appreciate why that florist said that and why it’s a wonderful thing to wait for things until it’s their season. For instance, I used to buy blueberries all the time and when it’s not their season those things tasted awful! So I would waste money! Same thing with certain flowers. They would die and I would be so mad!

My sitting room full of my faux arrangments

So now I have learned and realized that everything is beautiful in its time. Ecclesiastes 3:11, he has made everything beautiful in its time…..




Last year’s peonies

Each year I calendar in advance what events I want to attend, when is the best time to buy this or that and I enjoy doing this. Blueberries taste blissful this time (April to late September). Peonies are from now until June. Grapes are good from now until October but the peak is September. Lilies are beautiful in late summer.

During the summer I look forward to the  Lunch Break at the Symphony. I have already purchased my ticket for the first show which is music from Romeo and Juliet. This is a wonderful time for me to enjoy the symphony. I grab a salad on my way there and sit in the audience and eat my lunch while listening to the orchestra. It’s fantastic and only in June each year! 











My desk last year

I started growing peonies in 2017 and I believe I will have my first blooms in a few days! I still volunteer at Dress for Success and love doing the personal shopping during the summer because of all of the beautiful new donations we will have.


So everything is beautiful in its time and I am learning that slowly. You don’t have to have it all now. Honestly, I am still furniture shopping for a new dining room table and chairs. But I don’t want to settle and I know when it’s time it will be there in the store waiting for me.


Our bedroom 


He (God) has made EVERYTHING beautiful in its time. The blueberries, strawberries, peonies, the symphony, lilies, the weather, everything about life. And I want HIS time. That’s all I want. Enjoy your Wednesday!










(photos via Mrs. Shockley & Pinterest)

Beautiful Morning Rituals

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Rituals and routines are my favorite thing in the world. It’s how my mind operates. I live by these and I have shared them on the blog (see here and here). I believe in order and consistency. Most of you know that I reading a book by Martha Stewart and I am now in a section called “Welcome the Day”. 








Photo by judith girard-marczak on Unsplash









Martha gives lots of wonderful tips on how to start your day. The first tip is to lie quietly for a few moments before getting out of bed and give thanks for this new day. Being grateful for your life is a great way to start your day. Dab a few drops of an uplifting essential oil (grapefruit) on a cloth that you’ll use solely for this ritual, and breathe in the aroma. 



















Photo by melethril on Unsplash

The second tip is to get up and stand in front of a mirror. Smile at yourself and affirm that this will be a good day, full of blessings, opportunities, and wonder. Say aloud, “I look forward to a wonderful day, “or any affirmation with personal significance. I do this every day!!! I love saying affirmations to myself about my life. If there are difficult meetings or decisions ahead, affirm that you will tackle these with ease. “I will take the challenge of this day in stride”.  

photo via Pinterest 

And the last tip is to make a list of all family members, friends, and pets that matter the most to you. You could even include material things. By writing one or two reasons why each is important to you, you’ll clarify your thoughts and honor the people and things in your life that shouldn’t be taken for granted. 


Wonderful and pretty simple tips. It is so easy to get away from being grateful. That is always one of the things I write in my day designer. BE GRATEFUL! Once that is in your heart, I believe the Lord will honor that and bless your life. 


Have a great Monday everyone! 






(tips via Living the Good Long Life, page 176)

Chic Assignments ~ May

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Gosh, it’s the middle of May already and Jennifer L. Scott just posted her Chic Assignment Check-in for May. So what I have been doing is following along with the assignments. I do enjoy these very much and always want to update my readers on my status. 


So the first assignment was to listen to Erik Satie Gymnopedies. I listened to it and all I can say is magnifique! That YouTube video that Jennifer provided was wonderful! I saved it to my favorites and play it in my office all the time. What a great source to have for classical music. 






The second assignment was to regard the works of Pierre-Auguste Renoir. I viewed his artwork and my favorite piece of his was The Rose Garden at Wargemont, 1879. 

Pierre-Auguste Renoir‘s Rose Garden at Wargemont painted in 1879, is a studied game of depth and form imparting a sense of movement and energy. The artist explores the natural idiosyncrasies of plant growth and boils them down to a series of experiential dabs of color.






This is a beautiful painting and Wayfair has a reproduction on their website to purchase! I may have to think about that! 






The reproduction in someone’s dining room



The third chic assignment was to wear a piece of jewelry that you don’t normally wear. I usually don’t have a problem with this. I rotate my jewelry pretty often so each piece gets worn throughout the year. I love wearing jewelry. I feel like my jewelry pieces help me to feel more feminine. 




My jewelry at home



And the last chic assignment was to get yourself manicure and pedicure ready. I am actually scheduled for my nail appointment this Sunday and I normally give myself a pedicure every other Sunday. I have the foot rasp that is on Jennifer’s blog. I purchased mine 2 years ago and have not looked back! My heels have improved by 100%! I don’t have crusty heels any longer. 


I look forward to Jennifer’s June assignments and will do my very best to stay on top of it! If you missed my March and April assignment check-in’s you may view them here and here.


Have a great weekend and make sure that you subscribed to my Youtube channel! I will try to post new videos every Sunday. 






(photos via Mrs. Shockley & Pinterest; text via Wikipedia)





My Elegance Tested…

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Friday…. oh how I have longed for this day this week. It has been one interesting week. I’ll start off with my first disaster. 













photo credit Marchioness Instagram


So most of you know about my Ainifeel quilted handbag that I purchased from Amazon two months ago. I adore this bag so much that I decided to purchase it in lavender. So last Wednesday, I place my order and decided to pay the extra price to get 2-day shipping. 
It arrived on Friday (on time) and I was so, so excited to receive a call from our receptionist desk about my package being here. So I walk to the front open it and…… it was in BLACK! My heart fell and I was sorely disappointed. I could feel the heat rise to my face. No matter I will remain calm and simply call Amazon and find out what we can do to fix this mess. 

I call Amazon to tell them of the mix-up. The customer service agent was very kind and I decided at that moment that there was no need to be rude. This could be fixed right?
photo credit Randi Garrett 
The customer service agent then sends a “replacement” the same day. All weekend I am having second thoughts about this “replacement”. I don’t have peace about it and I am already irritated. So Monday arrives and so does my package. I get a call from the front desk to come and pick it up. I pause as I hold it. Take a deep breath and gather my thoughts because I just don’t feel right. I open a corner of the package and….. it’s BLACK again!

My mind is full of anger and frustrated thoughts. My friend Melissa who is filling in for our receptionist sees my face and knows that I am MAD! I don’t say a word because I know that she is watching but boy do I want to blast off! 



photo credit Annie Spratt 


I call Amazon tell them of the situation and they apologize profusely. Sigh….. I really wanted that bag and I can’t try to order it again. Now it says that it is sold out. So disappointed. Now I will not lie. I did give them a bad rating for this but I still felt guilty for doing that. I don’t know. But oh my frustrating week did not end there….
At the time that I placed my order for my handbag, I also placed an order on the H&M website for two more purse scarfs and a cashmere scarf. That package arrived yesterday to only have what? A package of men’s underwear and T-shirts. Arrrggggh!!! Oh my gosh so not only did I not get my lavender handbag but I did not get the correct order from H&M? 

Ohhhhhh… I wanted to call H&M and blast off but I caught myself and said, listen there is no need to be rude. I am surrounded by it on a regular basis. Don’t fall into this. I never want to be an odor to people but a fragrance but it was hard…… I prayed and said Lord, I don’t remember praying for patience recently but you sure are testing it right now. I called H&M and they were also very gracious. I have to return my package before I get my refund but they were still gracious. 


Photo by Freddie Martyn on Unsplash

I am sharing this with all of you because I want to put you on notice that this is where we are headed as far as shopping. With all of the stores closing, online shopping is taking over and we will not be able to try on items nor see them in person. It’s unfortunate. I love going to stores. It is an opportunity to see items that you are interested in but it’s also an opportunity to engage in the five senses and with people. So now we must put our “patience pants” on and learn to wait. It’s going to be hard adjusting to this but we must. 

I hope you all have a great Mother’s Day weekend and enjoy your families. Be a fragrance to people not an odor. 






Affirmation Journal

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Hello Everyone! Welcome to Friday! I shared in February  a book by Martha Stewart called Living the Good Long Life as one of my favorites for that month. I am still reading that book and almost half way through it. I am taking notes and highlighting important facts along the way. 

I am in Chapter 4 and in a section called “maintaining a sense of purpose” and in this section she mentions keeping an “affirmation file”. I found that to be very intriguing….

Martha said, “Anytime you get outside approval- a note from a co-worker or family member about something positive you did- save it in a special file. Any other accolades- merit awards, perfect attendance records, races completed, pounds lost, old grade-school report cards, letters of recommendation- go in this file. Then, on days when you wonder about your worth to those in your life, you can show yourself just how talented and accomplished you are”. 

Now isn’t that great? We all have those days when we wonder what our purpose in life is and what things have we accomplished. I started a career journal sometime ago to keep track of career goals and accomplishments. 

I found this wonderful and colorful journal at T.J.Maxx. They have such a variety of journals and note pads to choose from. If you are inspired by this go and pick up a note pad, folder or journal to start recording your accomplishments and goals. 

We should all be doing this and making a habit of it. I started recording job accomplishments in January of this year and it’s already May. I took a peek at it yesterday and thought… wow I have had a busy 2019 so far! Now if these goals and accomplishments had not been recorded I would have forgotten half of them already!

I would encourage you to do the same. The Bible says to write down the vision and make it plain. Write down yours and stay encouraged!

Have a great weekend!



(photos via Mrs. Shockley)


The Chic Assignments ~ April

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Goodness, April is almost over. It’s going by way to fast. I hope that you all had a wonderful Easter. I always to try to make sure that we continue to teach the children what’s important about Easter. Christ has risen! 

I was able to find some baby’s breath at the store. I was not sure if I would be able to its also prom month here in Indy and the baby’s breath is always elusive.

My table at home


Okay, now let me share with you all on how I am doing on the Chic Assignments for April.
The first assignment was to listen to Schubert’s Ava Maria. After seeing the Notre Dame Cathedral burn this was hard to listen too. That was so heartbreaking to me! I immediately starting thinking about all of the beautiful, historical buildings in our country. God, please protect them! We all enjoy them and honor them! 
I did, however, watch the video that Jennifer had on her site of the father singing it with his beautiful daughter watching. That lifted my spirits after seeing the news about the cathedral. 
The second assignment was to read poetry from author Percy B. Shelley. I did listen to the poem that Jennifer read on her blog but I also love Maya Angelou’s poem called “Woman Work”. I think we can all relate to this poem. 
photo credit Pinterest 
The third assignment was to dress up for no reason. I live my life like this so it is not hard for me at all. I enjoy dressing up every day. Even on the weekends. It is truly amazing how much people pay attention to that. I wore a floral dress and cardigan to the grocery store this past weekend and people were stopping me everywhere saying how much they loved my dress. I told my daughter. People love seeing well-dressed people. I don’t care how they act. People, deep down inside, love it!
Me in my floral dress and cardigan
If you are interested in this dress you may purchase it here.


And the last assignment was getting intentional rest. I try to make sure that I do this from time to time. A few years ago I realized that I did not take any personal days from work. Then one of my good friends who was a supervisor at the time said, “Don’t worry about this place. The work will be here when you return”. So now I take more personal days and enjoy my life. 
My office at home
And I spend them at home. I’ll watch a movie with a cup of tea, read, run a few errands, visit an antique store. I really take time to relish in the things I love. 

Well, that is all from the chic assignments of Mrs. Shockley. Let me know what all you have been doing for the month of April. Being chic I hope!
Thanks for reading!!!
(photos via Mrs. Shockley)