Pouf /and this knit pouf is a bestseller! / Shag rug // Peonies // Tom Ford Book // Planter // Faux cactus // H blanket // Candle // Marble coasters // Wishbone chairs
So many good home finds at Amazon, from poufs for the girl’s room, to a shag rug. I’m also using these baskets to organize.
Which is your favorite?
Drape trench // Tote // Cheeky Jeans (tts) // Stripe Boxy Top // Bodysuit top // Pointy toe flats // Day glove flat //
My girls love these mini backpacks! They brought them to church Sunday and put everything from lip gloss to snacks in there. I love seeing them matching in their mini backpacks. They boast an interior pocket and are soft with durable leather. They need to be durable bc we are hard on everything!
Have a great week!
x Shalice
Steve, Janelle and their adorable brood of 5 kids moved from Wheaton, IL to the English countryside!! Janelle is an awesome cook, home educator, and Steve, an auditor at a bank. We chatted recently and I wanted to share with you some of their amazing experiences and not so amazing ones. Grab your coffee and join us!
Shalice: So Janelle, you did what SO many families would only dream of doing: moving your whole family to Europe and making it look educational and dare I say, fun? It is truly remarkable!
That leads me to the first question . . . .
The obvious question, how is it living in England with 5 kids?
Janelle: England has been an amazing experience for all of us and I’m so glad we took the leap! It has been so different in a lot of ways, and that’s been part of the fun, because the way it has been different is unique to England and not something we would experience if we had moved simply to another State.
Shalice: What is the easiest and hardest part about living abroad?
Janelle: The easiest part has been all the travel. That has been beyond fun. And England is relatively small as a whole so everything is accessible by car, which is definitely the easiest way for our large family to travel. We also live in the country, where cows, sheep, and single, hedge-lined lanes surround our house and the beauty almost knocks you off your feet. Covid-19 has curbed our travel for the moment, which has been hard, but getting to enjoy daily walks in this amazingly beautiful area has been a true blessing. Initially, the hardest part was the first 6 weeks–bank accounts! a car! a house!–and then just setting up our house. Now the hardest part has been not being able to find a good church, for there simply aren’t many at all. Anywhere. And given that the kids are all homeschooled here, the lack of any sort of social life has been rough. Looking back, it’s interesting to think about how we built community in America vs. how the English do community. Granted, we live in small little village in Shropshire, which is almost on the border of Wales in the Midlands, so I can hardly speak to England in general. Just what we’ve experienced in our little village.
Shalice: I know you live in a little town. I mention the name of it to my English friends and they haven’t even heard of it. But I’ve seen pictures and I know for sure my kids would love it because they love large green spaces, sheep and cows. Tell us about your town in England?
Janelle: One thing we’ve found interesting about England is that it really is all countryside! The entire country is countryside. But not countryside that you would find in America. It is definitely distinctly English. For instance, we live in country, where everything is one lane, farms abound, and cows often wake us up in the morning when they are visiting the field next to our house. But we are also only 5 miles from two different towns. And I feel like that is very much the norm here. You can be in the country, but then in town 10 minutes later. Our little village has a church built in the 1200’s and a community center, where they host movies and have tea during events (that, by the way, is a stereotype for a reason. No matter the event, there is always tea). Our little church hosted a women’s singing group this past fall, I think they were Army wives maybe? And at one point, everybody in the (mostly elderly) audience was singing along to a song from days past. Honest, I felt like I was in a scene from Call of the Midwives.
Shalice: Favorite things about England?
Janelle: It is unbelievably beautiful!! And within the one island, there are so many forms of beauty, from the rugged beauty of Wales, to the romantic and soft beauty of the Lake District, to the jaw dropping seascapes of Cornwall. And there is history everywhere you turn, which I absolutely love. Between English Heritage, the non-profit that maintains crumbling castles and ruins, and the National Trust, the non-profit that maintains manors, estates, and country houses (ie, palatial wonders seen in Pride and Prejudice for instance), there is always somewhere to visit. And every National Trust house has a cafe with tea and scones. So. You never have to know what it is like to sight-see without being refreshed with tea and scones. We also have not yet encountered a mosquito. That is almost on par with the history.
Shalice: Worst things about England?
Janelle: Terrible customer service! No, really, we were warned about it and it’s absolutely true. If you are lucky enough to get a person, and that is rare indeed, they simply don’t care or can’t do anything to help you. Also, the much higher taxes were an adjustment. Steve keeps saying that every American should live abroad for a period of time simply to understand and appreciate what we have in America.
Shalice: What do you miss most about America?
Janelle: The food!!! I think the kids will mention a place to eat in America at least a week. And Target. Can you even imagine life without Target? It’s rough.
Shalice: What will be the first thing you do when you move back?
Janelle: It’s a toss up between Smashburger and Chick-fil-A because it’s always about food at our house. Personally, I’m going shopping. The shopping here, unless you live in London, leaves a lot to be desired.
Shalice: Worst surprise?
Janelle: Having to wait an entire MONTH for internet service to be installed, and then finding out that libraries and coffee shops close at 6pm. When you have online students who have all afternoon/evening classes due to being 6 hours ahead, no internet and closed shops made for a rough month.
Shalice: Best surprise?
Janelle: Roundabouts!! We LOVE them. You never have to stop, unless there’s really heavy traffic, and it makes driving so much more enjoyable.
Large basket // Floor Pouf // Two-toned basket // Shag rug // Gold Mirror // Similar Cactus // Faux fiddle leaf fig
Our basement room has a beautiful view of the mountains, but the space needed some love. First up, our plans were to refresh the dark and drab stone fireplace. Reid was hesitant covering up the natural stone at first but after cleaning the surface we noticed the previous owners must have altered the stone somehow.
So with that, we took the German Shmear plunge. I’ll admit You Tube and Pinterest helped A LOT in convincing us to take the dive. Yes, everyone is doing this right now and I still worry 20 years from now we will look back and say, ”why did we do this”?
Without risk, you will have no reward and frankly, design is a risk. So take the risk, my friends.
o Mortar (Tile Grout) – We used white. (White is typical for German Shmear)
o Mixing Bucket
o Mixing Stick or Drill Bit
o Big Sponges
o Cheap Paint Brushes (They will get destroyed)
o Rubber Gloves (This is very messy)
o Painters Tape
o Trowel and or Spackle
o Putty knife
o Ziploc Bags
1. Wash surface with water, bristle brush and sponge.
2. Protect surrounding area with painter’s tape. We used flatten cardboard boxes to lay around the hearth for protect.
3. Mix mortar per package direction. Mix to a consistency of thick frosting.
4. Use brush to spread mortar onto surface. Brushes work well for smooth surfaces. But honestly your hands work the best. So don’t be afraid to just dig in and shmear. We put Ziploc bags on our hands and literally grabbed the mortar and slapped it onto surface. Fill grout marks so that the mortar is flush with the stone/brick surface. A trowel and spackle tool can also be used. Beware, this is messy. But we are washable. (The mortar also is water soluble and does clean up with a wet rag pretty easily, just in case)
5. Let mortar dry per package directions
6. Just before mortar is complete dry. Take wet sponge and brush entire surface till smooth, to your liking. This is where the artist comes out. Some like it rough and some like it smoother. Go ahead and express yourself. Exactly like styling an outfit.
7. Remove the protective barriers and Viola! A masterpiece.
Tag me in your DIY photos. I would love to see how your spaces turn out.
Happy Saturday! I recently wore 5 pieces from Abercrombie & Fitch for under $70. I made an IGTV of all the outfits on my Instagram. I love soft easy pieces like these from Abercrombie’s new line, “Soft AF.” We’re off to the pool, but I wanted to share these pieces before they sell out.
My shop page is open 24/7! Happy Weekend!
Every morning we make pancakes! I use coconut oil to grease the pan and love all my kitchen gear especially my All Clad pots and pans – on sale!
Bring the water, white sugar, and brown sugar to a boil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low, and stir in the maple extract; simmer 3 minutes longer. I love this recipe, let me know if you try it! My shop page is open 24/7! Happy Weekend!
Leopard bike shorts // Black tee // Camel Coat Similar // Givenchy sunglasses // Fendi Flip Bag // Sandals under $60
While it feels like 1000% degrees here in SoCal, I like to wear shorts and STILL show you this gorgeous camel coat!
What are some of your favorite summer to fall transition pieces? I linked mine below in my shop page!
We would drive miles and miles to a natural food store with dirt floors and pick up bulk food at a co-op. It was no question, that if the meat had antibiotics in it, we didn’t get it. We also made our own calcium pills from egg shells and HAD to drink the full glass of carrot juice, no chaser! I remember shopping with her and a butcher was laughing at my mom when she asked if there were any antibiotics in the meat. I even felt uncomfortable that she ALWAYS asked what the ingredients were or the mode of food preparation, especially when it was’t listed. In addition, she ALWAYS used clean beauty, lipstick without junk she said, and never were allowed to use conventional baby soap. All that to say, she was not only before her time, her actions are respectable. She was our advocate. She wanted to give her 4 children a legacy of good health and a healthy constitution, and guess what, I do too.
A PR company sent some Beauty Counter lipstick , and I guess you could say that changed everything. I didn’t just love it, I LOVED it!! It wasn’t just the perfect color, it was moisturizing, and minty. I only regret that my son got into it and the better half of it sits on his shirt. Since we eat 9 lbs of lipstick in their lifetime, I care about the amount of toxins in my lipstick. This is fortified with jojoba and castor seed oil. If you’re curious, they list the ingredients by the product description.
Did you know that Beauty Counter restricts 1800 ingredients from their products? That’s almost 2,000 ingredients you don’t want to put on your face or skin. Which is your largest organ. Whether you’re a cancer fighter, survivor, or concerned parent like myself, Clean beauty is the future. As far as makeup goes, I’ve always been a fan of the barely there and healthy glow makeup look. If someone is caked in foundation, you can see that, and I’ve worn it before and it feels like an unhealthy mask, I can’t wait to take off. I won’t name names, but the last time I used conventional foundation by a very well loved brand, I was sitting in church, 11 am or so, and my skin was tightening and I found myself looking in my bag for a facial spray because my skin was SO DRY. I want my makeup to have minerals in it, I want my makeup to help my skin not hurt it. I want my makeup to have vitamins that make my skin G L O W. because when skin in healthy it already glows with minimal makeup.
Learn more of their ingredient selection, HERE!
I’m still learning about the toxic free revolution that Beauty Counter that has hit the beauty industry. My only regret is that, I started too late. If you’d like to make some side money and join my team, email me shalice@shalicenoel.com. In the meantime, I rounded up some favorite products I’ve used from skincare to makeup. . . .
Lotus Cleansing Balm – love this balm that melts off all my makeup!
Serum, goes on light with Vit C in it! A cult favorite.
This lipstick I WEAR EVERYDAY, just ask Reid. I get color “Be fearless” It gives me a go get em attitude, with color, moisture and mint. What more could a girl ask for? (ask me how to get a discount!)
Want a toxic free skincare regimen? I started using the Countertime Collection and loving the results. I have sensitive skin and my skin looks so healthy.
Just ordered concealer in Medium 1
Lip gloss in “peony” that my daughters both like
Ask any questions, thanks for shopping with me! Ask me how to get a discount, to get your toxic-free products! Sharing more of my healthy lifestyle and diet in this post.
All the best, Shalice
