Monthly Favorites Archives - Page 12 of 15

March Favorites

April 3, 2019/2 Comments/in Monthly Favorites, Uncategorized /by mrs.sshockley

It’s Wednesday…. already. We are in our first week of April and I have not posted my March favorites. It did take me a moment to remember a few things that I have enjoyed for the month of March. I had a lot going on work-wise so everything just flew by.

Well, let’s get right into my favorites…

First on my list is the grilled chicken wrap at Chick Fil A. I LOVE this!!! But I normally have the staff “red flag” mine because I like it with crispy chicken instead of the grilled. I know that is not a healthy choice but it’s so good! Love it!

Second, on my list is my set of J Crew multi-strand pearls and Chanel inspired brooch. I purchased my necklace from Poshmark and my brooch from Etsy. Lately, I have just been pinning my brooch to my pearls for a very beautiful combination. I adore the way it looks!

Third, on my list is my new king-size Nautica comforter. I purchased this from HomeGoods earlier last month and my husband and I have enjoyed it. It is so plush and cozy. It was a great find!

Fifth, on my list, is an oldie but goodie. I have worn this perfume for years now and continue to do so. I still get compliments on it. I adore the Donna Karen Cashmere Mist. Every time I put it on I just feel so pulled together. It is a wonderful scent and it is classic.

Sixth, on my list is my peppermint body oil from my herbal lady. She sells her herbs, teas, oils, and other home remedies during the spring and summer. We have an open market on Wednesdays when the weather gets warm and I always go and visit her. I purchased this bottle last year and it is homemade. I rub it on my cuticles and on my heels especially. Those spots get really bad during the winter. It smells heavenly and works wonderfully.

Seventh, on my list, are my favorite hand soaps from Bath and Body Works.

These are my favorites, crisp apple, cucumber & lily and white tea & sage. All are wonderful scents and will leave a lovely smell in your bathroom and on your hands when you use them. I even bring one with me when we travel. I hate the little cheap bar soaps that they leave in the room. I love having my own hand soap in our hotel bathroom. It’s such a treat!

And last but not least are my hand and nail creams from Clarins.

Clarins is a wonderful company that has some of the best lotions and creams. I have used their body rich lotion and it is marvelous! The smell is stellar and the coverage is exceptional. The scents for these 3 are fresh and clean. I have really enjoyed using them and will keep one in my purse.

Well, that takes care of my March favorites. Let me know in the comments section below if you enjoy these favorites every month. Have a great day!

(photos via Mrs. Shockley)

February Favorites

March 1, 2019/2 Comments/in Monthly Favorites, Uncategorized /by mrs.sshockley

It’s the third month of the year already! Okay, please slow down! I don’t want 2019 to fly by like 2018 but it looks as if it’s on track to do so.

(Sighing)…. There are going to be so many changes for us this year. My last step-son will be moving out in August. He is going to college. When I met him and married their dad he was only 3! I can’t believe it went by that quickly and yesterday was our 15 year wedding anniversary.

Okay, enough sad talk. Let’s get right into my February favorites.

Love my winged tote, see here to read it!

Now the first on my list are actually items that I just purchased but I like them a lot! These beautiful large, pale pink faux pearl earrings are from H&M. I searched vigorously for the link but to no avail.

I searched for the gray scarf also but could not find it. I did, however, find these.

Next, are these beautiful slingbacks from Calvin Klien. I actually purchased these at our local consignment store called Style Encore. I only paid about $17 and they are super chic and comfortable. I did run a search on Ebay and found some of these.

Fourth on my list is this small sample of facial cleanser called Tatcha. I was given this sample sometime last year with my free gift with purchase. I saw it in my product drawer and I thought, “Okay I will give this a try”. It is wonderful! My skin glowed on day 2! If you know of a company or place that will give you a free sample of this, take it! It’s a wonderful facial cleanser.

Fifth on my list is this oldie but goodie. It is called Living the Good Life by Martha Stewart. My husband purchased this book for me about 5 years ago (it was published in 2013) and I have not read it until now. It is great! I can’t seem to put it down.

Here is a look at some of the paragraphs in the book. Also, I use postcards as bookmarks. This is one of my favorites. I found it in Charleston last year.

And last but certainly not least is this great two-minute video of one of my favorite scenes from Mrs. Doubtfire. I already loved the elegant home that they lived in but wouldn’t it be nice to come home to this elegant meal? Great scene and funny!

I hope that you enjoyed my favorites from February. March is going to be a busy month for me. I have my daughter’s birthday, step-son and husband! The worse part is that they are all in the same week! I will also be traveling to Washington, D.C. at the end of the month for more work-related training. I hope that things will go well and that we just enjoy our time. Have a good weekend!

(photos via Mrs. Shockley, video is from Youtube)

January Favorites

January 28, 2019/4 Comments/in Monthly Favorites, Uncategorized /by mrs.sshockley

As you can imagine January has not been a good month. With all of the shutdown drama going on it’s been pretty hard trying to keep my focus on what’s important. But as I said in my post on Friday, I am just trusting that God has a plan for all of this.

Now let’s get into some of my favorites for this month, shall we?

Photo by Benigno Hoyuela on Unsplash

First on my list has been this ginger with chamomile tea. I can not stop drinking it! It is so delicious. It has been an absolute favorite for the entire month. I have so enjoyed this with some honey. It is marvelous in the morning with my breakfast!

Second, on my list has been my new Varidesk! Our office ordered these some time ago and some staff members have left leaving some leftovers! I requested one about 3 weeks ago and I am loving it. It has been such a game-changer for me. I love being able to stand for a few hours. Working as a paralegal and sitting all day can have bad effects on your circulation. Trust me I am starting to fight a few varicose veins but this tool is sure to help me get back on track. Love it!

Third, on my list has been my new turmeric gummies from mykind Organics. My local Fresh Thyme sells them. You can order them online for about $20. They test so well! I have one a day along with the multivitamins that I take in the morning. I don’t know if I have any inflammatory issues (although I believe my varicose veins are one), I still take them to build healthy habits. If you find them you should try them. Absolutely delicious!

Fourth on my list has been my new faux flower arrangements. There has been a world of difference in the way my home decor looks. Everything looks so fresh and beautiful. I have really been happy with the turnout. Read my blog post here if you are interested.

And last on my list has been my spinach scrambled eggs. They are so good! I make these every weekend now. I enjoy this dish so much and it is so filling. So glad I tried it! See my blog post here about it.

Well, that’s it for this month. We will see what February holds. I am not sure. I know that I wanted to schedule a facial for the month of February. I have never had a professional facial! Can you believe that? I also have to begin plans for my daughter’s 14th birthday! I can’t believe my baby girl is going to be 14 in March! So scary. Well, I hope that you enjoy your week!

(photos via Mrs. Shockley)

December Favorites

December 31, 2018/6 Comments/in Monthly Favorites, Uncategorized /by mrs.sshockley

I hope you all had a great Christmas! I did…. I was so worn out from all the cooking. I try to explain to my husband that there is a lot of work that goes into putting up Christmas trees, decorating, meal planning, cooking, and wrapping presents. I enjoy it all but it is a lot of work.

Well I wanted to start of this week with my December favorites. I have enjoyed sharing my monthly favorites with everyone. It does force you to take account of items or events that you have enjoyed for the month.

First on my list is….

my bedroom in high school. This was my room when I was 18. I pulled out this picture recently and posted it to my Instagram account. I could not believe it. It’s been so long since I have seen this picture. I graduated from high school in 2001 so it’s not that long ago but it is. When I look at it I see….. a young girl who has not changed at all.

At the time of this photo I had actually just graduated from high school and was finally able to work full time at my current office now. I was a student assistant at the U.S. Attorney’s Office during my junior year and senior year in high school. I also worked there during my first year of college. I left around my second year of college and began working as a legal assistant at a private law firm. The lead attorney actually offered me the job in my 20th birthday. This photo holds so many memories. This was actually the first time I was able to have my own bedroom. My sister and I always shared a room but our mother had moved into a bigger home with more rooms. I was so excited to decorate. This makes me smile….

Second on my list is my surprise bouquet of peonies! I found these earlier this week. It is so rare to find peonies during this season. I had a huge smile on my face when I walked into the grocery store and saw these. So happy!!!

Third on my list are these elegant Kate Spade earrings. I found these at Von Maur a few weeks ago. They are called the full flourish flower stud and the studded pearl earrings. Both are comfortable and lovely.

Fourth on my list is my blue and white wrapping paper from the Enchanted Home. I purchased this last year and was so excited to use it. It looks stunning in person!

Fifth on my list is this pin that I saw on Pinterest. Now I LOVE these lace stockings but I am so torn. I can see myself wearing these with my leopard print pumps, black flowing skirt, white collar shirt, pearls and cardigan. But my question is are these too sexy for the office? I don’t know. I tried to imagine one of my co-workers wearing these or maybe one of our attorneys and ask myself would I be offended or think that these stockings are too sexy. What are your thoughts? Be honest.

And last but certainly not least is this scene from a movie called Princess that was released in 2008. It’s a cute little movie. I watched it one day with my daughter while folding laundry. This movie is about a princess that protects mythological creatures. While I was watching it this scene appeared and for some reason it dazzled me. I love the decor in the background, the silver teapot that “Nana” is holding, the blue and white tea set and the elegant pink blush scarf that Princess Ithaca is wearing. This scene was just so elegant to me. It has so much grace and poise. I had to take a picture of it. Loved it!

Well I hope that you enjoyed my list of favorites for the month of December. I can’t believe that I will now be starting my 5th year of blogging!!! I can’t believe it! I was just telling my husband that I will be blogging 5 years this coming March. Even he was shocked! I hope that I can continue to bring beautiful content for 2019.

(photos via Mrs. Shockley & Pinterest)

November Favorites

October Favorites

September Favorites

August Favorites

July Favorites

Have a Lovely Christmas

December 21, 2018/4 Comments/in Monthly Favorites, Uncategorized /by mrs.sshockley

photo credit Dilayara Garifullina

It’s Friday!!! Yeah! I have a 5-day weekend ahead of me and I am soooo looking forward to it. Christmas is in a few days and I am looking forward to spending time with my family. I have such a busy schedule for the next few days so I am going to take some time off from the blog. My day designer is packed with ideas and tasks that I want to complete for the next few days.

I am hosting Christmas Eve dinner with my husband’s family. His grandfather passed away earlier this year and his 88-year-old grandmother always cooks Christmas Eve dinner for us so this year I decided to take the reigns since it has been such a rough year for her. I am hoping that this will help her a little. This has been her first holiday season without Grandpa Leroy. It’s going to be different for us all.

One of my co-workers shared this recipe with me. It is called slow cooker pumpkin white hot chocolate. I am really looking forward to making this for Christmas Eve dinner so fingers crossed! I know that it sounds like it should be more of a fall kind of drink but why not.

I hope that you all enjoy your holidays with your families and thank you all for reading my blog. Honestly, I have my moments when I don’t feel inspired and don’t want to write anymore but I keep going because I want to stay committed to what I am doing and I love meeting new like-minded friends on here.

Please enjoy your holidays and Merry Christmas! See you in January!

(photos via Pinterest)

November Favorites

November 26, 2018/in Monthly Favorites, Uncategorized /by mrs.sshockley

Wait, wait… November is over? Oh my goodness. When I was reviewing my drafts for this week’s blog entries I saw that this was ready for me to write and I thought wow…. November is over. It really flew by. Well I have some new favorites for this month and wanted to share them.

Well first on the list is Ina Garten’s new television series Cook like a Pro. I have been watching every episode and recording them. I love going back and watching them at night. It’s such a treat after a long day at the office.

My candles at home

My second favorite has been the crushed candy cane candle. My goodness it smells so good! It is not as strong as the twisted peppermint that I normally buy. It has been a nice subtle smell in the house.

Third on my list has been my glitter dot ruffle blouse from New York and Company. The color is called berry bliss and it is the perfect mauve color. It looked so nice with my long flowy skirt and kitten heels.

Fourth on my list has been the Nutcracker. I found the 1993 Nutcracker with a young Macaulay Culkin on Netflix! My daughter and I watched it while eating dinner one night. It was lovely!!!

Here is the Youtube video if you wish to watch it.

We also went to see the new Nutcracker and the Four Realms. That was lovely also. It wasn’t crazy and it didn’t steer to far away from the classic. There were some changes to the story but I was okay with those changes and so was my daughter.

My fifth favorite for this month has been Laura Calder. I mentioned her book a few weeks ago (see here) and I have ordered it! I can’t wait to dive into it.

I have really enjoyed her Youtube channel and I have watched some of her videos over and over. Like this one about dieting.

and this video about the power of lists….

Other home favorites have been my giant poinsettias from Costco….

My sitting room at home

Our bedroom

And last but certainly not least my homemade apple cinnamon tea cake from scratch. I made this for Thanksgiving. The recipe is here.

My teacake at home

Well I hope that you have enjoyed my list of favorites for November. I have already started my list for December. Really….. December. I can’t believe it is almost here. I guess 2019 is coming whether we want it to or not.

(photos via Mrs. Shockley)