My Perfect Straw Tote

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Happy Monday All,


I am so glad that the heat warnings that we have had since Friday are now over. I am hoping for cooler temperatures. I am not sure how low it will get in July but I sure do miss those 50-degree mornings. 


I don’t like that heat. Not at all. Yesterday I posted a video on my YouTube channel regarding my vacation finds. Just in case you did not watch it I want to share the straw tote that I picked up at New York and Company.


It’s called the raffia tote bag and it’s a great size. I love that fact that the straw is not hanging off of it and it feels smooth. 
You can put practically any and everything in it. The handles are comfortable and the color is great!
The bottom has a smooth cover and its great to carry. 


Now the purse scarf does not come with it but you can easily add your own and give the tote some personality. I hope this is a great find for someone and that you all enjoyed my YouTube video. Have a wonderful day!






(photos via Mrs. Shockley)



Chic Assignments ~ July

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Photo by Marjorie Bertrand on Unsplash



It’s July already and Jennifer L. Scott from the Daily Connoisseur has already given us her assignments for this month. 


I must admit I am falling a bit behind due to our vacation. But let’s dive right into the assignments for the month. 


Her first assignment was to watch Andre Rieu- Grande Valse Viennoise. I watched it and must say it was 6 minutes of loveliness! My daughter saw me watching it and came into the room and stood and watched it with me! Wonderful right? 


We clapped at the end and said BRAVO! It was great!

The second chic assignment is to read the poems of Emily Dickinson. I listened to her poem called, “Because I Could Not Stop for Death”. There was a play button by this poem. So I just listened to it. It was lovely and the spokesman took his time. 





The third chic assignment was to notice when you are mindlessly snacking. Okay, I always notice when I do this and will tell myself to stop but when it’s those moments in the month where it is always a little harder for me to “fight that feeling” off. During our trip, I noticed that I wanted to snack the entire time. Now I did give into the ice cream and I did buy some of my Dove dark chocolate cherries while I was there but that was it. It is hard sometimes but I try to drink water when I have the urge to pick. 





photo credit Erol Ahmed
And the last chic assignment is to give someone a genuine compliment. I have already started this. I try to compliment my co-workers or women while shopping if they look wonderful. It always puts a smile on someone’s face when someone else notices that they made an effort today. I know when I volunteer at Dress for Success as a personal shopper, these women need to hear some kind words and we make sure that we provide it! I know whenever I tell someone you look lovely that little kid smile of theirs appears. Try it, it will make you feel good as well. 

Well, I will continue to work on these assignments for the month. Please share below if you have already started these and what impact it has had on you. I’m curious! 

Ted Baker Travel Wallet

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Good Morning Everyone,
I am trying to get back into the swing of things. Being off from work for 12 days does not help! Goodness, I did not want to go to back the office. It was really hard but the show must go on and life must continue. 

The photo above is the beautiful travel wallet that I purchased while in Miami last week. This is the Ted Baker Travel and Passport Wallet. The original price was $159 and I was able to get it for $95.

I do love how everything is labeled. Isn’t it chic? There is also an extra holder for credit cards and other information. 

Here is an up-close photo of the writing. It says, “boarding pass, receipts and treats, and passport”. I love the fact that it is leather and very unique. I had a co-worker tell me yesterday that it looked like a work of art! 


Here is the backside of the wallet. It has another slot and it is labeled “adventure awaits”. The floral print is lovely and it is the perfect pink color. I tried finding this online but could not. The closest I could find was this one. It’s the same wallet just in a different print. I also found this and these on eBay. 

If you happen to have a Ted Baker store in your city then I would go there to see if this print is available. I will try to remember to show this on my Youtube channel this Sunday. This Sunday’s video will be about my Florida finds. I hope you all enjoyed this little beauty find.

Enjoy your day!

(photos via Mrs. Shockley)

Florida ~ 2019

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Hello Everyone,


My family and I have returned from Florida. Vacations go by so fast! I always make sure that I take an extra day to have to myself to get things done at home. 


Well in today’s post I am going to walk everyone through our little Florida adventure!


Our flight was great and Lauren LOVED flying! She never stopped looking out of the window and when I asked her what were her thoughts she said, “It wasn’t that bad mom. I don’t understand why everyone made such a big deal about it”! Okay, I took that as a good sign.


The first place we visited was a restaurant called Deck 84. It is a casual waterfront restaurant. So I finally got my dining “al fresco” completed this month! 

I ordered the grilled chicken breast meal with sauteed spinach, mashed potatoes with vanilla rum butter sauce. It tasted so good!

These were my step-sons’ fish tacos. They looked amazing to me!
The next day we headed to Miami.

We did some walking around the outdoor shopping mall and looked at a few placed to grab lunch. I loved this area. It reminded me of some of the chairs that I have seen in some Pinterest photos from France. 


I did end up finding a Ted Baker store. We don’t have one here in Indy so being able to go in one was a wonderful opportunity. 

Everything was so beautiful and well made. If you are interested in these wallets you may find them here.
After looking around and shopping we did manage to find a place to grab some lunch. We ate at a place called Taverna. I ordered the quinoa salad with avocado, tomato, corn, cucumber, cilantro, and grilled chicken. It was so delicious!


Related image

On Thursday we visited the Everglades. I am sorry I did not take a lot of pictures. Visting a swamp and traveling by airboat was not my thing but I wanted to be a good sport. The airboat was not that bad and the alligators that we saw were female so they were not that big. We did stick around and watch an alligator show. The young lady was using her chin to keep one of the alligator’s mouths shut. Not my idea but my husband enjoyed it! 



Of course, a trip would not be a trip if I did not go shopping! I managed to find a Homegoods in Boca Raton (which is where we stayed). Then I realized that I could not shop! We flew! I did not have a truck to take stuff home! Oh, the horror!!!

Then I found this! A beautiful green ginger jar. Isn’t it beautiful! Yes, I had to ship it. I should have it by Thursday (I hope). 
We also stopped by a place called L’Chole Cafe for rolled ice cream! It was interesting watching the process but my family and I enjoyed it. 



And for our last day of the trip, we spent most of it at Boca Raton beach. It was a lovely trip and so far no one has caught any flesh-eating bacteria. I must admit. I did worry when the kids were in the water. But I kept reminding myself what kind of trip would this be if I did not allow the children to get into the water. Just pray about it and let go. It turned out great!

I really enjoyed my time off from work but the more I think about it the more I am tempted to do a staycation in the near future. I really enjoy being at home. 

I hope you all enjoyed this post!

Have a great Monday!


(photos via Mrs. Shockley)



On Vacation ~ Summer 2019

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Pin it A Guide to Dining and Shopping in Naples, FL

Good Friday Morning Everyone!
I hope you all enjoyed your 4th! It was sooo hot here in Indy. We hardly wanted to leave the house but we went on a bike ride at the park and watched some fireworks in our neighborhood. It is Friday and I have started my summer vacation! I took off work today and Monday. Tuesday we will be FLYING to Florida! We have always driven on our family trips so this year will be the first year that we are going to be on a plane together! I am so excited for our daughter Lauren. She has never been on a plane before so we all hope that her first plane ride goes well. 

Naples, Florida

We are going to be visiting some friends in Fort Lauderdale. I am hoping to also visit Naples. I would love to do some shopping there and see their turquoise water and white sand beaches. 


I have a list of activities that we can do so we will see. Of course,  I will be taking some time off from the blog and from my YouTube channel so I will see you all soon! Enjoy your week!



(photos via Pinterest)

A Few Reminders About Etiquette

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I love a good etiquette list. Especially one with great reminders on it. I saw this list about a week ago called 25 Etiquette Mistakes You Need to Stop Making by 30. Some of these actually made me chuckle. “Wait a minute, people are still doing some of these”? Oh, I should know better. I see people do some of the craziest things all the time. 



















photo credit Elaine Howlin 
For instance, this past weekend when we were at the fair, I was watching my daughter on one of the rides and a woman came and stood next to me. She then turned around to get something out of her bag. While she was bending over she displayed about 7 holes in her leggings near her butt area! I hurried and turned my head. Oh my goodness! And another reason why it was so frustrating was that her boyfriend and/or husband was standing there watching her bend over! Did he not see those holes? Why not tell her!!!!  I was so confused. There was no way he could have missed those when they were leaving the house. But let’s move on…

Etiquette along with healthy eating, dressing well, and living well has become such a huge part of my everyday life. I wanted to share a few of these mistakes from the article. 

1) Sneezing into your hands
It took me about a year to break my daughter of this habit. If you sneeze into your hands just think of all of the germs that you are spreading. It’s your saliva in your hand. Eeewww, so gross! Please remember to sneeze into your elbow or away from people. If you feel more coming on, excuse yourself to the restroom. Very simple…



photo credit Nicolas Fairford
2) Using your napkin to blow your nose
Okay, I thought I was the only one who thought this was gross. The etiquette coach from this list says that drool, tears, and food are okay to wipe. Not your boogers! Please excuse yourself and go to the bathroom to clean your nose. I know if I had to wash those napkins I would not want to see that lurking inside! 

3) Sending error-filled texts or emails from your phone
YES!! I still believe in spelling words out and using correct grammar. I am not an English major but I believe those things are important.  The etiquette coach says, “Grammar and spelling should be properly presented and proofreading is a must. Remember, it may be “just a text”, but this is still representing you, your values, the quality of your work, and overall leaves an impression on the reader of who you are and the sophistication you possess.” 

4) Failing to RSVP
Oh..my…gosh! This drives me nuts! Not only do people not RSVP then they end up showing up anyway. Are you serious! Not only is it poor taste to not RSVP now you are making an appearance anyway? You are an uninvited guest my friend. You didn’t respond to my invite. So guess what you are not included. Dulles said, “Send your reply as early as possible- the reply by date is not a challenge for you to eke out at the eleventh hour. If you do miss the reply date, RSVP anyway and follow up with a phone call or email with a brief apology expressing your oversight and express gratitude for their kind invitation”. See… easy and simple!!! 


photo credit Annie Spratt 

These are just a few from that list. Please click on the link above to continue reading the article. It was pretty interesting. I was really intrigued by the tip on how to greet your boss. One of the experts said, “There is real power in a formal greeting, especially when interacting with other cultures or countries, etc”. Don’t greet your boss with Hey. Be respectful. 

I hope that you all enjoyed these tips and read the article. There is more information that may help you elevate your standards of living. 


Enjoy!
( tips via Charlotte H. Anderson)

Healthy Eating is Elegant

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Good Monday Morning Everyone! I just wanted to post a quick little entry today about a recent holistic nutritionist that I found by the name of Meghan Livingstone.  


I found her just surfing on YouTube one night looking for healthy recipes. Meghan had some issues with her digestive system a few years ago and her story piqued my interest.


Learning how to eat well, continuing with my food education, and health journey has been on my radar constantly. Just yesterday we went to the county fair and I shared a funnel cake with my husband. Oh boy, did I feel like crap after I ate some! It’s amazing how foods can affect your health!


My salmon dinner at home

I have really enjoyed Meghan’s channel. I especially liked her “10 Foods I Always Buy” video. I have watched it a few times already and have started a routine list of excellent foods to buy.

Another favorite video of mine is her “Beginner’s Guide to Healthy Eating”. This is another great video if you need ideas on how to get started on your health journey. 
I hope that you all enjoy Meghan’s channel. I look forward to her new videos every week. Now I am not interested in her minimalist living but I am still inspired by her ways to eat right and her education as a nutritionist.  
My dresser at home

Have a great Monday!
(photos via Mrs. Shockley, videos via Youtube)