NYE at L'Etoile

Dress: Hibiscus Heaven Maxi Dress by Free People (size L) via Nuuly

Cardigan, Purse, & Bracelet: Vintage

Shoes: Fluevog, Poser: Shiloh 

Necklace & Earrings: Green Goddess Vintage

Photography: Super Boo & Me

Stats: 5'7" 37-32-42

This dress is fancier than it appears...with lace & intricate gold embroidery...so many pretty details...I only wish it had been warm weather season so I could have shown off the back. This dress is mostly cotton, but quite heavy with all the fabric & lining...I still think it would work as a summer evening dress...perhaps in India at a fancy restaurant...that's my fantasy anyway. This dress is long enough that I needed to wear heels (I would have anyway). Had I gotten it in a size smaller, I probably would have bought it...it was perfection. 

I felt SO lucky that this vintage 50s cashmere cardigan had arrived in the mail just in time. With its intricate beading, it was elegant enough to make this dress winter appropriate. 

Just as we began taking these photos (outside the capitol), it started to snow. 

This is what I adore about vintage...the attention to details...the beading continues on the back...

Look at how perfectly these Fluevogs go with my outfit...like they were made for it. 

I decided not to wear my fanciest black vintage parure...only the bracelet. The necklace would have taken up the entire décolletage.

My make-up with this outfit included...Lucky & Torch eyeliner from Urban Decay; Ankh, Hieroglyph, & Prophet eyeshadow by Kat von D; NYX lipliner in Pumpkin; Gothica lipstick from Kat von D; Bite Beauty lipstick in Toast; & ILNP nail polish in Pumpkin Patch. 

New Years Eve Day...I forgot Batch closes down for ~a month after Christmas. I wanted some sweet pastry treats for brunch the next morning, so I decided to try my luck at Bloom...& I wasn't the only one. This whole process took just over an hour. I got: Cranberry Almond Danish, Pan au Chocolate, Morning Bun, & a Brownie. Spoiler alert...we took about 1 bite of each one & threw them away. They weren't horrible, but they certainly weren't worth spiking our blood sugar. Batch is still the best bakery in Madison. 

That night...we began the evening at Lucille...we had a 5pm reservation at L'Etoile, but we were early due to wanting to take pictures while it was still light outside. 

I love these cufflinks we found at Elkhorn. Husband & wife Fluevogs. These are my favorite pants of David's...& they are now too big on him...but I think it might be worth having them taken in as they were made in Italy & have such a great shape. 

Cocktails at the bar at Lucille...then a walk down the street to L'Etoile...it's not far, but the sidewalks were extremely slippery from the snow/rain. 

Picture time before the doors opened...we wanted to eat early to avoid drunken traffic. 

We got the best seat in the house, front & center with this lovely capitol view. 

The menu...David & I ordered 2 things from each course & shared them...like we always do. The exception was dessert as neither of us was particularly interested in the others. 

We got the wine pairing for the meal, which started, of course, with a glass of champagne. Another photo of David's cufflinks. After the welcoming bite, above, the amuse bouche arrived...I think it was a smoked sturgeon with cheve foam.

The wine was all perfectly paired, of course...their sommelier, Michael, has been working there for over 30 years. 

First course...Spicy Yellowtail Tuna & Fischer Family Farm Beef Tenderloin Carpaccio (all descriptions in the menu above). Michael kept coming to the table with more wine. We found out later, after commenting to our server how great he & Michael had been, that our waiter was his son. 

I try to look good in photos, I really do...but I rarely pull it off. 

On to the pasta course...with bread. Mortadella Agnolotti & Dreamfarm Chèvre Gnudi. 

Third course...Maine Lobster & Kyuquot Gindara Sablefish.

Fourth course...Seven Seeds Organic Chicken Pithivier & Fischer Family Farm Ribeye au Poivre.

David loves Port...

And finally, dessert...Doughnuts for me & a Wisconsin Artisanal Cheese Platter for David. It was a wonderfully decadent dinner. And later, Carsie played live online to help ring out 2022. 

 

Addicted to Thrifting

Dress: Mod Geo Amiya Midi Dress by Leota (size L) via Gwynnie Bee

Cardigan: Talbots (size M), thrifted 

Tights: Snag

Shoes: Fluevog, Super Fine: Honour 

All Jewelry: Vintage

Photography: Super Boo & Me

Stats: 5'7" 38-32-45

Fabulous colors & pattern on this dress. Fantastic fit with Leota...such great work dresses. I had this back in the fall & wore it with sandals. 

I know this dress is too casual for these fancy shoes, but the color, shape, pattern...is all too perfect & they had to be together. 

The fabric part of these shoes are glittery.

And the pin too, right?!

My make-up with this outfit included...Urban Decay eyeliner in Sabbath, Damaged & Strike eyeshadow by UD, Pumpkin lipliner from NYX, UD lipstick in Bang, Sugarpill Cosmetics lipstick in Nectar, & ILNP nail polish in Pumpkin Patch. 

A while back we were watching Iron Chef & there was this guy competing, Mason Hereford...I'd forgotten all about him until his cookbook cropped up in the best of 2022...so I checked it out at the library. It's a bit too hipster for me (think: gas station food)...but this Cabbage Patch salad sounded incredible, with its funky weird flavor combinations (galangal, shrimp paste, fish sauce, tamarind concentrate)...& it was. I served that with Indonesian Chicken Curry. We had to drop off Viktor (the truck) at the dealer for some updates. We were going to walk to Vinny's nearby, but they gave us a loaner. We (mostly me) found so many things we needed 2 carts. 

Who picks a beige interior?! This 2023 Grand Cherokee was the same burgundy as Viktor, but the inside was terrible. We ended up driving this for 5 days. David's small thrifted pile. The other 5 photos are mine...the second pic is stuff to wear to bed/around the house. 

And this first photo is workout/hiking clothing. Speaking of beige...I found this pretty tapestry coat...I nearly didn't get it because it's so neutral, but the fabric was lovely. I found a purple Leota dress for work. And as always...lots of cardigans. I'm also amassing quite a sweater collection...which I had at a bigger size as well & rarely wore...so I'm not sure who is wearing these sweaters?

Here I am....this is how I look more often than not...rolled out of bed to attend Pilates in my pajamas...AND I got a compliment on my leopard outfit (different leopard, 2 days in a row). And another meal out of a best cookbooks of 2022 list, Eric Kim's Korean American. This was his A Lot of Cabbage with Curried Chicken Cutlets (although I used thighs)...it was yum. 

These Lesley Evers tights kept being advertised to me on Facebook...I had planned on buying all 3 pair, but my favorite was sold out so I didn't get any, but when they informed me they were back in stock, add to cart. And then these 2 showed up alone...the 3rd pair was like the design on her bag...which came a few weeks later. These tights are spectacular! I adore patterned tights like these, but they always have that line where the design stops/starts...& these don't have that! How?! And finally...my weekly cardigan haul from Poshmark. The woman I bought the purple one from included a coordinating shirt. Check out that cashmere vintage 50s beaded number...gorgeous. 

 

The Occasional Quartet // Boxing Day

Dress: Winifred Fruit Midi Dress by Damson Madder (size 12) via Nuuly

Tights: We Love Colors

Shoes: Mossimo, thrifted 

All Jewelry: Vintage

Photography: Super Boo & Me

Stats: 5'7" 38-32-45

This dress was adorable. It was a nice heavy winter appropriate fabric (cotton/linen)...it reminded me of a flour sack kitchen towel...which seemed appropriate as it was covered in fruit. This could be worn on or off the shoulder. The sleeves were thick enough that a cardigan wouldn't fit comfortably over them. Great midi length with pockets. This was my first dress from this UK company that uses organic cotton & recycled fabrics that are ethically sourced in all their clothing. This fit slightly large as I could have easily gone down 2 or more sizes...& I'm just figuring out what size my current body is (seems like an 8)...however, the wide elastic waist was extremely forgiving. My only issue with this dress was the placement of the pattern up top...I wish the 2 solid blue squares above my breasts were fruit instead, as was the case with the ones I saw modeled. 

I feel like I should have cooked a meal, eaten in a diner, or picked fruit in this dress. 

This vintage parure didn't quite match...but it reminds me of fruit...so I went with it...

My make-up with this outfit included...Urban Decay eyeliner in Sabbath; Vinyl, Analogue, Fran, & Legend eyeshadow by Kat von D; Nectar lipliner from NYX; Nectar lipstick by Sugarpill Cosmetics; Bite Beauty lipstick in Orange Fizz; &  OPI nail polish in ?

I first wore this dress to see The Occasional Quartet (Willy Porter, Peter Mulvey, Bill Camplin, & Randy Sabien) at Stoughton Opera House. They are usually billed as The Shitunauts (I think they just mostly play Cafe Carpe), but they wanted to class it up for the Opera House. I arrived early to see the singer playing in the lounge, but there was a gas leak outside, so they weren't letting anyone in until they made sure it was safe. 

There was vinyl! I was disappointed there weren't any records for sale when Kate & I saw Peter Mulvey & SistaStrings at Bur Oak...but they were available on this night. Since I bought 2 vinyl, I got 2 free. Bill Camplin had some records of his from the 70s that he wanted to get rid of...so I brought those home too. And...I finally tried one of the famous Cookie Butter Stuffed Snickerdoodles...yummmm.

I can't remember the name of this singer...she was good...but only played one song because she stopped at the time she would have had the building been open...which didn't make sense to me. They were running about an hour behind because of the gas leak & The Occasional Quartet still played their full set. Maybe she had somewhere else to be?

These guys were fun...they seem like good friends & it was like they were playing for us in their living room...they did songs in rounds, but most of them played along with each other. 

The second time I wore this dress was for Boxing Day shopping. First stop, Target...we wanted to get some new Christmas totes to store our ornaments & other holiday related items. We saved...drum roll...$1! We probably could have waited a few days for the price to go down, but we were there & it seemed easier just to grab them. We also picked up a long storage container for our downstairs tinsel trees...which I am hopeful we can put up next year. I may be slightly ambitious as that would mean the wreck room remodel was done. Next...we drove downtown to check out Little Luxuries 1/2 off Old World ornament selection. Score! We picked up all kinds of fun new sparkles for the tree, including lasagne, a stack of books, & a pickle jar. 

Sur la Table was next on my list...we picked up so many fabulous ornaments here including deviled eggs, a pig with all the cuts of meat labeled (we bought an extra for our butcher, Anna), & bacon. We parked right in front of my favorite clothing store, Anthropologie, so we had to go in. I immediately found 2 sale dresses I loved & a fuzzy sweater...all the sale items were an additional 40% off. David started to come into the dressing room with me, but I told him I wanted to be alone. Everything I tried on was a size small...& I was so sure none of them would fit...I didn't want David in there with me. So stupid. It's just a size & he doesn't care even a little...but I was feeling vulnerable about it on that day. I am in LOVE with that velvet Somerset maxi...it's in my Nuuly closet, but it's never been available when I pick out my dresses...now it's mine. 

One final stop on our hunt for ornaments...The Bruce Company. Their Old World ornaments weren't on much of a sale (10 or 20% off?)...but they had ONE lone hidden Brussels sprout!!! I really wanted that one. Then David dropped me off at Kate's while he went to Costco. I have missed record listening with my girlie. I just miss my girlie. She is recovering from surgery & also just doesn't go out much anymore. She played Dionne! & First Aid Kit's Palomino while we visited. 

Back at home...Rye was very interested in my Anthropologie bargains. And...my latest cardigan finds on Poshmark...is it obvious I searched for "paisley cardigans"?

The next day...David & I went to Orange Tree Imports (they aren't open the day after Christmas)...they always have a nice selection of Old World...we found 2 cheese ornaments, a brat, & a passport, among other things. I also picked up a new apron, with matching hot pads with olives on them & a mini microplane.