My trips or places I would love to visit

Oh My… Marble House Mansion

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Good Morning!

I can’t believe that we are in the first week of August! It’s flying by! This weekend Lauren and I are headed to the fabric store to get a few things for her. Then it’s Bath and Body Works next to buy a few soaps for the home. I really don’t have much planned and it all depends on how the weather is here. We have some rain coming which always keeps me in doors. Oh my new fabric did arrive yesterday, and I will be taking it to the upholster on Saturday! 

As I continue to download my photos from our trip, I continue to mourn a little. I really do miss Rhode Island. I still can’t believe how pretty it was. Now on to mansion tour number 3!

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley

 

I can’t believe that I took this photo! It was like a dream when I was standing there! I could not believe how beautiful this home and this garden was. These hydrangeas were everywhere! This mansion was called the Marble House mansion. 

 

 

 

 

Here was the entryway. Grand as usual…

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

The ceilings are just works of art. Look how stunning….

 

 

One of the bedrooms. I still can’t believe how big the rooms are. 

 

 

This was the library. It was inspired by a cathedral church. 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

I heard one of the volunteers say that “the lady of the house would not let people spend the night”. She always felt like you could go and stay in a hotel”. Now I don’t know if that was true, but I thought it was an interesting story. 

 

 

 

 

Just looking at the details. It was breathtaking. I can’t believe all of the details that are in these homes! 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

Now this was Lauren’s favorite! She loved this Japanese tea rom. I didn’t go inside but I was told that you can have tea there. I didn’t take any photos behind the house, but it sits on a water view. It’s beautiful to look out. I was told that this house has a lot of weddings hosted here and I can see why. 

I hope you all enjoyed this tour. I still have one more house to share and I will do that next week. I hope you have all had the chance to watch my Youtube video showing all of the mansions and the gardens. It was truly a dream. Have a great weekend!

 

 

 

The Beautiful Elms Mansion

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Good Monday Morning and Happy August!

I hope you all had a great weekend! On Saturday I went to a fabric store called Calico Corners here in my city. The gentleman that is reupholstering my stool told me to go there to pick out fabrics. I did and decided to go with the Vern Yip-Exotic print. I look forward to seeing the finished product! 

I am also trying to look into some new dresses for the boutique. I have my eye on a few. I hope that the are still available. Sometimes you have to move quickly. There are so many boutique owners out there. 

Now on to tour 2 of the Newport Mansions. Next on the list is the beautiful Elms Mansion and one of my favorites. 

 

photo credits: Mrs. Shockley

I have to say when we walked up to this house it took my breath away. If felt like “home” to me. Like I could live here…. 

 

 

The entryway…

 

 

Still the entryway…

 

photo credits: Mrs. Shockley 

 

Looking up continues to be a requirement. 

 

 

I could see this in my home. Beautiful prints. 

 

 

I loved the carpet and large planter as well. I actually took some video footage of it. I am trying to upload it to YouTube. It has been taking forever! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Love seeing the artwork of the “ladies of the home”. 

 

 

photo credits: Mrs. Shockley

 

This was another room favorite. The chinoiserie room was stunning and a family favorite. We all loved this room and took many photos of it. 

 

 

I remember the audio program saying that “the families of these homes love bringing back items from their country visits”. They would bring back art from Russia, or porcelain from China. I try to make that a habit whenever we travel somewhere. Bring something elegant back!

 

 

 

 

 

Going upstairs…

 

 

The husband’s study…. 

 

 

photo credits: Mrs. Shockley 

 

I still can’t get over how wonderful these bathrooms looked. It’s incredible!

 

 

Goodness gracious. The fountain outside near the stables was so picturesque. There was a bench nearby. I just sat there and took it all in. Oh and did I mention that the building in this photo was the stables! 

 

 

The stables up close. Wow…. 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

This is the back of the home. How perfect is that? It looks like a home from Bridgerton! I seriously loved the architecture of this home the most. It suited the style that I love the most. The only thing that it was missing was the blue hydrangeas. It felt like it needed some of those but the next mansion had plenty. I hope you all enjoyed this tour and share your thoughts in the comments below!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Touring the Magnificent Breakers!

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Good Morning,

Sorry for the no-post on Wednesday. It takes a while to keep my photos uploaded so that I can put them on the blog. It took me two days to type this entry, and get it ready to post! I have been thinking about knocking it down to only two posts a week for the blog. I will wait and see how things go. Sometimes posting three times a week can been a bit much. Especially if you are not feeling inspired. 

I did want to say hello and thank you to all of my new subscribers! I think most of you have seen my new pop-up! I love it. I know it can be a bit irritating if you are reading the blog from the phone, but you should be able to exit out of it. The “x” is in the corner to the right if you can’t find it. But HELLO to all of the new subscribers! I was sending out an email every week but then I decided to change it to a newsletter sent out every month. I will try to keep the content on the newsletter different from the blog. We will see how things go. I did want to tell all of my new subscribers that a newsletter went out this past Sunday. I viewed my report, and it looks like most of you got it. Please check your SPAM folder. It might be there and make sure that you change it to go to your inbox! 

One more thing that I want to share before getting into the Breakers, I have been stewing about the boutique. I thought about adding something new. Well something vintage. I antique a LOT and sometimes I find wonderful and beautiful vintage clip earrings. I thought about adding my finds to the boutique. What do you all think? Let me know in the comments section below.

Okay now on to the Breakers!

 

photo credit: Mr. Shockley 

We have been home for about two weeks since this trip and I still find it hard to believe that we actually went. My husband said, “it was so hard to take a bad picture there”. Everything was so beautiful”. That comment came from my husband. Who loved the trip!

Just look at this… gosh!

 

photo credits: Mrs. Shockley 

If you ever decide to go and tour the mansions, the best thing for you to do is to download the app and take your earplugs with you. Trust me you will want to hear the history of each room as you are walking in. 

 

 

The details will take your breath away. This room has gold in it… 

 

 

All I did was stare… 

 

photo credits: Mrs. Shockley 

 

 

These homes are literally works of art.

 

 

 

 

Look at the ceilings… 

 

 

This was the music room. Could you imagine practicing piano in this room? Oh my goodness… 

 

photo credits: Mrs. Shockley 

 

The other side of the music room… 

 

 

The ceiling in one of the sitting rooms…

 

 

The fireplace and mantle in the sitting room.

 

photo credits: Mrs. Shockley 

 

After touring the downstairs, we headed upstairs to see the bedrooms and bathrooms! This belonged to Mrs. Vanderbilt. This is where she dressed and did her “office work”. 

 

 

I did notice this in her room. A vintage Louis Vuitton trunk! I would love to own one of these someday. 

 

 

The bathrooms were more impressive than what I thought. This vanity in her bathroom looks better than mine!

 

 

This belonged to Mr. Vanderbilt. Can you believe how nice that tub is? It is completely marbled and was filled with salt water. That’s what they bathed in. 

 

 

photo credits: Mrs. Shockley 

 

This room belonged to one of the daughters. It had great wallpaper!

 

 

The kitchen was enormous! I loved the island and all of the cookware!

 

 

There was a huge china room. I did not take many pictures because I was too busy looking around. It was incredible!

 

photo credits: Mrs. Shockley 

 

Everywhere you looked there was art. It was stunning. All I kept thinking was “they lived this way and didn’t think anything about it”. 

 

 

The stunning blue hydrangeas were everywhere, and I mean everywhere. Everyone had them in their yards. All I did was gripe about ours back home. Now I know how to turn mine blue. I’ve got some work ahead of me next year!

 

 

So lush…

 

 

I hope that you enjoyed this tour. I loved every minute of it. I did record a few videos of the rooms and will be putting a video together here soon for YouTube. Please don’t forget to check your folders for the newsletter and check out the boutique. There are a few more items on sale. I am dress shopping for the fall for new inventory. We’ll see what I can get. Have a great weekend!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Moonlight Cliff Walk

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Hello Friday!

So, I have something fun planned for this weekend. A local influencer that I follow shared this beautiful antique store on her feed, and I messaged her to ask if it were here in Indy and she said YES! So, I will be taking a little visit to this new antique store called French Pharmacie Flea. I am still on the hunt for an armchair for my downtown office. Wish me luck! 

Now time to share the beautiful Cliff Walk in Rhode Island…

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley

I could not believe how beautiful this path was. It was just as the website said. Hearing the water hit against the wall and hearing it the entire time was so soothing. The beautiful gazebo building that you see in this photo actually belongs to one of the homeowners along the path. 

Once we arrived in Newport we decided to check into our hotel and then go and find the Breakers. We didn’t want to be lost the next day. The Breakers was only about 10 minutes from our hotel, so the drive was not far. Once we found the mansions, we decided to head straight to the Cliff Walk. 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

We parked our car in the parking lot across from the Breakers and decided to head to the Cliff Walk. The neighborhood surrounding it was stunning. This street lead us right down to the Cliff Walk and to our left was the Breakers mansion. Could you image having a home next door that looked like that!!!!!  I could believe that it had homes surrounding it. It was astonishing to me. 

 

 

Our kids could not stop staring at the ocean. It had that kind of effect on you. I know I just looked out at it and had a great sense of appreciation and gratefulness. In my heart and in silent I thanked the Lord for that moment. 

 

 

We decided to walk for a bit. The Cliff Walk is about 3 miles. I would say that we walked about 2 and even went across the rocky area. The kids loved it! It gave them a sense of adventure. We could see about two of the mansions on this walk. We could also see the Japanese Tea Room that is located behind the Marblehouse Mansion. 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

The sun began to go down and the sky became a beautiful blue and pink color. My husband and I walked back really slow taking it all in. We also walked through the neighborhood and looked at all of the homes. I became very envious of their blue hydrangeas I won’t lie. I could not help it! All I could think about was all of the beautiful bouquets that I would have in my home! Forgive me…. 

It was a successful first day in Newport and I could not wait to get inside the Breaker mansion. I knew I was in for a real treat. I will share that next week. Have a great weekend!

 

 

A Little NYC…

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Good Morning,

I can’t believe that it is Wednesday already…. I am still trying to get back into my routines. It’s going pretty well. I did a lot of housework the last two days. I got a few more things uploaded to my Poshmark closet. I went thru my closet on Sunday and got rid of a few things.  I also dropped off my tufted stool at my new upholster! He is so nice. I am hoping that this will be the start of a beautiful friendship! Lauren starts school next Wednesday! I can’t believe it. It will be her senior year. My husband and I can’t wait to stop scheduling our lives and vacations around her school schedule. We are looking forward to the freedom! 

Speaking of vacations, I thought I would share the first part of our vacation. We left here Saturday morning and ended up staying with our good friends in New Jersey until Monday morning. They have a beautiful house. I was especially loving their floral garden and snapped a few photos. 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

Lovely aren’t they?

 

 

So peaceful and tranquil. 

After getting up, sitting in the sunroom to read, and eating some breakfast, we headed into New York City. 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

I am so torn about New York. I love that it has some many things to see and do and that is another issue that I have with it. There is SO MUCH! I try to pay attention to everything and it’s hard. I did notice this beautiful building. This caught my eye very quickly. 

 

photo credit: E. Shockley 

 

We walked around so much that day. My stepson joined us on this trip. He is taking architecture in college and loves capturing all of the buildings. I think he uses them for his future projects.

 

 

We went to an area called Chelsea and we looked around. We also took a walk on the High Line. Our friend Marc took us there. It’s about a mile and a half and is a nice treat in New York. It had plants, flowers, and you get to see some wonderful buildings. 

I also spotted this beautiful hotel called the Highline Hotel. I could not pass up taking photos in front. They also had an elegant cafe located in the front. 

 

photo credit: Mr. Shockley

 

Now how fabulous is that? I LOVE this photo! I wore my Sarah Flint Natalies the entire time! Super comfy and super chic. Don’t forget to use my $50 off discount code: SARAHFLINT-BASMSSHOCKLEY on your first purchase!

Above all, it was a wonderful visit to New York. Another place we visited was the original Ralph Lauren store. I can’t wait to share it soon! Enjoy your day! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To the Breakers We Go!

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Good Morning,

I’ve got a busy day today! It’s my last day in office before I head out on vacation. My family and I are headed to Newport, Rhode Island this year! We are going to see The Breakers! I am so excited! So the Breakers are the “vacation homes” of the Vanderbilt family. Every time I say that I just shake my head! Vacation homes! It’s incredible! 

My family and I have visited the Biltmore a few times so when I recently learned about the Breakers I knew that I had to visit. One of my co-workers shared her trip with me a couple of years ago and it has been on my radar ever since. 

 

photo credit: The Preservation Society 

 

There are about five houses to tour in addition to the gardens. I am hoping to do a self-guided tour with audio headphones. I want to listen to the history while I walk around. I also read that there is a cafe located at one of the properties. I thought that would be a nice place to grab lunch in between tours. 

 

 

photo credit: Trip Advisor

The second item on our list is the Cliff Walk. When I saw this I thought, “we have to do this!” Oh this walk looks wonderful. It’s near the ocean, you are walking pass the Breaker mansions, it’s 3.5 miles, and it’s free. What more could you want!

Third on the list is a beach day. I have been wanting a beach day for a while and I am hoping to visit Easton’s Beach. Now this beach looks like it would be more of my speed and you can see beautiful homes off in the distance. 

 

photo credit: Pinterest

 

St. Mary’s Catholic Church is there as well. The interesting fun fact about this church is that this is where the Kennedy’s were married! I would love to take a look inside!

I also managed to find a car museum. I love vintage cars and thought about adding this to the list as well. It made my husband happy when I mentioned it. 

And of course, I found an outlet mall and lots of antique stores around. I am hoping to at least visit one antique store. I am really excited about this trip and hope that everyone enjoys it. I will be sure to share everything once I return. Have a great weekend!

 

 

My First Outdoor Antique Fair

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Good Morning All,

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday. We just kept things simple as I previously discussed and hung out at home. I did go antiquing and picked up some great finds! I will be sure to share those later. Speaking of shopping for antiques I had to share the most recent and wonderful purchase I just made. Katherine from Pender & Peony just published her first e-book all about shopping and learning about antiques. You can download it to your phone and take it with you on the go! It’s called The Grandmillennial’s Pocket Guide to Chic Antiques. 

I ordered it, downloaded it, printed it, and used it this weekend while I was out! I love this and would highly recommend it! I pulled it up on my phone and just went down the list when I would find something. It was wonderful! 

Another thing that was wonderful was my recent trip to an outdoor antique fair! I found out about this from the new antique store that I visited called Vintage Whimsy. Apparently, they host this event every year on a large private property in Franklin, Indiana. I really enjoyed it and found a few things and met a new friend. 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

There were tons of antique vendors at this event. I did not take a lot of photos because I really wanted to enjoy it. Having a phone out to take photos and film can be a little annoying sometimes. But I always try to have balance with my social media and life!

Each antique vendor had their own style and brought different antiques. 

 

 

This was a huge property. They had food trucks as well as antiques. They also had a sitting area for you to sit, eat, and listen to live music! 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley

 

You can see the antique vendor booths in the distance. The property also had a large flower garden to tour. My husband and I were able to ask the property owners where they purchased certain plants and what they were.

 

 

Lastly there was this beautiful magnolia tree. My husband and I just loved it. It’s called the Jane Magnolia tree. We went to our local garden center to see if we could purchase one and then my husband realized that this tree takes years to grow. They were so small at the store. I told him that it would take a lot of patience! 

 

photo credits: Mrs. Shockley 

 

I did find some beautiful things. I purchased this delicate porcelain magnolia flower and this English Ironstoneware pitcher. I spotted the pitcher early on in my visit and just kept circling around it until I finally caved! I told the vendor store owner that I could not leave without it. It’s a wonderful addition to my home decor.

I really enjoyed this new little adventure and plan on attending next year! I can’t wait to see their new items then. Have a great Wednesday!

 

 

This post was not sponsored.