Soft Surroundings Noelia Duster for a Chilly Spring Date Night

A few weeks ago during Spring Break, my husband and I had the opportunity to go on an overnight date in Lake George and Saratoga Springs, New York. After we checked into our hotel in Lake George on a Friday afternoon, we changed out of our car clothes and then began the 30 minute drive to Saratoga Springs for dinner and a concert.

For the three hour car ride to our hotel, I wore my Thrifty Six Belt It outfit and we stopped along the way to take photos. For our date night, I built my outfit around this fabulous new Noelia TENCEL™ Duster from Soft Surroundings.

I recently shared three other statement pieces that I purchased on clearance from Soft Surroundings…the Gabriela Duster, the Scarlet Serenity Long Knit Topper, and the Hana 3/4 Sleeve Open Front Satin Topper. After purchasing those three items, I received rewards and a discount code toward my next order. I had been stalking this Noelia Duster which was originally priced at $319.95, but with my rewards activated, a few stackable discount codes, and a sale going on, I added this beautiful statement piece to my closet for just $83. I already know it was worth the money because just look at it! The details and craftsmanship are beyond compare. It is just an absolutely stunning piece and the pictures can’t even do it justice.

When the duster arrived in the mail, I was so excited by how well it matched my new Old Gringo Eagle boots that I actually squealed out loud and did a little happy dance. I don’t know if you remember my mentioning these boots but they might be my best ever sale purchase with a total savings of $481.51. With an original retail price of $710.99, I kept my eye on these beauties for a few years, just watching and waiting for the price to drop. Then I hit a flash sale in March, combined it with my rewards and discounts, and added these gorgeous boots to my collection for $229.48, a totally reasonable price for high quality leather boots.

Since the boots and duster make a grand statement all on their own, I built an easy comfortable outfit underneath in shades of red, blue, and brown. I wore navy leggings and a deep red tunic with my favorite long floral scarf. Because it was rather chilly, I layered this thrifted mixed print kimono robe underneath my Noelia Duster. Finally, I stacked on a bunch of necklaces…my Shelbee mala beads, my thrifted sequined owl pendant, my rose gold wire wrapped pumpkin necklace, and my flea market ring necklace with coordinating earrings found at a different flea market. I topped it all off with my belted tan Panama hat.

I have to say that I felt absolutely fabulous wearing this outfit! I even had a few strangers compliment me. My favorite was a woman in the bathroom at the concert. As she came out of a stall while I was washing my hands, she literally started screaming at me, “OH MY GOD! I FUCKING LOVE YOUR OUTFIT! WHAT A STUNNING DUSTER. YOU ARE FUCKING FABULOUS!”

I mean, if you’re gonna scream and curse at me, then I’m gonna believe you. I am fucking fabulous! Thank you very much.

Now that I told you all about the outfit, let’s get to the concert. The show was at Putnam Place, a really small intimate venue where we saw Roots of Creation during our Spring Break date night last year.

This year, we had tickets to see lespecial, a Connecticut jam band that opened for Umphrey’s McGee when I saw them play in Asheville, North Carolina, back in 2022. I was having some tummy issues before that 2022 show and ended up missing lespecial’s opening set, but I did have the opportunity to meet the band members after the show. So when I saw that they were performing at Putnam Place in Saratoga Springs on the exact night that we had planned our date trip, we immediately purchased tickets. What we didn’t realize is that lespecial was the headliner this time and there was another band opening for them.

With a starting show time of 8:00 p.m., lespecial didn’t get on stage until after 10:00 p.m. so we ended up only catching the first two songs of their set before heading back to the hotel. We are old and it was getting way too late for us so we’ll have to catch them another time…again. But on a positive note, we discovered the fabulous band that opened for them, a quartet from Brooklyn, New York, called PEAK. I really enjoyed their songs and their vibe.

More importantly, I was completely mesmerized by their keyboardist, Johnny Young, who lost his vision as a teenager. I couldn’t look away from him and how fast his fingers moved across the keys to make some of the coolest sounds I have ever heard at a concert. At one point, his fingers were moving so fast that it looked like he had about 15 fingers on each hand. What amazing talent! If you ever get the chance to see PEAK perform, I highly recommend them. They are a lesser known jam band so tickets tend to average around $30 which certainly helps to keep date night costs reasonable.

Before the concert, we did a little shopping in downtown Saratoga Springs, visiting my favorite shop there, the Saratoga Saddlery, a specialty boutique for all things cowgirl including saddles, a wide selection of cowboy boots, and other Western apparel and accessories. I had wanted to buy myself yet another new pair of cowgirl boots, but sadly they didn’t have very many options available in my size.

They do carry Black Jack Boots which are absolutely stunning specimens of feet art but way out of my price range. My favorite pair were these gorgeous hand tooled blue and brown boots for a mere $1,695. I did ask the sales person if I could try them on even if I had no intention of purchasing them and he was so kind. He immediately ran to the back to get them and created a whole fun try-on experience for me. They felt pretty darn incredible on my feet so now I have some serious savings goals now. One day, these boots will be mine! I might be afraid to wear them out of the house, but they will be mine.

Since I had scoped the Saratoga Saddlery website for weeks before our trip, I knew that they weren’t going to have much in my size so I had already had a backup plan if I couldn’t find cowgirl boots. I ended up buying the Outback Short Town & Country Boots in chocolate brown because I very much needed some waterproof muck boots and absolutely did not need another pair of cowgirl boots. They are called short but they aren’t really short at all, just a bit shorter than the knee high tall version. They are also very comfortable and not at all bad looking for a pair of muck boots.

Before leaving the Saddlery, the kind salesman recommended Druthers Brewing Company for dinner. It was so good that we walked back to the shop after we ate to thank him for the suggestion before heading to Putnam Place for the concert.

But before that, we visited Saratoga Outdoors because Jeff needed new hiking boots and trekking poles. While he was waiting for the salesman to bring him some boots to try on, I ended up selling a pair of OOFOS to another customer. They are seriously are the best things I have ever had on my glass feet and I cannot remain silent about it. She was hesitatingly looking at them and no one was helping her, so I chimed in and made the sale!

We had a wonderful date night followed by a lovely date day the next morning as we made our way back home. I will share the details and the outfit I wore the next day in tomorrow’s post.

Have you been on any fun date nights or other adventures lately? Do you stalk expensive things online waiting for them to go on sale like I do? I can’t help myself. I like a bargain and I hate paying full price for anything!

Keeping it on the edge,

Shelbee