Role models for a lady

This is a list I might like to explore in the future by writing a bit more about some of these noble women. If you know about more saintly married ladies worthy of imitation, please, let me know in comments, I would like to update this list accordingly. I chose mainly those married saints who had also saints for husbands, because I think that it is a sign that God gave them very special grace.

Saint Ann with Saint Mary

Married woman saints:


Biblical (from New Testament):

Saint Ann (also her husband Joachim was a saint)
- mother of Saint Mary
Saint Mary (also her husband Joseph was a saint)
- mother of Jesus
Saint Elizabeth (also her husband Zechariah was a saint)
- mother of Saint John the Baptist
Saint Apphia (also her husband Philemon was a saint)

Canonized: 
Saint Gwladys (Claudia) ~500
(also her husband, king Gwynllyw and her son Cadoc became saints)
Saint Cunigunde of Luxembourg 975-1040
(also her husband, emperor Heinrich II was a saint)
Saint Maria de la Cabeza ?-1175
(also her husband Isidore was a saint)
Blessed Zelie Martin 1831-1877
(also her husband Louis is Blessed)
- mother of Saint Therese of Lisieux
Blessed Maria Corsini 1884-1965
(also her husband Luigi Beltrame Quattrocchi is Blessed)
 
Perfect ladies - patron saints of marriage:

Saint Adelaide of Burgundy (Patron Saint of Second Marriages)

Saint Gengulphus of Burgundy (Patron Saint of Difficult Marriages)

Saint Joseph (Patron Saint of Married People)

Saint Monica (Patron Saint of Married Women)

Saint Priscilla (Patron Saint of Good Marriages)

Saint Rita of Cascia (Patron Saint of Difficult Marriages)

Saint Thomas More (Patron Saint of Difficult Marriages)

Saint Valentine (Patron Saint of Happy Marriages)

- See more at: http://togetherforlifeonline.com/patron-saint-of-marriage/#sthash.tG0IxucF.dpuf

Saint Priscilla
(also her husband Aquila was a saint)
- known from the New Testament
Saint Monica 331-387
- mother of Saint Augustine 
Saint Adelaide of Burgundy 931-999
Saint Rita of Cascia 1381-1457

For more married saints: http://saints.sqpn.com/saints-who-were-married/
For more woman saints: http://www.catholic.org/saints/female.php
My main source for the list: http://theresadoyle-nelson.blogspot.de/2012/04/married-couple-saints.html

Saint Adelaide of Burgundy (Patron Saint of Second Marriages)

Saint Gengulphus of Burgundy (Patron Saint of Difficult Marriages)

Saint Joseph (Patron Saint of Married People)

Saint Monica (Patron Saint of Married Women)

Saint Priscilla (Patron Saint of Good Marriages)

Saint Rita of Cascia (Patron Saint of Difficult Marriages)

Saint Thomas More (Patron Saint of Difficult Marriages)

Saint Valentine (Patron Saint of Happy Marriages)

- See more at: http://togetherforlifeonline.com/patron-saint-of-marriage/#sthash.tG0IxucF.dpuf

Saint Adelaide of Burgundy (Patron Saint of Second Marriages) - See more at: http://togetherforlifeonline.com/patron-saint-of-marriage/#sthash.tG0IxucF.dpuf

The patron saints of marriage include:

• Saint Adelaide of Burgundy (Patron Saint of Second Marriages)
• Saint Gengulphus of Burgundy (Patron Saint of Difficult Marriages)
• Saint Joseph (Patron Saint of Married People)
• Saint Monica (Patron Saint of Married Women)
• Saint Priscilla (Patron Saint of Good Marriages)
• Saint Rita of Cascia (Patron Saint of Difficult Marriages)
• Saint Thomas More (Patron Saint of Difficult Marriages)
• Saint Valentine (Patron Saint of Happy Marriages)

Below you can find a brief biography of each patron saint of marriage along with links to further information and readings about them.
- See more at: http://togetherforlifeonline.com/patron-saint-of-marriage/#sthash.tG0IxucF.dpuf

5 Simple DIY Hairstyles: Winter Hat Edition

Today I made a quick research about how to wear my hair with hats because my favorite sock bun is too big and high to wear with a hat. I found several cute alternatives worth a lady.

I also finally learned to do a fishtail braid but I found out that it doesn't look so well with a hat on me. Maybe for a person with denser hair it might work.
I haven't tried yet the knotted side braid but it looks easy and fancy enough. It begins in the same way as a low knot, which can be also handy with a barette or another nice hat. Fancier and slightly more difficult thing to do is a side french braid bun. And my favorite: 30 seconds to make Topsy tail.
Here are also 31 ways to style a hair for a busy girl - you could try something different every day of a month.

A lady should read

Marguerite Gérard [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Being a lady is not something superficial. You recognize a lady through the unity of her whole being. A woman who is not a lady might wear the prettiest dress but with a few words or actions anyone sensible can recognize an impostor. This leads me to a question: How to build my character to be a lady more thoroughly? I believe one of the answers lies in the content of what I let getting to my heart. So to find a good list of books suitable for a lady is never uncalled for. I have recently stumbled upon this list. It seems nice and contains both books I have read and loved such as Manalive or Pride and Prejudice but also books I never heard about. So for me, it is also a challenge to find time to read more quality books.


There are other things I like to read, like flylady or other blogs mentioned on the margin of this blog but I think that books have a nice feature that they are finite. There will usually be more articles to a good blog but when you are finished with a book, you can have a whole picture what this book did to you.

Another thing is that it may happen to you as to me that books take you away from your duties. That is not good and unladylike. There is time to read and time to do all the other things.

Baking with Apples: 5 Simple Recipes

Apples are handy in autumn time and it is possible to bake delicious things with them.
I think that every visitor would know there is a lady if they were welcomed by a smell of baking. Even though I am not a very good cook, I like to collect recipes which are so simple that even I can use them.

This recipe for apple pie (in Slovak) proved to be delicious even with me as a cook. This one is in English and seems very similar.

Another even easier recipe is for apple strudel. Of course, if you want to get fancy, you can spend a lot more time at it creating your own strudel dough. I prefer to buy it frozen from a local producer.

Recipes I haven't tried yet but they look great:

• Country Apple Dumplings: they look so tasty, I think I might try to bake them this week. I will have to substitute frozen strudel dough for the crescent dough.

• Baked Apple Pancake: yesterday I was at a birthday party with a pancake machine and we put pieces of banana and apple into the dough. It tasted so good that I want to try it on a pan.

•  No Bother Apple Cake: this cake calls for a cup of walnuts which seems a little bothersome to me but other then that... it could be nice.

The most difficult thing about baking for me is to find the time to actually buy the ingredients and then bake. I guess it is a question of priorities.

5 simple DIY hairstyles

Today I would like to share with you some nice hairstyles that I tried recently. It is easier for me to remind myself that I am learning to become a lady when I change some little things about my appearance. I started to wear only skirts and it's nice to wear heir differently, too (as opposed to same old ponytail or ). Today I tried my version of the fuller ponytail and in recent days I've tried the french braid, braided headband and "split, knot, twist and pin". All these hairstyles are so easy that you can do them yourself but it doesn't hurt to ask somebody if you did it right. But the greatest hair success for me so far has been with the sock bun. However, I didn't cut the sock, I just twisted it around the hair and pulled one end into the other to fasten it. The sock didn't fall out because the hair was holding it together and I fastened it with some pins, too.
It is very easy and looks so elegant and polished. I would like to learn more hairstyles like this even though I am trying to also think about hairstyles to put under a hat in winter.

Beginning

Today I realized that the way to becoming a lady will be more fun for me if I share with the internets what I learn along the way. There are many things I have to learn in order to become a lady. I am sure there are things that I cannot see yet. However, some things I see right now are:

To be more patient.
To learn to dress modestly yet elegant (not like today - I wore a nice elegant black skirt but with dark leggings and red tennis shoes. Only after 3 people glanced very strangely at me did I realize it was not the wisest choice).
To learn to cook and bake decently.
To sit straight and confident.
To always think a little before saying things out loud.
Not to interrupt others unneccessarily. (I think these two involve patience, too)
To learn more nice hairstyles.
To live a balanced life consistent with my beliefs, passions and a calling.
...
I could still write more but it seems to me this list is long enough to tackle during a 6 month stay abroad. I'll try to post my musings every day.

EDIT 12.10.14: It seems posting every day is virtually impossible for me.