Shopping in Asheville

On a winter Saturday afternoon, blue skies often mean a trip across the mountain to Asheville, North Carolina for Mr. Mickey and me.

We took a break from shopping in the Grove Arcade to visit Carmel's. One of our favorite treats is their homemade pimento cheese appetizer, a house-made blend of cheeses with jalapenos served with garlic crostini.

Later in the day, a cup of hot chocolate was just the thing to take away the chill.

It's always fun to visit the Screendoor to look through an eclectic mix of treasures, junque, and books.

No trip to the Biltmore Village is ever complete until we stop by Chico's for a peek at the sale rack. The necklace, long sleeve tee, vest, and pants I am wearing today are all old from Chico's. The coat is also old from Geiger. The short boots were Ralph Lauren via T.J.Maxx last year. The black Tignanello handbag is old from SteinMart.

I hope your shopping trips have been successful! 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Mr. Mickey and I were among the guests at the home of my sister and her husband for the family Thanksgiving feast today. I am most thankful that I did not have to do the cooking!

This picture is from earlier in my breakfast nook wearing black So Slimming Ponte pants from Chico's. The long sleeve purple tee, purple sweater, and silver necklace are also from Chico's. The short black Nickels boots were from Belk last year.

Sitting by my sister's wood-burning fireplace is a great place to be on a cold, snowy day!

Mr. Beasley is perhaps the most pampered stray ever! 

He is not amused at having all these loud people in "his" house.

Let the feast begin!

I hope you were also able to spend time with family and special friends today.

Dinner with the Wine Club

After a long busy week, we always look forward to date night on Friday. This evening, we enjoyed a special dinner with friends at the beautiful home of our wine club members. 

The gold necklace, metallic copper sweater, and wheat-colored tank are from Chico's Fall 2013 line. The black pants and low heeled shoes are old.

Enjoying the bouquet of a lovely Veramonte Ritual Pinot Noir from Chile. Cool night air coming off the ocean allows the grapes grown to result in a wine with a bright fruit aroma and flavors of black cherries, blueberry, raspberry, and plum.

Rick graciously conducts our wine club gatherings. He humbly shares his vast knowledge of wine, peppered with stories of his travels worldwide to visit vineyards. It is always a pleasure to be in his company.

It was so nice to spend the evening with dear friends and get to know some new ones a little better.

Ming Wang at the Symphony

Saturday date night included dinner at our favorite restaurant and a night at the Symphony. I wore a fabulous jacket from Ming Wang.

Founded in 1986, Ming Wang is named for the designer and co-founder, Ming Wang, who has been designing knitwear exclusively for over 30 years. She strives to create garments that flawlessly transition from day to night for many years to come. I am now a fan! This jacket was so comfortable to wear and beautifully made with individual square stones sewn on the edges.

Ming Wang pieces are crafted with a specialized yarn so that the entire collection is wrinkle-free, machine washable, fade-resistant, and travel friendly. Their signature product, structure knits, and dresses, pants, and other accessories, are available in hundreds of boutiques all over the US, as well as Dillards, Von Maur, and online at Nordstrom.

Dinner at Gourmet and Company included a dessert of apple bread pudding for Mr. Mickey and a Grand Marnier for me.

The Symphony performance was fabulous, as always, but I must confess, I was so tired after two weeks of moving and cleaning I may have taken a small nap during it.

Rain on Date Night

It was raining, and the restaurant was super crowded, but we forgot about all that as we visited with our dearest friends.

I am wearing shades of gray, topped with a sapphire boiled wool jacket from Chico's. Note that I wear black and white animal prints. The gold undertones of most brown animal prints do not complement my cool skin tone.

The Santa Project

Last evening we attended a fundraiser that is near and dear to our hearts.

Each year at Christmas time, Mr. Mickey becomes Mr. Santa for about fifty underprivileged children in our area. In November, a group of our friends gathers for a wine and cheese fundraiser for the project.

Each child is given a winter coat, shoes, an outfit for school, and a toy. The family or guardians are invited to a pizza party just before Christmas. Santa visits with the children and gives them their gifts at the party.

I always enjoy catching up with my sweet friends Una and Lee.

My friend Dianna is a follower and big fan of Fifty, not Frumpy. (She is wearing a Chico's sweater and necklace.) Thank you, Dianna, for your kind words.

The evening was a huge success, and it was great fun visiting with everyone. To top off the evening, we saw a big black bear as soon as we entered our neighborhood tonight. It was so beautiful! Hopefully, it will safely find its way back to the mountain where it belongs soon.

Stay at Home Date Night

During the past week, I was very busy getting settled into my new home, so when Mr. Mickey asked what I wanted to do for Wednesday date night, I suggested a pot of homemade vegetable soup at my house. Sometimes the comfort of staying home on a cold night to have soup and a glass of wine is the best date night of all.

Today I wore a beautiful new Winter Silks cardigan in a red heather color. The heather effect makes the red appear more rose in color, but I feel certain I will be buying all the colors. This cardigan is so soft and comfortable, not bulky at all. I paired it with old items from my closet. The long silver necklace has a rose beaded tassel. The loose-fitting tank top is white, and the wide leg tweed pants are gray. The low heeled short boots have been with me for years.

The Haircut

I visited Hilton Head Island, South Carolina for a few days last week. (It was eighty-two degrees!) While there, I had time to do something I have been needing to do for a couple of weeks. 

Before

Before

As you can see from the before pictures above, I was way past due for a haircut. I have been so busy lately, that I could not take the time to visit my regular stylist at home. 

Erica Warren is a stylist at The Hair Designers in the Village at Wexford on Hilton Head Island in South Carolina. She was so kind to work me into her busy schedule on Saturday. She did a great job! My hair has never looked so healthy.

After

After

Erica is a magician with her styling brush and blow dryer!

Upon the Mountain

Today we took a drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway to one of our favorite villages, Blowing Rock, North Carolina.

Our visits to Blowing Rock almost always end with Mr. Mickey and I enjoying a scoop of Kilwin's ice cream while sitting on a bench in the park across the street. Today I shared a bench with a scarecrow!

This is the door of a stone church in the village.

For some people, Sunday afternoon is a time to watch football. Shopping is a sport, isn't it? Unfortunately, all of my shopping lately has been at Lowe's. 

Here's a peek at my new home. We stopped there on our way out of town.

I will be moving my furniture in soon, but for now, there is still more work to be done.

Today I am wearing a dark purple sweater from Chico's with a lighter violet tunic from Covered Perfectly. This is my version of a sweater set. I don't care for those short clingy ones that you often find in stores. The necklace and brown ponte pants are also from Chico's. I now have my favorite Louise et Cie shoes in brown leather, black suede, and animal print. They are so comfortable! You will find them only at Nordstrom. The bag is old.

Instant Winter!

Our temperatures suddenly dropped to 26 degrees this week.

The rapidly changing weather had me reaching for layers.

For a Friday date night dinner with friends, I wore shades of teal with gray tweed pants. The first layer is a long sleeve tee from Talbots, next is a knit sweater from Dillard's, topped by a car coat from Geiger. The gray tweed pants are from Ross. The necklace is silver and teal from Chico's. The black short boots and black and silver bag are from TJ Maxx.  

These items are all old, and you have likely seen them before, but I have been trying to combine the pieces I have to create different looks. For example, I have been wearing the long sleeve tee with jeans and a long sweater vest for a very casual look. Pairing it with a similar color shorter knit sweater and necklace with tweed pants made it more appropriate for wearing out to dinner. 

I am also more mindful of the combinations and hues of color I wear now. I am exhausted from a week of packing and moving and cleaning both houses as I go, so I could not have carried off the high contrast combination of sapphire and black, for example. I would have "disappeared" behind the stark contrast of those colors.

Covered Perfectly

A great looking tunic is always the number one item on my wish list every season. 

These fabulous tops layer well or stand-alone for year-round wear.

I have been wearing my Covered Perfectly tops often. They are buttery soft, and the fit is indeed perfect. 

The neckline is perfect to layer with jackets or vests!

Uncork The Fun

Last evening Mr. Mickey and I attended a fun Gatsby event hosted by The Johnson City Area Arts Council (JCAAC). Our regional arts council is dedicated to preserving and nurturing the traditional arts and cultural communities of Johnson City and the surrounding five-county area.

I try to dress age-appropriate, even in costume. Here I am in shades of gray and black again!

Doesn't Mr. Mickey look handsome as a gangster?

Arriving in this car would have been fun, but it was just parked outside the venue for the event.

The Rick Simerly Group entertained us for the evening.

Our friends Tom and Joy McGinnis. Joy is a famous artist from right here in Johnson City.

I don't think this gentleman sat down for the whole evening. It was such fun to watch him dance with all the ladies. Here he is doing the Charleston. 

Thank you for reading about our fun evening for a good cause. I hope you have a lovely Sunday!

The Wine Club

Mr. Mickey and I are charter members of a wine club. Last night we attended a tasting which included the Italian wines Baraolos and Brunellos.

I am wearing a long black, red, and cream sweater over a long-sleeve red tee with a bold Asian-inspired tassel necklace all from Chico's. The straight leg black pants are from Stein Mart a couple of years ago. The shoes are from Nordstrom. The bag is by Tahari via T.J.Maxx last year. 

Before the tasting, I studied that large map of Italy showing all the wine regions on the easel. Have you been to Italy? 

Finding Your Black

Is head to toe black your "easy to get dressed without thinking about it" look?

In the 1990s, all-black became the uniform for an easy dressing option for many women.

In the Polyvore fashion set I created above, I selected items in different shades of brown but varying shades of any color would give the same effect. 

Color is just one part of my decision-making process. As in all the tips I share with you, I will use myself for the example today.

I like very much to wear soft flowing lines in a longer jacket or sweater. A simple scoop, square, or V neck top works best with my round face and wavy hair. This neckline also gives my favorite necklaces a simple background. Another tip: When I wear a necklace, I wear small earrings. If I wear a larger pair of earrings, I skip the necklace. Too much going on around your face is not flattering, especially since most of us wear glasses now. Speaking of glasses, a squarish frame in a softer gray or brown tone is much more flattering to my coloring and face shape. 

Since the top half of my body is larger and longer than the lower half, I like to wear slim leg pants and shoes with a bit of a heel or wedge. This helps to balance the halves of my body.

This is an example of a look that is easy and comfortable for me.

I hope this post inspires you to think about details such as the lines, the drape, and the cut of the clothing you wear as well as the color. If you understand how all the elements come together to flatter you, getting dressed is so much easier. If the colors in your closet all truly flatter your own coloring, it is amazing how they also work together. This makes getting dressed in the dark almost possible.

The River Valley

On Sundays, we leave behind our schedules and hectic lives to do something very peaceful or nothing at all. On this Sunday, we took a drive down to the river valley. 

Our earlier plans of taking a drive up on the Blue Ridge Parkway yesterday were abandoned because of fog, which lasted until late in the morning. Instead, we drove down to the Nolichucky River Valley, as seen below from the Appalachian Trail.

(Photo from Wikipedia.)

This rich and verdant agricultural valley is where a lot of our local produce is grown. It is a summer tradition to drive down to the river to buy local fresh vegetables and fruit. 

On this day, we found lots of pumpkins at our favorite vegetable stand, along with tomatoes, plants, tree bark birdhouses, and other local crafts. 

I am wearing a Chico's jacket, necklace, tank, and khaki jeans. The Vince Camuto animal print flats are from Nordstrom.