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!!!
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!
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 hereand 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 byGracie Studio. I am a huge fan of their work.
photo credit Aerin Lauder
Sixth on my list are my Gucci sunglassesand 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.
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 calledSense & 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.
I can’t believe July is over and my kid is already back in school. I hate this balanced schedule. When they go back to school you go back to school and I don’t want to go to school yet. Anywho, I wanted to share a few of my favorite finds for this month.
Okay, so first on my list is this beauty. I learned about this beautiful wallet from one of my favorite Youtuber’s Nikki. She has a wonderful channel called Inspired by Nikki and LOVE her channel! I must admit I have been binge watching it for the last few days. This wallet is called the LC Lauren Conrad Brulee foldover wallet.You can watch Nikki’s video about it. It is absolutely beautiful and I love it! But make a decision quickly. It is on sale right now for $19.60!
It is the perfect blush color.
Next are these. They are called the Gilligan & O’Malley slippers and they are also the perfect pink blush color. I have been wearing them all weekend long. I had to get a new pair because my old ones had a big hole in it. I cannot have that so I purchased these.
Next is another Inspired by Nikki purchase. I saw this tote in her closet tour (see here) if you want to watch it. I thought that this was such a wonderful tote. It is from H & M. I only found the black online. The grey is no longer available. I found my grey tote on Ebay. Happy hunting if you want the grey version.
Moving along…. next is this wonderful jumbo blue and white Spode teacup and saucer from Wayfair.Or should I say plate! It is huge! I did not realize that this teacup was 20 oz! I probably would not have ordered it if I had known but now that I have had it for a week I can no longer live without it.
So you get an idea of how big it is.
Of course I have my hot water, lemon and honey but I don’t fill it to the top.
That would be a bit much.
Next is my new blue and white ginger vase from Homegoods for only $30! Sorry I could not find it online so you will have to visit your local Homegoods store. Happy Hunting!!!
I also found this gorgeous peony arrangement while I was there for $30. Beautiful!
Found these big plush pillows in the clearance section at Homegoods.
I only paid $12 each which is a steal!
And last but certainly not least I found this vintage inspired pillow at Target. It is called a floor pillow from Opalhouse. I just loved the color and it reminded me of a pillow that my grandmother had years ago
Well I hope that you found something that you loved and that you enjoyed this post. I also hope that you check out Nikki’s Youtube channel. It is lovely. Enjoy all the finds!!
Well the time has come to announce the winner of my Ann Taylor silk scarf giveaway. My daughter and I did an old school bowl drawing. I wrote out all the names and put them in a bowl and I had my daughter pull the name.
And the WINNER IS: M. GOSS!!!!!!
Congratulations!!! Please email me or contact me via facebook book A Home for Elegance. You can send me a message there or you may send me a message on Instagram under mrsshockley. Please send me your address that I may ship it to. Thank you so much to all my readers who entered. I am sorry that I couldn’t send one to all of you. Goodness, I sure did think about it! But I will be doing another giveaway later this year. I am not sure what it will be but I have some ideas. Thank you so much for reading and chatting with me!
(photos via Pinterest and Mrs. Shockley)
https://ahomeforelegance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Blog2Bphoto2B2.jpg676564mrs.sshockleyhttps://ahomeforelegance.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Website-Logo-4-1030x579.pngmrs.sshockley2018-01-26 12:09:002020-12-15 15:02:13Winner of the Ann Taylor Giveaway!!!
Goodness, another year of blogging has flown by. I can’t believe it! Well time to share what blog posts were popular this year. I had quite a few and then I had my favorites. I want to thank all my readers for coming by and reading. It is always fun chatting with everyone.
