Asheville: Shopping // Winter Lights

Dress: The Somerset Maxi Dress: Velvet Edition by Anthropologie

Tights: Snag

Shoes: Fluevog, Enneagram: Inovative 

Necklace & Earrings: Heidi Daus via Ebay

Bracelet: Vintage

Stats: 5'7" 38-32-42

This velvet maxi was a stunner in purple & orange...these Somerset dresses are just so easy to wear...I was the first person to get it, so I bought it. 

We ducked into an alley, which turned into a courtyard between a few restaurants...we liked the rusty metal.

My shoes are dusty from walking all over Asheville on this day...but shoes are meant to be worn. 

Fluvie...

I'm never sure which orientation to wear these earrings...is that half circle of amber rhinestones supposed to be facing away (here) or toward my face?

David outside our Airbnb...ready for the day! He became a tie wearer on vacation...we've been picking up vintage ones here & there & fun ones at thrift stores...I like it! My bracelets that we got at Marquee the day before. And off to the heart of The River Arts District to look at art. 

House of Kismet...we wandered in here by chance...it was nestled among art galleries. Vintage treasures! And not just for women, 1/2 the store was devoted to men...I was so happy...David always gets left out. As usual with vintage clothing, most of it was too tiny, but I loved seeing all the colors & patterns. I got the 2 bracelets below, amber & purple. 

Cute, but too big, coats...

David got this dapper vintage Italian striped jacket.

There was so much to look at...I swept through the store 3 times to make sure I didn't miss anything.

I used to wear hats in high school...but I just don't have the hair for it now. Sidewalk art on our walk to get coffee before heading downtown. First stop, Hip Replacements...I had 4 or 5 clothing stores on my list of places I wanted to check out & this was one of them. I was impressed they carried up to size 20...I mean, that wouldn't have fit me at my fattest, but it's still good to see. 

Some familiar brands...Effie's Heart, Karina, & Unique Vintage.

Green leopard coat?! They were out of mediums, but I think the small fit alright. The back of the store had vintage finds & again...there was an entire men's section.

Trying on Effie's Heart...I also got a Karina dress.

A short walk to Honeypot (which was on my list, but it's sister store, House of Kismet, wasn't...the salespeople there had really talked up this store saying how much better it was...but HofK was definitely our favorite of the two). Again, 1/2 the store was dedicated to men...such a lovely surprise. 

David got that orange hat. I had the salesgirl undress this mannequin because according to their measurements, this would fit me...but the 32" waist turned out to be 28". 

Walking by...these paisley pants made me gasp...could they be Traffic People?! Yes! What an amazing find this store turned out to be. They reminded me very much of Lela Boutique in Milwaukee. Incredibly friendly & helpful. I was so tired of trying things on, we just bought stuff...they told me I could return it if anything didn't work out. 

I can't remember the name of this nearby store, but they had a monumental collection of Irregular Choice shoes...of which I don't own even one pair of, but always admire. Dinner! We went to Mellow Mushroom on the recommendation of one of the salespeople at Minx. 

We each chose a different margarita from their menu (I had a campfire peach). Our pizza choices were Maui Wowie (pesto based with mozzarella, ham, pineapple, jerk chicken, banana peppers, & applewood smoked bacon) & Holy Shiitake (roasted shiitake, button, & portobello mushrooms, caramelized onions, mozzarella & MontAmore cheese on an olive oil & garlic base. Finished with fresh chives, shaved Parmesan, a garlic aioli swirl & black truffle oil.). Everything was good, but they are no Sal's. 

Later that night…we drove to The North Carolina Arboretum for Winter Lights. It was their 10th year of this light exhibit which is their biggest fund raiser of the year & was super well attended, which is especially impressive considering this runs from mid-November until NYE. 

We didn’t have incredibly high expectations, but I still enjoyed myself…I like pretty lights. Mushrooms!

And jellyfish. They had these fabulously fantastic plastic chairs that can survive any weather & made cute seating around the fire pits (which weren’t lit because of a no-burn ban at the time… I’m guessing it was too dry?).

Lots of photo ops. And live musicians…I particularly enjoyed this electric violinist. 

You could also get hot cocoa, beer, & s'mores. I'm glad we went, but it's not the sort of thing I need to go to a second time. 

Back at our Airbnb...unpacking the loot. Trying on things from Minx just in case there was something that didn't fit...pardon my drain bulges. 

David is amassing quite the collection of ties...we are going to share the scarf...& I got this 80s belt that looks suspiciously like one I had in high school. I was so pleased there was so much in the shops for David...he bought some really funky things. 

My haul from Minx & Hip Replacements...what a fun day!

 

Asheville: Marquee // French Broad Chocolate // Rhubarb // Ashley Gavin

Dress: Zola Velvet Maxi Dress by Hutch via Nuuly

Tights: Snag

Shoes: Chie Mihara 

Earring: etXarte

Necklace: Green Goddess Vintage

Bracelet: Vintage

Stats: 5'7" 38-32-42

I adore these Hutch velvet wrap dresses...I've had several of them in both same & different styles & they are always so luscious. I seem to have this boob problem every time though, I'm always busting out of the top even after I pin it & I'm only a C cup...otherwise the fit is fantastic. And could the colors be more perfect for me?! It was difficult not to buy this one.

I love how the seam in back is framing my butt. Also, I realized I never mentioned it here...but right before leaving for Asheville, I had to have 3 drains put in...one in my abdomen & the other 2 in each thigh. I had a lot of excess fluid building up & I absolutely did NOT want to go on vacation with drains...but my friend & lymphatic massage person, Courtney, convinced me that if I didn't, it would dehisce...& drains would be preferable to my thighs bursting open. I agreed. But it is difficult to feel pretty while lugging around drains...but I think most of the time they didn't show too badly...but I see a slight bulge in the photo below. 

My first time wearing these Chie Mihara shoes I found on Poshmark...

Also my first time wearing this bracelet that we bought on this day at Marquee...

I wore this outfit for our first full day in Asheville. Every morning started with delicious coffee from various amazing places that David went out to get while I got ready. We began this day with a trip to Marquee which is in the River Arts District where we were staying...out of all the places, it looked most like us...& we were right. Check out the front desk that greeted us...

This huge space was filled with art, clothing, & antiques...it was just a feast for the eyes. 

It's not the clothing, but the colorful chippy door I'm taking a picture of here...& predictably...we were drawn to light fixtures. 

There was a rather large NA section in the middle of the store that made me think of Kate. 

Fun chairs! And my favorite booth, The 3 Graces...so many vintage clothing pieces reimagined in a maximalist way.

I was especially smitten with this coat...

There is a snake on the shoulder of this dress...so many pretties. 

This whole booth was just marvelously magnificent...it is a collaboration of 3 Asheville artists. Alligator lady with an alligator purse bench...don't you just want to sit down next to her?!

The Marquee was fabulous...I bought the vintage bracelet I'm wearing in these outfit shots...& David sneakily bought me a rhinestone bird bracelet. 

We checked out some other artist's studios in the area...I really liked these stained glass pieces attached to these old window frames with lights behind them...I might get around to copying that idea some day. Then we headed back downtown to the area we'd been in the night before...we saw so many cute closed shops we wanted to check out. We started at Hazel Twenty...they also had a men's boutique in the basement. Everyone in Asheville was SO nice to us...except in this store. There were several dresses I would have tried on & bought...but they couldn't be bothered. They offered all the other shoppers champagne, but barely acknowledged us...not sure why.

They did have an adorable dog though. After so much browsing around...we needed lunch. We wandered into the first place that looked appealing...Farm Burger. We had andouille corn pups & burgers. 

It was fine, but nothing special. I should have consulted my list of places to try. After lunch...we walked over to French Broad Chocolate Lounge. The line was ridiculous, but we waited. 

David got a cup of Liquid Truffle & a Truffle Torte...while I nommed on a Triple Chocolate Mousse & we bought a box of dark chocolate bonbons (which I just now learned were vegan while looking at their website). It was very nice, but we are spoiled in Madison with extremely talented chocolatiers (Gail Ambrosius & Madison Chocolate Co). 

After this, we took outfit photos & wandered around some more before heading back to our Airbnb for a bit. Later that evening, we parked in the same area & on our stroll to the restaurant, popped into a few places. Just look at these spectacular...aquariums? Not sure what to call them, but they bubbled away in the window of this closed gallery. They were dazzling & delightfully calming. We meant to go back when they were open, but it never happened. We guessed they were $4-5,000, but in looking it up online, I see my favorite one (green) has a price of $40,000. They are by the artist Alison Sigethy & she calls them Sea Cores (which I never would have known had I not looked it up to write about here). If our art budget were that high, Deep Sea Garden would be in our living room right now. I am happy knowing these exist. 

Since we were passing by, we darted into Fine Arts Theatre to inquire about tickets to Napoleon, which we wanted to see when it came out in a few days. Olive This! A charming store filled with olive oils & vinegars...we walked out with several bottles, including the one I enjoyed most, Blackberry Ginger. 

Dinner at Rhubarb. As always, cocktails first...David had a Fig Gold (dark rum, Carolina Gold horchata, fig, ginger, cranberry bitters) & I had to have a Ginger Rodgers (The Chemist (local) gin, pomegranate-ginger molasses, lemon, ginger beer, candied ginger). I loved this drink so much. 

Lovely mood lighting leads to terribly dark food photos. Our parade of food begins with Chicken Liver Mousse (persimmon, house pickles, lavash), Pimiento Cheese Hushpuppies with Comeback Sauce, & Carolina Bison Short Rib (field pea & peanut cassoulet, Alabama white BBQ sauce, collard green kimchi, crispy onions). 

Our second round...David, Rye Not? (toasted pecan rye whiskey, mulled port wine, cherry, allspice dram, chocolate bitters, smoke) & for me, R-Bar Collins (Social House vodka (local), draft strawberry-rhubarb soda, lemon). 

Our mains: Seared Sunburst Farms Trout Fillet (Gaining Ground pumpkin purée, Kilt hearty greens, Appalachian blue barley, brown butter roasted pumpkin seeds) & Apple Brandy Brisket Bourguignon (peanut whipped Gaining Ground potatoes, feta-caper relish, Bordelaise sauce, GG baby beets & their greens). All the food was delicious & our server was friendly & charming. Dessert...I can never pass up a Carrot Cake (Chai ice cream, salted caramel, cream cheese, nut & seed dukkah).

We took an after dinner jaunt over to The Orange Peel where we had tickets to the late show of comedian Ashley Gavin. Lots of great shows have taken place here...

We lined up early to get a good seat, but when we sat front row center...we were told that was the VIP section...so David went & exchanged our tickets which turned out to be an excellent call. Ashley is a lesbian & the majority of the audience was women...so her thing is to pick a token straight man & use him to talk to all night...which made it even funnier for us. She couldn't figure out our relationship...she asked him, is this your queer daughter?! At the end of the show, she asked him to come up on stage & video her while she did crowd work with the audience. She asked David what he did & when he replied pyschotherapist, the crowd cheered loudly. Ashley then went looking for some funny clips to put up on TikTok...but this audience didn't have it in them. So she asked if anyone had any questions for her...the first person she picked said, I have a question for David...will you be my therapist? To which David had to say no since we are only licensed in Wisconsin. We had an excellent day & completely fell in love with Asheville.