The Simple Sophisticate - Intelligent Living Paired with Signature Style

Shannon Ables
  • 4.7 (881)
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The simple sophisticate is someone who prefers quality over quantity, sensible living over mindless consumption, personal style instead of trendy fashions, has an insatiable curiosity for life's endless questions and a desire to live a truly fulfilling life rather than being led around by the nose. Inspired by her lifestyle blog The Simply Luxurious Life, Shannon Ables (the original Simple Sophisticate) shares with listeners tips on how to live a refined life on an everyday income, a life of true contentment. Founded on the principle of the art of living a life of quality over quantity, episodes explore topics ranging from creating an everyday life you love living, strengthening mindfulness practices, preparing seasonally delicious meals, building a capsule wardrobe, traveling the world (Francophiles and Anglophiles tune in as France as well as the Britain are favorite destinations), and living life to the fullest without breaking the bank because living well is really quite simple. *illustration by artist Sarah Löcker exclusively commissioned for the show

  1. 5D AGO

    Un Moment de Méditation: No. 10 — Create the Conditions and Let Go

    Find the text for this mini-episode on The Simply Luxurious Life - https://thesimplyluxuriouslife.com/moment10

    8 min

  2. MAR 4

    421: The Creative Cure — Strengthening Our Health and Well-Being with Daily Doses of the Arts, as taught by Daisy Fancourt

    "Art—alongside diet, sleep, exercise, and nature, is the forgotten fifth pillar of health." —Daisy Fancourt, author Art Cure: How the Arts Save Lives Pleasure reading – mandatory. Listening to your favorite music – a have-to, not a want. Dancing – required participation. Viewing something of beauty – a daily must-stop and do. Each of these and so many more examples of the various forms of art that we may enjoy, often are presented as discretionary, or if we have time, or if we have money. But the truth is, just as professor of psychobiology and epidemiology at University College London Daisy Fancourt writes, we would be best advised to view them as necessities for living well.  In Art Cure, Fancourt writes to underscore how important the arts are, and reveals how varied and different forms of art can be. We're talking about how they improve our health, something we seem to be obsessed with as a culture, but as a culture often overlook the most enjoyable forms of becoming and maintaining good health. In today's episode, we'll explore what the arts consist of so you can find your choice of art, the many health and life benefits, and explore in detail how you can incorporate art daily into your life.  Let's get started.    Find the Show Notes for today's episode on The Simply Luxurious Life blog - https://thesimplyluxuriouslife.com/podcast421

    43 min

  3. MAR 1

    Un Moment du Méditation No. 9 — Effortless Begins with Intentional Effort

    Find the text for this mini-episode on The Simply Luxurious Life - https://thesimplyluxuriouslife.com/moment9

    8 min

  4. FEB 22

    Un Moment de Méditation: No. 8 — The Feeling of Connection

    Find the text for this mini-episode on The Simply Luxurious Life - https://thesimplyluxuriouslife.com/moment8

    7 min

  5. FEB 18

    420: How to Invest to Build Wealth and Financial Freedom for a Long Life You Love Living

    "The goal, here, is options—the power to choose the life you want. And this life is not going to happen without investing."—Amanda Holden, author of How to Be a Rich Old Lady The key to learning anything we don't know is to choose to learn. Then, we need to find people who not only know what we want to acquire as knowledge, but also know how to teach it. Not only do they know how to teach it, but they sincerely want us to learn.  As this episode/post finds you, we are all at different points along our life journey regarding our age, but we also, regardless of age, are at different points regarding our knowledge of investing. Wherever you are is exactly where you need to be to begin deepening your knowledge of what will set you free once you apply the skills and language of investing that Amanda Holden teaches in her book.  Holden founded Invested Development after beginning her career in investment management. With degrees from UCLA in economics and communications, which make her a helpful guide as a teacher for the economics we want to learn, she transitioned into becoming one of the leading voices on women and money. Teaching in-person and online classes on money, her primary objective is to equip us with the tools and know-how so that finances don't prompt fear, but instead eradicate it and give us freedom.  "To be a Rich Old Lady is to be rich in life, options, experiences, and especially love." —Amanda Holden In today's episode, I'm going to share with you seven guiding truths as a way to lay the foundation of where to begin and how to maintain steady progress to becoming rich. So that you aren't looking into your older years and fearing or wondering how you will survive, but instead are eager (but not rushing) for them to arrive because you know you will be thriving.   ~Find the Show Notes for this episode on The Simply Luxurious Life blog - https://thesimplyluxuriouslife.com/podcast420

    1h 11m

  6. FEB 15

    Un Moment de Méditation: No. 7 — Letting Go vs. Willpower

    Find the text for this mini-episode on The Simply Luxurious Life - https://thesimplyluxuriouslife.com/moment7

    7 min

  7. FEB 8

    Un Moment de Méditation: No. 6 — What the Future Can Never Possess

    Find the text for this mini-episode on The Simply Luxurious Life - https://thesimplyluxuriouslife.com/moment6

    8 min

  8. FEB 4

    419: The Foundation of Decorating a Home and Transforming It into a Sanctuary

    "My Four Tenets of Good Design are not rules to follow, as much as they are a framework to help you think about design, not just as something pretty to look at but as something that inspires you to be the best version of yourself in the moments when no one is watching." —Nate Berkus, Foundations A feeling of immediate release of any tension, letting the day wash away, and a trust that the comforts and reminders of love and bounty of a beautiful life lived surround you is what a thoughtfully decorated sanctuary gives us each time we cross the threshold.  The truth is a sanctuary can be found anywhere, and in fact doesn't need to be a place, but as we talked about in Monday's Motivational post, can be people or even ineffable things – concepts, ideas where we rest our mind. However, most definitely, our home can be a sanctuary, and today, we're going to explore 7 ways to transform your home into just that.  Because a home isn't always a sanctuary. It may have four walls that keep us warm and shelter us, but the definition of a sanctuary is that it is a reliable place of refuge to rejuvenate ourselves. As defined in Buddha's Brain, a book written by Rick Hanson and the inspiration behind episode #327, a sanctuary is anyone or anything that provides reliable protection, so that you can let down your guard and gather strength and wisdom." So with that definition in mind, when American interior designer Nate Berkus' new book, Foundations, was released this past November, I found a helpful companion resource to help each of us identify what would make our home a sanctuary and where to start the journey of gradually decorating a nest that feels far more than just a home, but most definitely a sanctuary.  The guiding premise of Foundations is Berkus' four tenets of good design: make it personal, embrace history, introduce character, and develop your vision. These will guide us through today's episode/post. Let's begin exploring how to lay the foundation of our decorating journey so that as we progress, adding pieces, making decisions along the way, we have clarity and trust what we choose.

    47 min
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The simple sophisticate is someone who prefers quality over quantity, sensible living over mindless consumption, personal style instead of trendy fashions, has an insatiable curiosity for life's endless questions and a desire to live a truly fulfilling life rather than being led around by the nose. Inspired by her lifestyle blog The Simply Luxurious Life, Shannon Ables (the original Simple Sophisticate) shares with listeners tips on how to live a refined life on an everyday income, a life of true contentment. Founded on the principle of the art of living a life of quality over quantity, episodes explore topics ranging from creating an everyday life you love living, strengthening mindfulness practices, preparing seasonally delicious meals, building a capsule wardrobe, traveling the world (Francophiles and Anglophiles tune in as France as well as the Britain are favorite destinations), and living life to the fullest without breaking the bank because living well is really quite simple. *illustration by artist Sarah Löcker exclusively commissioned for the show

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