You were bound to see another blogpost with a spring shirt but it is freezing this weekend. So I wore a more wintery outfit when my BVA girlfriends came to visit and decided to show you this first.

The black top provides a perfect stage for my modern brass necklace by Birabiro. The one I got as a present from Lydia when she visited Amsterdam (scroll to the bottom of that post to see her). She is a New York laywer and a jewellery designer as well. See her Etsy shop here. Following her on Instagram is a delight as she is my kind of fearless dresser. The necklace gift was a total surprise and a generous one. This Saturday I had changed the ribbons to elongate the necklace and fit the neckline.

Of course I started with outfit photos of the girls. Some of them even before the coffee with cake.

Below: Marianne looking fantastic as she always does. What a talented stylist. And guess what? She managed to buy this dress, skirt and cardigan of a lovely quality for € 5 in a secondhand shop. There weren’t any labels or size in it anymore, but we think it is Sarah Pacini, a Belgian brand we both love. Tan boots with green is a very logic choice. I still adore her glasses; they are so good on her.

Below: Marianne’s necklace. The one I gave her for her birthday. I really wanted it myself, but the better person in me won and she got it, as a modern chain necklace was on her wishlist.

Below: Claudia decided to dress sensibly when visiting a house with a puppy. Very wise and still looking good with awesome sneakers. Claudia is the sporty one of us. Readers who know our house might notice the gray Klippan couch by Ikea…. Our nice couch is in storage. The things you do for a biting puppy… sigh.

Below: Marijke wearing a fantastic green/blue combination with a stripe down the side of the trousers. Looking amazing.

Below: Don’t think the above photo was easily made as Marijke is one of the hardest people to photograph as she moves all the time and pulls faces. Like this:

Below: Jilske on the other hand is the easiest person to photograph. First shot was bingo. She stopped smoking! Hurray. So pleased with that. She is still having a hard time every day but determined to succeed.

Below: Jilske took this picture of me. Wearing the long green skirt which you have seen three ways in this post. With a belt which I have never been able to wear this tight….(yay). Because I was the host I chose flat boots this time.

Below: The only thing is, this belt is so stiff, that it moves up when you sit down. See what a short upper body I seem to have in this photo? Need to invest in a belt which is more flattering and which widens on the hips. There we have the next quest.

Below: Wearing my golden crossbody bag with this outfit.

Below: This picture completely failed because of flashlight. We are killing ourselves laughing because Jilske was sort of lying in her chair with her legs spread wide so they wouldn’t be in the picture. Not an elegant sight haha.

Below: Marijke sitting rather still… quick shot of the striped trousers and green boots. Oh and the parquet floor? Covered by linoleum (puppy measure).

Below: A shot which I couldn’t resist. Marijke’s tiny backside looking gigantic in this picture. Marianne ready to slap it haha.

Below: Jilske played with Watson in the garden wearing sneakers instead of her high heeled boots as she had just gone downtown with Marijke and Claudia for a few hours. Marianne and I stayed behind. The weather looks nice but it was really very, very cold. Like freezing point with wind and rain.

Below: Much more comfortable staying in.

Below: The ravished garden and Watson. The two are related.

Below: When Ron arrived home, Claudia showed him the work she was doing on a boat. Being outdoors with Watson every day got Ron a summer tan.

Below: This is typically Dutch: sitting in a circle with drinks and snacks. There were more snacks which I served, although I forgot a few which were hiding at the back of the fridge. I am a terrible host you see. Really I am.

Confession: I hate cooking and I get the shivers when people come to dinner. For the past 10 years or so Ron does all the cooking since he has more free time and (as he says) wants to make my life as pleasant as possible (the sweetheart). Only this Saturday Ron had no time to cook. Watson is taking up all his time. It was down to me. HELP. Ron had a solution: a caterer called Spanish Harlem (funny), provided me with 3 kilo paella, plus some nice bites when we were having drinks. I thought it was marvellous idea, befitting with the fact we are all going to Spain for a week in June. Poke some holes in the foil and stick it in the oven. My kind of cooking.

Below: We had some left. Which means Ron and I can enjoy it once more. That Spanish Harlem knows how to cook. Made Eton mess for dessert. That I can do haha.

Below: Small house, but we managed to fit 6 people. Ron telling Watson not to sit on the chair. Forgot the napkins and had to resort to kitchen paper. Bad host. Jilske was looking up a bikini brand. We are preparing for Spain.

What happened in my life this week

Again a lot of work. I will be so glad when this advertising campaign starts and the work is done (May 6th). It really isn’t funny anymore, what with juggling the puppy upbringing at home as well. Of course Ron does 90% of the work, but I try to support him as best as I can. Which isn’t much, poor man. Fortunately we are better in handling Watson and his biting session now.

I have already had a farewell lunch with the colleagues of my current team as I am joining another team soon… So we thought. Turns out not as soon as we anticipated. They said lovely words and I felt a bit sad leaving them. I know them so well and get on with all of them. Oh well, my new team is lovely too. I am just not very good in saying goodbye.

As I was looking at the photos taken during that lunch I noticed that my forehead was hardly covered by my hair. It looked really stupid. When I got home I took a pair of scissors and cut more fringe at the sides. Ohh. my hairdresser will be very upset when I see her in 4 weeks. I can hear her already haha.

Wednesday was a day of work and also of singing as I got a singing lesson as a present. 45 minutes of singing and learning about it. I loved it and booked another session. One big question I had: can I sing? Or should I never open my mouth for that purpose? She affirmed I can sing and reach quite a nice range of tones. If I do not concentrate I will miss tones, a matter of learning and concentrating.

Wednesday was also the day I did a photoshoot with Kitty again. Glorious weather with cold temperatures. I wore my heat-tech shirt by Uniqlo underneath it and was fine. You will see the result in two weeks. Should be really nice photos.

Thursday and Friday I just worked and ran errands. Nothing exciting.

Greetje