A Sister Day

My sweet sister and I recently spent the day together shopping and having a delicious lunch at 128 Pecan in Abingdon, Virginia.

I am wearing flat shoes!

That's my fabulous friend Karen. She is the owner of Foxglove Antiques Etc. in Abingdon. I always find something special there. When I saw those bronze and marble lidded urn cachepots from across the room, I said, "Come to momma!"

There are so many beautiful objects and quite a large selection of design books in the shop.

The garden statuary behind the shop is not to be missed!

Below is a picture of my living room with the new additions to the mantle. When I see something that speaks to me, there is no doubt in my mind when I buy it. Whether it is urns or a fabulous handbag, I know immediately that I want it. If I have to talk myself into something, I walk away. This ensures that I am always happy with the objects I choose to bring into my life. I don't buy anything now unless it takes my breath away.

On this casual sister day, I wore jeans and a silver-gray tank and an old necklace from Chico's with an off-white blazer from Express. The crocodile-embossed leather satchel via Saks Off 5th. The flat shoes are by Halogen via Nordstrom.

Red Jacket Giveaway

I found this knit jacket at Nordstrom a few months ago.

I love the way it jazzes up a pair of faded jeans.

After I wore it for a total of three hours, I found that I am allergic to the fabric. (Made from polyester, rayon, and spandex in Mexico.) It has a decorative large brown button closure.

So this means I am giving it away! My loss, your gain.

The brown long sleeve V neck tee is old from T.J.Maxx the faded jeans are from Chico's. The Vince Camuto boots are old from Nordstrom.

 

If you would like to have this size medium red lightweight knit jacket, please send me an email with your name and address to Susan@FiftynotFrumpy.com. 

On Monday, I will ask Mr. Mickey to choose a winner at random.

Congratulations to Debbie Strickland! 

She is the winner of the jacket.

Lessons Learned

We enjoyed a wonderful Friday evening with great friends at Gourmet and Company, our favorite restaurant in Johnson City.

There's nothing better than spending three hours engaged in lively conversation while having excellent food and superb service.

The bag is by Nine West from Ross. The Steve Madden heels are from Nordstrom.

This vintage St. John knit jacket was another gift from my dear friend Mitzi. I am wearing it over a black tank and black pieced faux leather front leggings, both from Chico's.

Below is the daytime look for Friday.

The jeans I wore during the day yesterday and the leggings I wore to dinner last evening taught me a lesson. I used to wait for sales to shop, but now I know if I want great fitting basic pieces that I will enjoy wearing for years to come, I need to shop often but selectively at the beginning of the season to get my size. The jeans in my size from the day look and the leggings from the evening look are now completely sold out in all sizes (company-wide!). The second lesson is to buy jeans with a bit of stretch in size smaller. In two hours you will be so glad you did.

Thank You UPS!

Just minutes before Mr. Mickey arrived for date night, UPS delivered my new shoes from Nordstrom. (It's sale time there!)

If you want to emulate this look but don't want to wear heels try a similar style of shoe with a flat sole or a small wedge.

My sandals are DV by Dolce Vita 'Safia' from Nordstrom.

This is another sandal from Nordstrom that gives you a similar look.

My blouse is from Talbot's. The pants are from Chico's. The sunglasses and bag are from T.J.Maxx.

The Wonderful Years

Eight years ago, on this day, Mr. Mickey and I went on our first date. That date changed my life forever in all the most positive ways.

On our anniversary evening, we shared a wonderful dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, Wellington's, at The Carnegie Hotel.

I wore a black Simple Comfort tunic from Covered Perfectly with brocade pants and a long color block collarless jacket from Chico's for this special evening. (Both Chico's items are on their clearance racks now.) The shoes were from Nordstrom last fall.

Mr. Mickey bought these gorgeous earrings for me a few years ago in a boutique in North Carolina. They are by Michal Golan. A few days ago, Michal contacted me via the blog, much to my delight. She has been one of my favorite designers for many years. This week I received this fabulous necklace to go with my treasured earrings. I am so grateful to Michal for this generous gift.

Imagine my surprise when the hostess showed us to our usual private booth, and there were eight perfect roses (for eight perfect years) and a card already there waiting for us!

We celebrated with a bottle of 2004 Château Peyredon Lagravette Listrac-Médoc. The wine steward put it in a decanter.

Of course, no special dinner for us is complete without a lovely dessert. We shared this chocolate one since chocolate and red wine go so well together.

Friday Date Night

This is one of my favorite and most comfortable ways to dress.

This is an example of column dressing.

Wear one dark color from head to toe. Add a sweater or jacket in the correct length for your height.

Add one bold accessory and a colorful bag that does not match your shoes.

Column dressing gives you a long, lean look, and it takes the eye away from the middle.

The sweater is from Chico's last year. The V neck long sleeve tee and the clutch are from T.J.Maxx. The pants are from Ross. The shoes are from Nordstrom. All these items are old, and the colors I used are black, red, and ecru. If black is too draining of a color for you to wear near your face, any dark color will serve the purpose.

Dinner At The Club

Since our usual Friday night dinner group of friends are traveling this month, Mr. Mickey and I had a quiet dinner at the Blackthorn Club.

There is no snow, and it wasn't that cold, so I was able to wear my suede cut out booties by Louise et Cie from Nordstrom. (She is the wife of Vince Camuto, who started Nine West.)

The long thin ribbed cardigan sweater is from T.J.Maxx.

The black and white jeweled sweater is from Chico's. 

The straight leg pants are from Stein Mart.

Mr. Mickey is famous for bringing me flowers. This night's occasion was that we have been dating for seven years and eleven months. He also brought a card and candy.

My coat is from Geiger of Austria.

As always, we enjoyed our evening sitting by the fire at the club, laughing and talking until they were ready to close. 

New Flat Shoes

When I mentioned in an earlier post that I was starting to wear flat shoes more often for daytime, I was amused at the howls of protest from some of you. I have worn heels for most of my adult life, but now, two and a half years away from my sixtieth birthday, I am starting to invest in flats because my feet recently started letting me know it's time.

I found these Enzo Angiolini® Liberty Loafers at Appleseeds. They were one of the first pairs of flats I purchased. Not all flats are created equally. These looked like just the right style for me, but I will be wearing them around the house for quite some time to break them in. They are a bit narrow where they are stitched together at the ball of the foot.

These Hush Puppies Dalby Moc Flats are super comfortable. (I used my Christmas money from my parents to buy three pairs of shoes from Macy's. Thanks, Mom and Dad!)

I also bought these Alfani Women's Allegra Step N Flex Flats from Macy's. Love them!

These Aerosoles Clean Slate wedge heels in brown are also from Macy's. I haven't worn them yet, but they feel comfortable from just trying them on.

These are Vince Camuto animal print flats from Nordstrom.

Mr. Mickey's Place

Some of you asked for a peek into Mr. Mickey's new home.

Last evening we attended our neighborhood pot luck Christmas dinner at our clubhouse, so we snapped a few pictures in his foyer before leaving.

The sculptures on the wall behind me are by J. Cotter.

Not many bachelor pads have a crystal chandelier. This one has hung in several of Mr. Mickey's dining rooms over the years.

There are so many pieces of special art, he has not yet found a place for many of them, but he is still working on it. The bust behind me to the left is a sculpture of Mickey done many years ago. The artist now lives at the end of the block. Small world indeed!

It was 75 degrees here last evening, so I was actually sorry I wore the sweater. The necklace, sweater, and tank are from Chico's last year. The gray slacks were from Stein Mart last year. The Vince Camuto flats are from Nordstrom.

Eight years ago, Mr. Mickey and I met at a Christmas party in our old neighborhood. It was the party that changed my life.

For that first party, I took bacon-wrapped chestnuts, which I almost burned. I had second thoughts about even going to the party after that! For this party, I took something much more simple, southern cornbread and roasted Brussels sprouts. Mr. Mickey made his world-famous deviled eggs, of which none were left. 

New Shoes in Wine Country

I fell in love with these shoes the moment I saw them!

After trying on several outfit options from my closet I knew I didn't have the right pieces to wear with them on a July evening. Below is the outfit I almost settled on but I knew it could be better. Off to Chico's we go!

The shoes are edgy and modern so the red jacket is too conservative and subdued to wear with them.

When I saw this sweater and necklace I knew they were the right pieces. The gold cuff was just the icing on the cake.

When we arrive at our favorite restaurant there is always a valet attendant to open our doors. The service at Artisanal is superb!

We stopped at the Banner Elk Winery on our way home from dinner last night. Many people do not know that there are some really good wines coming from North Carolina.

This fire pit and pond beyond are in front of the tasting house and gift shop.

This is The Villa, a luxury Bed and Breakfast on a hill overlooking the winery.

The bag is from Stein Mart. The shoes are from Nordstrom. All other items are from Chico's.