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May Favorites ~ 2024

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Good Morning Everyone,

Well, I had a wonderful few days off. It was so nice to be home and to be able to get some housework done and read a little. I also had resting on my list. I wanted a few moments just sitting on my porch resting and reading. 

I have a few days in the month of June where I don’t have things scheduled so I am hoping to take advantage of that before my work trip in July. I do have some news… MY GREENHOUSE HAS BEEN INSTALLED! I am so excited and honestly in love with it. My husband has been watching lots of reviews on YouTube and we have seen nothing but good things. I will be sure to share it very soon!

Now I have some wonderful May favorites to share with you this month if I do say so myself.

 

 

First on my list are new beauty products that I have been trying (for a year) for the summer. So far this has been the best anti-chafe stick that I have ever had! If you are a plus size gal like me then chaffing legs is your worst nightmare during the summer. I mean my legs have blistered because of chaffing. I have used this stick for over a year and love it!

 

 

The second beauty product is this Dove Melanin Even Tone bodywash. I saw that it was co-created with dermatologist of color and thought I would give it a try. I have been using it for several months now and can say that my armpits are a little “lighter” in color. They had some dark spots in them, but those spots are now gone! I will continue with using it in other areas. 

 

photo credits: Mrs. Shockley 

 

Third is the Decorators’ Show House & Gardens candle. I co-created this with some of my fellow Guild members. I shared this on the blog back in February and this was such a fun project. We sold several at the show house this year and I hope to make another for next year’s home. My team at the office loved this and want to have a “team building” session making one this year. I hope to do this in August with them. 

 

 

My organizational projects continue. Fifth on my list is the registration and insurance card holder for your vehicle. I will admit my registration and other car info were just thrown into my glove compartment and I have been looking into finding something and saw this. It is wonderful and comes in many other colors. You will love it. I promise you. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sixth was finding something to hold my EarPods and charger. I would just place this in my bag and have the charger hanging from it. It was really bothering me, so I ordered this hard case to carry both in. It works wonderfully!

 

 

With spring arriving, I was on the hunt for some new faux florals to have in my home. With all of the recent Homeworthy home tours I was so inspired to try some new arrangements. I found these gorgeous faux lilac bushes at Michaels for a steal! If they don’t have them in store order them online. 

 

 

I simply could not pass this up! I saw this on an influencer’s reel and had to order it! I wear glasses in the evenings, and I am always looking for a “safe place” to put them at night. This has been perfect! It comes in several different colors!

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

Now this find here has been a TREASURE! I saw this on another influencer’s reel and had to have it. My goodness if you work from home and use a laptop this is a hidden gem! I ordered this screen extender and I now I cannot go back to just working on one screen. I have two screens at my office downtown and I honestly dread working from home because of the small laptop screen. This has truly made my life so much easier, and I now love working from home again! 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

And lastly is Winston. I have been wanting this faux golden doddle since December and my husband got him for me for Mother’s Day. I just love him. I was inspired by Nicola’s antique sheep that she had in her home. Once I saw those I knew that I could have Winston in the office with me. I changed his collar to this beautiful emerald green and I think it suites him.

 

 

I hope you all enjoyed this month’s favorites. I have several more but I am going to wait until June to share those. Please don’t forget about the beautiful new boutique arrival. I now have two chinoiserie silk scarfs available and they are stunning! Order both for your neck and handbag. 

 

 

  • Affiliate links attached 

 

April Favorites ~ 2024

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Good Morning Everyone!

Whew! Busy, busy! I have had no time to do anything related to AHFE. I hope that you all have been doing well. You all saw my post from last week. That collaboration meant everything to me and to be ASKED instead of asking was huge! I have made some new wonderful friends in the interior decorating world and hope that this will open more doors for my brand. 

The Showhouse has started, and the home looks wonderful! I do have my favorites and will be sharing those soon. Our candle is doing well and is selling! I wish you all could smell it. I am very proud to be included in this special project. Now onto my favorites for the month of April. 

 

photo credits: Mrs. Shockley 

 

The first is this beautiful bouquet that I created from grocery store flowers! I love greenery and always love to have lots of it in my bouquets. This was colorful stock, scented baby’s breathe, and Queen Anne’s lace. Just marvelous!

 

 

Second are my new house slippers from Amazon. These memory foam, velvet house slippers are so fun to wear and look lovely. I will definitely be ordering more pairs. I really want a green pair, red, and black!

 

 

Third is a new book that I ordered. Jennifer L. Scott mentioned this book in one of her videos and I tell you I am so glad that she did! This book is wonderful! I just started and cannot wait to continue it. It’s so informative and will really shed light on your life!

 

 

The fourth is my new spring/summer pink nail polish color. Now this is a dip nail polish that I get at my local salon, so I have no idea what the name is. It has taken me 2 summers to find it! Once I like a nail color, I take a picture of the number and save it to my nail polish gallery. I now have my winter colors, spring colors, summer colors, and autumn colors! Yay!

 

photo credit: Williams Sonoma

 

The new season of Bridgerton is about to begin and everyone is taking part in it. I will say that I am loving some of the items that have launched. Especially, these new Bridgerton plate sets from Williams Sonoma. Aren’t they lovely? Perfect for a beautiful spring tablescape. 

 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Alice.com

 

Last on my list is an item that I recently added to my wish list. I want to add this beautiful chinoiserie tole tray to my tea-time in the mornings. I mean this is an absolute showstopper. It is a perfect soft green color, pops of orange and a gold border. Just stunning!

 

Oh wait a minute. There is one more discovery for this month….

 

 

I found another delightful YouTube channel! This video was suggested to me earlier this month and I have watched it 3 times already! I love her decor and I think you will too! 

I hope you all enjoy my April favorites. Sorry it is posted late but the showhouse calls! I am almost done with my docent shifts, and I cannot wait to share my favorite rooms. I also hope to post a video soon of the home. 

 

  • Affiliate links attached. 

 

February Favorites ~ 2024

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Good Morning!

I can’t believe it is the end of February and our wedding anniversary is this week. We have officially been married 20 years! I can’t believe it. I remember back in 2016, I wrote a blog post called Renewing Vows and I shared how I wanted to renew my vows when our 20 years approached. 

I must say that in that short amount of time, my views have changed a little. I recently brought it up to my husband about renewing our vows and he imposed a very interesting question to me. He said, “would you want to spend that kind of money on a vow renewal or would you rather travel”. I must say that I thought about it, but my heart strings were pulled by the opportunity to travel. I believe more people are becoming more interested in experiences than things and I can understand why. I am not saying that my desire to have a large wedding is gone but that question did make me think twice. What do you think? Let me know in the comments below. 

Now let’s into those favorites for this month…

 

photo credits: Mrs. Shockley 

 

First on my list are my new custom stationary notes cards from Etsy. I was stalking these for a while on the website. So glad that I ordered them. They remind me of the English countryside. 

 

 

I have been adding new organizing items to my home and office and I spotted these. This clear file sorter is perfect for your office and home. I love the gold tips on the corners. I also added this gorgeous gold and white ginger jar that I found at the At Home Store. My ginger jar is not available online, but this one is similar. 

 

 

Nothing like antiquing on a beautiful day. I recently got to go, and these are two of the pieces that I picked up. The clear candelabra and crystal ice bucket are perfect additions to my tablescape inventory. I got the candelabra for only $20 and the small crystal ice bucket for $5. When I looked up the price for the candelabra it was over $150! Wonderful find! 

 

 

My home office has been receiving some small updates here and there. Having my antique finds in my office space means a great deal to me. I could not resist these swan candle holders from Bath and Body Works. They are so beautiful! I went and got two! If you are interested in getting one don’t wait too long. Once they are gone, they are GONE!

 

 

These were so wonderful to enjoy this week. I volunteer at Random Acts of Flowers and sometimes we have an overflow of flowers. This month it was blue hydrangeas! Can you believe it? It was so nice being able to take a bundle of these home. It really made my day. 

 

 

Small organizing tools can make life easy. I saw this fridge Lazy Susan and I thought I would give it a try. It does save a lot of space and is so easy to use. Installing it was nothing as well. 

 

 

photo credits: Mrs. Shockley 

 

Continuing with home products, my dream is to update my laundry room but until then adding helpful tools to the room has made taking care of my clothes much easier. I found this stain brush on Amazon and have been wanting to give it a try. I must say it was the best $15 I have spent! Being able to add my stain remover to my dresses and scrub it in with my brush. Game changer!

 

 

I have seen these Amazon belt organizers in several influencer closets, and I have always wondered about them. So I order three for my closet and must say that I have no regrets! These are great! I can see my belts and I feel like it takes up less space. 

 

 

 

 

Another organizing addition to my closet are these wardrobe organizers. You can use them for just about anything. I am using them to organize my longer and thinner scarves. Another game changer for me. It keeps them nice and neat, and I don’t have to worry about where they are. 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley

 

And the last favorite for this month is my vintage Christian Dior silk scarf that I found on Etsy. It is so beautiful and one of a kind. I have been watching it for months before I decided to order it and I must say that I have no regrets. It’s stunning!

As usual I hope that you have enjoyed these finds for the month of February. I wanted to also tell you that the boutique is having a $10 dress sale! Some of the boutique’s dresses are only $10. Order as many as you want. Enjoy!

 

  • Affiliated links attached. 

 

December Favorites ~ 2023

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Oh my goodness friends, I hope you all have been well and had a wonderful Christmas! I had a wonderful Christmas but boy was I sick! I don’t know if I got food poisoning or if it was upset stomach, but I was down for the count last Thursday thru Saturday. I didn’t feel better until Tuesday of this week! It was horrible! I couldn’t move and liquid was leaving my body from every hole possible. Ugghhhh!

But I got through Christmas, that sounds so bad but I did. My family could tell that I was exhausted and was gracious and helped out a lot. I got some great gifts. I got some gift cards to my favorite places but one gift that stood out to me was my Hermes pop-up book that was given to me from a co-worker! It’s fabulous! I will share photos soon.

Now let’s continue with my December favorites…

 

 

First on my list are my wreaths that I picked up at Michaels. They were on sale, and I have been on the hunt for quite some time. I added them to my stair rail and could not be happier. I do want some thicker ones but what I could do is order two more to have for next year and just add those to the ones I have for a thicker look. I added some satin ribbons as well. 

 

photo credits: Mrs. Shockley 

 

In addition to the satin ribbon, I got some houndstooth ribbon from Michaels as well. I dressed some of our gifts with it. My husband was a fan!

 

 

More beautiful boxes… I was so surprised when the Estee Lauder counter ladies gave me these beautiful Chanel gift boxes. They are very small but fit perfectly on my vanity as Christmas decor. I will be sure to add them next year as well. 

 

 

The fourth item was my new Julie Vos Monaco cuff. This cuff has literally been on my list for almost a year. I was so happy when they dropped the price by $100 and then I got 20% off! Yay! 

 

photo credits: Mrs. Shockley 

 

My fifth favorite has been my home office. That’s right being home as much as possible this month has meant the world to me. I loved my Christmas decor, holiday candles, snuggle blankets, and delicious treats. Every time that I had a day to be home, I did not want to leave! My space truly made me happy this holiday season. 

 

photo credit: Laudree.com

 

Okay, I saw a LOT of advent calendars this year but this was the first advent calendar that I REALLY WANTED and sadly did not get. It was Laudree’s 2023 Advent calendar and it was gorgeous! I saw it on Instagram and stalked it for weeks. I told my husband, but he did not order it in time. It’s okay. I will be stalking Poshmark for the next several months. Someone is selling their advent calendar from last year but I don’t want that one. I want this year’s so we will see. I also fell in love with the Dior advent calendar but that one was almost $1,000! I will be stalking Poshmark for that one as well. 

 

And lastly…

 

Have you all seen this video from Helen Mirren? It is wonderful! I looked up some of her beautiful products and I ordered them from Amazon. I ordered her L’Oreal hydrating lip balm, and the L’Oreal Perfect Rosey Tone face cream. I’ll let you all know if I like them. 

I hope you all enjoy this month’s favorites. I have some beautiful tours to share with you all very soon! 

 

  • Affiliate links attached. 

 

November Favorites ~ 2023

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Hello!

Happy Friday! I don’t have much planned this weekend and I am happy about that! Yesterday my team and I went to the Ayres Tea Room for lunch. It was so good and we really enjoyed ourselves. The temperatures are dropping, and it is starting to feel like Christmas. I have 3 more luncheons to attend and then it will be time to go and see the Nutcracker with Lauren. I am looking forward to it this year.

And now here we are with my November favorites. It’s actually December! So crazy but anyway here are the things that I loved this month…

 

 

First on my favorites for November is my white mum. This was the biggest mum that I have ever had, and I still have it! It looked absolutely beautiful on my blue and white garden stool this fall. 

 

 

Second was my floral arrangement session at Random Acts of Flowers. I try to make sure that I volunteer at least once a month. This was so fun! I met a lot of women and I felt like I was creating something beautiful and meaningful for someone else. #Volunteeringrocks

 

photo credits: Mrs. Shockley 

 

Third was the new showhouse! I am so excited to see what the designers are going to do at this year’s showhouse. Did I mention that there is a vintage greenhouse attached to this home? 

 

Fourth has been my Christmas decor for this year. I posted a video on my YouTube channel if you missed it!

 

 

 

Fifth has been this merlot vintage Micheal Kors bag from Poshmark. I was on the hunt for a red or burgundy tote, and this come up in my search! I could not believe it and the color was perfect along with the gold hardware. I got it for a steal!

 

 

 

The sixth is the Barbie Dreamhouse ornament from 1999! My mother-in-law purchased this when it debuted in 1999 and I have wanted it for my tree for years. I found it on Poshmark as well! I made an offer, she countered me and then I accepted! Yay! 

 

 

And last on my list are the gorgeous gift bags from Aerin Lauder. So I went to Von Maur to get some more moisturizer for my face, and I always ask the Estee Lauder counter girls if I could have certain gift bags. I have only been turned down once and was so happy that she gave me two! Aren’t they wonderful? 

I hope that you all have a wonderful weekend! The boutique’s sale is still going on. Use code BlkFriday23 for 20% off your entire order. New arrivals included! Have a great weekend!