Posts that inspiring an elegant life

Lunch at the Ayres Tea Room ~ 2017

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Time for my Ayres Tea Room post! Yes, we went again for lunch and it is such a joy to go to! I love it but my family…. not so much. But they are good sports and go for me. I remind them that I only get to go once a year. If you missed my post from last year about it you may see it here.

Still love the wallpaper and the vintage photos.

My favorite hot tea to get while I am here. 
Vintage silver for your hot tea. 
Chicken velvet soup, always delicious! If you want to see the recipe you may view it here.

The Classic Tea Experience is what I always order. 
This year was the first year we ordered dessert. This is the lemon berry marscarpone cake. It is a lemon sponge cake layered with mascarpone and mixed berries!
We had a lovely lunch as always and will be visiting again next Christmas!

(photos via Mrs. Shockley)

Plans for the Holidays ~ 2017

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My favorite time of the year is upon us and also my busy time. But it is always a joy scheduling my yearly holiday to-do’s on my calendar. I look forward to putting up all my Christmas trees, picking up my poinsettias from Costco, booking my lunch at the Ayres Tea Room, going to the ballet with my daughter to see the Nutcracker and buying beautiful Christmas sweaters and accessories for the season. It is always a good time of the year….

To see previous post about my trees, read it here.

My new blue and white ornaments on my white Christmas tree.
See here to read about those. 
My poinsettia from Costco last year! Love!!!
See my post last year about it.




The Ayres Tea Room 
See my blog post here about that.
My daughter and I at the ballet to see the Nutcracker.
Read my post here about that. 
My glitter sweater and shoes from last year. I have found some new goodies for this season!
I will share those soon.
To read this blog post from last year click here.

If any of you have some yearly Christmas plans that you would like to share I would love to hear them. Just comment below.



(photos via Mrs. Shockley)

Happy Thanksgiving

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Well, another year has came and is passing. I can’t believe that Thanksgiving is next week and Christmas is next month! My goodness! I still have to get my last items on my Thanksgiving list and my Christmas shopping is almost done! Just a few more gift cards and that is all.
I will be taking next week off to get ready for Thanksgiving. I hope to be back the following week with some shopping goodies and to talk about a new book I am reading. I hope you all enjoy your holiday and enjoy our families!
Happy Thanksgiving!!!

(photos via Pinterest)

Elegant Antiquing at Midland

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This past Friday was Veterans Day and our office had the day off. Thank you to all the veterans who have served this country! I do appreciate your service! My husband served in the military for about 8 years so I do understand some of the hardships that come with it.

With the day off my daughter at school and my husband working, I decided to take the day and go antiquing and finish up my Christmas shopping. One of the ladies that I volunteer with at Dress for Success told me about this wonderful antique store. But what I did not know was how big it was!

It was massive and quite extraordinary. One of the best antique stores I have seen….

Beautiful vintage rugs everywhere…

Pretty vases for great prices! This one was only $28 and hand-painted!

Large blue and white urns

Of course exquisite china!

Vintage gold door knocker. Gosh, I still want this! Look at the price!

UPDATE: I went back and purchased it! Yeah me!

These were extraordinary. Only $265 for the pair!

Love vintage screens!

 This piece was so substantial. I could see it in my home!


Art was everywhere….

Love the gilded mirror and toparies….

Chinoiserie inspired screens 

Loved this buffet….

Hitchcock Round Pedestal Table

Color rich pillows….

There were two of these….

Adore this blue and white lamp. Only $52!

I want this at the end of our bed….

Vintage chandeliers everywhere….

Details, details….

I left with this vase. It was only $15 and hand-painted. I am going to take it to the office. 
I really enjoyed this place and will be going back to visit soon. If you wish to visit their website you may see it here. It was a great day off!!!
Here is my small video of the chandeliers.


(photos via Mrs. Shockley)

Putting Beautiful Things on Display

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If you have been reading the blog long then you understand my need or desire for beautiful things. I share that necessity constantly on the blog. I also feel like having beautiful things on display to look at or to enjoy can bring about great pleasure in life. I always have something beautiful on display. Whether I am in the car, home or work I always have some thing beautiful to gaze at…..

In my home office, a soft throw on my piano seat….
In my work office, my coat and scarf hanging with the brooch facing me so that I can see it sparkle….
Blue and white hanging in my office….
Faux flowers in my home office above my computer….
A vignette in the bedroom….
The dresser in our bedroom….
Flowers in the kitchen….
Flowers in the kitchen again…. this is a weekly occurrence. 
Weekly flower shopping. That should look beautiful in your car. 
And last but certainly not least my car freshener. Even that should be lovely….
I am not saying that you should do these things but live your life according to whatever beauty is for you. People get these weird ideas that they have to mimic someone else’s life. That is not true and if you are doing that you won’t be happy. You won’t be at all. I had someone recently ask me if I do all this to impress people. I said, “Certainly not!” I could care less what people think because they reality is you are going to talk about me anyway I mind as well live my life beautifully. 
And so I do and sometimes that just bugs them more. Ahh, oh well. It’s funny sometimes. It funny how people want you to stop. But I realize it is because the light is just too bright for them. So they want to dim it. Well, I won’t. I will continue. I must…..
Display beauty…… whatever you are.

(photos via Mrs. Shockley)


To read some of my post on living beautifully see, here, here, here, and here. Oh gosh why not one more here.

My First Trip to Ikea

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Okay, alright…… I have never been to Ikea before now. I have seen the catalogs and have took a peek on the website and I must admit that I am NOT an Ikea fan. Some people do love it and unfortunately I am not one of those people.

But my co-workers and friends just kept saying, “Well since you have never been to the store you can’t say that you don’t like it.” Our first Ikea store just opened in Fishers, Indiana. So I decided to go and see what all the fuss is about. I went and sorry I still don’t like it but I did see a few things that caught my eye but I am really a traditional, antique furniture kinda of gal.

First walking in….

Not my kind of light fixture but neat to look at….

I didn’t like any of the couches.

Peonies

Great kitchen! Love the back-splash!

Black farmhouse sink…. very chic!
Sink

Faucet

Love the dishes hanging on the shelf.
Picture Ledge

Plate~ off white

Clear plate

Love the color!
Kitchen, gray

This is a dream island!
White farmhouse sink

Beautiful bedding

Great affordable china!
Teapot

Love this screen, so elegant!
Room divider

They did have great looking clothes on display.

Affordable kitchen essentials

Great affordable china and stainless steel cutlery sets for $20!
Great Christmas gift ideas!

Pink dishes!
Dinera

Faux flowers, very pretty

Like I said, great accessories on display. Great Mossimo tote from Target!
Quilted Tote
Here it is in gray.

Love the gray plates!

I did pick up a few things. 
I didn’t know that there was a restaurant in the middle of the store and bakery! It was okay maybe it was because I went during the first two weeks of the grand opening. Maybe it will be better to visit in a year. I am willing to go and look a second time but not for awhile. I am sorry but I would rather go to an antique store or an auction and find good quality furniture that will last me for decades. I hope that you enjoyed this post and maybe you have found something in Ikea to go and take a peek at. 
Enjoy!!!

(photos via Mrs. Shockley)

A Little Antique Shopping….

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This past weekend I decided to take a quick trip to the antique store. It had been a few months since I had gone and my husband was working on a project so I knew it would be the perfect time to run for it!

My daughter and I went to the Olde Shadeland Antique Mall. I really like the staff they are very nice and there is a variety of items there. Like these vintage crystal vases for $35 each. 
Those would be gorgeous on a dresser at both ends with fresh tulips in them or lilies!  
I really loved this chinoiserie inspired panel. It was big and a little expensive. It was $135!
These are beautiful. Only $25 for a set of 8.
Here is a video of me shopping a little. I did end up purchasing this set.
It was too lovely to pass up. I paid $38 for a set of 6. 
Here is another video of me looking at vintage earrings and dishes.
I did end up buying these two pairs of earrings and this gold vintage bracelet. 
And here is one more video of another beautiful china set that I saw in the antique store. It was gorgeous!! 
I hope you all enjoyed this post. I was thinking about starting a Youtube channel just for shopping. Something like the videos that you are seeing on here. Let me know your thoughts. I don’t know if I will be doing it. Thanks so much for reading!!!!!

(photos and videos via Mrs. Shockley)