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January Favorites ~ 2025

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Hello Friends,

It was so nice having a nice long weekend. I so needed it. I spent the weekend going thru old paperwork and getting it ready for shredding. I just learned last week that I was suggested to our learning facility to be an instructor for the upcoming year. So that means that I will be on a panel teaching other paralegals later this year. I will also be doing a virtual training in April! I am so excited for these new opportunities and extremely nervous. I also have another office to evaluate this year in Boston and a potential training in Washington. We will see how things go. 

You will also notice some items have begun to vanish from the boutique. I did an inventory check this weekend and remove some things. I have some different ideas this year for inventory so we will see what I come up with. I may be taking a break from dresses and just focus on accessories. Let me know in the comments below what items you would like to see in the boutique this year. 

Now let’s move on to some favorites. 

 

                                                                                                                              photo credits: Mrs. Shockley 

 

First is my new devotional that I ordered from Amazon. This was a suggestion from the late Dr. Charles Stanely. I have been listening to him for years and read his recent book Living the Extraordinary Life -Nine Principles to Discover it.  In this book Dr. Stanley mentioned My Utmost for His Highest devotion written by Oswald Chambers. It is so good and really challenges one’s faith. I read this passage in it this week… My best for his glory. At first, the call comes gently. Then it grows louder, until finally God produces a crisis in our lives that demands we make a choice. For or against, yes or no; stay or go. 

There was another devotional that has stuck with me for months now. It is called the Law of Antagonism. The law if antagonism means that in order to stay healthy, I have to fight. Health is a kind of balance between things that would harm me and my ability to resist them. Physical health occurs when there is a balance between my body and those things in the external world that are designed to put me to death. If I have enough vitality, enough fighting power, I will produce a healthy balance. 

If you are a person that enjoys devotionals then I would HIGHLY recommend this book! 

 

 

 

 

My second is the Fresh Balsam candle from Bath & Body Works. This candle gives such a clean and fresh pine scent. It has been perfect to start off my year and I love smelling it in my home. I also saw this lovely blue and white teapot plugin. I had to grab one! 

 

 

 

Speaking of blue and white I did not stop my hunt for the Love Shack Fancy Stanley cup. I did find this in August of last year but could not share it because I was getting one for our daughter in law for Christmas and I did not want to give up my gift idea! I found mine and purchased it from Poshmark. They are sold in various places. Just make sure that you have the Stanley stamp on the bottom, and it comes with a box and the straw with a bow. I heard that there are some fake ones out there. 

 

photo credits: Mrs. Shockley 

 

Fourth on my list is this glorious brand. Now of course I learned about Holland Cooper from the British influencer Lydia Millen and loved them immediately. I mean can we talk about the super elegant branding? The rich colors? It’s stunning. I decided to take a leap and order my first candle from them. Then I could not resist the Chelesa Emerald Green makeup bag! When Lydia shared this on a video I was foaming at the mouth. It is so elegant and every time I pull it out to use it I stare at it. It is now on sale. It’s still a little expensive but it’s a wonderful piece for the elegant wardrobe that you want to build. 

 

 

 

 

Don’t you just love a good antique find? I know I do! I found this while at a friend’s house. She mentioned this antique store to me, and I thought, well okay, I’ll take a look! I ended up finding this beautiful French blue armchair. Score! I love it and have moved it to my office downtown. It looks wonderful! 

 

 

 

 

In addition to adding my new chair to my office and purchased this gorgeous cashmere scarf from Amazon and it is double sided. It is a stunning emerald green color and I have gotten lots of compliments on it. I am thinking about going back and ordering it in the khaki. 

And lastly on my list is this classy video from Parisian Vibe where photographer and artist Jamie Beck demonstrates how to tie a scarf or “foulard”. I love that word. This video is the epitome of elegance, and you will enjoy the scarf techniques from Jamie, the Hermes scarves that she wears, and the home! It’s a beautiful video. 

I hope you all enjoy my monthly favorites as usual! Please let me know in the comments below if there are things that you would like to see in the boutique and have a great week! 

 

  • This post is not sponsored. Affiliate links attached. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanksgiving Table ~ 2024

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Good Morning Friends,

There is so much going on around us. I found myself praying more than usual now. But let’s start off my blog post on a good note. This past weekend my husband and I attended the Art, Wine, & Design party for the St. Margaret’s Guild and we had a great time. I got to talk with our upcoming interior designers, have a glass of wine and enjoy the night. Here is a photo of me and some of my Guild friends! 

 

 

photo credit: St. Margaret’s Guild 

 

Lauren came home this weekend as well. We got to love on her and plan for Thanksgiving which is next week! I can’t believe it. I have been moving things around in my home and still purging a lot. Coming up with a Thanksgiving table setting this year was a little difficult but then I remember these gorgeous leaf placemats that I found at HomeGoods a few years back. 

 

 

Aren’t they lovely and they are so different. I have not seen anything like these in the stores since I found them. These were a wonderful tablescape find. I found them in HomeGoods but the designer or company is Rachel Ashwell. These were the closest that I could find. Macys has some similar as well. 

 

 

 

I placed my Spode Woodland dinner plates on the leaf placemats, and I was in heaven. I really loved how everything came together. My cream table cover (similar one here), the table runner (similar here), and antique finds always seems to come together in the end. My green goblets are from my mother-in-law and I will probably need to replace them here soon. I did see these on Amazon and maybe adding them to my cart. 

 

photo credits: Mrs. Shockley 

 

I pulled out the soup tureen that I found at an antique store several years ago. I found this one on Etsy it is similar, but I also found this one. 

 

 

 

 

The browns, creams, and greens are flowing quite nicely together. You have seen these candlesticks before. They appear and disappear from my table settings throughout the years. I have not picked up my fresh flowers yet. We are still a week away and I am not sure what my grocery store will have. The flowers at my local grocery store have been horrible for about a year. It’s the young girls that are in charge. They don’t seem to care. When I go to different grocery stores under the same company and ran by older women there are beautiful flowers to choose from. It just drives me nuts! 

 

 

 

My Bath and Body Works gold turkey candle holder is always popular. I have to admit I love it as well. I did manage to find two of them on eBay. I found one here and one here. They are about the same price. The rest of them were over $100 or just about. It holds a 3-wick candle and whenever I pull it out someone is always asking me about it. 

I also posted a video of me creating this on my Youtube channel!

 

 

I hope you enjoyed this post and my video. My Black Friday newsletter will be going out on Friday with a code “BlkFriday24” for 10% off of the entire boutique. You can even use it on clearance items! Have a wonderful weekend! I will be taking next week off from the blog but will return the following week with my November favorites. Don’t forget to shop my favorites page for some Christmas gift ideas! 

 

 

 

 

New Healthy Rituals

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Good Morning Friends,

I recently had a four-day weekend and truly enjoyed it! I got my mums for my porch, order a few items online, started printing off to-do lists for the holidays, and kind of slowed down a bit. I am working on getting my canopy installed above my bed so I will be sure to share that soon. 

I don’t know about you but since I am getting a little older I have been shifting things in my mind and body. My health journey has been a part of my life since my 20’s but I have noticed that my needs are changing as my life is changing. First on my list is breathwork. I recently became interesting in breathwork after reading Rushing Women’s Syndrome and watching Jennifer L. Scott’s video about breathing. So I added this video on breathwork to my weekly routines. 

 

I enjoy doing this so much and it has helped me tremendously. I noticed that I do tend to pay more attention to my breathing. Next on my list has been stretching. I don’t know about you but I love a good stretch in the mornings so I added this video to my weekly routines as well. 

 

 

I feel wonderful after doing these stretches in the morning. Another item has been my workout clothes. I shared my morning walk clothes some time ago but I am beginning to add more items to my workout wardrobe. I found some great new yoga pants to wear  and new sports bras. 

A fourth item has been new products. The first are these Garden of Life PMS Support pills. I am ALWAYS and I mean ALWAYS skeptical of pms support pills. Most of the time they never work for me but these have been working!!! My cramps aren’t as bad, breast tenderness is better, and my mood is a little lighter. I don’t take them for the entire month. I usually start them a week or two before my cycle. They work great!

I am also going to try this Ryze Mushroom Matcha. I have been seeing this all over Instagram and have been curious for months now. I have read that some people have gotten flatter stomachs, feel less bloated, helps with inflammation, anxiety and energy. I will be sure to report back soon. 

 

 

And the last item on my list is Pilates. Now my normal workout routines contain a mile and half walk around my neighborhood and a day of weights. I have taken Pilates before but it was at home and a dvd. When I saw Lydia’s video of her doing Pilates on the reformer I immediately became interested, so I told my husband that as another birthday gift I would like a session of reformer Pilates classes and so he paid for them! 

 

 

I am now taking pilates at Indy House of Pilates! I am so excited. I have not been in a gym in 20 years! They last time I was in a gym I was 8 months pregnant with Lauren. I started about 2 weeks ago and will be finishing up my private sessions here soon and will be able to join classes when I want. It has been really hard. The first day after my first session I got in the car and thought, “dear God what have I done”! But I really want to continue my health and body are very important to me. When I see the other women walk in for classes, I pay attention to their posture. It’s straight and there is something about how they walk that looks different. I want that! 

With these new classes I got to order some pilates shoes. I saw Lydia wearing these while taking her classes so I found some on Amazon and I love these! You can wear them around the house as well. 

I am enjoying this new health journey and hope that with hard work and persistence I will be able to love my body and enjoy the upcoming years. Let me know below if you have taken a pilates reformer class, or have tried any of the products that I have mentioned. 

 

 

 

ShopMy ~ New Sarah Flint Platform

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Good Morning Friends,

Whew what a week so far! We had our HOA sale this past weekend and a few dresses finally left the boutique. I was so happy to see them go! Fingers crossed that my new arrival will be coming soon. They have been on back order with my vendor. I don’t want to ruin the surprise but I sure do hope that they ship soon and they are not dresses! 

I am in “small update” mode in my home. I got a new light fixture for my office and hopefully some new curtain rods will be arriving soon. Speaking of updates… the Sarah Flint Brand Ambassador/Curator program just got an update. Not only did we get new codes, you can now use them more then once, and we got our very own platforms to share our favorite Sarah Flint items. 

 

 

I am now on the ShopMy app or website for Sarah Flint! We can share our favorite Sarah Flint items and our discount codes are active on every item. The wonderful thing about this new platform is that you can use our codes MORE THAN ONCE! It’s a great website for brand ambassadors to curate our favorite SF accessories.

 

photo credits: Mrs. Shockley 

 

I have my page divided into shoes, accessories, and the home collection. You can shop all those items and use my code. 

 

 

I love that our codes are displayed right under the item and shows the percentage. 

 

 

I recently ordered the Sarah Flint Gracie Oxford and have already taken them for a spin! I have been wanting these shoes for a while now. They are the perfect balance of comfort and elegance. I loved the pink blush color, Gracie print shoe strings, and the extra padding added to the foot bed. 

 

 

These are officially going to be my travel shoes. These are a perfect combination to my dresses. I love wearing dresses and finding comfortable shoes to wear with them when I travel is always a challenge. I hope that you check out my new ShopMy page and look around at my favorites. Also don’t forget to check out the home collection from Sarah Flint. She has a few great pieces there. You can watch my unboxing on YouTube. 

I am so excited about this new upgrade to the program. It’s a wonderful way to keep getting your favorite Sarah Flint pieces with our codes on repeat! My new code is SF-SHOCKLEY-15 and you can use it on the site at any time. Just sure that your order is at least $230 or more! Enjoy! 

 

  • This post is sponsored. 

An Entryway Refresh

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Good Morning Friends,

The crisp mornings and cooler air feels so good right now! This past weekend was spent in the greenhouse. I threw out plants, cleaned out containers, swept, and re-arranged the space. I feel like it is ready for the autumn season. This weekend is our HOA sale and I am hoping that the rain will hold out. I have quite a few items to sell. 

The St. Margaret’s Guild season is about to begin. We had our fabulous luncheon on Tuesday to start the season and it is always a good time to see the ladies. We do have our next show house lined up for next year! Yay! 

Friends, I can’t seem to stay off of FBMP. I stumbled on a recent find and could not resist it. I have been wanting a vintage secretary for quite some time but they are so expensive! I have envisioned having one in my entryway. 

 

 

So when you walk into our house this is the entryway. I must admit I have always hated it. My husband purchased this shelf-hook combo at a garage sale about 15 years ago and I hated it then! I have always felt like this was not inviting and it appears to be cluttered. It has taken me years to get this shelf-hook removed and clear out the area. I desperately wanted a refresh! It has looked the same since we have moved in the house!

 

 

The first thing that I knew that I had to do was find a hoodie hanger replacement for my husband. He grabs these on his way out the door and it would nice to also have a location for guests to hang their coats so I found this coat rack on Amazon and it works perfectly. I also have my blue and white umbrella holder which looks so chic in this area along with my vintage garden stool. 

 

photo credits: Mrs. Shockley 

 

This is my newest FBMP find! The gentleman originally wanted $80 but then said that I could take it for only $50! I was so HAPPY! Now it does need a glass shelf inside and there are some scratches but I don’t mind those little things. I think its a beautiful piece that I can enjoy for years to come. I placed my white arm chair there so that I could see what it would look like if I were to write there. 

I did end up using my desk to write some pen-pal letters and to journal. It was wonderful. The desk is right by the front door so I could look out and enjoy the sunshine. I am still on the hunt for a china buffet table for my bedroom. I will be using it as a t.v. stand so the hunt continues. 

I am loving this FBMP era that I am in. I do enjoy a good antique hunt and have been really blessed to find so many wonderful pieces for my home. Since the children are practically adults and we have no dogs, I feel like I am in a time in my life where I can bring in beauty and I will to the best of my ability. 

If you have been reading my blog for a while I would really appreciate it if you would share my blog posts with your friends! It helps me reach other beautiful, like-minded people such as yourself and spread the things that we love the most! Share it on FB, Instagram or Pinterest. Not on any of these platforms? Send an email with a link! 

The boutique’s Chinoiserie Silk Scarfs are still on sale! Order one for yourself and one as a gift! Enjoy your week. 

 

  • This post contains affiliate links. 

 

August Favorites ~ 2024

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Good Morning Everyone,

The last week of August, can you believe it? It’s crazy to think that. Although I am so ready for some cooler weather. This past weekend was very nice. My husband and I just ran a few errands, had breakfast, and I picked up a new FBMP find! I will be sharing it soon. I am so looking forward to this longer weekend that is coming up. I plan on getting a few things done around the house and styling my new FBMP find. 

While grocery shopping I picked up the latest issue of Traditional Home magazine and saw that Gracie wallpaper is releasing a new book next month! If you are a fan of their wallpaper then you will probably want to add this to your Amazon favorites list. It’s now been added to mine and Aerin Lauder’s new book Living with Flowers which will be released in February of 2025. So exciting! Okay, now time for my favorites for August. 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

I cannot and I mean cannot get over that these are at my home. I have David Austin roses! These have been making me and my husband so happy. Each day we cannot wait to get home from work and go to the side of our house and see what has bloomed today. They are just so elegant, so fragrant, and so classic! I just keep hoping that they will grow and grow. What a dream! 

 

 

Second on my list are these sparkling water drinks called Bubly. I have been meeting my dietitian at least once a month and she has been helping me to find better food options. She wants to me eat less carbs and sugar and it has been really hard. The first thing that I wanted to cut out was my sugary drinks and these have been so wonderful. I have one everyday with my lunch and have been having them with dinner. You should give them a try. They have no sugar and no calories. My favorites are lemon, cherry and blackberry. I will have to give the lime a try. 

 

 

Third are my vintage garden stools that I picked up from an antique store. These are a little smaller than my other ones but are perfect for the greenhouse. I got both for only $30 each which was a steal honestly! I love them in my greenhouse. It’s the perfect classic décor item to add. 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

The fourth item is this stunning clutch. I saw this on Lydia Millen’s channel a few weeks ago. It comes in all sorts of colors and can be used as a clutch, makeup bag, or a small travel bag. It’s quite lovely.

 

 

Next are my new sports bras. I desperately needed some new ones. My old ones didn’t look that great and these fit wonderfully and look smooth under my workout clothes. I highly recommended these!  

 

 

 

I got a portable label maker and I love it! Oh my goodness, I was a bit skeptical when I ordered it but I love this thing. It was easy to set up. It does require an app on your phone but it only comes on when you open the app. It’s so handy and I feel like I can label just about anything. A big thumbs up!

 

 

Okay you guys. I have fallen. I have fallen into the Stanley cup trap! Now it has taken me a lot time to even buy one but when I heard that they keep water cold all day… I had to give it a try. So my husband purchased me one. I got this one and honestly they were not kidding. It does keep water cold all day long. I have had mine for about 2 weeks and having ice water with my lemon, lime, and mint has been a real treat. If you are looking for a more affordable one I was told that these were a good option. 

Another new item that I have ordered is a Britta filter pitcher. I have been using it to fill my Stanley cup. This has been the best thing ever! It was so easy to use and I love having fresh water everyday without the plastic water bottle. 

 

I do have a new video on my YouTube channel. I am sharing a flip-thru of my Estee Lauder book. I do hope that you enjoy it. 

Please don’t forget about the $10 dress sale going on right now for the boutique. The Chinoiserie Silk Scarfs are on sale for only $25! Order one or two for your wardrobe. 

 

 

AND we have a new arrival! 

 

 

The Garden Satin Cardigan is available in plus size. It comes in 1x, 2x, and 3x. It comes in a gorgeous dusty blue color and black. I am tempted to keep one for myself. 

I hope that you enjoyed my favorites for the month of August. Enjoy the boutique sale, and new arrival! Order while you can. I do have a pop-up shop coming up soon. 

 

  • Affiliate links attached. 

 

 

 

The Vintage Birdcage

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Good Morning Friends,

I feel like a new woman. I changed around my office and I swear it feels like a completely different space. I told my husband that I need a refresh in this house. I am going to be replacing all of my curtain rods here soon and hopefully buying some new curtains. I got a new office rug, a new lamp, and I moved around some art work on the walls. I now love going into my home office again. I knew that I was due for a change because I didn’t enjoy going into my office space. Not a good sign. But now the space feels new. Sometimes that is all we need. A little change. 

With this new office change I have also been going thru cabinets and drawers. I feel like we needed to purge some things as well. I will be going thru my closet here again soon and getting things ready for our neighborhood HOA. I am trying to encourage my husband…. wish me luck. 

New antique items are being added to my list. I really want to change up my entryway as well. I have so many ideas for my home. Purchasing antiques and furniture with a little more substance is where I am headed and trying to stay. 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

I spotted this vintage birdcage at an antique months ago. The owner of the store told me that this gentleman sells lots of items on FBMP. I found him and began following him. The original price was $220 and I did not want to pay that.

 

 

A few more months went by and I saw that he dropped the price about $100! A part of me wanted to purchase it then but something on the inside told me to wait a bit longer. Now this birdcage is really big! I loved the color, and the details. It reminded me of a Victoria greenhouse honestly. I thought it was stunning. 

 

 

Then one weekend I was on my phone checking for other antiques when I got an alert that he dropped the price to $80! What a steal. I immediately reached out and asked if I could purchase it. He said of course and met me and my husband at the antique store. He is quite the collector. He goes to estate sales all the time. I have no idea where he finds these sales! All I ever find is junk! We asked him if he knew anything about it and he said no. He didn’t know the year or what the history was. I really wish he knew the details. That would have been the wonderful part about this purchase. I love learning about antique pieces.  

I hope to have this piece for years to come. I think having a few “whimsical” decor items in your home makes life interesting. This is definitely one of those pieces for me. I hope that my “future” grandchildren adore it and that it will always remind them of me.