Tennessee // Kentucky

Dress: Black Lavender Fit & Flare Dress by Eva Rose

Tights: Snag

Shoes: Fluevog, Go Groovy: Aubrey

Cardigan: The Limited, thrifted

All Jewelry: Colleen Toland

Stats: 5'7" 38-32-42

Another mushroom dress! Fruit & veggie dresses are the best. I adore these cotton fit & flares with pockets...always a great fit. And adding a cardigan to the sleeveless dress makes it colder weather cute. 

This is my first time wearing this dress, but I had rented it from Gwynnie Bee during the pandemic when we weren't leaving the house. I was staying at home & already lost nearly 100 pounds...it was the first time I talked about it on this blog. 

Purple & orange are fabulous together...

These Aubrey's look like mushrooms to me...

I should have worn orange lipstick...I like wearing purple, but it just isn't flattering on my lips.

I first wore this dress on the last full day we were in Tennessee visiting my parents. We went walking around Indian Boundary, which was beautiful.

A kind stranger took our photo...& we returned the flavor.

Ruger & Remy. A holly tree in my parents' yard. Driving to Knoxville for dinner...I paged through my mom's Bon Appetit magazine & took pictures of the recipes that sounded good. I subscribe online, but I miss having a physical copy...but then I remind myself I never get around to actually looking at magazines. 

Pictures outside the restaurant, Chesapeake's. Cocktails...

And dinner...

The clam chowder was wonderful. There was both a broiled & a fried seafood platter & I got the broiled, but asked for the cod fried...because cod is boring. 

Back at my parents' house...we watched A Very Murray Christmas...David picked it...because who doesn't like Bill Murray? We had watched Love Actually the night before. This was the most bizarre holiday special ever...& full of famous people...George Clooney, Miley Cyrus, Chris Rock, Paul Shaffer, Jenny Lewis, David Johansen...how?! It is worth watching to see George Clooney peeking out from behind fake trees singing, Santa Claus Needs Some Lovin'. The next morning...I donned this dress again & we headed to Paducah...but first, we stopped at a cute local coffee place. Drive-thru liquor store in Kentucky. 

We enjoyed our dinner at Freight House so much, we had immediately made reservations to stop here on our way home...what a marvelous way to bookend our trip. We began with 2 cocktails we hadn't tried last time...for David, Freight House Express (Mr. Black coffee liqueur, Lavazza espresso, Chopin vodka, chocolate bitters) & for me, Ruby's Caboose (Stoli vodka, fresh grapefruit, dreamcicle cordial, ginger beer). And then the food started coming...we only got one repeat from last time. There were already several new things on the menu since we'd been there 10 days before. Brussels Sprouts Tart (whooped citrus ricotta, roasted garlic, dried cherries, hot honey) & our favorite dish from the first time, Pork Belly Tostada (cabbage & apple slaw, horseradish aioli, stout bbq sauce). 

We didn't have the same waiter as last time, but he stopped by to talk quite a bit & recommended the Turnip Soup (grapefruit, coriander, campari yogurt, sweet greens, almonds), which we wouldn't have picked on our own. French Onion Cabbage (charred cabbage, onion jam, grilled bread, gruyere, thyme) with added pork belly, & Loaded Butternut Squash (savory rice crispies, goat cheese, pepper jelly, cajun butter). 

For our final cocktails (we still had a long drive ahead of us), The Choke Artist (Appleton estate signature rum, cynar, green chartreuse, mint) & High Fashion (Old Grand Dad 114, Belle de Brillet, Giffard ginger, yuzu bitters, Pernod spritz), which wasn't for me & I traded for a Snake in the Grass (Teremana resposada, Lucid absinthe, naranja, carpano antica, fresh sour). I'd been eager to try their Local Catfish (braised greens, sweet potato, coconut, peanut, chili oil) since we just couldn't fit it in our stomachs last time. And finally, Shrimp & Grits (spicy pork shank, button mushrooms, New Orleans bbq sauce, pimento cheese grits). We skipped dessert this time so we'd have more room for savory. I enjoyed looking through this collection of cookbooks behind me. We're so happy we came here again...everyone remembered us & was so nice...& the food here is amazing...the perfect sweet/savory balance in every dish. Sara wasn't my favorite contestant during her time on Top Chef, but boy was I wrong. I wish we could come here every week. Driving home...this came up in my Facebook feed...this red velvet playpen is *just* what our wreck room needs...isn't it spectacular?! There's room for me, David, & the dogs. About an hour outside of Madison...it began snowing...welcome home to Wisconsin.