The Blues

A mixture of blues with tan was my date night outfit for Wednesday.

The long sleeve navy blue tee and tan side zip pants are from Talbots. The teal blue topper jacket is by Geiger.

 

The shoes are by Guess via T.J. Maxx.

The clutch bag is from Stein Mart. I found the necklace in an artist's co-op gallery in Asheville, NC. The large oval stone ring and earrings were gifts from Mr. Mickey. When I wear a busy necklace such as this one, I choose earrings that are much smaller and more subdued. Large hoop earrings with this necklace would be too much going on in the same place.

Thanks for reading! 

I hope you have a great day.

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.

Daffodils and Sunshine

On Saturday, we had a few hours of sunshine and temps above forty degrees for the first time in a long while.

Today I carried the faux alligator skin bag I told you about earlier. I really like it a lot! The size and shape are perfect for me. Sometimes you don't know how much you will like something until you take it for a "test drive." I will look for this size and shape when I invest in a higher quality bag in the future. The navy blazer is by Austin Reed, the red jeans are from Chico's, the boots are by Ralph Lauren via T.J. Maxx. The golf print scarf is from Ross.

Here you can see evidence of my one good day in the yard so far this year. I cut back all the monkey grass edging the front gardens, trimmed shrubs and irises back, and added mulch. In about another week, we should have nicer weather to go outside without shivering the whole time.

Working in my flower gardens has always given me serenity. I look forward to warmer weather when something new seems to pop up from the earth each day. So far, daffodils and few other early bulbs are the only things to bloom. The pink cherry trees should be in bloom next month. I'll be sure to share a picture of those with you.  

Below is one of my favorite little shade garden paths from last summer. 

 

Have a wonderful Sunday!

Thank you for visiting with me in my gardens.