It's a fall extravaganza here on The Daily Connoisseur. All. Fall. Everything. I'm showing you home decor, favorite fall products from small businesses, my cooking philosophy this time of year, and even a Mrs. Meyers' cleaning product dupe.



I hope you enjoy watching today's video.



For seasonal decor, I love to decorate with sophisticated accents intermingled with decorations that the children love. I like using faux fur blankets and faux fur pillows as well as plaid throws in the living room to boost coziness. The Union Jack pillow was a gift from Ben's parents and adds a nice touch to the sofas.

I also like using faux florals with fresh herbs and flowers from the garden. Great resources for faux florals this time of year are Nearly Natural and Balsam Hill fall florals.

I love to highlight small businesses on this channel so today I have a treasure trove of gorgeous fall products from small family businesses.

Bend Soap Co.


I just adore the Bend Soap Company (use code DC10 for 10% off your order). They are a small family business located in Bend, Oregon. I have featured them several times on the channel before and since featuring them have become a regular customer. My daughters use their deodorant, and I gifted Bend Soap Co. to my literary agents for Christmas last year. They sent me a lovely care package with their fall scents.


The Oatmeal and Honey Luxury Milk Bath and Almond Delight goat milk lotion from Bend Soap Co. have such cozy, warm scents. The milk bath is moisturizing and seriously luxurious. The lotion is great for people with sensitive skin and the almond fragrance is very subtle.


The four soap scents from Bend featured are Tangerine Spice, Mt. Bachelor Pine, Oatmeal and Honey, and All Sport. Their soap is high-quality, solid and just lovely.


MiraPur Essential Oils
My friends from The Sudsy Soapery have started an all natural essential oil line called, Mirapur Natural Oils.


Harvest Blend essential oil Proprietary blend of all spice, caraway seed, cardamom, ginger, orange 10-fold and cinnamon

Cinnamon Leaf, cinnamomum zeylanicum a warm, spicy, and sweet aroma

Clove Bud, syzygium aromaticum L. The scent of clove is sweet, herbaceous and warm.Clove is used as a spice and has commonly been used to relieve tooth ache.

Orange essential oil distilled 10x for potency is Citrus and Sweet smelling.

My favorite essential oil diffuser is this one from Amazon, which has many color and light functions and holds a good amount of water and has up to a 5 hour diffuser time.

I like to use the Harvest Blend oil to make a dupe for the Mrs. Meyer's fall cleaning products, which are featured down below.



The Sudsy Soapery also do gorgeous homemade soaps:
Pumpkin Poppy Soap , Oatmeal and Honey soap, Harvest Apple soap, Cinnamon goat milk soap


The Abide with Me candle in patchouli scent is another lovely candle for autumn.

Cellar Door Candles


The Cellar Door Candle Company is a lovely small business that makes beautiful artisanal candles. Their candle wax is blended from scratch using only local organic beeswax and cold pressed coconut. They do not use any ingredients that have been chemically processed and that the candles do not soot when they are lit. Use code 10%Fall 10% off


Lemon Verbena essential oil
Ultra clean and pure. Deep herbaceous lemon and herb with subtle sharp notes of ginger. Pure lemon verbena & ginger essential oil.



Pacific Northwest reed diffuser
100% unique wood essential oil. Pure Fir Needle & Red Birch.


The two candle scents I have are:
Cassia
100% Essential oil for this fragrance. A rare deep cinnamon aroma only found when using pure essential oil. Reminiscent of wild Cinnamon Tree.
Indian Cedar Incredibly deep and full bodied blend of amazing essential oils. A fragrance design that continues to surprise and excite with every inhale. Indian Cedar and Rosewood wrapped around bright notes of Lemon and Orange falling into a continuously expanding heart of Lavender.



Some of the makeup I have been loving lately is from The Organic Skin Co. I love their fall eyeshadow shades. This is a wonderful company that produces natural and organic makeup. Their pressed eyeshadows are particularly lovely. I love the shade Burnish for fall and have been wearing it regularly.



The Mrs. Meyer's fall scents are here. You can find them at Grove Collaborative or Target. The new scent this year is Acorn Spice, which is a warm, spicy scent. Apple Cider is still my favorite and Pumpkin is still an evil pumpkin (if you don't get that joke, it's what my daughter called it last year when she smelled it for the first time. Ha!)

To make your own fall scented cleaning products, fill a reusable spray bottle with half white vinegar, half water and add 20 to 30 drops of Harvest Blend essential oil or a similar fall essential oil.

The pearl necklace I'm wearing is from Ana Luisa Jewelry: Use code Jennifer10 for $10 off your first order. My dress is by J.Jill, and my scarf can be found here.

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Looking for the perfect gift ideas for that little person?? How about our adorable SOJO moccs? Not only are they super duper cute but we also give back to the community and send you a brand new pair for FREE when you send back your outgrown moccasins. Then add in the cutest book by @dailyconnoisseur featuring charming illustrations and a playful take on manners and being a good global citizen. You got it! The perfect little gift 💚 #Sojomoccs #dailyconnoisseur #babygiftideas #momlife

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Comment of the Week
Donna writes, "Jennifer, your fall wardrobe is beautiful. I'll look forward to seeing you wear all the pieces during your fall videos. I loved the Loft blouse so much that I drove to my local Loft store and bought it for my daughter. She is 26 and I think it will look amazing on her. Mailed it to her yesterday. She lives in Charleston, SC and even though everyone thinks it's a spring color I can say that it's a perfect color for at least three seasons in Charleston. Thank you so much for your wonderful videos and for bringing us the idea of a 10 item wardrobe."

Donna, what a sweet gesture and I'm sure your daughter will absolutely love the blouse. I love it so much. Thank you for watching!

Thank you for watching today's fall video. I would love to know what your favorite fall items are. How do you like to decorate? What are your favorite candle and beauty scents? Let us know and your comment could be chosen as comment of the week on the blog.


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It has been another amazing month with The Chic Assignment. I just love how these assignments accompany us through the month with beauty and loveliness.



Today, I'm going deeper into the assignments to share my findings with you.

Chic Assignment no. 1: Listen to: Sicilienne in E flat major by Maria Theresia von Paradis
The hauntingly beautiful melody of Sicilienne in E flat major carried me through the month. I often had it on a playlist and just listened to various renditions of it. The great thing about listening to a piece of music like this periodically throughout the month, is that you will never forget the composer or the nuance of the song. Your children will also remember! Here are a few more excellent renditions to share:

I love this rendition from MusicForums



and this one by Ginette Niveau is truly beautiful.



Here is her interesting biography, as chronicled by
Robert Cummings
Maria Theresia von Paradis was a remarkable figure in music history, for not only did she attain significant triumphs as both a composer and performer -- rare enough achievements for a woman living in eighteenth and nineteenth century Europe -- but she had to cope with the dreadful handicap of blindness.

Maria Theresia von Paradis was born in Vienna on May 15, 1759. Her father, Joseph Anton von Paradis, was Imperial Secretary of Commerce under Empress Maria Theresia, after whom young Maria was named. When Maria was two she began losing her eyesight, and by the age of five she was blind.

She studied with Antonio Salieri (who composed an organ concerto for her 1773), Leopold Kozeluch, and Karl Frieberth. Treatments by Anton Mesmer in 1776-1777 offered hope her vision might partially be restored, but after 1777 she had to resign herself to a life of total blindness.

By this time she had already established a career as a pianist and singer in Viennese concert halls and salons. Moreover, she had gained respect from the most prominent composers and musicians of the day, including Mozart. By some accounts, his Piano Concerto No. 18 (K. 456) was written for her.

In 1783-1784 she toured Paris, London, and various German cities. In 1785 she helped found, with Valentin Hauy, a school for the blind. Paradis would not turn to composition until the 1780s: the first work that can accurately be attributed to her is the Zwolf Lieder auf ihrer Reise in Musik, dating to the years 1784-1786. The process of composition for Paradis was not simple, but she was aided by use of a composition board developed by Johann Riedinger, who served as librettist for several of her stage works, including the 1791 melodrama Ariadne und Bacchus and the 1792 Der Schulkandidat.

By the late 1780s, Paradis was devoting less time to performance and more to composition. She wrote five operas between 1789 and 1797, as well as numerous other works. Unfortunately, many of her scores have been lost, including two piano concertos and 12 piano sonatas. By 1800 Paradis had begun focusing on teaching, and in 1808 founded a music school for girls in Vienna. For the last decade-and-a-half of her life she taught there and continued to turn out an occasional composition, like the 1811 Fantasie in C for piano.


Chic Assignment no. 2: Enjoy the poetry of Robert Frost

Robert Frost said that "all poems start with a lump in the throat". I certainly get that from his deeply introspective poetry. In fact, you'll see in today's video that I not only have a lump in my throat, but I cry like a baby!

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening
BY ROBERT FROST
Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound’s the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

Birches
BY ROBERT FROST
When I see birches bend to left and right
Across the lines of straighter darker trees,
I like to think some boy's been swinging them.
But swinging doesn't bend them down to stay
As ice-storms do. Often you must have seen them
Loaded with ice a sunny winter morning
After a rain. They click upon themselves
As the breeze rises, and turn many-colored
As the stir cracks and crazes their enamel.
Soon the sun's warmth makes them shed crystal shells
Shattering and avalanching on the snow-crust—
Such heaps of broken glass to sweep away
You'd think the inner dome of heaven had fallen.
They are dragged to the withered bracken by the load,
And they seem not to break; though once they are bowed
So low for long, they never right themselves:
You may see their trunks arching in the woods
Years afterwards, trailing their leaves on the ground
Like girls on hands and knees that throw their hair
Before them over their heads to dry in the sun.
But I was going to say when Truth broke in
With all her matter-of-fact about the ice-storm
I should prefer to have some boy bend them
As he went out and in to fetch the cows—
Some boy too far from town to learn baseball,
Whose only play was what he found himself,
Summer or winter, and could play alone.
One by one he subdued his father's trees
By riding them down over and over again
Until he took the stiffness out of them,
And not one but hung limp, not one was left
For him to conquer. He learned all there was
To learn about not launching out too soon
And so not carrying the tree away
Clear to the ground. He always kept his poise
To the top branches, climbing carefully
With the same pains you use to fill a cup
Up to the brim, and even above the brim.
Then he flung outward, feet first, with a swish,
Kicking his way down through the air to the ground.
So was I once myself a swinger of birches.
And so I dream of going back to be.
It's when I'm weary of considerations,
And life is too much like a pathless wood
Where your face burns and tickles with the cobwebs
Broken across it, and one eye is weeping
From a twig's having lashed across it open.
I'd like to get away from earth awhile
And then come back to it and begin over.
May no fate willfully misunderstand me
And half grant what I wish and snatch me away
Not to return. Earth's the right place for love:
I don't know where it's likely to go better.
I'd like to go by climbing a birch tree,
And climb black branches up a snow-white trunk
Toward heaven, till the tree could bear no more,
But dipped its top and set me down again.
That would be good both going and coming back.
One could do worse than be a swinger of birches.

I ran across this interview of Robert Frost on YouTube and was fascinated by it. I recommend watching this if you want to know more about the talented Mr. Frost. https://youtu.be/Qem3v0zvajQ



The artist I feature in today's video is Julian Peters, who creates graphic art to accompany famous poetry. He is so talented.

Chic Assignment no. 3: Curate Your Seasonal Accessories
If you haven't already seen my capsule wardrobe accessories video for fall, I recommend watching. I give a lot of fall accessory inspiration.

Chic Assignment no. 4: Switch Out Your Seasonal Decor
I plan to put out my seasonal decor video soon. I am really enjoying the subtle changes in decor and scent in our home.


I hope you enjoy today's video.

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Comment of the Week
This week's Dress Code Insanity post sparked a lot of conversation! The most "liked" comment on YouTube came from Heather M., who wrote, "I think we have lost our ability to understand that sometimes you have to do things you may not like, as in, dress for the occasion. Knowing what is appropriate nowadays has gone out the door. We have also become very lazy. I spent more time having my staff have to go home for inappropriate dress. Strappy camisoles are not business casual. Beach shoes are not business casual. Heavy cleavage is not business casual. I know clothing is an investment but it affects the culture in which one works or goes to school or even parents going to pick up their kids. You can dress nicely with items from Walmart, if you try. Brush your teeth, hair, no stained clothing, deodorant helps (men I am talking to you). It's not that difficult. Sorry, we have lost all decorum."


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Welcome to The Chic Assignment for September. I have a beautiful new classical music piece for you this month as well as an amazing poet. We are also going to delve seasonally into our accessories and home decor. So let's get started!



Chic Assignment no. 1: Listen to: Sicilienne in E flat major by Maria Theresia von Paradis

This hauntingly beautiful piece has been a favorite of mine for years. Special thank you to Katie Riggs for helping me to identify the composer and title!

Here is a beautiful violin performance...
.

Maria Theresia Paradis (also von Paradies) (May 15, 1759 – February 1, 1824), was an Austrian musician and composer who lost her sight at an early age, and for whom Mozart may have written his Piano Concerto No. 18 in B-flat major.

Here is Sheku Kanneh-Mason performing at the Royal Wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, Windsor
"Sicilienne" by Maria Theresia von Paradis




Chic Assignment no. 2: Enjoy the poetry of Robert Frost



Robert Frost was born in San Francisco, but his family moved to Lawrence, Massachusetts, in 1884 following his father’s death. The move was actually a return, for Frost’s ancestors were originally New Englanders, and Frost became famous for his poetry’s engagement with New England locales, identities, and themes. Frost graduated from Lawrence High School, in 1892, as class poet (he also shared the honor of co-valedictorian with his wife-to-be Elinor White), and two years later, the New York Independent accepted his poem entitled “My Butterfly,” launching his status as a professional poet with a check for $15.00. Frost's first book was published around the age of 40, but he would go on to win a record four Pulitzer Prizes and become the most famous poet of his time, before his death at the age of 88. You can read more about Robert Frost from the Poetry Foundation.

Here is a great list of the 10 Best Robert Frost Poems Everyone Should Read



The Road Not Taken
BY ROBERT FROST
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.


As for books, check out The Poetry of Robert Frost: The Collected Poems Complete & Unabridged.


Selected Poems of Robert Frost: Illustrated Edition


Chic Assignment no. 3: Curate Your Seasonal Accessories As we head into fall, we are going to continue to switch out our capsule wardrobes. Let's also include accessories. Get intentional and thoughtful about what accessories you'd like to display this season: everything from boots to jewelry. I'll be doing many fall ten-item wardrobe videos on the channel for you to help you along the way.

Chic Assignment no. 4: Switch Out Your Seasonal Decor This is something you're likely doing anyway, whether you are rotating your throw blankets, or bringing in herbs from the garden to dry and preserve. I'll be doing a fall home decor video for you this month to get you in the mood for the upcoming season. Relish and enjoy the process.

Please note: My dress (new for fall!) is Draper James and my earrings are Ana Luisa use code Jennifer10 for $10 off.

News
📍This weekend I posted two videos that did not make it to the blog, including this day in the life. Be sure to be subscribed to my YouTube channel by hitting the red subscribe button, then clicking the bell to be notified whenever I upload a video.


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Lessons from Madame Chic in Vietnam...

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Comment of the Week
I am amazed at all of the fashion faux pas comments I am receiving from last week's post. There are so many, I must shoot a reaction video to them! :)

Here is just one of the funny comments. Susan writes, "Here's my story: I used to have a lovely pair of high heeled leather shoes, white with thin blue and pink stripes. I liked them but didn't wear them too often. The last time I wore them was for a lunch at work. Shortly after I put on the shoes, I noticed the edges of the soles were crumbling a little bit. "Oh no," I thought, "I guess I'll have to throw out these shoes, but at least I can wear them one more time." Well, within an hour of getting to work I had to go back home to change my shoes, because the shoes were crumbling around my feet! And as I walked to my car, I saw a trail of bits of my shoes that had come off as I had walked into the office. By the time I got home, the entire bottom of the shoes were gone and I was just walking on the insoles!

So let that be a lesson to us all, wear and enjoy your nice things often before they deteriorate!

Susan"

Susan, I am trying to picture this in my head and am just smiling. It is such a fear of mine that a shoe will break while I am out in public, haha! Thanks for sharing your dressing faux pas.


I hope you enjoy this month's Chic Assignment. Be sure to tag me on social media with the hashtag #TheChicAssignment or comment on here or YouTube to share your updates. I enjoy including your comments in the mid-month check-in.



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