Great Dinner with Great Friends

You may have noticed that black and white is one of my favorite color combinations.

When building a capsule wardrobe, it is essential to start with three colors that work together. I have always enjoyed wearing white, black, red, royal blue, or turquoise. Fortunately, all these colors work together to build many looks from the individual pieces I own in any of those colors.

The jewelry and wardrobe pieces are all from Chico's. The statement necklace has many textural elements, which meant the cuff needed to be smooth and sleek in contrast. I also skipped the earrings tonight because of the minimal design of the jacket.

The shoes, which are black tone on tone pattern, are by Nine West. The bag is from T.J.Maxx.

Street flowers in downtown Banner Elk.

We took our friends Sandy and Rick to dinner at Artisanal, our favorite restaurant in the world, last evening.

Mr. Mickey had the pimento cheese beignets appetizer.

I had the squash blossom appetizer and the halibut entree. You eat first with your eyes.

Doesn't Sandy have the sweetest smile?

She and Rick make such a lovely couple!

Rick is our Wine Club leader, so naturally, we had to take them down to tour the extensive collection in Artisanal's wine room.

We enjoyed a wonderful evening of great conversation, fine food, and wine in a beautiful environment. We tried a Spätlese for the first time tonight. Spätlese (literal meaning: "late harvest") is a German wine term for a wine from fully ripe grapes, the lightest of the late harvest wines. I highly recommend it!

Your chariot awaits.

Dinner At The Orangery

The Orangery is a legendary French restaurant in Knoxville, TN. We always make plans to eat there when we are in town.

The Orangery story began in 1971 when a young enterprising businessman named Kristopher Kendrick realized that Knoxville's elegant ladies needed an equally elegant place to enjoy lunch. Kristopher named his restaurant The Orangery (after Marie Antoinette's greenhouses in France).

The Lobster & Mushroom Crepes was one of our top five meals ever!

Throughout the evening, we enjoyed performances by Judye Russell Brackner on a Steinway piano in the lobby.

This lovely lady with me is Glo, the manager. 

The building includes other businesses, as well as the restaurant. The common area reminds me of a small street in Paris.

I am looking forward to visiting again when Décor is open for browsing.

The Orangery features a large spiral staircase from a pre-Civil War mansion, marble from Park Junior High School, paneling from the board room of United American Bank, and gates from the former Fulton Mansion on Lyons View Pike.

The BCBGMAXAZRIA jacket is from Saks Off Fifth. I am wearing it with a silver-gray long sleeve tee with black coated jeans from Chico's. The Nine West shoes are from Saks Off 5th.

Mr. Mickey and I wish you and your family a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Jazz at Wellington's

Today we had the nicest weather of the summer!

Earlier in the day, we attended a Bristol Race Day brunch at our dear friends' lake home. It was great fun to see a few of my sweet girlfriends again and just be silly. Some of us are trying not to fall off the steps while Mr. Mickey is snapping pictures before we are ready.

The view from my back deck was stunning on this sunny day!

Before dinner, Mr. Mickey took me to Chico's since we had a few minutes to spare. Isn't he the best?!

Happy going in the door...

Even happier coming out the door!

With the sale, they were having and my birthday Passport discount added, it was like getting a tank top for free! Tank tops, or any other basics that you wear as often as I do mine, need to be updated at least once a year. The tanks at Chico's are top quality, and I love it that the necklines are not too low. I buy a size too large because I don't like them to cling to my middle so much.

Wellington's is a fine dining restaurant that is part of the Carnegie Hotel and Spa in Johnson City, TN.

We visit this restaurant often, but on this evening we had the best meal in years! The fried green tomatoes with pimento cheese and orange marmalade appetizer was one of the best things I have ever eaten. They also had our all-time favorite wild mushroom soup. We are two happy people!

There was a splendid live Jazz performance in the lounge this evening, but we could hear the performance from our table as well. 

Local readers may recognize a special ETSU professor back there in the center. We enjoyed sitting in the lounge listening to them after dinner. Mr. Mickey snapped this photo as I walked away from the tip jar. He is my own personal Paparazzi!  

Both my outfits for this day are from Chico's. I have been asked to be a style ambassador for them. However, that would require additional trips to Asheville for shows or seminars. At this time, my plate is much too full to add anything else, so I will consider it again in the future. For now, I am just a pleased, loyal Chico's shopper! 

Banner Elk

We often drive up to Banner Elk to have dinner at our favorite restaurant, Artisanal.

Banner Elk is a lovely village on the way to the high country of North Carolina.

This crazy stone wall winds all up and down the hills leading to Eagles Nest. Driving through the countryside you will see many gated communities that feature luxury log homes and fabulous mountain retreats. 

This is the gatehouse of Eagles Nest and one of the smaller log homes in the background. As you approach the top of the mountain the homes become more and more fabulous, such as this one. 

One of my favorite college campuses can be found here in Banner Elk. Lees-McRae is located near the heart of the village. 

Stone buildings and beautiful gardens can be found throughout the campus. 

I am sure many black bears have wandered across this campus over the years.

I am sitting with a bronze of the founder of the college.

This is the front porch of the historic rock house.

The main street of the village is lined with flowers and punctuated with this bronze statue of a baying elk.

Mickey's entree was so pretty!

My after dinner Grand Marnier was quite lovely also.

I am wearing a blue Traveler tank and pants from Chico's. The deep fuchsia jacket is from Stein Mart.

The Nina evening shoes are several years old but I had not yet worn them. They have tiny light topaz color rhinestones on them.