Retreats are great for revitalizing the spirit and connecting with others. Whether it’s a corporate retreat, a ladies’ retreat, a family reunion, a bridesmaids’ retreat, or whatever the occasion, atmosphere has a lot to do with allowing that revitalization and connecting to take place. After spending the night during this past summer and the previous summer at The Mansionat Elfindale in Springfield, Missouri, I highly recommend this B & B retreat destination. Although it was just our family staying there, my imagination could see how this would be an awesome place for a retreat!

………..
Isn’t it fun to get away with your girlfriends and talk “girl talk” until the wee hours of the morning?  A Ladies’ Retreat with a group of ladies from church has always been a lot of fun for me.  Getting away to a special place enhances the enjoyment of the trip, getting away from the hustle and bustle of the busy routine of life, getting to relax and share about things that are really important and things that are on our minds, and last but not least…just having fun together, sharing funny experiences and laughing so hard that we’re almost in tears.
………..
In order to have a ladies’ retreat, there needs to be ample places to congregate for chit chat, for sharing funny stories, and for serious discussion.  Having stayed at The Mansion, I can see how this Victorian style bed and breakfast would be an awesome place to stay.  The atmosphere of this European like castle is like taking a step back in time, yet keeping all the modern conveniences that we want to have.  The wide hallways provide many places to sit and congregate as seen in the picture below:

………..

………..
This beautiful breakfast room can also be used for more than just breakfast at retreats:
………..

………..
Many suites have sitting areas which are great for small group discussions. The Veranda Suite as seen in the picture below is one such room. Not only does this suite have a great sitting area inside but outside as well on the beautiful veranda seen in the second picture. By the way, this is the only suite with a veranda.
………..

………..

………..
The Rose Suite is the perfect name for this lovely suite as you can tell by the picture. It has an excellent area in the room for conversation and sharing thoughts.
………..

………..
The Chapel Suite is where we enjoyed staying, and it can sleep four very comfortably. The suite is nice and spacious and also has a great sitting area, perfect for a small group meeting.
………..

………..
I want to share one more of the 13 suites with you, and that is the tower suite. Note the tall tower on the right-hand side of The Mansion, the tower that reminds me of a castle:
………..

………..
The Tower Suite contains two levels which makes it so charming and so much fun. There are actually four rooms to this suite being the bedroom, the bathroom, a sitting area in the tower, and then another sitting area up higher in the tower which is reached by a beautiful circular staircase. Below is the highest room in The Mansion. 

To see more photos, visit The Mansion at Elfindale on Facebook.
………..

………..

………..
………..

.N……..

Springfield, Missouri, is in such a pretty area of the country, and the Chapel at The Mansion at Elfindale in Missouri is a very romantic setting for a Springfield wedding. The Chapel sits next to the European style B&B on lovely wooded property.
.

…….
The center aisle is a favorite for many brides. The aisle can be beautifully decorated to provide an elegant path for the bridal party.
…….

…….
The magnificent flooring at the altar is imported marble which adds to the beauty of the occasion.
…….

…….
The special events coordinators at The Mansion take care of the fine details to ensure a memorable wedding that is personalized and beautiful!  Here are some of the things they offer:

• Minister
• Wedding music
• Brass candelabra
• Marble columns
• Video recording of the wedding
• Reception room
• Cake and punch
• Buffet dinner
• Sit-down dinner
• Special tree-lined archway drive as seen below.  The lights on the archway are lit in the evenings from Thanksgiving to Christmas.

…….

………
The Mansion offers 13 suites for night lodgings for the honeymooners or their guests. A favorite suite is the tower suite which has a romantic ambiance to it.  Rooms are available for bridal showers as well.  For  more photos, go to their official Facebook page.  For even more photos, go to Weddings post.
…….

…….
For more information, call 1-800-443-0237 to speak with one of their special events coordinators.

When I heard about black tungsten rings, I wasn’t exactly sure what they were. After doing some research, I found that tungsten carbide is three times stiffer than steel, and it’s denser than steel or titanium.  The dark silver color can be buffed to a shiny, mirror-like image and makes handsome jewelry.  It is popular for rings, particularly a man’s tungsten carbide wedding band.

One thing to make sure is that the tungsten is cobalt free.  Apparently, if tungsten is used with a cobalt binder, it can mix with the oils in human skin and cause an unpleasant reaction.  The oils cause the cobalt to leach from the jewelry. That doesn’t sound very appealing to me! So, it’s very important to make sure tungsten rings are cobalt free.

One special thing is that engravable tungsten rings can be laser etched for a personalized design.  This etching should last the life of a ring, so it’s important to make sure a lifetime guarantee comes with the ring.

Anyone buying tungsten jewelry should make sure of three things, that it is cobalt free, that there is a lifetime guarantee, and that it’s not generic tungsten which might not fit comfortably!. Something as special as a wedding ring should definitely be comfortable and last a lifetime!

*Note: I was compensated monetarily for this article. However, the views and opinions are my own.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Graduation Cupcakes

Graduation Party Cake

Gumballs in School Colors

It’s almost February, and spring is just around the corner which means wedding plans are in high gear for those planning a springtime wedding.  Hopefully, they have their wedding invitations or will have them soon because invitations should be mailed eight weeks before the wedding.  All the main components of the wedding should already be well planned and arranged, and now it’s the list of “unending” small details to attend to.   There is a huge “To Do List” when it comes to wedding plans!

Valentine’s Day is just less than one month away.  I wonder how many will be getting promise rings or maybe even engagement rings?  I remember very clearly when my husband gave me my engagement ring.  A few days after he proposed, we went looking at rings and picked out the style we liked.  The jeweler checked the size of my ring finger and the ring was ordered.  The surprise was that I didn’t know when the ring was going to be ready.  Even though I knew I was getting an engagement ring, I remember how special it was when my husband surprised me with the ring box and then put the ring on my finger.

We still have our wedding rings although my husband wears a newer, nicer band that I got him years ago.  I still wear my original engagement and wedding rings plus an anniversary ring that my husband bought me around the time I got him a new band.  All of these rings are very special to us because they symbolize the unending love between us!

Note:  This is a sponsored post.

Credit: Free pictures from acobox.com
I was taught the importance of written thank you cards by my mother.  She always had me write thank you cards to my grandparents and relatives for Christmas and birthday gifts, starting when I was old enough to write.  When I graduated from high school, again I wrote a thank you card for every single gift I received.  So when my husband and I got married, I automatically wrote thank you cards for all the gifts we received.  Back then, etiquette was such that the thank you card should be received within two weeks after the gift was given.  With each pregnancy, I looked for cute baby thank you cards to send for all the shower gifts and gifts received after each baby was born.  It didn’t matter if my hand was aching or I was tired from all the writing.  If a person was gracious enough to give a gift, then they should receive a thank you!

Nowadays, some people do not send out thank you cards.  I believe that thank you cards should always be sent for wedding and baby gifts. If the gift came through the mail, a card should be sent within two weeks.  That is just common courtesy to let the person know that their gift arrived safely and was appreciated!    In my opinion, all thank you cards should be received within a month after the gift was given.

By the way, our children learned the importance of written thank you notes, too.  Our daughter wrote thank you cards for graduation, wedding, and baby gifts.  Our son wrote cards for his graduation presents.  I even had some people tell me how much they appreciated our children’s thank you cards because a lot of times they didn’t receive cards for gifts given.  I hope this beautiful form of etiquette in showing appreciation never goes out of style.

………. <PART ONE ……. PART TWO…….PART THREE >

The Mansion at Elfindale is such a beautiful bed and breakfast in Springfield.  There are also wedding services available in their chapel and reception area as well.  While we were standing on one of the covered porches at the Mansion, we could look across and see the chapel which is connected to the Mansion by a brick covered walkway.

Once inside, we were surprised with the beauty of the chapel which is absolutely perfect for a Springfield wedding. It has a center aisle which is very important to most brides. The stained glass windows, arched cathedral ceiling, and imported marble flooring at the altar are impressive.

The covered walkway from the chapel to the Mansion leads to an area that is perfect for a wedding reception as seen pictured below.  This room was originally the State Dining Room but later was transformed into a ballroom with a fireplace.  The owner purchased a magnificent fireplace mantel for this room at the St. Louis World’s Fair in 1904, imported from France with dolphins carved into the beautiful wood.  That is why it is known as the Dolphin Fireplace and the room is referred to as the Dolphin Room today.

There are several suites in the Mansion which would be nice for honeymoon bed-and-breakfast lodging, but I think the most romantic would be the Tower Suite.  It is situated on the third floor and contains three rooms plus the bathroom.  Two of the rooms are actually in the tower.

Upon entrance to the suite, my eyes were immediately drawn to the first tower room. Through the passageway, you can see a sitting area with beautiful lace curtains and a desk.

Once you enter the sitting room, you see this impressive winding staircase leading to the top of the tower. The view from this room is great but a fourth story view is even more inviting!

The view from the top of the tower is impressive. Looking over tops of trees, you can see the small lake which is on the property. This room is perfect for relaxing in the morning with a leisurely cup of coffee and maybe even watching the sun rise.

From this fourth story tower room, you can easily see the original school built on the property as well as many other places.  By the way, some people like this suite as a retreat away from the busy, hectic life they live. This is also a place where people can retreat and refocus on what is important in life.

This Springfield bed and breakfast also makes great accomodations for the wedding party, relatives and guests attending the wedding from out-of-town. There are 13 luxurious bed and breakfast suites, each suite distinct with its own personality and charm.

My mother-in-law’s favorite sugar cookie recipe is a special family recipe!  She’s been making these cookies for years and got the recipe from another relative.  My m-i-l needs to gain weight so I suggested we make these cookies while we were there visiting this summer.  I don’t know if she gained any weight….but I definitely did!!  Oh well, now I remember why I rarely bake cookies.

These cookies are soft and yet delicately crisp at the same time.  They’re rich tasting and melt in your mouth.  They should be rich tasting considering they have one cup of oil and one cup of butter (the Pioneer Woman would like all the butter in these!)  In my opinion, I think these cookies would be great to serve at a wedding or baby shower, especially if rolled in colored sugar to match the colors of the shower.  They’re definitely not healthy so really these should be just special occasion cookies.  Here’s the recipe:

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup sugar (plus extra sugar to roll the cookies in)
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 cup butter
• 1 cup canola oil
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 eggs
• 4 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• Colored sugar for special occasions
  

DIRECTIONS:

Combine the sugars, butter, oil and salt.  Beat well with mixer.  Add eggs.  Add dry ingredients.  Chill dough.  Make into balls, roll in sugar, and place on ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake at 350 degrees for 8 minutes.

Here are the cookies we made at my mother-in-law’s house.  Wish I could take one off the plate right now!