Posts that inspiring an elegant life

Upcoming Elegant Activities

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Good Morning!

I can’t believe it but our daughter is 18! Wow.. she’s 18 everyone. It’s actually kind of incredible. She was only 9 when I started the blog. Goodness gracious. It really is incredible. This weekend we are going out as a family to her favorite restaurant. I just want to enjoy this time with her and my family. My husband’s and stepson’s birthdays are the same week. We plan to just hang out and spend time together.

I also hope to film a YouTube video soon. I am trying to watch some videos on how to do a better job at editing. We will see how things go. I plan on sharing some new organizational items that I got for my upcoming work trip to Washington, D.C. I will try to squeeze in a few sights while I am there, but we will see. 

Speaking of sights, I get regular emails about ballets and new art exhibits for my city. I recently received a few that I really want to attend. 

 

photo credit: Newfields

 

A museum that I visit quite often is having a floral exhibit called Art in Bloom. Local florists came together to create beautiful floral exhibits and showstoppers! I really want to attend this!

 

photo credits: Indy Ballet

 

The second event is Sleeping Beauty.  Although I have always wanted to see Swan Lake, this looks like a wonderful opportunity as well. You know, I really don’t mind going to these events alone. It really doesn’t bother me. I want to experience beautiful things and sometimes you just have to do it alone. I will let you all know if I decide to go. Let me know in the comments section below if there are events that you want to attend this year. Have a great weekend! 

 

 

 

My First Flower Workshop ~ The Guild

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Good Morning!

I am so happy that it is Friday. Honestly, I feel like this week went by really fast! I mean really fast. I don’t know. The days are just moving quickly to me. Oh well, so this weekend I want to go to a furniture store called Value City.  We purchased our dining room table from there a few years ago and our sectional. I still love both pieces, but I recently became very discouraged about my office furniture. A few days ago, I walked into my office and turned around because it made me so depressed walking in here and not inspired. So as a quick fix I re-arranged my desk and now I feel much better about my space, but I still want a new desk and will be looking this weekend. Wish me luck! 

On Wednesday I did something really fun! My group the Guild had a wonderful volunteer opportunity. We were given the opportunity to sign up for making flower arrangements for patients at hospitals, nursey homes, etc. for a place called Random Acts of Flowers! This non-profit organization was started by someone who worked on the HGTV set. The story is he was working one day, fell off of a ladder, broke every bone in his body and ended up in the hospital. While he was there, he received lots of flowers, but he noticed that no one else was getting any. So he took his flowers and began to pass them around and saw how happy people were when they received them! Now how great is that!

 

photo credits: Mrs. Shockley 

 

This is what it looked like when you walked into the studio. You can smell roses everywhere! So lovely!

 

 

 

 

I had to take a look at all of the flowers. I smiled from ear to ear. You all know how much I love flowers. This was right up my alley! After the Assistant Director gave us the story and the instructions we were then allowed to go and shop for flowers. We got to choose as many as we wanted and whatever kind. We had to make two bouquets. They were both going to patients at a hospital. 

 

 

So exciting….

 

photo credits: Mrs. Shockley 

 

 

This was the first bouquet that I made. I loved it so much. I had roses, lilies, hydrangeas, and lots of greenery. 

 

 

After making my second bouquet, I was able to shop for my own vase and make my own bouquet. Of course, I just made a duplicate of the first bouquet. This was a blast!

 

 

These were all the bouquets that our group created. I had to take a photo. Now how great of a cause is this? All of the flowers were donated by Kroger, Whole Foods, and a few wholesalers. The vases are donated by everyday people. I loved this so much. I want to be able to volunteer often. They need flower arrangers twice a week. I am hoping to do this a few times a month so I am checking my schedule to see if I could fit this in. 

Check around your city to see if you have something like this. I guarantee you it will put a smile on your face. Have a great weekend!

 

 

 

Don’t forget to shop the boutique’s new arrival. The Sylvia Midi Shirtdress is really chic! It has a classic silhouette and beautiful dusty blue color!

 

 

 

New Beauty Product- Dove Lavendar Bar

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Good Morning Everyone,

These last few days have been really rough for my family and I. We had to put down our second dog on Monday. He was diagnosed with cancer in October and just became very sick and did not eat hardly any this past weekend. It has been really hard but the good thing was he was older so we were a tad bit more ready for him. We are not getting any more dogs for a while. It is just too hard to say goodbye.

So I plan on doing some things that make me happy this weekend. I plan on visiting a consignment store called Simply Chic. We have three locations and I need to decide which one I will visit. We have Monday off for President’s Day and I have house duty that day for the Guild but after that I want to go and visit Surroundings again. I just love that store!

In today’s post I wanted to share a new beauty product find for me. 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley

 

I was in Walgreens looking for other products and spotted this. I use a Dove pink bar every day and have for years. I have seen different scents but I don’t think that I have ever seen a lavender bar scent. I had to buy it to give it a try. 

 

 

Now I will start off with the color. Isn’t it just so pleasing to the eye? It looks wonderful in my bath bar dish. The scent is wonderful, and I have using it all week and I will say it smells “very clean”. It’s not a strong heavy perfume scent. It is very light and smells really clean. 

If you love bath bars I would say give Dove a try. This is not sponsored but I genuinely love their products and have for years! I am really curious about the pomegranate and hibiscus tea scent as well. 

Speaking of scents my husband got me a very fragrant and beautiful rose bouquet this year for Valentine’s Day. I hope you all had a wonderful Valentine’s Day or Galentine’s Day. Have a great weekend!

 

FrenChic ~ New Antique Store!

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Good Morning Everyone,

Happy Valentine’s Day! I know it is tomorrow but I just wanted to say it early. Yesterday Mr. Shockley and I went to a new restaurant. It was called Monterey Cuisine. I ordered the roasted chicken, mushroom risotto, and honey roasted brussel sprouts. My husband got the filet, with house purple mashed potatoes, and broccoli. It was so delicious! We are definitely looking forward to going again. 

If you read my blog post on Friday, then you know that I took the day off went and watched Funny Face at a vintage theater and visited a new antique store. It was such a wonderful day. I went and visited two antique stores. I went to FrenChic first and it was a really cute store. 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

Walking into the store I spotted this beautiful bird cage and lots of beautiful porcelain surrounding it. 

 

 

It spent a lot of time on the first floor looking at all of the art, light fixtures, vintage rugs and jewelry. 

 

 

 

I walked around the corner and saw these huge tassels. I loved the colors! The black and gold looked so sophisticated. I knew that I had to find a place for it in home. 

 

 

photo credits: Mrs. Shockley 

 

I then turned around another corner and saw this gorgeous tablecloth! It was only $20! I had to have it!

 

You can see my gold tassels in the distance hanging on the curtain rod. 

 

I purchased the tablecloth and tassels. Once I left there I went and visited Vintage Whimsy . I didn’t see anything there, so I left and headed to the vintage movie theater. I grabbed a small popcorn (no butter) and a small lemonade and went and got a seat. There only about 30 of us in the room and it was wonderful! I sung along and absorbed all of the vintage fashion and decor in the movie. I enjoy Funny Face. It reminds me of the movie called, “The Devil Wears Prada” but I love this so much more! I am thinking about buying it on dvd. I found it on Amazon recently. 

I don’t mind spending days by myself. Never be afraid to explore your city. Find all of the elegant things that you can! Have a great Monday!

 

 

 

 

Chicken Fetti & Spinach

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Good Morning,

I am taking today off! I have been looking forward to this day for a few weeks now! I have been so busy at work. Today I will be going to the vintage movie theater and watching Funny Face on the big screen! Yay! So excited! But before I go and see my show, I will be going to take a peek at the new antique that I found out about called FrenChic. After that I will stop by Vintage Whimsy as well. I am looking forward to having the down time today. It’s been really busy!

With being busy trying to find quick meals during the week has been a challenge as well. I came up with this dinner on the fly and it worked out!

 

 

So one day this past week I thought about making my normal chicken fettuccine dinner. I always have a box of shredded chicken and my fav seasonings. I always add some garlic powder, garlic salt, ranch seasoning, salt and pepper. 

 

 

I wanted to change it up a bit, so I added some spinach that I had in the refrigerator. I just sautéed everything together and added my seasonings. 

 

 

I added my favorite fetti sauce from Bertolli. It turned out so good and tasted good as well!

 

 

I love quiet dinners at home with my family. A fancy table setting is not always necessary. Just your favorite flowers, favorite dish and favorite people! Have a great weekend everyone! I will be sure to share my adventures next week!

 

 

It’s Friday, shop the boutique, my favorites page or Sarah Flint’s new arrivals. Don’t forget to use my code SARAHFLINT-BASMSSHOCKLEY for $50 off! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Recent Wants from Amazon

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Good Morning,

Nothing like a well resting Sunday. I didn’t do much. Just spent time with family. I am looking at my home binder and trying to figure out what projects we can work on this year. We have a few but everything has just gotten so expensive. It’s get hard trying to figure out priorities. I have been on Amazon quite a bit lately. I am looking for things for Lauren and trying to find home organizational items. Below are a few of the items that caught my eye. 

 

 

First were these white and gold velvet hangers. I think these would really elevate the look of my closet. Right now, I have all black hangers and they all match but I believe these would change the look and make it uniform. 

 

 

Next is this wicker breakfast tray. I love using trays! I use one every weekend when I am making my breakfast brunch and having my teatime. The one I have is white with marble but I am loving this wicker one. I see my beautiful china and a small flower bud on it now!

 

 

 

Third is this beautiful dress! I love the color and the buttons in the middle. Trying to find conservative but elegant dresses has been getting harder and harder. I am seriously considering to ordering this. It comes in severally different colors and the price of $25 is not bad either. I also found this one and this one! 

 

 

Last are these magazine file boxes. I saw these during the pandemic and wanted to get them but then I completely forgot about them. I love how uniform they look, and I am loving the color. They come in different color options as well. 

There are a ton more items on my Amazon list but this post could get really long. I hope you enjoy my list of wants and have a wonderful Monday!

 

Speaking of pretty pink dresses don’t forget about the Vera Blush Maxi that I have in stock. I only have 3 left and it would be perfect for a Valentine’s Day date night!

 

 

 

Please note: some links are affiliate links and if you make a purchase through this link, I will receive a small commission for referring you to the product. Thank you so much in advance if you decide to make a purchase through my link.

 

 

 

Cameo Details

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Hello Everyone!

I did so much better these past two week with my bedtime. Getting rest is really important to my body and it lets me know when it’s not happy. Did any of you see the new book that Jennifer L. Scott shared on her Instagram? It’s called “Fast like a Girl” A Woman’s Guide to Using the Healing Power of Fasting to Burn Fat, etc”.  I am really curious about it. I have hit a wall with my weight loss, and I am trying to figure out where I am now. I know that I am having some hormonal changes and I am trying to learn about that as well. Let me know if you have done intermittent fasting. I am so curious about everyone’s results. 

I also wanted to know if any of you have watched the Wedding Veil Series on the Hallmark channel? I absolutely love this series and I am so happy with how it is written, the cast, and the story line. First off, they all have careers in the Arts! Now how great is that? They did such a great job with this series. This past weekend I watched the 5th installment called The Wedding Veil Inspiration. I loved this one as well. I also try to pay attention to the details after I watch it a first time. I pay attention to their homes, their offices, how the dress, etc. In this particular episode I fell in love with Lacey Chabert, “Avery”, cameo brooch on her beautiful pink coat!

 

 

So I tried to pause the movie and take a photo of it. Can you see it? How lovely is that? 

 

 

I tried to get a photo up close, but this is the best that I could get. Now you guys know that this inspired me and put me on the hunt to search for something similar. I did find a few on Etsy. I found this one, this one, and this one. 

I’ll be sure to share whatever I order. Let me know in the comments below if you have been watching the series. Do you enjoy it? Yes or no? Have a great weekend!

Oh I must tell you all! Sarah Flint is having a 40% off select styles sale! Oh my goodness, get over to the website! A pair that you love just might be included. If not then don’t forget to use my code SARAHFLINT-BASMSSHOCKLEY for $50 off your first order!

 

 

Please note: some links are affiliate links and if you make a purchase through this link, I will receive a small commission for referring you to the product. Thank you so much in advance if you decide to make a purchase through my link.