Posts that inspiring an elegant life

Lunch at the Swan Coach House

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Good Morning,

I had quite a busy weekend. I attended a paralegal retreat on Saturday, filmed a YouTube video finally, and attended a private home tour for charity. The private home tour was simply amazing! I wish I could have taken photos but there we not allowed. It was truly beautiful. 

Today I am continuing with my empty nester trip. I am sharing a few photos of our visit to the Swan Coach House.

 

photo credits: Mrs. Shockley

I wanted to have lunch at the Swan Coach House after our tour at the Swan House. It was only a few minutes away and was tucked away near the Swan House. 

 

 

It was so beautiful walking in and had a lot of the southern charm. Of course, there is chinoiserie everywhere.

 

 

There were a few ladies in the distance celebrating a 70th birthday. It was so sweet! They all had on their little Derby hats on and were dressed up. I loved it!

 

 

I absolutely loved the floors and the decor. The gold mirror in the distance was so elegant. 

 

 

 

I ordered some tea sandwiches, and carrot soup. The soup had a little kick to it! It had a little spice but was really good. The staff was very kind and there was a gift shop and art museum in the home as well. 

Overall, it was a great experience, and I am so glad that my husband and I went and visited it. If you are nearby you should stop by! It’s such a wonderful place. 

 

 

 

First Empty-Nester Vacation

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Hello Everyone and Happy Friday,

Of course, I am really excited for this weekend. My husband and I will be fine-tuning (well me) our agenda for our first empty-nester vacation. As I have shared with you all before, my husband and I have NEVER taken a vacation without the kids, so we are really excited for this trip and plan on just taking our time.

 

photo credit: Getty/Pinterest

 

I have always been fascinated by this home. I know that it is not big and does not compare to the homes in Newport but I still wanted to visit this gorgeous historical home. The Swan House to me is what my dream home would look like. There would be a few changes to the front but not much. 

But first on our list would be driving and stopping at Love Shack Fancy in Nashville. I have not told my husband yet but I would love to stop there on our way to Atlanta. I also wanted to stop at the Sarah Flint store but the Nashville location is closed! I couldn’t believe it but so happy that I got to see it last year. 

Once we got to Buckhead we are going to check into our hotel and then I hope that we have time because I want to go to the Sarah Flint store there, visit the Dior store nearby, Hermes, and then stop at a consignment store called Sac De Lux. 

For dinner I found a restaurant near our hotel called South City Kitchen and I really want to give that a try. I found a few other restaurants nearby to have dinner or lunch as well. 

The second day that we are there will be reserved for the Swan House and the Swan Coach House. 

 

photo credit: Pinterest 

 

I don’t think that we will be there all day, so I found some antique stores nearby to go and visit. One is called Antiques & Beyond and the other is 14th Street Modern & Vintage Home. I also found a HomeGoods nearby, of course, and another consignment store called Label Resale Boutique. 

I am really looking forward to this vacation and it will be so different without kids and not having to worry about our home either. We are truly in a different season of life. I’ll see you all when I return! 

 

 

Quiet Elegance

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Good Morning Everyone,

I needed to take some time off from the blog, boutique, LTK and Instagram. Now I have been on there “liking” photos but for the most part I have not really been activate on it and it has been really nice. 

Lauren and her brother Ely are moved into college. My husband and I officially became “empty nesters” on Saturday. When we woke up on Saturday morning, we both were really sad. We do miss our kids, but we understand that this is simply a part of life. Lauren did call us that morning and I was so happy! She just wanted to tell us about her first night and how things were going. It was good to hear that she missed us! I just keep praying that the Lord is with them.

 I was cleaning up my office and found some old blog posts that I had printed out in 2016. I remember sharing this post called “To Meditate On” and I really enjoyed reading it. It will now be a part of my daily morning devotionals. It helped me to reset my mind as I start this new journey in my life. 

 

photo via Town & Country

 

Do you ever see a woman like this and just stare? I found this photo a few years ago and I had to go on a quest to figure out who it was. I found out that this elegant woman in this photo is Ann Getty. In this photo she was leaving her mansion in San Fransico in 1977 and was accompanied by her footman and butler. If you want to read more about her then read this article. 

When I saw this photo the phrase “quiet elegance” popped in my mind. I love seeing women like this. Where they don’t shout from the rooftop, “Oh I have money and this and that”. They just quietly go about their day living their lives with respect and beauty. They simply don’t see the need in drawing attention to themselves. Their elegance does it for them. I pray and hope that over time I can do that. Just live my life in quiet elegance. Enjoy your day! 

 

Your Gratitude List…

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Good Morning Everyone,

I hope you all had a great weekend! I am still busy at work, and we are now on our last full week of Lauren being home! I can’t believe it. It truly is amazing at how fast time does really fly. My husband and I have been sending each other pictures of the kids of when they were little. I still can’t believe that Lauren will be off to college next week. 

Having that thought pushed me into thinking about being grateful for things in my life. I was listening to another Tonya Leigh podcast and this one was called “2 Ways to Upgrade your Gratitude Practice”. 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

I still can’t believe that I took this photo!! It is just so magical. I still remember standing in this garden last year in Newport, RH. It truly felt like a dream…. even now I am taking in this moment and being grateful that I got to see this with my family.

Tonya mentioned this in her podcast…

“I also think we can get into gratitude slumps, gratitude ruts. And for me, what that feels like is I’m going through the motions of being grateful but I’m not really feeling it. Do you know what I’m talking about?

Like, you write it down in your journal, “I’m grateful for my family. I’m grateful for my job. I’m grateful for my house. I’m grateful for the food. I’m grateful for my friends.” But you’re not really feeling gratitude. You’re not feeling the emotion of gratitude”. 

Oh yes, I have been here which is why I don’t have a gratitude journal. I always felt like that was all I was doing. Just writing things down just to be writing things down.

 

 

 

Tonya said, “When it comes to gratitude, I think it’s about quality not quantity. I don’t think it’s about the numbers of things that you’re grateful for, but the depth of the gratitude that you have for some things.

Deep gratitude is when you get into the emotion of gratitude. And the way I like to do that is to think of one thing and go deep into why I am grateful for that person or that thing.

I could not agree with this more. I have found myself in the past just going through the motions of making a gratitude list and found myself just blowing right through things. But if I take one thing at a time, I find myself exploring that item, person or event more deeply. It brings more quality to my thoughts of gratefulness more than anything. Let me know in the comments below if you have done this before. How do you apply gratitude to your life?

 

In boutique news, the Vintage Vanity Collection is now on sale. There are a few pieces that are down to $15! You may order on the website. 

 

 

Simple Elegant Foods I Am Enjoying

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Good Morning All,

I am a little excited about this weekend. I found a new Antique Mall! I hope to visit it tomorrow while our daughter is away on her little trip with her brother! My husband and I also plan on having dinner at a new restaurant. It’s called Cooper’s Hawk and it’s also a winery. I, of course, already have my dinner entree picked out. It should be a good weekend!

Speaking of food, I wanted to share some food items that I have been enjoying for the past few weeks.

 

photo credits: Mrs. Shockley

 

For the last few weeks, I have been going to Trader Joes to buy different items. I feel like we have gotten into a bit of a food rut, and I wanted to get some different items for meals. I also love having some sort of pastry on the weekends to enjoy at home. I found these delicious apple blossoms deserts. They are so good! The apples are just sweet enough and the sprinkle of crunchy granola on top is just perfect. I add a scoop or two of vanilla ice cream and it is absolute bliss to me!

 

 

My second delicious find are these bags of mushroom risotto and asparagus risotto. These were perfect side dishes to my weekly roasted chicken meals. All you do is pour it into your skillet, add some water, let it simmer and voilà! It is creamy, tasty and very flavorful. 

 

 

My fourth food find is not from Trader Joes but a recent new tea bag find. I am such a fan of Harney & Sons tea and this vanilla comoro was quite exceptional. This is a delicious vanilla black tea. It has the perfect balance of vanilla. It also had a very creamy texture to it. It’s delicious and I need to order another tin! 

 

 

The last new food favorite are these vegetable spring rolls from Trader Joes. These are so good! I simply place them in the oven at 400 degrees for about 30-40 minutes and they come out so crispy and tender. I normally pair them with some steam rice and viola another easy and delicious meal.

It’s amazing how having these simple dishes can change up a weekly dinner night rut. I loved trying these new items and Trader Joes has some of the best prices that I have ever seen! I don’t have one near my home so I can only go every other weekend, but I love going and really like the staff. Oh, and one more new favorite of mine is their dark chocolate peanut butter cups. Oh my word! The staff let me try these for free and oh my word! So good!

I hope you enjoyed my new food finds. Let me know in the comments section below if you have tried any of these items. I would love to know.

A Beautiful Table Setting with Disposable Plates?

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Hello Everyone!

I just realized that some of the students here in my city will be heading back to school next week! I am so happy that it is not us this year! Lauren still has another month before we drop her off at the college campus! So happy! I will miss her but that school schedule that she had was for the birds! Way too early to go back to school!

Which also reminds me that my cousin and I are suppose to head down to the outlet mall here in my city tomorrow. It’s probably going to be crowded because of all of the back-to-school shopping! Oh boy….

In recent news, did any of you hear about Phyllis Hoffman Depiano’s recent passing? I can’t believe it! I was so sad. I love Victoria Magazine and was so happy to hear that she was the one that revived it!

This magazine has provided so much inspiration for all of us. I still have my very first copy of Victoria Magazine. I purchased it when I got my first apartment at age 19 in 2002. I hope that the work and inspiration that Phyllis inspired continues. 

I was on the website recently and saw this table setting…. 

photo credit: Victoria Magazine.com

 

Now isn’t this beautiful? I got so excited because I thought it was a real china set that they were now selling only to realize that it is a disposable table setting?!!! Isn’t that crazy? It looks so real! 

 

photo credit: Victoria Magazine

It’s called the Victoria Timeless Table setting and you can buy all of it on the website. There is a list of all of the pieces that come with it. I would love to have these, but I would use them for every day. Let me know in the comment section below what your thoughts are. Would you use these for everyday dining? Have a great weekend everyone! 

 

 

Style Tips for Elegant Women

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Good Morning!

Oh goodness, I am finding myself to be so “froggy” lately and honestly, I know what it is! It’s because we are normally on vacation this month and all of our vacation memories are coming up in our Facebook memories and it is not helping me! I need a change of scenery!

I just keeping telling myself “calm down September will be here soon”. I am so ready for our trip and for getting away. It is really going to be so different for us. We will have no kids, no dogs to worry about, and will be able to stay where we want! Oh goodness! I am really looking forward to it. 

I have been on the hunt for lots of ideas and new podcasts to inspire my daily life. I recently found Tonya Leigh on Youtube and then on Spotify. I loved her “elegant woman series” and had to share some of her tips on style with you all. 

 

 

The first commandment is elegant women wear what they love. That’s right, they just wear what they love. They don’t depend on the outside world to tell them what’s in style, what they should wear, what the season is telling them is appropriate or what’s acceptable.

The second commandment of elegant women is that they dress for their dreams. And this is where self-image comes into the picture. Because we can get so used to seeing ourselves in a certain way that we continue to choose clothing to reconfirm a certain image that we have of ourselves. (I love this commandment!)

The third style commandment of elegant women is to choose quality over quantity. Now, I know that those sales are tempting. And you’re thinking, “Why don’t I just get a bunch of these things right now because they’re 50% off?” But this is not how elegant women think. Elegant women are not about quantity. They are about quality. They don’t want to invest in things that fall apart after the first few wears. And I believe it is better to have one quality piece than 10 crappy ones. (But I do keep in mind that everyone has their own budget)

Style commandment number four of elegant women is a big one, and it’s one that I have to remind women of often in my programs. And that is, elegant women dress the body they have now.

How many of you are waiting until you lose the weight to invest in clothes that make you feel beautiful? It’s like putting yourself in purgatory. And it doesn’t work. And the reason why it doesn’t work is that you are reconfirming a self-image that is out of alignment with the version of you who has lost the weight.

 

 

Now, I get not wanting to go and buy really expensive things if you know that you’re going to lose the weight, in a year from now, chances are you won’t be wearing those things. But that doesn’t mean that you neglect the body that you have now.

I have been guilty of a few of these and especially the last one. I have held off buying clothes because of my size. I have always had issues with my weight. But I have never wanted it to stop me from being elegant.

I hope you all have enjoyed these tips. I am linking the rest of the style commandments here for you to read and enjoy. Until then have a great day! 

 

 

(style tips from author Tonya Leigh)