These photos were taken in a hurry. Hoping we would have time to take pictures, I dressed for the occasion in my dropped crotch trousers and brought my camera. I lucked out. After we visited my sister-in-law on her birthday, we needed a spot where we could let dog Watson run free. De Parel van Zuilen (pearl of Zuilen) has a big garden and was a perfect place to shoot some hasty photos. Although there isn’t much variety in this post, I have my best trump card: Watson. Who cares about my outfit when you can look at this cutie?
Below: Two pictures of De Parel van Zuilen, an estate where you can have a party. Of course this place is so much better in (later) spring and summer, when the trees are green and the sun is shining.
Below: There is already some spring to enjoy with these magnificent magnolia trees.
Below: Beautiful tree.
Below: The details… cream shirt by Filippa K (bought and never worn; shame on me. I just couldn’t style it). Dropped Crotch trousers Munthe plus Simonsen, a Danish brand. Bought it in 2012. You can see it in this post of 2012 with high heels. And in this 2014 post, worn with knee high cream boots. Belt: old. White boots with block heel Fly London. You have seen them many times before.
My dear departed friend Pat commented on these trousers in 2012 by saying: “Hang on to these trousers. They will be great to hide your nappies* when you are old”. God how I miss her. She had such a great sense of humour. I cannot look at her photos without crying.
* nappies = diapers for the US readers
Below: Surprise, surprise. A kid from the estate was walking the dog as well. Our Watson is 11 weeks old in this photo and the black dog 1 year. Quite a big difference. Watson looks rather bewildered as if to say: “Holy cow”.
Below: The sensible thing to do in such a case: surrender and show the other one you are disarmed.
Below: More spring flowers and a puzzling statue.
Below: The estate had bright blue tables and chairs out. Unfortunately the sun wasn’t.
Below: The crest.
Below: Ron was taking my picture through the leaves of the tree, which always benefits the tree more than me, but he likes the artistic point of view. This was a funny one: Watson nearly made me trip and I had to quickly switch hands on the leash. See the tip of my tongue?
Below: To the right of the building was a gate and there was more wind. Wearing my heat-tech Uniqlo shirt underneath. I will reveal the details of the bag further down.
Below: Say Watson.. do you know what a difficult position this is for my knee?
The details
Below: Crossbody bag in silver by Nooki Design. There is rather a story to tell about this. I saw the bag on Instagram, worn by Lynne Meek of Styling Matters. Fell in love and ordered a similar one in gold in December. Two weeks after my order, my friend Marianne gifted me a golden bag (see here). I contacted Nooki Design and said the bag still hadn’t arrived and if it did I would send it straight back (so sorry). Two golden bags is a bit much, even for me. Cat, one of the owners, was ever so understanding and helpful. In the end the bag never reached me but was sent back to Nooki Design, who had already refunded me. Lynne kept flashing this silver one before my eyes on Instagram and I caved in. It is a little bit boho for me, which I am absolutely not. But I still like it a lot.
Below: The necklace. I have this one for years and remember I bought it at Wolford of all places. It suits the style of the bag.
Below: The bracelet. Bought second hand. Love it. Wore it with my long green skirt (3 ways in this post).
As I said, a short post.
What happened in my life this week
Saturday was lovely. Lots of sunshine and I met Helena, a friend since… I don’t know. 1986?? Strolled through Haarlem, sat in the sun and talked. I’ll show you the photos in next week’s blogpost.
A lot of work happened this week. I work full-time which is 36 hours a week, spread over 4 days of 9 hours, leaving the Wednesday as my day off. Not this week though. We were shooting a TV commercial on Wednesday and there was a lot of work to do on the computer as well. A day of 12 hours. They pay me handsomely, but I do have to put in the effort.
After work I rush home to relieve Ron of his puppy duties. After having taken care of our demanding little fellow all day, Ron needs a bit of rest. The good stuff: Watson sleeps alone downstairs and 9 hours on a stretch. Heaven. Hardly any “accidents” in the house anymore and when a wee is misplaced indoors, it doesn’t really matter. We made downstairs “wee-proof”. The only thing we need to master now is how to tone him down between 20.00 and 22.00 hours. He goes wild and wants to bite me where he can. Not nice. Probably just a teething phase. Not nice though.
Got a funny and lovely compliment by my husband after I had “smoothed things over” with a business associate of him. He said: “I bet you can talk the devil into putting hell on a pilot light.” It killed me laughing and I want that saying written on a tile.
Mum got me worried by not feeling well at all. Turned out she had not taken a pill which she was supposed to take every other day. After she took one, she instantly felt much better. Pfff….. what a relief.
The braces are getting my teeth straight in no time. When I inquired whether it would perhaps only take half a year instead of a year, it was a negative. A year it is. Oh well, the braces don’t really bother me and they do have this very nice side effect: I have lost significant weight. Dropped from 64.5 kilo to 61 kilo in two and a half months. (1 kilogram = 2.2 pounds). Imagine, it has taken me 10 (TEN) years to lose 1 kilo and now I am as slim as I was 20 years ago. Enjoying the hell out of it. Belts which never fit me, all of a sudden fit and look great. I cannot stop looking in the mirror. I don’t think I eat that much less than I used to before the braces, although I might be wrong. Could it be it is because I only eat three times a day? I take the braces out to eat half an hour in the morning, half an hour at lunch and an hour for dinner. Trying to eat as much as I can in that limited time AND have my beloved coffee. When there are sweets available I munch them as well. Outside these times I do not eat or drink, except water. And the odd coffee with cake once a fortnight as exception to the rule. Joan Collins used to advocate this “three meals a day and nothing in between”. Perhaps that is the trick?
And that was that this week.
Greetje
Thank you Nora. I am a necklace lover and have a vast collection.
Greetje
Sorry, your dropped crotch pants still steal the spotlight here, although Watson is still absolutely adorable. Who knew that braces would help you lose weight. Maybe they should market them like that. ?! I’m going backwards through your posts, which is a bit weird, but interesting.
I gather you are going through my posts. Don’t feel obliged darling. I know we all have limited time.
Losing weight through braces only helps when you are convinced of the necessity of keeping them in. I am very curious to see whether I can maintain the reached (low) weight after the braces are gone and willpower is all I will have left. Or not.
Greetje
The dropped crotch trousers look extremely stylish on you and yes your puppy is super cute. The stone necklace suits the style of your bag. Lovely post!!
Thank you very much. Just out of interest, are you a man responding to this post?
Greetje
Omg Watson!!!! I adore that puppy so much!
Love dropped crotch trousers and this entire outfit is superb my friend. 5 stars 👍
I think Ron’s saying is brilliant (agree with him too btw) so I’ve nicked it, thanks Ron 😉 Happy to hear your Mum is ok and lady you look a million bucks with the slender frame.
Thank you for all these many compliments. Blushing here. My slender frame pleases me endlessly. I am determined to keep it this way.
Greetje
I think the pants look great on you. Yes, they’re a bit quirky, but I think they work with how you’ve styled them here. Puppies, oy! That chewing phase is a pain, but it should pass once he has all of his “permanent” teeth. He’s SUCH a cutie pie!
I love the “hell on a pilot light” expression…that’s a very good one!
Ron has a way with words and also haa a great sense of humour. Don’t we love that in a man?
Watson is already calming down a bit and we are learning tricks to avoid him biting.
Greetje
Watson is utterly adorable and completely steals the limelight, but I know you won’t mind me saying that. I love your drop crotch pants especially paired with those boots. And the bag totally rocks!! Cutting out eating between meals is such an easy way to lose weight – well done you how wonderful xxxx
As long as I keep my backside covered with these trousers I am OK. There isn’t a lot of Greetje there you see. (That was a remark of a reader in 2013 haha.)
Watson will be in lots of photos if Ron takes them.
And I am determined to keep this weight.
Greetje
Oh my goodness! Watson is so dang cute!!! His kinky, multicolored coat is adorable and boy is he growing fast! I’m so happy for you two that he’s settling in for the night. He’s going to continue that bitey, rambunctious behavior for awhile so I’m sending you a wish for extra patience!!
You look great Greetje! You’re slim, trim and looking quite sexy in your nappie pants! 🙂 I love that you’re sharing her with us. She sounds like a really creative thinker which I think makes the best kinds of humor! These pants have stood the fashion changes of time and are so COOL!! Wow! Do I love that little silver bag as well!
Ah, you taught me a new word: rambunctious. Thanks. And from now on I will call these trousers my nappie pants haha. Yes Pat was a very clever thinker.
The silver bag proved to be more versatile than I anticipated.
Greetje
Well Watson does tend to hog the spotlight when in the photo : ) .
His colouring makes it look like he is wearing socks. So cute!
He is growing.
Those pants look like they could hide quite a few things LOL. I know Mel and Sylvia like drop crotch pants too. They aren’t my thing but I love the white paired with the green.
Suzanne
http://www.suzannecarillo.com
Indeed Watson is growing so fast. I understand drop crotch pants aren’t your thing. Many people will agree with you haha. Thanks for being honest.
Greetje
The Netherlands Tourist Department should give you an award. Your location photos are like a mini trip to Amsterdam.
I try and show different locations as they enhance the reading experience. We all like to look at nice pictures right? There were times I thought the same (“They should pay me, really.”) but I believe Amsterdam is experiencing too many tourists at the moment and is concerned about the character of the city.
The place where the dropped crotch trousers were taken is not near Amsterdam, but more near Utrecht which is in the middle of the Netherlands.