Showing posts with label life after 50. Show all posts
Showing posts with label life after 50. Show all posts

Monday, July 1, 2013

Shopping Tips

If you have cool summer coloring, this is a great time to shop the sales.



Sweet Mr. Mickey took me down to Sevierville to shop in the huge Tangier Outlet Mall on Saturday. 



This is the palette of colors that look best with my own coloring. These colors are most often sold in the summer months, so that is when I do the bulk of my shopping for clothes. I dress in lightweight layers for most of the year, so this formula works for me.

Do you study your own coloring to guide you in finding what looks best on you? There are now several different programs that help you to identify your best colors, such as the original Color Me Beautiful system. Do a Google search for color analysis, and you will get several results. Knowing exactly what colors look best on you makes shopping and getting dressed so much easier.




Earlier last week, I found this Coach bag at the outlet in Blowing Rock, North Carolina. It was priced at $428, but after the sale and another discount they offered that day, I got it for $119.99! I like this bag because it is a smaller size and a neutral color. I also like it because the logo is so small. I do not care for items emblazoned with logos. 




The sandals are by Bjorndal from Rack Room Shoes. I found these on the same shopping trip.
   

 
The dress is by Dana Buchman from Khol's.

As the temperatures have started to climb into the 90's I am embracing low sandals with lightweight sleeveless dresses. I did take a navy blue shrug sweater and higher heeled neutral sandals to wear to dinner on Saturday, but it was never cool enough to require the shrug.

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Banner Elk

We often drive up to Banner Elk to have dinner at our favorite restaurant, Artisanal.


Banner Elk is a lovely village on the way to the high country of North Carolina.


This crazy stone wall winds all up and down the hills leading to Eagles Nest. Driving through the countryside you will see many gated communities that feature luxury log homes and fabulous mountain retreats. 



This is the gatehouse of Eagles Nest and one of the smaller log homes in the background. As you approach the top of the mountain the homes become more and more fabulous, such as this one



One of my favorite college campuses can be found here in Banner Elk. Lees-McRae is located near the heart of the village. 


Stone buildings and beautiful gardens can be found throughout the campus. 


I am sure many black bears have wandered across this campus over the years.


I am sitting with a bronze of the founder of the college.







This is the front porch of the historic rock house.



The main street of the village is lined with flowers and punctuated with this bronze statue of a baying elk.




Mickey's entree was so pretty!


My after dinner Grand Marnier was quite lovely also.



I am wearing a blue Traveler tank and pants from Chico's. The deep fuchsia jacket is from Stein Mart.





The Nina evening shoes are several years old but I had not yet worn them. They have tiny light topaz color rhinestones on them.

Sunday, June 23, 2013

Dinner by a Waterfall

Saturday was a wonderful day! We decided to take the convertible for a drive in the country to enjoy every moment of it.




We visited Damascus, Virginia, along the Virginia Creeper Trail and the Appalachian Trail, and several other trails.



We had a lovely early dinner outside by the waterfall at the Damascus Old Mill.



We were hoping to hear one of our friends, Lightnin' Charlie, perform live music this evening, but we misremembered the dates. His performance was the evening before.



Ducks came to rest by the water's edge as we were leaving.


Upstream, more ducks were teaching their young ones how to find food and not get too close to the edge.




I wore the beautiful bangle bracelet, which my friend Lois surprised me with earlier this week. 


Our next stop along our journey was the 'World's Shortest Tunnel' through Backbone Rock on Hwy 133 between Shady Valley, TN, and Damascus, VA.  It was constructed in 1901 for hauling timber from Tennessee to a nearby sawmill outside of Damascus.


My hair was cut this week, but after a day in a convertible, it looked better from the back than the front.



The turquoise knit top is from Belk. The white ankle pants are from Chico's. The Adrienne Vittadini sandals were from T.J.Maxx last year.

This visit brought back memories of a ten-mile hike alone on a sunny day several years ago. I hiked for several miles along the Appalachian Trail, stopping here in this park later in the day to hike over this rock formation and on to a nearby waterfall in the woods. I feel so blessed to now have Mr. Mickey to share my adventures with.

For more information about all the many wonderful places to visit near this area, go to Appalachiantreks

  

Thursday, June 6, 2013

The Olde Farm

In celebration of Mickey's birthday, dear friends treated us to dinner at The Olde Farm last evening. 



Since we were going to be dining in the more casual venue at the Party Barn, my outfit is black pants from Chico's and a lightweight wrap style top from Coldwater Creek. The shoes and necklace are from Stein Mart and the clutch bag is from T.J. Maxx.

This is the Party Barn on the grounds of The Olde Farm. 


Thank you for reading. I hope you have a great day.

Sunday, April 7, 2013

Motown in Tennessee!

Last evening Mr. Mickey and I had a wonderful world-class gourmet meal and saw a fabulous Las Vegas show right here in Tennessee!




The sun was shining all day, so warmer weather has finally arrived. Oh, joy!

My three-quarter length sleeve jacket is several years old. I paired it with a fuchsia tank from Chico's and a pair of dark gray pants from Stein Mart.

The faux leather clutch is from T.J. Maxx, and the ruffle trim black leather platform sandals are from Kohl's a couple of years ago. 

Mr. Mickey and I always plan what to wear so as not to clash with each other. When I arrived to pick him up, he looked so dashing in his black and white silk jacket and black sweater! 



The patterns in our jackets look strange in the photos, so I include close-ups of them.


Closeup of Mickey's silk jacket.
Closeup of Susan's black and white jacket.



Jacob and John are the chef and sous-chef at Gourmet & Company in Johnson City. Last evening they prepared a pasta dish that was absolutely one of the best meals either of us has ever enjoyed.

The ravioli was made with porcini mushrooms and stuffed with goat cheese and spinach. A roasted shrimp topped each, and a perfect orchid was placed in the center. Bravo gentlemen! 




The Johnson City Symphony Orchestra closed out their season with special guests. A spectrum is a group of four very talented gentlemen who performed in Las Vegas for several years. The evening's performance was a tribute to many of the wonderful Motown classics we grew up listening to. We were sitting in fourth-row center seats! I felt like a VIP all evening. 

Thank you for reading my blog and for all of your lovely comments.

I hope you have a great week!

Saturday, March 30, 2013

The Final Sailing Trip

Many of you have written to ask how my gentleman friend is doing after the boating accident. He has recovered amazingly well! 

Mr. Mickey will be seventy-nine years old in June. Three years ago, he had a stroke, which left him in ICU for almost a week. He is also a diabetic with very high blood pressure and other health problems starting to slow him down. After the stroke, we both embarked upon a healthier eating journey. (Thanks to the book "Eat to Live.") 

I am telling you all of this to share with you that it's never too late to change the eating habits that might contribute to your poor health

We have both lost about forty pounds since changing our choices of food a couple of years ago. Mickey has almost reversed his diabetes, and his blood pressure is at the perfect level, corrected with only a fourth of the medication once required. The other health problems have vanished.   

A few weeks ago, after the boating accident, he very nearly drowned; he is back to wanting to go somewhere special every night and laughing and telling stories non-stop. 

This past week he completed the last of his follow-up visits with his physicians here in the states. In only a few weeks, his broken ribs and kneecap, along with numerous lacerations and deep bruises, have healed. His physicians were totally amazed by his speedy and complete recovery at an age when most men would have had a much longer and more difficult time after such severe trauma. They all agreed that his food choices have contributed greatly to his rapid recovery.

If you missed the first post sharing the misadventure, here it is again...

My beloved gentleman friend, Mr. Mickey, has had the same group of friends for most of his life. For more than thirty years, they have gotten together for lunch a couple of times every week. They have enjoyed countless ski vacations, tennis trips, and Caribbean sailing trips aboard a chartered catamaran Captained by a member of this group of lifelong friends.



The group spends the week sailing from one harbor to another, creating great memories to share again and again.


Along the craggy shores of the British Virgin Islands, there are vacation homes and villas for those who prefer to enjoy the view from the land.



A smaller dingy boat is used to deliver the men ashore
where there is no dock in a shallow harbor.


The men occasionally stop for a sip of something cold late in the afternoon.




As the sun starts to descend into the horizon, it's time to make their way into a harbor for dining in one of the many nice restaurants dotting the shores along most of the larger islands.



Casual attire is perfectly acceptable for fine dining in the islands since the sailors often arrive cold and wet from their ride aboard a dingy from their sailboats and catamarans.



As the tides shift and in certain harbors, much larger waves suddenly start rolling in with little notice. A calm and peaceful shore can become a dangerous and even deadly place to be in a few seconds.

The evening quickly changed from sharing a wonderful meal and joking with friends to clinging to life.

The group boarded the dinghy to make their way back to their temporary home aboard the catamaran. Suddenly a much larger wave rose up from the darkness flipping the small boat end over end violently dumping all five men into the sea. Mickey and one other man remained trapped beneath the upturned dinghy. The other man was able to free himself and make his way to shore. One of Mickey's arms had become entangled in the towing line so he could make no such escape. The tides washed the small boat back and forth on the rocky beach dragging him trapped underneath. His strength was gone, and the pocket of air trapped beneath the boat was vanishing quickly. A final desperate gulp of air, seawater, and sand allowed him to yell for help one last time. The other men finally realized he was still trapped beneath the boat and were at last able to establish a footing in the raging surf to pull him to safety.

Trembling with shock from their injuries and the trauma of what had just happened, the group knew right away that Mickey needed immediate medical help.

After a day spent in an island hospital getting wounds bandaged and x-rays of broken ribs, it was time to make the long journey home alone for further medical attention from his own physicians and specialists here in the states.

Mickey's daughter and I picked him up at the airport at midnight on the following day. She told him through her tears, "You are grounded!"



The fellows will be telling this story for years to come, but I think perhaps Mickey will choose to stay home when they embark on their next adventure.

Sunday, February 17, 2013

Lipstick and the Symphony

Each year I give Mr. Mickey season tickets to the Johnson City Symphony for Christmas. We normally go shopping in the afternoon and then have dinner before the performance.




This was taken earlier in the day at Mickey's home. After I saw this picture, I asked him to take me to Merle Norman to buy lipstick.




Elizabeth, the beautiful young woman who helped me, had so much patience as we looked through a sea of color and formula choices. I found three colors that I am thrilled with. I haven't worn lipstick in many years, but lately, I've been craving more intense color, so I'm giving it a try again.


After the shopping trip, we enjoyed dinner at our favorite restaurant, Gourmet and Company, where we shared a chocolate dessert afterward. 





The guest artist for this symphony performance was Bella Hristova on violin. The concert was at the Mary B. Martin Auditorium at Seeger Chapel, Milligan. This program was Beethoven and Bella. Bella gave an amazing standing ovation performance.



I wore a black jacket with white stitching and long sleeve red tee with a red scarf. All the pieces are old, and you may have seen them combined differently in earlier posts. It was twenty-seven degrees when we left the concert, so I was thankful that I brought along a coat and wore layers.




Thank you for reading. 
Have a wonderful week!