Another Shopping Saturday with my friends Anke and Sabine: such a delightful day. We all look forward to it. As Anke was 38 weeks pregnant, we stayed in Amsterdam so she wouldn’t have to travel far.

I decided to wear this red and white striped jacket by FRNCH which I had bought last September at kpa., the shop where I also found my red and pink pleated skirt. Good shop, good brands. The jacket is very oversized, something to get used to. It took me a while to find out what to wear it with. My boyfriend jeans by G-Star RAW were the answer.

Let’s go straight to the photos of the day as there are many, starting with re-introducing the girls.

Below: Sabine, always looking fabulously with hat.

Below: Anke, clearly very pregnant. She arrived late as she had to take public transport instead of the bike. Her husband accidently took her bike keys with him. 38 weeks pregnant and still riding a bike: this woman is no sissy.

Below: We met at Madame Pompadour, a chocolaterie, cakeshop and tearoom in the famous 9 streets of Amsterdam. In the Huidenstraat to be exact. Anke, behind me, is chatting away with a man at a neighbouring table.

Below: Oh boy, this is no place to be when you want to lose weight. Sabine and I resisted all these marvellous cakes and chocolates. Anke did have a cake. She said she would lose weight anyway after the baby is born.

Below: Head-to-toe shot by Sabine. After experiencing the comfort of these flat ankle boots (see last week’s post), I decided to wear them while shopping. As it turned out I could have worn high heels as we only went into this tearoom, one shop and one lunch restaurant, all in the same little street. The lovely red bag is by Midlifechic. (There are two of these red ones left. If you want one you can send an email to accounts@midlifechic.co.uk. The price is £ 235.)

Below: Yes, Anke was unmistakably pregnant.

Below: A hug photo.

Below: We crossed the road to a shop called RUM Amsterdam (Huidenstraat 11). They are part of Pure Brands. The first rack already had good dresses like the one by ba&sh Sabine is holding.

Below: We were all totally in love with this skirt, size XS.

Below: Sabine tried it on and it looked so good on her. A little snug, but she is keeping far away from cookies, so that will be all right.

Below: Then she found this silk blouse in a gorgeous colour. I fell in love with it immediately.

Below: And as I am a mean copycat…. I bought it as well. It isn’t too bad as I will never wear it when meeting Sabine. In the office it won’t be an issue either as 1) we don’t work in the same building anymore and 2) I will be gone in two months.

Below: Had to photograph Sabine’s tushy. What I wouldn’t give to have a behind like that.

Below: In the meantime Anke was giving advice to us while mainly sitting in a chair. Her shopping time will come again.

Below: Anke was wearing the fab boots she bought when she shopped with me at the end of December, proving that you can be comfortable and stylish at the same time.

Below: Sabine contemplating whether she was or was not going to buy the trousers. She did not.

Below: Close-up of her boots.

Below: This is the whole outfit (all blue and white) in front of the shop. She can pose a lot better than I can.

Below: Oh, one last confession. This blouse was too good to leave behind.

We headed a few doors down to Healthy Belly for a late lunch. Healthy belly is a shop + restaurant where, and I quote, “a healthy lifestyle meets sustainability”. We were too busy chatting to have a picture taken of the three of us. I keep forgetting this. Not too bad; it means I live in the moment which is far more important.

What happened in my life this week

Saturday: as I was becoming very pale, I had a 20-minute tan bed session. I know, I know…bad for your skin because of aging and great danger of skin cancer. Let’s say, we all choose our own risk, hoping to get away with it without retribution. After that I ran a lot of errands by bike, entering multiple shops with no make-up, a hot face and stupid flat hair. Nobody took a blind bit of notice haha. A good reminder that (in general) you really aren’t that interesting to other people.

Found my scarf

In the afternoon I revisited the places I had been the week before, when I lost my black silk scarf. The scarf was waiting for me at the restaurant Kitty and I had coffee. Apparently they mislaid my phone number as I had contacted them in case they found it. It is an old scarf and there are already tiny holes in it, but it is so good. Glad to have it back.

Shopping my own wardrobe… what agony

Sunday I tried to style my wide legged trouser suit. After the first showing on the blog, I had the trousers shortened and the shoulders, arms and back of the jacket taken in. Only I hadn’t worn it since as I still did not like this suit. Why did I buy it? I don’t have opportunities for wearing something as formal as this.

I tried everything to soften the business vibe: scarfs, necklaces, blouses…. Nothing worked so I concluded that I have to wear the trousers and jacket as separates (see Thursday below). At times like this I HATE shopping my own wardrobe. I can style through blood, sweat and tears, but not by talent, sigh.

In the afternoon Loes was my photographer for another photo shoot. (Yes, it is hard work keeping this blog up and running.) We were lucky again as the sun was shining. So far I haven’t been forced to photograph indoors and it is already the end of January. Fingers crossed for the next few months.

Sidestep: a friend in The Hague (Karen Persson) put this photo on her Facebook: tulips in abundance. Fifty tulips for € 10. Isn’t it wonderful, all these colours? Makes me yearn for spring.

Monday: laughed my head off because of a very dry and comic remark my successor made. Rest of the day was quiet. Fitness early evening.

Tuesday: just quietly working, nothing special. Dog Watson had been to the dog trimmer and is very slim now. Beautiful dog.

Wednesday: another quiet day with fitness, shopping, laundry and blogging. If my life is going to be like this after retirement, I will have to cancel this part of the blog. I mean, you don’t want to hear about me coming downstairs in the morning to find that the dog had been shxtting in the living room, do you? Telling it anyway as this happened that day. Unfortunately I am always the first one to come downstairs.

Thursday: a nice day at work with drinks at the end of the day to say farewell to a freelance colleague. I think this was the 5th time we said goodbye to her as we keep hiring her haha.

Below a photo of Tanja (my boss) and me. These are the wide trousers I tried to style as a suit last Sunday. Wearing it with a black cashmere jumper here. Tanja is looking terrific with her pleated skirt, fashionable sneakers and her Essentiel jumper. Tanja is the best boss you can wish for.

Friday: working from home. Did my blogpost in the afternoon. As I needed space in my shoe wardrobe, I contacted my friend Marjolein and sent her photos of the ones I want to get rid of. She chose two pairs to try. The rest was tried on that afternoon by a woman who once bought my red cowboy boots. She has my shoe size so when I need space and Marjolein doesn’t want the shoes, I send her a message. They fitted her and she was very pleased. Brought me a little bottle of cava wine and lovely chocolates as a thank-you. I am just pleased the shoes found a good home and I can contribute to a more sustainable world. The feeling you get when you make somebody happy is the best reward.

And talking about happy: Anke gave birth to a healtjy girl this Friday. Mother and daughter are fine. Daddy is ecstatic.

Greetje