Items that I loved for the month

December Favorites

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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

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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

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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)

Happy Thanksgiving!

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(my home last year)
Goodness…. another Thanksgiving is here already. It’s been 5 years since we built this house. My step-son will be graduating this coming May from high school and will be joining his brother in the “real world”. My daughter will be a freshman is high school this fall! I just can’t believe how fast the years are going by. 
I will be taking the rest of the week off from the blog. I am just going to enjoy my time off and enjoy my family. I am NOT going out on Black Friday. I never do! I did however see some wonderful items on Ann Taylor’s website that I quickly added to my wish-list. I am trying to be strong and not buy anything. 
Well I am off to preparing for Thanksgiving tomorrow. I am hosting this year. I am expecting about 15 people so we will see how this goes. My house is cleaned. I have all of my candles ready. My Christmas trees are up and my apron is wrapped around my waist as I type. Seriously enjoy your holidays with your families. I didn’t realize how fast time went until the last few years. Goodness…. it is going. Enjoy!!!
(photo via Pinterest)

October Favorites

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My goodness October, October. Another month has came and went. I almost forgot to write a post about my favorites this month. It went by so quickly and it has been a busy month at the office. One of my co-workers has been on maternity leave and we were filling in for her in addition to our own caseload. Never fun but it nice to learn other things in the office.

Well for this month I will be sharing some items that I have already posted about but they have been my favorites for this month.

I saw this photo on Pinterest this month and could not stop staring at it. Oh my word! How gorgeous are these cabinets? Just stunning! I shared this with my husband and he loves it. So maybe in the near future……..
My number 2 has been my Eva Mendes dress! I love this dress! It is so comfortable and beautiful. I love the color. I actually wore it with a chunky brown cardigan and some kitten heels to lunch with a friend. It looked so chic. 
Number 3 has been my faux pumpkins from T.J. Maxx. They have had some great fall decor items this year. Lots of faux pumpkins and they look great on the porch!

Number 4 has been fresh salmon from my local grocery store. It has been so long since I have made it but my local grocery store will pack it for you with fresh herbs of your choice, lemons, limes and butter! It has been wonderful grabbing one every week. I just add some salt, pepper and extra virgin olive oil. Lovely dinners every time.

I can’t go without mentioning this. Fifth on my list is my Tea for One set from David’s Tea. I love this!!! I absolutely adore it! It stays in my office Monday thru Friday but then I bring it home to enjoy on the weekends! I may have to buy a second.  
Sixth on my list is this wonderful movie from 1985 called “A Room with a View“. I watched it from my On Demand section. It is a wonderful movie. Lucy Honeychurch and her chaperone Charlotte Bartlett are on holiday in Italy (beautiful by the way) and meet Mr. Emerson and his free-spirited son George. Once they return to England Lucy agrees to marry another man and as fate would have it George moves to England with his father. I don’t want to tell you much of the movie but I really enjoyed it. I watched it four times already if that says anything. 
And last but certainly not least has been the six week etiquette tips given by Myka Meier on the blog called the The Glampad. Every Wednesday for the last five weeks (this week is the last week), Myka has been sharing her Duchess Effect tips on the Glampad. I must admit I have had it on my calendar to read this on Andrea’s blog since she announced this series on her Instagram page. I have loved reading all of the tips from Myka and learning more about her etiquette courses at the Plaza Hotel in New York City. If you are interested in etiquette pop on over to take a peek at the blog entries from Andrea. 
Well that is it for my favorites for the month of October. Next month is going to be a pretty busy month for me. I am hosting Thanksgiving dinner and Christmas Eve dinner so my hands are going to be pretty full. I will try my best to keep up with my blog posts for the next two months but don’t be surprised if I miss a week or two. Enjoy your week!

(photos via Mrs. Shockley)

September Favorites

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Wow, September has come and went. It feels like this year is just going by too fast! Today is my 36th birthday and I really don’t have any plans. I just want a nice dinner, I already ordered two new dress online from New York and Company (see here and here) I hope that they fit well, had a manicure this past weekend and I finally got to Pottery Barn to get those beautiful Monique Lhuillier plates that I have been wanting.

Also, I have a secret, I have never had a birthday cake before. Sad, I know but it is true! So I am hoping to get one this weekend. Well, let’s continue on with my favorites for the month of September. A great month I might add….

Okay, I will start with this I am not a yogurt fan! I hate yogurt. I want to love it but have had a hard time finding one. I use to eat Dannon La creme yogurt but I think that they discontinued it because I cannot find it anymore. A few weeks ago they had samples out for tasting for this yogurt called Oui. It is a french style of yogurt. I love the glass container. So chic right? Well turns out that I love it and have been buying it every week.

So creamy. The vanilla is my favorite!
Okay, second on my list is my night herbal hot cup of tea…..
Here I am in bed watching a movie called Marty. I have enjoyed this ritual and I have enjoyed using my teacups every night also. 
Third, on my list has been our new flannel sheet set from Costco.  I tried finding this pattern online but to no avail. 
Fourth on my list has been this photo that I found on Pinterest. I have no idea where it is from or who the original photographer is but I adore this photo. I love the dress, the heels, the elegance behind it. It is such a great inspiration. I have been on the hunt for a blue dress like this for years now. This photo is my screen saver on my phone. It is so pleasing to see when I turn on my phone. 
Fifth on my list is chinoiserie wallpaper. I will always love this wallpaper but my husband will NOT let me have it. I think one day I am just going to order it and have it installed and let him go mad after it is done. I would love to have it installed by Gracie Studio. I am a huge fan of their work. 
photo credit Aerin Lauder

Sixth on my list are my Gucci sunglasses and yes I did pay this price for them. I don’t regret it because they are so timeless and chic. They are some “head-turners” for sure but I love them, they are so classic! 
And last but certainly not least is this Youtube video from Harper’s Bazaar. It is a video about Susan Lucci and everything that she eats in a day. This video so impressed me! First of all Susan is 71 and she looks incredible! 
Secondly, her food choices would put most of us to shame. I am so enamored with this video. I love her china cup with the bird on it. So pretty. She exercises every day, and heck, I am so happy when I get in 4 days a week! And watch her 80-year-old husband make a fabulous dinner for them. It is a wonderful video. 
Well, I do hope that you enjoyed my September favorites. I hope that I will have one for October but we will see. 
Have a great weekend!
(photos via Mrs. Shockley & Pinterest)

August Favorites

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It has been another month of wonderful finds for me. No need to have a long starting point, let’s just get right into the new items that I have loved during this HOT month of August…..

I’ll start with my most recent consignment find. I found this gorgeous gold Michael Kors Hamilton tote in saffiano leather at my local consignment store called Style Encore. I only paid $80! What a fantastic deal! The previous owner took very good care of it. There was no damage to the bag. I am very blessed to have found it. 
The second item that I have been loving is my red polish manicures. I believe that red nail polish is such a classy color and looks good on everyone. 
The third and fourth item that I have been enjoying all this month is the new heirloom apple scent at Bath and Body Works. When they had their candle sale this month I purchased 6 of these! I love it that much. My home smells so wonderful when I have them burning. 
The next item was this rose gold candle pedestal. It sold out online pretty quickly but I did manage to find this one. You may have to check your local stores to find the one I have in the photo. 

This fifth item has been my weekly trips to our new Whole Foods store in downtown Indianapolis. It is only a few blocks away from my building. I have been taking my lunch breaks to walk the three blocks and it has been wonderful. I am getting out of the office, getting fresh air and finding new healthy items to eat and enjoy. I also found a new source to obtain my weekly bouquets. Like these beautiful flowers that I found there for only $8! Fantastic right?
Another healthy store that I have added to my favorite this month is called Fresh Thyme Farmer’s Market. I have been loving their rotisserie chicken salad and this beautiful kale salad. Doesn’t it look delicious? I have been eating it non-stop this month. I have been so inspired by the Women’s Herbal Apothecary book that I have been visiting local organic stores all over the city. 

Okay, now my seventh favorite this month has been our new mattress. I have been waiting 2 years for this mattress. It is a long story but we got it a week before we left for Charleston and August has been our full month with it. It feels like a new bed. I love it so much! It is a pillow top mattress with foam memory. Oh gosh…… 
And my last favorite has been this fantastic movie called Sense & Sensibility. It was released in 1995 and I am just now seeing it. I had a few hours at home and was scrolling through our on demand section. I always look at the “free movie” section and this was there. I thought why not. I am so addicted! I have watched it five times this month!

I adore everything about this movie. I love the beautiful English countryside. It has just enough of everything. I love the clothes, the language and it was wonderful acting. Sooo much better than so many films today. 

photo credit Annie Spratt 
At first, I didn’t quite understand why the snobby daughter-in-law made fun of this cottage but then I thought well they are living in these huge estates so they don’t quite see the charm in this beautiful English cottage. I adore this cottage. I thought it was so much better than that estate that they had lost. 
And I must admit that I was hoping that Marianne would end up with Colonel Brandon. I admired his character. I thought that he was so charming, attractive and attentive to her. But I don’t want to spoil the movie for those who may have not seen it.  
Well, those are my August favorites. Please let me know in the comments section if you enjoy these posts about my favorites. I know I posted one for July (see here) if you missed it. Thank you so much for stopping by and I hope that you may have found a new favorite for yourself. 

(photos via Mrs. Shockley)