Coldwater Creek Tunic

What do you wear on a cold rainy morning after a pedicure?

This look worked for me. The sandals are by Aerosoles, and the jeans are old from Chico's.

This soft and comfortable sporty casual tunic is from Coldwater Creek. Did you know they still have a website, and they still send out a catalog?

Vegetarian Valentine's Day Dinner

A home-cooked meal is our Valentine's Day tradition.

We go out to eat at least once a week all year long, so when a big holiday such as Valentine's Day comes around, I prefer to prepare a lovely meal to leisurely enjoy at home.

We dress for dinner, I set the table in the formal dining room, we light candles, and have a special wine with classical music playing in the background.

Mr. Mickey had just arrived, so he was still wearing his scarf. Doesn't he look handsome?

The dinner menu included crudites as a starter. I cut up fresh baby heirloom tomatoes and served them with olives, garlic I roasted earlier in the day, and rosemary Asiago cheese slices. Sometimes the combination of fresh, delicious items presented simply on their own is the best choice.

I also added some of the roasted garlic and unsalted butter to Rudis Seeded organic bread before lightly toasting it in the oven.

The pasta dish includes Gluten Free Brown Rice Spaghetti from Hodgson Mill. The meatless sauce is the same recipe I told you about here. The leftover sauce will be served over another piece of the yummy Rudis bread as a sloppy Joe lunch with a kale salad on the following day. This sauce could be used in any dish requiring ground beef. (Even the meat lovers who tasted this the first time I made it could not tell there was no meat in it!)

Our wine was 14 Hands 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon.

Mr. Mickey brought freshly dipped chocolate-covered strawberries for dessert, cards, and flowers. He is a Prince!

I wore a rayon three-quarter sleeve black and tan blouse from Coldwater Creek from a couple of years ago. The black Traverlers pants from Chico's are about eight years old. I paired them with my Anne Klein black high heeled shoes.

Later in the evening, as we relaxed in front of the fire, I tried out some of my new reading glasses from Readers.com. Which statement style do you like best? I liked them all! When you need glasses only for reading, it's great to have a stylish pair like these near every chair and in every handbag.

This style is called The Ivy in the brown fade.

This style is The Dolly.

The Maryann comes in several colors, and each has its own matching case.

The Arts

Last evening Mr. Mickey and I attended one of our favorite annual events. The Johnson City Arts Council 4x4 was held at the beautiful Carnegie Hotel.

We arrived early to do this photoshoot for you.

The Johnson City Arts Council is a nonprofit membership organization whose mission is to nurture the arts and inspire community arts involvement in our area. As a lifelong artist, this event and this organization are near and dear to my heart. Among the many programs and services they bring to our area is Arts Corps. This is a free after-school arts program for underserved youth in our community. These children might not otherwise have the opportunity to discover their abilities or learn to appreciate the joy that comes from creating something beautiful. Their alternative might easily be drugs, gangs, or teen pregnancy.
 

Each couple in attendance of the 4x4 event pulls a number out of the fishbowl when they arrive. That number corresponds to an original piece of art by a local well-known artist. Attendees willing to trade their artwork are given a tiny flashing light to add to their name tag. If you want to trade, you look for those flashing lights and talk to the person with another one to work out the trade. We were thrilled with our masterpiece by our dear friend Joy McGinnis. The event includes dinner and wine as well as live entertainment and a silent auction. It gives us the chance to visit with many friends as well as to meet new ones.
  

The hotel is one of the most elegant in our region. We always look forward to attending events here or having dinner at their wonderful restaurant, Wellington's. This photo was taken in front of their wine cellar on the lower level.

The Austin Springs SPA is located just to the right of the cellar. I am often a happy guest there!

I wore a silver and rhinestone necklace and a blue jacket from Coldwater Creek with black lined crepe evening pants from Chico's. The shoes and bag are from Stein Mart.

 

Thank goodness the downpours waited until after the event!

Thanks for reading! 

I hope you have a wonderful week.