David Sedaris // Bob Mould // Thanksgiving in Tennessee

Dress: Leadlights Angelou Dress by Effie's Heart

Tights: Snag

Shoes:?

Earring: etXarte

Long Necklace: former Etsy shop

Short Necklace & Bracelet: Vintage

Stats: 5'7" 38-32-42

I adore these Effie's Heart fit & flare dresses...but I mention that every time I wear one. Perfect fit & length...with pockets. I also wore this dress last Thanksgiving.

The colors in this dress are so unusual...it's difficult to decide what to pair with it...so like last year, nothing truly matched. 

I find it interesting that both times I styled this dress I chose to wear 2 necklaces...it's not something I do often. 

My make-up with this outfit included...Urban Decay eyeliner in Stash, Toasted & Chains eyeshadow by UD, MAC lipliner in Auburn, Golshan lipstick from NARS, & OPI nail polish in I'm Not Really A Waitress. 

I wore this dress a lot back in October after my surgery...it's a nice stretchy fit & flare & was easy to throw on when I was so swollen. David & I went to see David Sedaris...he was fantastic & his outfit was outstanding, but I didn't get a good picture. A visit to Gen to get my hair cut...she used to be my regular person, but she raised her rates too high for me. It was nice seeing her again, but I'll stick with Sigrid. Her shop is right next to the Willy St. Vinny's, so...

They often have an excellent selection of vintage clothing...but the real find on this day was that full length mink coat for $25! Can you even believe that?! It's in fabulous shape & an ideal fit. Afterwards, I headed over to see Courtney for a lymphatic massage...then home to make dinner. I used to make this butternut squash risotto often, but it's probably been ~15 years...so I revisited that & added some fried chicken thighs on the side so David would have protein. 

I wore this dress again the next day...I made us pan fried salmon with crispy garlic & roasted cauliflower before heading out to Stoughton. First stop, Vinny's. 

Then over to the Opera House to see Bob Mould. 

Jason Narducy opened & while his music was fine...what I really appreciated about him was his storytelling. Bob Mould put on a great show with lots of new stuff & just enough Hüsker Dü. The entire audience was my age, give or take 3 years. 

I also wore this outfit to work & to go to the Goodwill by our house...

And then I regretted not getting that green turtleneck...so I went back again the next day. And finally...I wore this dress on Thanksgiving at my parents' house. Coffee & breakfast...French toast with blueberries from their yard. 

The view from their porch is breathtaking to me...I love sitting out there when I visit. And we watched Macy's Thanksgiving Parade! I'm guessing it's been well over 20 years since that's happened...it was fun. 

Then we did something completely different from anything you did on Thanksgiving...we shot guns in my dad's gun range. My parents have a Gator they drive down there, but David thought his truck was up to the challenge...which was terrifying & fun...my dad took video to show one of his friends. 

There were all kinds of metal things that my dad's friend Frank made...my favorite was the hostage...you tried to shoot the bad guy (red circle) without hitting the hostage (black vaguely person shaped). 

And, while there is no pictorial evidence...we were also in the room while the Packer/Lion game was on. Snacks & a glass of wine.

Then, dinner! I was supposed to make roasted Brussels sprouts with pecans & pomegranate...but the sprouts didn't make it...they were too close to the ice packs in our cooler & died. But my mom made a delicious Thanksgiving meal...with pumpkin pie...much later...because guess what? We ate too much. 

 

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.

 

Brian Visits Madison: Mint Mark // Ordinary Elephant at Cafe Carpe

Dress: V-Neck Deco Midi Dress by Anthropologie (size M) via Nuuly

Sandals: Born, thrifted 

Earring: etXarte

Necklace: former Etsy shop, gift from Kate

Bracelet: Vintage

Stats: 5'7" 38-32-42

I was the first person to wear this elegant warm brown midi with lovely embroidery...the website calls this wine, but I don't see it. I felt feminine & flirtatious in this foxy frock with a plunging neckline, criss-cross back & waist hugging band...the shirring in back was the only stretch & made the dress fit just right. I didn't wear a bra with this, but a strapless bra might be possible. The dress is sheer, but lined in matching fabric. The fit was tts, great length, & plentiful pockets. 

There were quite a few complaints in the reviews about the straps being too long & unadjustable...however, I did not have that issue. 

I found these warm brown sandals at Goodwill in Verona earlier this year...I rarely buy brown shoes, so I don't have many.

I like the unexpected bits of lilac in the design & considered highlighting them with my jewelry, but decided against it.

My make-up with this outfit included...Urban Decay eyeliner in Bourbon; Clove, Monroe, & Oxide eyeshadow from Natasha Denona; MAC lip liner in Auburn & Chicory; Gothica lipstick by KVD; & OPI nail polish in Brisbane Bronze. 

Brian's 3rd visit this summer! And our 3rd time at Mint Mark...so now it's a tradition. I'm always worried he won't make it in time to get there when they open at 4 (patio is first come, first served)...but I worry too much. We began with cocktails on draft: Brian got the Sangrita (Espero Blanco tequila, ginger, lime, orange, chili, seasonal fruit juice) & I got the rotating draft, Roots & Berries (some kind of Reposado tequila, sherry, sarsaparilla, licorice root, goji berry, lime, sparkling)...garnished with a black licorice swizzle stick...this was fantastic. 

Our waitress took our food order just before the kitchen opened at 5 & she brought it all at a leisurely pace. First up...Cauliflower (Bagna Cauda, golden raisins, crispy cheese, fines herbes) & Sweet Corn (pudding, cracklin', fermented blueberry, ramp vinaigrette, mint). Second round of drinks: for me, The G.O.A.T. (MMSB Limousin rye, Lazzaroni amaretto, charred lemon cordial, strawberry shrub, angostura bitters, lemon) & Brian chose Somewhere That's Green (El Tesoro Blanco tequila, heirloom creme de flora, grapefruit cordial, basil syrup, pink peppercorn tincture, lemon).

The food here is so tasty...it inspires us to lick our plates. We were delighted that the Heirloom Tomato (sourdough, whipped beef fat, herbs, balsamic) was still on the menu (tomato season is long)...we were dubious about it last time, beef fat?...but it was perfection.

More exquisite dishes: Tajarin (sungold sugo, pecorino, basil); Agnolotti (sweet corn, crushed tajin corn nuts, whey, ricotta, spicy peppers), I asked about the corn nuts...fully expecting them to be made in house...& our server tells us about how they were on a road trip & got these corn nuts at a gas station & the chef was like...these are going on the menu with something; (SEX) Biscuits (cultured butter, garlic honey); Lemon Pound Cake (fermented blueberry sorbet, orange mousse, crumble). I'm in love with fermented blueberries. A delightfully deliciously delectable dinner.

While we were enjoying our meal, I texted Brian that evening's list of possibilities...& he picked the one I most wanted to do! I have dreamed of catching a band at Cafe Carpe for decades, but didn't want to go alone...this cute little place is just a 45 minute drive away in Fort Atkinson...& has about 1/2 the seating capacity of The Shitty Barn...there is no way more than 50 people can fit in this cozy room. You are assigned seats when you buy your tickets, so there is no need to get there early...also, is there a bad seat in the house? We sat at the bar & had a drink while we waited...the food looked & smelled good, but we were stuffed. 

Ordinary Elephant...a charming folk duo that played wonderful music & were fabulous storytellers...a great introduction to this intimate venue. What a marvelous evening. I'm reliving it a bit as I type this & it makes me happy. The next morning...farmers' market with Kate...Brian & I split a Bialy & an Almond Pop Tart...both were new to me & full of YUM. I miss Brian!