Posts that inspiring an elegant life

A Rosemary Inspired Party

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Have you ever see a beautiful photo on Pinterest and began clicking on the sources to try to find out where you can locate whatever it is that you have fallen in love with? Yes you have? Good! Because I didn’t want to be the only nutty person to do that.

Okay, this is the Pinterest photo that I became enamored with. So I clicked on the sources link and it took me right to Traditional Home. It was in an article from 2011 written by Krissa Rossbund and Julianne Hilmes. It was a patio party inspired by rosemary bushes. 
The china and table setting is stunning. Again, I would not have thought to put blue and lavender together. It is quite beautiful. 
An up close look at the floral arrangement. Beautifully done…..
Okay, so can we just stare at the garden chairs for a moment. These are exquisite! I love that they are different. 
A beautiful pear, pancetta and feta salad. The recipe is below…
  • 6 slices pancetta (about 4 ounces)
  • 1 to 2 ripe Bosc pears
  • Lemon juice
  • 1 small red onion
  • 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons pomegranate molasses
  • Kosher salt and pepper to taste
  • 6 cups torn mixed greens
  • 6 tablespoons French or Greek feta, divided
Preheat oven to 350°F. Place pancetta slices on baking sheet lined with aluminum foil lightly coated with cooking spray; manipulate slices into tight circles. Bake about 15 minutes, or until desired doneness. Set aside; cool.
Using mandoline set at 1/4-inch thickness or less, slice pear lengthwise. Select 6 largest, most appealing slices. (Reserve remaining slices for another use). Brush lemon juice over pear slices. Rinse mandoline and adjust blade (if desired). Thinly slice half the onion. (Reserve other half for another use.)
In medium bowl, whisk together oil and molasses; season with salt and pepper to taste. To serve, toss greens with dressing. Divide evenly between plates. Top greens with onion, pear slice, pancetta, and 1 tablespoon feta. Makes 6 servings.
And oh my does this look delicious! A ricotta cheesecake with blackberry sauce. Looks yum!
If you wish to read the original article you may do so here. This sure has inspired me in the clothing arena. I will now check my closet to see if I have any lavenders and blues that I can put together. See Pinterest continues to inspire. 
(photos via Traditional Home)

My Framing Project

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While we were in Charleston I found this gorgeous drawing of magnolias. Now magnolias are another favorite flower of mine. I think that they are so attractive and fragrant so finding a huge poster of them was wonderful.

I found it at the gift shop at the Magnolia Plantation. It was such a beautiful picture and a wonderful price! We only paid $10 for it! I knew that I had to have it framed and I knew that I had some wonderful frames at home.

What it looked like before framing my new artwork. 

Assessing the poster and picking out the matting. 
It took them about a week to get the project finished. They called this past Sunday afternoon while I was running errands. I was looking forward to seeing it…..
Bringing it home….
Hello Beautiful!!!! It is gorgeous! Better than expected and I love the contrast between the matting and the photo. My husband wanted the matting to match the photo but I thought having two different colors would give it a more custom look. 
I could not wait to hang it. 
And just so you guys get an idea of how big it is.
I took this photo beside it. It is a large picture. 
I am so please with how this project turned out. Michaels only charged us $50 for everything which I thought was an outstanding deal. I now have this beautiful work of art that I can saw I got it while in Charleston. I will now consider custom framing for every picture that I want at home. 
Thanks for reading!
(photos via Mrs. Shockley)

My New Day Designer

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I was so thrilled when I saw that Day Designer was coming out with some new designs. I ordered my first one years ago and have just not gotten back to ordering a second one.

I follow them on Instagram so when I saw the new climbing floral design I just knew that I had to have it! It was so charming and beautiful.

The Day Designer is “strategic planner and daily agenda for living a well-designed life”.  The goal of the day designer is to help you schedule your daily to-do lists, help you to focus on your “top three to-do’s” and helps to encourage clarity and razor-sharp focus for the most productive day and year.

It provides steps to set goals, inspirational daily quotes to help keep you motivated, yearly, monthly and daily overviews. It is a wonderful organizer and it looks so chic when you carry it into your office meetings (I know I have).

So here are some photos below of my day designer.

Opening it

Such a beautiful box!

Instructions on how to use your day designer.

A peek inside….

Monthly tabs

Wonderful opening letter and expectations of the day designer. 

Goal setting….

Setting plans


Your daily to-do lists

Full calendars also
It is such a beautiful planner. It does inspire you so much!

My old one and my new one. The old one is still in great condition. 


I hope that you enjoyed this post and are encourage and buy your own day designer or create your own. They are wonderful to have and are an absolute joy to use. 
(photos via Mrs. Shockley)

Have a Chic Lunch

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Does anyone have lunch alone? I know I do! There is nothing wrong with going to lunch with people but I usual take my lunch hour to relax and enjoy things that I like to do. Sometimes I take a walk to the mall (located across the street from my building) and go to some of my favorite stores. I read a magazine that I just recently picked up, read some other blogs, make some phone calls, etc.

I like to enjoy the full hour of my lunch. I recently brought in some of my vintage linen napkins that I just purchased from the flea market. They look so pretty with my antique dishes and cups.

I also take that time to practice table manners and etiquette. It is the perfect time to brush up and perfect those skills. I remember one of my favorite authors Jennifer L. Scott talking about dining alone. I loved the video that she did on her Youtube channel about it.

So that got me thinking about lunch utensils and bags. I saw these beauties at Von Maur and wanted to share them. 
This is the Kate Spade Rugby Stripe Lunch tote. I thought it was very chic.
Here is what the inside looked like.
I thought this one was nice too. It is called the Kate Spade Strawberries Lunch tote. 
Honestly, this is my favorite. If I had seen this at the store I probably would have purchased it. This is the Kate Spade Out to Lunch tote. I think it is quite lovely. 
Some of the lunch tupperware was chic also (see here if you are interested). I hope that you are inspired to go out and buy some nice lunch items for yourself.  Enjoy life wherever you can!

(photos via Mrs. Shockley and Von Maur.com)

Enjoying the Peony Season

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It is finally here!!! Peony Season!!! I couldn’t wait to get a bouquet this year. I have shared my bouquets on the blog in the past, see here and here.

I have it calendared each year to call the florist and see if the peonies have arrived. And they have….

I stopped by bright and early to see if I could get a few stems for my office. 
And I did! I just gazed at them the whole time I was walking to my office. 
They gave such a wonderful scent and added such beauty! Ahhh, I just adore them!
They had to come home with me to enjoy over the Memorial Day weekend! Well this is my first bouquet for the year. I hope that I am able to get more and soon!
Enjoy beauty wherever you can.
(photos via Mrs. Shockley)

The Royal Wedding

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I must admit I was not going to watch the wedding. I don’t know why but I wasn’t. But then I saw all of the beautiful photos on Instagram. It was absolutely breathtaking.

I LOVED it! It was done so well. It really was. I just wanted to share some of my favorite photos.

This photo is what captured me. How elegant? The arch blanketed with roses and greenery. It was just like a fairy tale. Her dress was exquisite! Very tasteful, chic, beautiful….. you name it was!

This was a florist’s dream! Just classic!

The tiara was gorgeous! I think I saw on Town and Country that this was a brooch from Queen Mary. I am not sure but I thought that is what I heard. So sophisticated. 
Oh my goodness! I would love to have a photo like this with my husband. Truly inspired!
I could not get enough of the archways around the church.
And I believe this was the cake. So simple, so chic and so graceful. I love it!

I wish more beautiful events like this were on t.v. But I guess we take beauty whenever we can. One thing I did notice about the guests is that there were no Kardashians! I didn’t see any of them arriving with any of the other guests. I was so happy! I am sorry if you are a fan but I am not! I was pleased. Thank goodness!!
Well I hope that you all enjoyed the royal wedding. I know I did and I hope that they have a long and prosperous marriage!

(photos via Instagram)

The Sassafras Tea Room

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I hope all of you had a wonderful Mother’s Day weekend! I know I did. It started off with a pedicure and manicure. I do love how french tip manicures can make your toes look so good!

The next thing was a bouquet of flowers from my step son and a nice dinner with my family. On Mother’s Day I took my mother to this wonderful little tea room.

It is called the Sassafras Tea Room! It was quite lovely. We sat at a vintage table that also had antique chairs. My mother was not quite use to it but she was a good sport. 
I didn’t take a lot of pictures. I didn’t want to be rude and ruin everyone else’s lunch and I wanted to enjoy the moment with my mother. 
I did love the vintage glasses. 
The food was wonderful and my mother and I did have a good time. I am hoping to return to have lunch with a really good friend. I will be sending her a message soon. I hope you enjoyed this post and have a great weekend!

(photos via Mrs. Shockley)