The Daily Connoisseur: November 2020

11.30.2020

5 Reasons Why Intermittent Fasting and the Ten-item Wardrobe are Similar (and Beneficial)

In today's video I'm sharing how Intermittent Fasting is similar to the Ten-Item Capsule Wardrobe. This correlation may seem strange, but I have found similarities that reveal insightful truths about what we eat and how we choose to dress ourselves.

If you missed my previous intermittent fasting video, you can check it out here.

Let's look at the five similarities I have found. The following are notes on what I discuss. For greater detail, make sure you watch today's video.

Quality over quantity – the more conscious you become about what you eat and when you eat, you seek out higher quality meals. This is similar to the ten-item wardrobe, where you select fewer garments for your wardrobe, and as a result pick more thoughtful choices, no matter what your budget is.

You become more aware of your behaviors and activities regarding eating and bad habits are immediately highlighted. The ten-item wardrobe highlights bad shopping habits, and Intermittent fasting highlights bad eating habits. Why does this happen? I believe, once you become intentional and present regarding both of these issues (eating and shopping), you are able to be honest with yourself about the poor choices you make.

Intermittent fasting provides structure for your day and the ten-item wardrobe provides structure for your year. There is freedom to be found in rules and parameters in both of these cases. The fasting window and eating window allow you to plan your day in order to enjoy excellent meals. The ten-item wardrobe allows you to plan your wardrobe seasonally and allows you to express your true style through these guidelines.

Your appetite is corrected. The ten-item wardrobe corrects your appetite for shopping and intermittent fasting corrects your appetite for constant snacking. After intentionally applying these principles to your life, you correct the bad habits that you revealed in a previous observation.

You move toward the true style in which you wish to live your life. The guidelines for both the ten-item wardrobe and intermittent fasting have moved me toward my true style and my favorable eating style. I am enjoying my meals so much now.

⚜️ Featured in the video ⚜️

Everlane Sweater http://bit.ly/2q23MAd

SKYE earrings Jennifer20 for 20% off

Londontown nail polish shade Plié JenniferS for 25% off

News

📍The Madame Scott gift collection is now available on Pinrose Perfume. They have created beautiful gift bundles with the Madame Chic books as well as my three favorite perfumes: Secret Genius, Merry Maker, and Mystical Misfit. Code JSCOTT gives 20% off Pinrose Petal starter kits.

📍Thank you for 100,000 subscribers on YouTube! What an amazing honor. I appreciate each and every subscriber. Thank you.

📍Join us for The Chic Assignment for November.

📍Take my new eCourse, Carry Yourself with Poise. There are so many amazing ladies on this course, bonding and building friendships as we rally around elegant living. Rachel M. writes, "Thank you Jennifer for this beautiful course. It was the breath of fresh air I needed during this lockdown. I will definitely be returning to this course again."

📍Become a member of The Daily Connoisseur through the MEMBERSHIPS feature. I do one livestream as well 3 episodes of my new Vodcast (a video podcast) per month. (Link must be accessed on a computer.)

📍Thank you for your wonderful support of my new book, CONNOISSEUR KIDS.

On Instagram

Polish Your Poise with Madame Chic on Instagram...

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Comment of the Week

Naomi J writes, "My husband lost 100 lbs this past year without changing his diet. It was all intermittent fasting. He went from obese to a normal BMI. So proud of him!"

Dear Naomi, that is amazing news. I am so happy for your husband!

If you have an intermittent fasting testimonial you'd like to share, please leave us a comment. Your comment could be chosen as comment of the week on the blog. I'll see you on Thursday for a Q&A video on Intermittent Fasting and how I fit it into my lifestyle.

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FTC: This post is not sponsored. I use affiliate links, including Amazon affiliate links.

11.27.2020

The Best Holiday Gift-Wrapping Hacks for Large Families | Elegant and Affordable

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving yesterday and were able to forget the worries of 2020, even for a moment. We had a great day.

In today's video we are discussing gift-wrapping hacks that will help you this holiday season. These ideas are particularly helpful for large families that have a lot of presents to wrap.

I've always faced a wrapping paper conundrum. Gift wrap is so expensive and there is so little paper on the rolls... Usually you can only wrap a few presents before the roll runs out. I would solve this problem by buying bulk wrapping paper at Costco, but I was never pleased with the aesthetics of the paper, and then I was stuck with more paper than I needed. When birthday and non-Christmas holidays rolled around, I had to turn around and buy even more wrapping paper.

Today, I'm sharing my wrapping paper hack with you... and that is to never buy wrapping paper again (unless you want to, of course).

I find that by buying a bulk roll of recycled Kraft paper (brown paper), you will have more than enough wrapping paper to last you the entire year. This bulk roll of paper is affordable. My roll of paper is 30" x 2,400" (30 ft.) and cost under $20.

For those of you concerned that your presents are going to look boring wrapped in this recycled paper, just think about The Sound of Music's "Favorite Things"... "Brown paper packages tied up with string".

The fun in wrapping this way is in expressing your creativity with styling the present. If you are giving presents to multiple children, it can be fun to assign a stamp to each child. Their package will have their signature stamp on the paper. (Tip: Stamp the paper before wrapping the present so you don't get an uneven stamp.)

Continue to decorate the package with seasonal ribbon, gift tags, and natural items found in the garden. I have listed all of the gift wrapping supplies that I used in my Amazon gift wrapping store. There you can find the paper, twine, gift tags, and more.

I hope you enjoyed my holiday gift wrapping video today. I would love to know how you like to wrap presents in your home.

Featured in the video

🎄 Recycled Brown Kraft Paper (bulk) 🎄 My Gift-wrap store on Amazon 🎄 My nail polish Vendetta by Londontown JenniferS for 25% off 🎄 Centerpiece from Riverbend Home 🎄 Earrings by SKYE Jennifer20 for 20% off

News

📍I was a gust on the Homemaker Chic Podcast this past week, chatting with Shaye from The Elliott Homestead, and Angela, from Parisienne Farmgirl.

📍Thank you for 100,000 subscribers on YouTube! What an amazing honor. I appreciate each and every subscriber. Thank you.

📍Join us for The Chic Assignment for November.

📍Thank you for your wonderful support of my new book, CONNOISSEUR KIDS.

On Instagram

Lessons from Madame Chic on Instagram...

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Comment of the Week

Valentine M. writes, "Each of them kept looking up at her comfortable, rosy face secretly curious about the delightful feeling she gave them - a sort of warm, supported feeling." Doesn't this just make you cry? Love this series.

Valentine, I loved that part of the novel too. It made me so happy. I'm glad you enjoyed my Secret Garden video!

I hope you enjoy today's video. Have a wonderful weekend and I will see you on Monday!

FTC: This post is not sponsored. I use affiliate links, including Amazon affiliate links.

11.23.2020

The Chic Assignment Season Finale

Welcome to The Chic Assignment Season Finale for 2020.

I hope the Chic Assignment has been enjoyable for you this year. For me it provided a welcome anchor throughout this tumultuous year. I enjoyed escaping in the art, music, and poetry we explored, and feel that I've made some amazing artistic friends along the way.

Chic Assignment no. 1 Enjoy the music of William Grant Still (1895 - 1978) Serenade for Orchestra

William Grant Still was an American composer and conductor. He was the first African American conductor to conduct a symphony orchestra in the United States. I am reading from his biography on Encyclopedia.com in today's video.

I have a wonderful performance from The Cape Cod Chamber Orchestra of Still's Serenade for Orchestra. This is truly a delightful performance!

Chic Assignment no. 2 Enjoy the poetry of Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806 - 1861)

Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Elizabeth Barrett Browning was an English poet of the Victorian era. She was one of Emily Dickinson's favorite poets. A framed portrait of Barrett Browning hung in the bedroom of Dickinson, whose life had been transfigured by the poetry of “that Foreign Lady.” Today I read Elizabeth Barrett Browning's biography from Biography.com

Here is a link to The Collected Poems of Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Elizabeth Barrett Browning on The Poetry Foundation.

A Victorian Posy (book)

Chic Assignment no. 3 Explore the art of the seasonal table setting

With Thanksgiving upon us, let us refine the art of the seasonal table setting. Choose something unique to place on your table this year, whether it is a seasonal bouquet, cloth napkins, placemats or other special touches. Use what you already have to make your meals special.

Chic Assignment no. 4 Prepare for gift-giving season

I published my annual holiday gift guide a few weeks ago and shared many splendid gift ideas from small businesses. I will also be releasing a video on my unconventional gift wrapping method for the holidays. You won't want to miss that one!

Thank you to The Chic Society for bringing us The Chic Assignment. The Chic Society is the private membership group on my YouTube channel. I do one Vodcast a week and we do one livestream or Zoom call per month. We just had our Zoom call for November and it was so fun to chat virtually face-to-face. There are three tiers in The Chic Society. The most popular tier is only $1.99 a month to access all of the extra video content. The upper tiers get recognition in the videos and in today's video I am thanking The Chic and Elegant Connoisseurs. You can also find them here:

The Elegant Connoisseurs

Amanda Dykes, Author

Awesome Possum Powers

Azalia Spa Goods

Brandi Still, Silhouette Artist

Carrot Top Paper Shop

Dressed for my Day with Kay Harms

Elaine Brisebois, certified nutritionist and weight loss coach

Faith Grace Home

Freedom Moms by Ashley Buffa Smart Kids Chore System

Inspired by Nikki stationery

Jennifer Melville, Author

Julie Kolman, My Confident Closet

Katy Rose, Artist

Lovely Bits by Nicole Brignolle

Little Pink Casa by Rosenda Valenzuela

Tina Hugall from Outschool

The Secret OWL Society by Michelle Rohr

The Shortbread Family

Sturm Brothers Jewelry , Mrs. TJ Sturm

Something to Cherish by Cherish Flieder

Katherine Rae

Carli Thom

Christine Bolla

Caroline Haydu

Denise Gende

Jet Rowley-Herron

Jina Kay Kenry

Heather Barrera

Jenny Candelaria

Leslie Morris Gather n’ Grow

Linda Eklof

Marie Caudill

Maria Conder

Melissa Ricci

Prudently At Home

The Chic Connoisseurs

A Better Life with KAT (Flylady Cleaning System), American Blossom Linens, Allison Jennison-Smith, A Sparkling Vintage Life, Angelika Greenhalgh, Anny Schreier,

Audrey Coyne, BewitchedCrafts.com, Bliss Peterson, Brenda Ramsey, Candace V,

Catherine Huang, Chelsea Kochevar, Clare's Classroom, Cyndie Lake, Deb Reardon,

Diana McNease, Freda Masoud, healthywithluba.com, Heather Phillips, Helena O,

Jane Lynch, Janet Williams, Jasmine Christian, jkp62, Judy Moore, JulieMarieVh,

Kimberly Campbell, Leslie Ring, Liliedaisy, Liz D, Lois Shank- Retiree, Loraine Tadman, Lori Skees, Maria Gerlicz-Pogorzelska, Space.For.Home, Marybeth Nelson, Melanie Riddle, Mama Mitzey, Melinda Loustalot, Michele Kieffer, Michelle Henderer, Michelle the Italiagal, Monique Egelhoff, Monique Hernandez, Natalie Schultz, Not-So Desperate Housewives, Pamela Gunger, Paula Ellis, Paula Johnson, Petra Willnecker, Raye Cage, Rebecca Faltot, Roberta Scholten, Sandra Light, Sarah Morgan, Sarah Vitsas, Scott Rea, Shannon Biddy, Sharon Smith, Sheila Hopfensperger, Stacy Smith, The Simple Swan, Sue Parker,

This and That with Denise Jordan, Tiki Pié, Tracy Lopez, Vicel Guzman, Wendy Cassara, Wendy Somerville, Yen Lee, Zuzaienka23

Thank you to The Chic Society for bringing us the season finale!

I hope you enjoyed this season finale. Let us know your observations in the comments and your comment could be chosen as comment of the week.

I hope you have an amazing Thanksgiving holiday with your family. I will see you on Friday. Thank you for joining us and have a lovely week!

FTC: This post is not sponsored. I use affiliate links, including Amazon affiliate links.

11.19.2020

13 Life-Changing Homemaking Secrets from The Secret Garden

My homemaking series continues as we uncover the thirteen life-changing homemaking secrets from Frances Hodgson Burnett's, The Secret Garden.

The following are the thirteen homemaking secrets I derived from The Secret Garden:

An excellent home life can be lived on any budget. Being wealthy doesn’t necessarily equal an excellent home life. Home life is more about comfort than it is about luxury. In chapter 6, “There Was Some One Crying”, Martha talks of the moorland cottage she grew up in with 14 people who lived in four little rooms and never had quite enough to eat. Even though Mary grew up in the lap of luxury, she was attracted to comfort, which was something her parents tried to buy her, but were not successful at providing.

We should actively cultivate the characteristics of a successful homemaker. Martha describes her mother as sensible, hard-working, good-natured and clean. No one could help liking her whether they’d seen her or not (p.58). When Martha is going home to her on her day off, she can’t help jumping for joy when she crosses the moor. As a mother and homemaker, we want to have these characteristics. Everyone in the town, rich or poor, admired Susan Sowerby because of her great character. These are not necessarily the attributes our society appreciates. Think of the “Real Housewives” series, which honors beauty, fame, and wealth. The counter-culture values of Susan Sowerby are great characteristics of a successful homemaker.

When you are feeling like complaining as a homemaker, ask yourself this question: “How do you like yourself?” (p. 59 ) This is something we can ask ourselves when we feel irritated with the other people in our household.

Homemaking is joy and wellness. Martha went away in high spirits as soon as she had given Mary her breakfast. (p. 59) She was going to walk five miles across the moor to the cottage, and she was going to help her mother with the washing and do the week’s baking and enjoy herself thoroughly. Even though Martha was a maid by profession, she still enjoyed cleaning and homemaking. She takes this time to enjoy visiting with her family and serving them. When we view our homemaking as joy and wellness, it will become more enjoyable.

The week’s baking was done once a week. Martha's family did the baking once a week (p. 59). It’s a good idea to designate one day a week to do the baking. I burn-out on baking bread because the thought of doing it everyday is tiresome for me. But I could rally around a “baking day”, especially if the children help me and we have fun doing it.

Boredom awakens children’s imaginations. Page 63 reads, "Living as it were, all by herself in a house with a hundred mysteriously closed rooms and having nothing whatever to do to amuse herself, had set her inactive brain to working and was actually awakening her imagination”. This tip relates to parenting. We are a culture that is afraid of boredom. Our children are placed in front of screens to quell this boredom. They are not allowed to feel bored. This kills creativity. It was boredom that “awakened" Mary’s imagination.

A cozy home full of nice smells from cooking and baking is good enough for a king. Martha reports back from her weekly outing home, helping her mother with the washing and baking (p. 65). She describes her home life as “delightful”. "And the cottage all smelt of nice, clean hot baking and there was a good fire, and they just shouted for joy. Our Dickon he said our cottage was good enough for a king." Even though the family was living in reduced circumstances, they felt their life at home was good enough for a king because of the atmosphere created by their mother.

Children were taught the value of tidiness. When Mary meets Mr. Craven for the first time, she is expected to tidy up her appearance (p. 106). Children should be able to run around and get messy, but it is important for children to understand when to look tidy and respectful and to know when that is appropriate. If they do this as children, they will do this as adults.

Children need liberty to cultivate their imagination. This parenting philosophy is in contrast to the helicopter parenting technique that is popular today. On p. 110 Susan Sowerby’s advice to Mr. Craven was: “Give her simple, healthy food. Let her run wild in the garden. Don’t look after her too much. She needs liberty and fresh air and romping about.” Susan Sowerby is described as “sensible and good-hearted” by Mrs. Medlock and she and Mr. Craven agree that she knows what she is talking about.

They drank “beef tea” to calm down and feel better. On page 165, beef tea was served to Colin and Mary to promote calmness and well-being after all of the excitement from Colin’s tantrum. I like looking at drinks from the past, such as the Cambric Tea in Little House on the Prairie. I did some research on beef tea and found that it was traditionally made from rump meat.

A homemaker wakes up early to be truly inspired. On page 196 in the chapter, “Ben Weatherstaff”, the glory and inspiration of waking up early is described. Successful homemakers tend to wake up early and take inspiration from the new day.

Successful homemakers are problem solvers. On page 230, Dickon praises his mother and says she always sees "a way out of things". Good homemakers are problem solvers and enjoy finding solutions to problems.

Care about what your children care about. Mrs. Sowerby’s care and attention to their secret garden gave them a warm, supported feeling (p. 254). The children were delighted in her presence. She went out of her way to make the children feel special and to convey that she cared about what they cared about. We must remind ourselves of this as both parents and homemakers.

⚜️Featured in the video

Mer Sea Lisbon Travel Sweater

SKYE Theodora earrings Jennifer20 for 20% off

Nail Polish Londontown Mudslide JenniferS for 25% off

Spode Christmas Tree china is from Riverbend Home DCHOL10 for 10% off

If you enjoyed this post, check out my Little House on the Prairie homemaking videos. You can find them here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3.

News

📍Thank you for 100,000 subscribers on YouTube! What an amazing honor. I appreciate each and every subscriber. Thank you.

📍Join us for The Chic Assignment for November.

📍Thank you for your wonderful support of my new book, CONNOISSEUR KIDS.

On Instagram

Madame Chic in Poland...

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Comment of the Week

Unknown writes:

These are my absolute favorite kinds of videos that you make. I know that they must take a lot of time and effort on your part, so I want to let you know that it is much appreciated! Also, you've inspired me to make the pumpkin bars. They look so good!

Thank you! I'm so happy you enjoyed making the pumpkin bars. And I appreciate your kind words about my videos.

I hope you enjoyed today's homemaking video. What did you love about The Secret Garden? Let us know the insights you gained from reading this book.

FTC: This post is not sponsored. I use affiliate links, including Amazon affiliate links.