Only sharing this a month after my birthday, no big deal, ha ha. Christian and I took our annual trip to Vermont for my birthday. Instead of camping in the car like we usually do, we stayed at Jackson Gore Village in Ludlow, VT to try out a new area. We always make a stop in Woodstock because it is so pretty and this year was no different. I'll share our itinerary for the day after the outfit photos!
Originally we were going to go to the other side of southern VT to explore but one of my favorite bakers, Gesine Bullock Prado, had a new book coming out and was doing a talk and signing in Woodstock so we just had to go. ;) Her book, My Harvest Kitchen, is a mix of gardening and recipes. Christian is the gardener in our household so he was very excited to hear some of her tips and tricks on the subject! After the chat we had her sign our book and thanked her - while also telling her one day we'll take one of her baking classes!
Now let's rewind to the beginning of the day. We left the house around 6am and parked around the Woodstock Green right at 8:55am. There were tons of parking spots when we arrived but just 10 minutes later it was full up, crazy! After taking obligatory photos in front of the covered bridge (with no crowds and no cars, thankfully!) we headed to Mont Vert Cage to have breakfast because we've always wanted to stop there and never did.
Unfortunately, we were very underwhelmed. The process of having to wait in line to order food and then find a table and wait for the food was not the most enjoyable. People were also holding tables for family that were still in line so that made it hard for people who already ordered to find a table. The food was also overpriced for what it was. Neither of us were really satisfied with our meals, so this will be a skip from us from now on, unless there is absolutely no line.
After that we window-shopped through the local spots and then took more touristy photos with the mums in front of the Woodstock Inn. One day we'll stay here, but it is very expensive and always booked up. Then we headed to the library to wait for Gesine's chat. That ended around 2 so we did some more walking around town and visited Faulkner Park to try and get some animal photos with Christian's new lens, but they were shy.
Before we left we stopped at Woodstock Scoops for an amazingly delicious Maple Creemee. SO GOOD. They use local dairy and Vermont maple syrup. Once we finished our ice cream we drove over to Plymouth Cheese on the way to our hotel. Christian picked up some of their Vermont Cheddar and I grabbed some "jamples" of jam.
We checked into the hotel at 5 and headed right back out again for dinner at On the Rails. I was a little scared to try Vermont pizza but we actually really enjoyed it! The onion rings were also delicious. On our way back to the hotel we stopped at the grocery store and picked up a mini birthday cake to end the evening!
I love a good holiday themed sweater. When Christian and I were visiting his family in Missouri for a couple weeks I needed a bit of "home" so we ran into Marshalls for a quick walk-through one afternoon. We weren't intending on buying anything but the men's section had some great simple not-ugly Christmas sweaters. Christian got a half-zip one with polar bears and I got this one (the only one that they had in a small, haha!)
Funnily enough, the main pieces of this outfit are all from Marshall's. The bag and sunglasses are not. I haven't worn these boots in a while. Partly because I haven't really had an occasion and also because the insole is crumpled up so I feel the wrinkle on my foot, haha! I guess that's why they ended up at Marshalls years ago, a small but annoying glue defect. But I deal with it because they're gorgeous.
Sweater: Aspen reindeer Christmas sweater (Marshalls, men's department)
Jeans: Mother Denim 'The Looker Crop' in True Hollywood Lies c/o Marshalls
Boots: Gianvito Rossi 'Finlay' lace-up boot (Marshalls)
Bag: Emm Kuo 'Calle Bahia' (Roundabout)
Sunglasses: Ray Ban 'Erika' c/o Shopbop
It's always so hard for me to take outfit photos in Winter, yet they are usually some of my favorite outfits. I always feel bad making Christian stand out in the cold taking photos so sometimes wee don't take pictures. As was the case last weekend when we went to visit my sister. I wore two cute outfits, but no photos. Maybe I'll rewear them so we can get some pictures.
I wore this a couple weekends ago to visit my Grandparents for a bit. We hadn't been over in a while, for obvious reasons, but Grandma does get sad when she doesn't see us so we still try to go every few weeks. I don't think Grandpa minds seeing us either, ha ha.
Leopard Print Cashmere Sweater: Nili Lotan 'Abbey' sweater in Shiraz c/o Shopbop
Jeans: Mother Denim c/o Marshalls
Faux Fur Vest: Simply Vera Vera Wang faux fur shawl vest c/o Kohl's
Boots: Vince Camuto 'Davilla' (Marshalls/eBay - I have 2 pairs, this is my replacement pair, ha ha)
Bag: Dark Purple Chloé Faye (eBay)
I also enjoy how the majority of this look is from Marshalls. You can definitely tell from this outfit that it's one of my favorite stores to score deals on clothes.
Vest: French Connection faux-fur vest (Marshalls, shop more vests), Sweater: Madewell, Jeans: Mother Denim c/o Marshalls, Ankle Books: Vince Camuto 'Davilla' (Marshalls), Bag: Chanel Classic 2.55 Double Flap (shop pre-loved Chanel), Sunglasses: Gucci
Cardigan: Ami dans la Rue (Shopbop), Striped Cashmere Sweater: Alice + Olivia (Roundabout), Jeans: Mother (Marshalls), Rain Boots: dav 'Moto Gunmetal' (and here), Hat: bought in London
