Blog posts that inspire

Would You Travel Alone?

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Good Monday Morning!

My Mondays always seem to be hectic to me. I do have a routine and system so everything is ready in the morning except for my body. It does not like Monday mornings. This weekend was okay. Since I worked from home on Thursday and Friday of last week it felt as if I had more time off. It was so nice teleworking those days. I’ve got to take a least one day a week to telework. I think that would help bring a little peace throughout the week. 

I ordered too many things online. I have about 7 packages coming from Amazon. I think I shared that I am trying to order Lauren a few things as well. During some of my downtime this weekend I watched a few videos on Youtube. Since I love French living a video was “suggested” to me from Youtube. It was called, “I went to Paris Alone- How to find Joy in Solitude”. The title alone pulled me in….

 

photo via: Instagram

 

That got me thinking and honestly, I have been thinking about this for a while now. Could I travel alone? I mean if I were single and had no husband or child would I be traveling. Could I be brave enough to travel alone?

And the answer is yes! I have dined alone several times especially when I am traveling for work. Being in my own company has never bothered me. 

What about any of you? Have any of you ever traveled alone? Anyone ever traveled overseas alone? I am mainly interested in women traveling alone. That intrigues me. 

 

 

I have posted the video here. I do hope that you all enjoy it! Helena has lots of wonderful thoughts on traveling alone and the culture in Paris. Watch the video and let me know your thoughts! Have a wonderful Monday!

 

 

Winter Antiquing

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And a Good Morning to you All! 

Well, we have not received much snow here in Indy but we are forecasted to get 14 inches from now until Friday!!! Yes, you read that correctly 14 inches in my area! So my plan today is to get into my office quickly, get some of my work done, grab my laptop, and work from home the rest of the week. I will be leaving my office early today. I don’t want to get stuck in the ice storm that will be arriving BEFORE the snow! Wish me luck!

It will be nice to work from home for a few days. Lauren will be home as well e-learning so it will be nice not having to rush out the rest of the week. One of my new books just arrived. I ordered Vintage Roses and I cannot wait to take some time this week and read it! It is so beautiful!

Okay now let me share what I found at my favorite antique store.…

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

I spotted these gorgeous plates as soon as I walked in. I have no idea what the name of the pattern was but I loved the blue!

 

 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

The next item were these charming pink vases. It was only $12 for both! I am still regretting not buying these!

 

 

The next thing that I spotted was this elegant green dish. I have no idea what it was but I loved the color. Beautiful right?

 

 

I walked around some more and spotted these vintage wine glasses. I wish I had room for all of these things. I adored the wine glasses to the right on the second shelf. Goodness, I should have just purchased them. 

 

 

Here are some more goodies in this chair. I could not pass up that blue and white trinket dish or the pillow. Just look at all the rich colors and textures. 

 

photo credits: Mrs. Shockley

 

In the end, I purchased a pink-tinted vase, a gold rope tray, a Chinosiere ginger jar, a Limoges floral platter, the textured tasseled pillow, the blue and white vintage tray, and the gold plant stand. I spent under $50 on everything. I am so excited about my finds. I can’t wait to use everything. I do use my things. If they are beautiful that just makes life so elegant to me. Now I am going to get my day finished and come home. We will see how much of this 14 inches we will get! 

Enjoy your Wednesday!  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Paula Deen’s Birthday Cake

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Good Morning,

Oh goodness, is it the weekend yet? I am ready for the weekend already! It has been such a busy week at work and it is only Wednesday! But on to something fun that I saw on Facebook…

I think that I mentioned that I follow a Facebook page called Grandmillennial Style and we are always sharing our finds and decor from our homes. Well someone shared these wonderful photos from Paula Deen’s 75th Birthday party on our group page. I have no idea who the photographer was or who posted the pictures but I do know one thing, I need to find out who made her cake!!!!

 

photo via Facebook 

 

OMG! This was her cake! It’s incredible, isn’t it? Oh my goodness!

 

photo via Facebook

 

I kept staring at it trying to find out how it was made. I am so curious about this cake and in love with it!

 

photo via Facebook

It’s a beautiful cake, isn’t it? My only hope is that the information about who the baker is surfaces. My 40th birthday is this year and I would LOVE to have something similar to his made. I may have to just take this photo and have someone try to make something similar. What do you all think? I hope this put a smile on your face today. Have a great Wednesday!

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Beautiful Style of Jessica Fletcher

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Good Morning Everyone,

I had a pretty good weekend. I watched a new action film called Infinite with Mark Wahlberg and it was not bad. We went and had dinner at Chic fil A on Friday and someone dumped a cup of ice in the parking lot near our car and I slipped and fell on it! I just laughed when I hit the ground. My purse somehow shifted behind me and I landed on it! It was perfect! I could not have planned it better myself. Once I recovered my family and I just laughed all the way home. I told Lauren, “well I guess I was due”. I had not slipped and fallen on ice in about 3 years. I was due”. 

I am planning my year. I’ve got to get doctor’s appointments scheduled and I am trying to meet with a dietitian this year! That is one of my goals for 2022. I am also gearing up for my first tax year for A Home for Elegance. I can’t believe it! I am going to be a nervous wreck until this is done. Goodness… 

I am also teleworking today, yay! I have not teleworked in months and I am so happy to be able to do this today. I know the rest of the week will be busy but I am going to enjoy this today. Alright now on to today’s post. 

Have any of you ever watched Murder She Wrote? I started watching it a few years ago. It was on one of those nights that I could not sleep and needed something good to watch. One thing I noticed was her clothes. Did any of you ever pay attention to the outfits she wore during those episodes?  Here are a few to jog your memory…

 

 

 

 

photos via Pinterest

 

She looks sensational right? I wish celebrities and T.V. stars still dressed this way but unfortunately being nude has become more popular. 

 

 

I have to say I am a big fan of how she wears her scarves. I mean how chic is that? I read online that in a 1992 interview a costume designer by the name of Eilish Zebrasky was “careful” to fit Angela Lansbury in fashions that reflective her age. I would have to say that she did a wonderful job!

 

I spy a blue and white lamp…

 

 

 

I will surely be taking some tips from her fashion. In most of these photos, I would say that you can still wear these outfits today. I also love the mysteries. Murder She Wrote is just a classic television series that I am so glad to be able to still watch. It could be that I am getting older but I crave more shows like this. I always pray that the Lord can help me to find beautiful things to watch. Let me know what your favorite classic shows are. 

Have a great Monday!

 

 

 

 

Thriving is Elegant…

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Good Morning and Happy 2022! 

Do you remember my post in December called “Word of the Year”? Did you pick your word yet? My word is trust. I need to trust the Lord more. I am not good at it. I have several reasons why but that is another blog post. Have any of you picked up the January/February issue of Victoria magazine? Oh it is good but then again they always are. 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

I picked up my issue a few weekends ago and have been savoring it ever since. Sometimes I read the “Reader to Reader” section and sometimes I don’t. For some reason, I read this month’s section and I am so glad that I did. 

A lot of readers were giving their hopeful expressions for the new year. Two of the letters that were sent in captured me. One reader wrote:

“The other day, I was going through my stash of inspirational greeting cards when I ran across one that a close friend gave me years ago. The purple-and-gold note has a saying from Maya Angelou emblazoned on the front: “Surviving is important. Thriving is elegant”. This sentiment resonates with me, particularly now as I am looking to make some big changes in my life. I am setting “Be Elegant” as my theme for 2022. That phrase will remind me to move beyond mere survival thinking and, hopefully, will motivate me to become a woman of style, and grace, to flourish, to grow, to succeed, and to live life to the fullest”.  ~ Jacquie Koewler (Redmond, Washington)

Now, how great was that? I marked this in the magazine and plan on absorbing this myself. I have never heard of this quote before from Maya Angelou but I can assure you it will remain in my mental rolodex from here on out! Maybe I should change my word of the year to this quote for the year. 

I just loved this letter from Jacquie and will be keeping it close by. Another item that I wanted to share that I found in this month’s magazine was the Antiques and Garden Show in Nashville, Tennesee. I really want to attend this! I spoke to my husband about it and we are trying to see if it will work with our schedules and finances. Did you see who the speakers are?

Well for starters Martha Stewart is one! Oh my gosh! I have been wanting to meet her for years. Bunny Williams is also a speaker as well as Alexa Hampton and Christopher Spitzmiller. There will be antiques and gardens and it would just be a dream to me. It really would. Of course, I will keep you all updated if we make the trip. 

Let me know in the comments below if you have ever heard of this quote for Maya? Have a great Monday!

 

 

 

 

Weekend Christmas Events

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And Good Monday Morning Everyone!

We are just a few short days away from Christmas! I can’t believe it’s this week and honestly will be over so soon. A new year will be beginning and so will all of the promises of a new year. I think I shared this before that I never make new year resolutions. I just don’t see the point for me. If I need to make a change just do it now. I don’t see the point in waiting for a new year to start. 

I did want to share my weekend with everyone. On Saturday morning my family and I headed to the L.S. Ayres Tea Room for our annual brunch. This year they made some changes. We were told that it went to “buffet style” and honestly when I heard that my heart fell. I hate buffets. I am just being honest but all I see in my mind when I hear that word is people breathing all on the food, putting their grubbing hands everywhere, and thinking about how so people just don’t wash their hands. But when we walked into the room I was pleasantly surprised….

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

The entryway did not change much and that beautiful piano was still there….

 

 

Beautiful isn’t it? I still don’t know much about it. Maybe I will get info on it next time. 

 

 

 

I did snap a photo of this. This is a photo of some of the original staff. This photo was taken in 1905!

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

So when we walked in we were shown to our table and we sat down and ordered our drinks. After that, we were directed to the buffet line. The room was not crowded and the food was completed covered with servers behind it! I was so relieved. No one could touch the food, you were able to select what you wanted and could go back for seconds. There was a glass shield over the area of the food. I mean you could not even breathe on it. I was so happy! I know that sounds bad but some people are just gross. 

I selected the tuna tea sandwiches, some chicken salad, ginger peach tea, and chicken velvet soup of course. I shared the recipe for this soup and it is the most viewed post on my blog! They also had this wonderfully soft pumpkin bread. Oh, it was so delicious! I should have gotten the recipe for that. 

 

photo credit: Mr. Shockley 

It was a wonderful lunch with a beautiful atmosphere that we all enjoyed! On Sunday afternoon my daughter and I went to see the Nutcracker at Newfields. It was really nice this year and we sat in the balcony which wasn’t bad but we have decided to try another Nutcracker next year. I hope you all enjoy your Christmas holiday with your family this week. I will be taking the rest of the week off from the blog and I will see you all next week!

Merry Christmas!

 

 

 

 

 

A New Pen Pal

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Good Morning!

I’ve got a busy day today! Of course, I have to head into the office and have my normal workday but I made an appointment to meet with our Indiana Department of Revenue to make sure that I am all ready for the upcoming tax season for my boutique! This will be the first year that I file returns and pay sales tax for the boutique and I want to make sure that everything is in order. I am really excited about this meeting. I always enjoy things like this. I just hope that I get a “seasoned” individual that can answer all of my new business owner questions. 

Later on this week I will begin wrapping presents for family, friends, and staff. I will be finishing up my Christmas Eve dinner list and I plan on writing my pen-pal for the first time! 

I mentioned it before that I was a part of Jennifer from The Daily Connoisseur Chic Society. I love being a part of this group and I do enjoy the Zoom calls we have. So Jennifer had a pen-pal sign up recently and I signed up to receive a pen pal. Well, I was assigned to one recently and I wanted to have some new customized stationery to use when writing her. So where do I head to? Etsy of course!

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

I ordered this set from Chickadee Cottage Company on Etsy. This is called the stationery letter writing pen pal set. You can customize it to your preference. You pick the color of your envelopes and the color of your letters and font. I love the way my set came out!

 

 

I can’t wait to start writing her! I will be sending my first letter this week. I hope everyone has enjoyed this post and let me know in the comments below if you have a pen pal. I haven’t had a pen pal since 5th grade! My teacher at the time Mrs. Belmont became friends with another teacher in Phoenix, Arizona and they came up with the idea of their students becoming pen pals. I thought it was great! I wish I would have stayed in touch with her. My pen pal’s name was Victoria. Classic right? Have a great Monday everyone! 

 

Oh, I almost forgot! The boutique’s new plus-size arrival is ready. I decided to name this dress Maxine. The Maxine Balloon Sleeve Midi is super soft, comfy, and is the PERFECT mauve pink. It’s available in 1x, 2x, and 3x! 

 

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