Wide blue trousers by Joline JolinkOne of those glorious spring days, just begging to sit on a terrace and have a drink. I wore my new wide blue trousers, which are very lightweight and great for wearing with sneakers. That Saturday I had to run a few errands in town (on my bike as riding a bike is very good for my knee and walking isn’t). When I was on my way home, I stopped to have a cappuccino at Café de Zwaan. My neighbour Loes pulled up next to me on her bike. Me: “Hi Loes, I am about to have lunch. Care to join me?” And she answered: “Always a good idea. Where?” I knew Café de Zwaan did lunch, so we “parked” the bikes.

(Note: later on in this post you can read about my interview on Glam Up Your Lifestyle.)

Lunch with Loes

Below: This is Loes (Dutch name, pronounced “loose” as it derives from Louise).

Loes

Below: And behind the bar is Greet. Yes, her name is the same as mine. Although I am still called Greetje. The “je” means “little” in Dutch, which I hardly am, but it just never changed from childhood. Greet is the best hostess you can ever imagine in a pub or a restaurant. She works very hard and is still able to give every client the idea he or she is special. I love her and like most clients I follow her to every place she works. Recently she changed her work place to Café de Zwaan in Haarlem. It is on my way from home to the centre, so stopping off is easy.

Cafe de Zwaan with Greet

Below: I snapped this gorgeous lady just outside the café. Couldn’t resist taking her picture. Great shirt, great trousers, great bag, beautiful face. And on a bike (so very Dutch).

After lunch I twisted Loes’ arm to take blog photos. To my surprise she said she really liked doing that and wouldn’t mind doing it more often. Ron will love this relief of his chore haha.

Below: The purpose of this photo was a head-to-toe shot when all of a sudden Greet crept up from behind. She knows I like such moves which is why I am laughing.

Wide blue trousers by Joline Jolink

Below: When you were to ask me “what was so funny?” I couldn’t tell you. No idea, but I love the picture. Well done Loes. Also a great oufit photo.

Wide blue trousers by Joline Jolink

Below: Then Ellen passed (on her bike) and stopped. “Hi guys, what are you doing?” Ellen is a friend of Greet and we explained about the blog and I asked whether she wanted to be included. “Sure, why not?”. You would think in Haarlem live only pretty women haha.

Ellen, Greetje and Greet

Below: “What was that?”

Ellen, Greetje and Greet

Below: “Give me a kiss and see you soon”. Greet, of course, had very limited time as she was providing the customers with food and drinks.

Ellen, Greetje and Greet

Below: Here is another picture I really love. The wide blue trousers are by Joline Jolink, the Dutch Brand I told you about in the post with my wide khaki trousers. The top is by Marella, sneakers Ecco en the cute fuchsia mini bag by Manoukian (gift by my friend Marianne).

Wide blue trousers by Joline Jolink

Below: Hiding in nearly every picture is this leather bracelet. It was a gift from a reader, Klára Földi. She makes bracelets and bags. No strings attached, she didn’t ask for any exposure on my blog, she just wanted to give me a present. Now how nice is that?!? So it is not a sponsored item but if you like it as much as I do, this is her Facebook account Strawberry and this is her Instagram account Strawberrybags. Her website isn’t fully functioning yet, but you can send her a message.

Did you notice I didn’t photoshop the arms? My daddy’s arms/skin. I was blessed with a lot, but not with good skin.

Fuchsia leather bracelet

Below: The back adds interest to the Marella top, I think. Of course I wear a blue tank top underneath as it is a real split.

Wide blue trousers by Joline Jolink

Below: The earrings are bright blue with a purple stud.

Bright blue earrings

Below: Those earrings I am wearing are pretty heavy. As I have told you before, my earlobes cannot handle weight very well. They really need a lot of support at the back to prevent the earrings from drooping. Look what I found through an Instagram advertisement… back lifters with an extra. The price wasn’t shocking and I decided to give it a try. They work brilliantly and apparently they are indeed silver (and gold plated) as my allergic earlobes are fine with them. (I doubted that very much when I ordered.)

poussettes / back lifter

Basilica St Bavo

Then something entirely different. When I went out that morning I cycled to the Basilica St Bavo in Haarlem. It is a gorgeous building and the annual flower parade was going to stop there. I should have looked at the times: they were to arrive that evening. As there was a northern wind blowing on this sunny day, I threw on my Hope Fashion poncho. I still love it. So soft, so easy. Click through if you want to see it styled on skinny jeans with high heels.

Below: Three ladies were taking pictures of each other with the basilica in the background. I offered to take a picture of the three of them together and they returned the favour. If you look closely you can see me wearing the bracelet.

Basilica St Bavo Haarlem

Below: Just for the ones who are interested in these things, herewith some church pictures.

Basilica St Bavo Haarlem

Basilica St Bavo Haarlem

Basilica St Bavo Haarlem

Basilica St Bavo Haarlem

Basilica St Bavo Haarlem

Below: The basilica was lit the night before and Loes provided me with a picture of the front of the building.

Basilica St Bavo by night

Below: One last shot of a very pretty little street in the centre of town.

Haarlem, Vijfhoek

This is the end of a little Haarlem tour.

Interview on the blog Glam Up Your Lifestyle

A chttps://www.glamupyourlifestyle.com/ouple of weeks ago Claudia of Glam Up Your Lifestyle invited me to an interview on her blog. I was really flattered. I follow Claudia for a long time; she is on my list of blogs I read. She has a very good sense of style and sometimes I copy her. Remember my black peeptoe shoe? (See the post about my orange leather skirt) I got the idea for these shoes from Claudia, who ironically didn’t like such shoes herself after she bought them. I loved them. Claudia has the most awesome bags, for which I envy her. So hop over to her blog to see my interview and other posts with her great style. Don’t worry that it is in German, just choose your language with the Google Translate button on the right side of her blog.

Greetje

No Fear of Fashion

error: Content is protected !!