Happy Belated New Year

velvet dress, all black, tassel necklace, leopard bag

When: New Year’s Eve // Weather: frigid // Real life: house party

velvet dress, all black, tassel necklace, leopard bag

velvet dress, all black, tassel necklace, leopard bag

Have I said “happy new year” to you yet? If not, I’m sorry. Happy new year. My NYE was pretty chill. I mean that in the literal sense because in Indiana it was colder than a naked Eskimo (I was going to say just “colder than an Eskimo” but then I figured Eskimos are probably well prepared for the weather so they’re really not that cold most of the time…unless they’re frolicking around in their skivvies).

My NYE was also chill in the other sense because I rang in 2018 by having pizza with a few friends then heading to a small party with some other friends. I used to go to parties with lots of cheap beer and loud music, and now I go to parties with homemade cookies and discussions about the arts. Getting older isn’t all that bad, I guess. So bring it on, 2018. My comfy velvet dress and I are ready for you.

Dress // similar Necklace // similar Bag

A Day in Asheville, NC

flannel shirt, faux fur collar leather jacket, OTK boots

When: Dec. 27 // Weather: 30s // Real life: day in Asheville, NC, with the fam

flannel shirt, faux fur collar leather jacket, OTK boots

flannel shirt, faux fur collar leather jacket, OTK boots

flannel shirt, faux fur collar leather jacket, OTK boots

flannel shirt, faux fur collar leather jacket, OTK boots

flannel shirt, faux fur collar leather jacket, OTK boots

Welp, this is the last of the outfit photos from my Christmas vacation. In case you haven’t been keeping track, we started with 2 days in central NC with my parents, then headed to western SC for 2.5 days with my in-laws, then backtracked to Asheville, NC, for a day with my parents, sister, and brother-in-law. The alternate title for my vacation was “Christmas Dixie Tour 2017.”

I would have loved to spend more time in Asheville, but we packed plenty into our 1 day. We started with brunch at Biscuit Head, where I double-fisted coffee and bellini and (obviously) had a biscuit with some kind of magical strawberry butter. Then we toured the New Belgium brewery and I bravely sampled some dark and sour beers (I’m usually more of a wheat beer girl). Turns out I still don’t love dark or sour beers, but I do like Fat Tire! Now that I know how cool the New Belgium company is, I’ll definitely make a point to pick up some FT in the future.

Then there was the present exchange (my mom made pajama pants for everyone because she’s cute like that), then a little bit of shopping even though it was QUITE chilly, then…DINNER. At Rhubarb. We ordered basically everything on the menu between the 6 of us, and we all shared, and it was all delicious. Highlights included crispy fried hominy with chili and lime, a huge plate of local cheeses, and potato frico with spinach and Brussels sprout leaves. It was one of those meals where you feel like you might never need to eat again for your whole life. So naturally, we immediately went and got dessert at the French Broad Chocolate Lounge. 🙂

And because it’s such a big food town, we had one more meal before hitting the road the next morning – Over Easy Café, your French toast will not soon be forgotten. Clearly I wrote this post just so I can get some extra website hits from people Googling “things to do in Asheville,” but I swear all of this is true. So bookmark me for the next time your travels take you to Appalachia. Everything is optional except the flannel. It’s hipsterville, USA, after all.

Jacket // similar Jeans // similar Shirt // Sunglasses // similar Hat // similar Boots