Brian visits Madison // VO5 at The Terrace // Cocktails at Merchant & Lucille

Dress: Beaded Cutout Maxi Dress by Geisha Designs (size L) via Nuuly

Sandals: Born

Earring: Colleen Toland 

Necklace: Wendy Baker Design

Bracelet: Vintage

Photography: Super Boo, Brian, & Me

Stats: 5'7" 39-37-48

I grew to be quite fond of this cotton muted maxi dress. I wasn't sure about it at first...it went to the U.P. with me, but never got worn. I liked the subtle beading on it, as well as the cutout in front...& the colors were pretty. The smocking meant a great fit & it was the ideal length on me for a maxi...& of course, pockets. 

Cotton dresses are such easy breezy summer wear...& I never did have to iron this one. 

I did not expect it would be difficult to choose jewelry for this dress as there were so many colors I like represented...& I never did quite get it right...perhaps the earring? But the necklace had too bold of colors in it even if it did match some of them. 

My make-up with this outfit included...Urban Decay eyeliner in Psychedelic Sister, UD eyeshadows, Sugarpill Cosmetics lipstick in Clockwork, & Aly's Dream Polish in Sweet Orange. 

The day David left for California...I went on a walk with Angie...where I did not wear this dress. She took me to a new-to-me place right in our neighborhood...Governor's Island. It was lovely...a short walk just over 1 mile. 

The capitol from the Lake Mendota side, mushrooms in the wild (they were really hard), & a party pontoon. 

Check out this fabulous staircase nearby...I'd love to do a photoshoot there, but not sure if it would actually be feasible. AND...a garage sale...not just any garage sale, but my favorite every year! I've only been to a handful of sales since the pandemic & my last time at this one was 2019. I only got one thing, but it was this marvelous antique victrola record cabinet. Not only is it gorgeous, but necessary as I have a LOT of victrola records with no home. $10! I didn't even bother bargaining...& one of the husbands carried it to my car & stuck it in the trunk. 

Flowers in front...AND...Brian & Kyra arrive in Madison! VO5 was playing at the UW Memorial Union Terrace & it was a lovely night.

I can't recall ever seeing this place so packed...there were no tables left, so we finally had to inquire about empty chairs at people's tables so we had a place to park our butts. These Terrace chairs always make me smile...don't they look happy?! Me & Brian in the setting sun.

We dragged our chairs over to a short wall so we could set up our picnic...cumin roasted salmon with cilantro pistachio sauce, served atop a salad. YUM. It was a wonderful evening to enjoy some live music...mostly covers from the 70s-80s. 

Everyone but us had a pitcher of beer...& they were grilling brats & hamburgers...all the Wisconsin basics...I have to say, they smelled *really* good. After we had our fill of disco...we wandered back to the car & headed downtown. Our first stop, Maduro, to check if our friend Gregory was working. Nope. We walked over to Merchant to sit outside...it was my first time there since they remodeled...it looks fabulous. 

I miss the wallpaper...but those olive green couches are pretty...the relocation of the bar was a good call, & I adore the open windows to the outside world. 

Brian got, In The Night Kitchen (Whistlepig Piggyback rye, Lazzaroni amaro, chai-almond orgeat, lemon, espresso tincture, orange bitters), while I had a Velveteen Rabbit (Bowling & Burch gin, cherry & mint shrub, lemon, cava). 

We meandered down the block to Merchant's sister restaurant, Lucille, where we also sat outside & had cocktails...we would have ordered something to nibble on, but their late night menu was all fried food & didn't sound good to either of us. Brian had a Le Freak (Severo tequila, pistachio orgeat, lychee, blueberry, lemon, rose water) & I chose a Love Train (Hayman's Old Tom gin, elderflower liqueur, pear, matcha, agave, mint). It was an enchanting evening.