Husband Ron took this photo despite his aversion to taking my blog photos, bless him. He is now painting the shed as he didn’t like this rustic wood vibe. Next time he takes photos in the garden, it will be all lovely. I did some styling with stuff from my wardrobe this time. My bright pink jacket is quite new (you saw it before with leopard trousers), the houndstooth leggings are old and the bag and boots are 1 and 2 years old. Oh, I forgot, the polka dot top is new (rats, I did add something new). More photos of outfits below and how my colleagues said farewell to me now that I couldn’t have a retirement party.
I saw the photo above and thought: “Hmmm I like it but it is very 90’s. Then again…isn’t that a trend? Revival of the 90’s?” When I tried this outfit two weeks ago, I wore my cream flat ankle boots with it and Ron said: “Oh I love this outfit, it is really good”. I thought that was grossly exaggerated. It is fine, but “really good”? Nah…
Below: With the flat cream boots. The colour of the jacket is too pastel in this light. In reality it is brighter.
Below: Another pose with the high heeled boots plus an image of our dear Watson.
Below: The boots are IRO Paris. My cobbler sprayed them darker but it is still suede.
Below: Close-up of the bag (Nooki Design). It is still available on their website in silver and in gold.
Below: This is how I got the idea for the outfit. Remember I sewed loops on this legging so I could wear it with a belt? When I was trying it on I was pretty pleased with A) my sewing; it works beautifully and B) my reflection in the mirror. I know it sounds bloody vain and I know I am holding my tummy in but I couldn’t help thinking: “At the age of 65? Not bad at all.”
My virtual farewell party
If you follow my blog every week, you know that I am now officially retired. Thursday the 26th of March my colleagues were to throw me a lovely party at the office. The Corona virus stopped that; all my colleagues are working from home, so no party. But…under pressure creativity thrives and they came up with alternatives. That Thursday, from early morning on I received selfies on my phone. Nearly every colleague (51 of them) made a selfie wearing his or her best attire (with a couple of jokes as well) and sent it to me with some lovely words and the theme “Strike a pose”. It was heart-warming. Below a collage:
A cake was delivered to our house saying “Thanks Greetje”. Aaahhhh, sweet. As I need to watch my weight, I shared it with some neighbours even though it was delicious.
The postman brought 53 cards. They had all sent me one. With such lovely messages. If I didn’t know myself so well (and all my flaws) I would think I was God’s Gift to the World haha.
Then the doorbel rang and a bunch of flowers were delivered.
Early next morning I received a photo of my front door on my phone. It took me a while to realize the photo was sent half a minute earlier.
Sure enough, two colleagues from another office building (Leidi and Marjolein) delivered this bunch of flowers to my door.
In the end our living room looked like this. Can you imagine how honoured and appreciated I felt?
I don’t think I could have gotten a better farewell than this.
What happened in my life this week
As not a lot is happening due to Corona, I decided to show you what I wear every day. Don’t think I walk around in jogging trousers with slippers on; that depresses me. And there is another reason, I want to keep my feet and the muscles of my legs trained for wearing shoes, even high heeled shoes. It is like with sex: use it or lose it.
You will see a link to the original post with every outfit, just in case you missed it and want to see more of it.
Saturday outfit. Gosh, that wasn’t easy, going up and down the stairs in these heels. I leaned on my arms a lot. Blog post red and blue shirt.
Sunday. For this outfit I don’t have a link to a blog post as I didn’t show it yet. Normally I would keep the outfit until I had made a blog post, but there you go. I bought this shirt to replace a windowpane shirt of poor quality (see blog post here). Unfortunately the new shirt did not have the same effect and I couldn’t style it. By the time I discovered that, I had already given away the windowpane shirt. The pinstriped shirt made me look droopy and the colours (white and grey) were all wrong for me. Then this Sunday I came up with the look below. A green tank top underneath, green belt, green chain necklace and the shirt tucked in at the front. I like it.
Monday. A day for high heels again. I had to convince Ron that these shoes were not clumpy and heavy but modern. Blog post black, white and grey flower skirt. I did put on a different belt this time.
Tuesday. Ah.. my last workday. I drove to the office and handed in my computer and pass. After that I deleted myself from the department’s WhatsApp groups. That is it, I am officially retired.
As I was in the neighbourhood I stopped by Marianne’s house and changed her watch to summertime. She cannot do that herself. Marianne placed the watch in a bag outside her door, I changed the time, put my gloves back on and drove home to wash my hands. She took the bag with gloves and left it for a couple of hours. We are very careful. The outfit below has been on the blog but with different jeans, a different yellow jumper (sweater) and different boots. Very similar though.
Wednesday: A day for my black leather dress. Because one of the studs at the bottom was stronger than the leather, it had torn. Luckily my cobbler has fixed it. The man is worth his weight in gold.
To me, the best styling of this dress is with the snake print boots. More styling with this dress in the blog post.
Apart from calling a friend I didn’t do anything significant that morning. After lunch I was busy with bike riding, a lot of exercises and washing my hair. Which meant I wore the dress mostly during the evening. Oh and my mum (91) is on Skype now. Talking on the phone (every day) is fine. But every now and then it is nice to see each other through Skype. Glad that is possible now.
Thursday: to avoid our help who comes in to clean on Thursday mornings (Corona infection danger), I joined Ron at his allotment (“vegetable” garden). My darling husband offered to take my blog photos again and we shot two outfits. The rest of the day I wore this green leather jacket. The sneakers are an obvious choice when you go to a garden, but I like the outfit so much better with pumps (the second photo).
Poor Ron had injured his big toe trying to kick a ball while playing with Watson (dog) and was limping. So I did the shopping for him in the afternoon and walked the dog. Watson is still PULLING like hell when he is on the leash (with me), which got me so mad. Totally stupid of course. It isn’t the dog’s fault and becoming angry isn’t going to help at all. It only gives negative energy. This dog is too energetic, he has to be taken to a place where he can run and play with other dogs.
Friday: Thank God Ron’s toe is much better. No doggie walking for me, although we did go together in the afternoon. It was my exercise day which takes up a lot of time. You might think it is boring, this lock-down, but each day is over before you know it. A bit of reading, cleaning house, blog work and administration and hop…it is evening. The only interaction we had, were some chats with neighbours at a safe distance.
When I did my administration I “found” a bit of money on another bank account which I thought I had already used. Hurray. That will go to 4 new tires on my car and a fuel pump filter. The kind of costs you hate because they don’t bring anything new, just preserve what you already have. My father used to say about cars (and it applies to other things too): “It is not the purchase which will kill you as you have a goal; you know what you are saving up for, there is a reward at the end which makes it easier to make sacrifices. It is the upkeep that will kill you; setting aside money to keep on driving a car: maintenance and depreciation.” He said “killing” but meant “is very difficult” and it is so true. Anyway, I wore my jeans again as I quite liked my silver shoes that I tried on the day before. In the blog post I wear this top with a different necklace, different jeans and different boots.
See you next week.
Greetje
It’s so lovely that your colleagues made something special for you, despite restrictions!. Glad that you’ve enjoyed all these flowers and cards and Love!.
And I love to see you dressing up and looking fabulous!, you rock every outfit!.
Love particularly your leather dress (and those boots!) and the striped shirt with green accents and cute boots.
You totally rock!
besos
Congratulations on your retirement, you fabulous and well-loved woman! I like seeing all of your daily outfit photos at the bottom.
For some reason, I don’t like the pink blazer and houndstooth legging outfit at all, I don’t know why. It’s probably the only outfit I’ve ever not liked on your blog. It seems randomly put together, and not at all you, in my opinion. I mean, your legs look amazing in leggings, but the outfit just doesn’t work for me. I know I can be honest with you, and you know I love you even if you wore a bin bag. Now what I DO love in this photos is seeing baby Watson, all grown up and dashing. xxx
You can be as honest as you want baby. I have a soul of rubber. Besides, I cannot please you all of the time, now can I? It was bound to happen.
But I will admit, it is not my favourite outfit either. I like it better with jeans or with the leopard trousers. Oh well. One tries. No guts, not glory.
Next week and the week after, there will be a very short video of Watson on my blog. Knock yourself out. Mwah.
Oh Greetje, I never usually comment but I so loved your ‘use it, lose it’ analogy – I fear I may have lost it! I’ve not stopped giggling. I also love seeing the gorgeous interior of your home. It’s truly beautiful. Did you choose everything yourself or did you involve an interior designer? Also, what is the piece of furniture behind you in the photos? I’m intrigued as it seems to have jeans hanging from it. You look great in the leather jacket especially with the heels, but maybe also try the black ones from the other day which you said Ron thought were too clumpy. Really enjoy reading your blogs. x
That is so nice of you Gill, to comment. It always makes my day reading that there are actually people enjoying what I do. Especially when I can make you laugh or giggle. And I did with you. Hurray.
The piece of furniture behind me in the bedroom is the wash basin of an officer in the SA Boer War. A soldier would have to transport it, fill the top with water, hang the towels at the side (where indeed I now hang my jeans) and then the officer could wash himself. There is a little pipe going down to a space where you could put a big bowl to catch the used water. We picked it up at a brocante market.
And you are right, the clumpy shoes would go well with the green leather jacket.
Happy retirement!
Your looking very fit in all your pretty outfits.
You mentioned that you do lots of exercising. What type gives you such good results, yoga, weights ect. And do you follow a certain program!
Thanks just looking for some inspiration!
Stay healthy
The physiotherapist practice near me also has a fitness studio. Very small and they have classes of about 6 to 9 people and one physiotherapist surveying. That is what I do: I cycle, I pull weights, I do exercises on the floor. About two times an hour every week. Now that they are closed I follow their programs on YouTube and a TV exercise program for elderly haha. The latter leaves me breathless. My weights are two small bottles filled with water.
Wow! Major kudos to your colleagues for giving you an amazing send-off even if you couldn’t all be together in the same room. Congratulations on now being “officially” retired. You look so slim and trim in all of these outfits. I wish my jeans fit that well 😉
I will let you in on a secret: I don’t eat very much haha. Honestly it is hell to maintain this weight. Everything has a price I guess.
And yes my colleagues were so sweet.
Wow, what an overwhelming showing by your colleagues – I would have been in tears over it all!
I am all agog over those snakeskin boots. Oh, I want those SO BAD.
Glad to see all your outfits! And good that you are keeping your feet in “heel training” so that they don’t get complacent. Ha!
Those snakeskin (print) boots were too good not to buy. Like you, I was instantly in love with them. I am afraid they don’t sell them anymore. Plus they are a Dutch company. Sorry.
Thank you for the word complacent. I had to look it up so my vocabulary has grown again.
The really lovely shower of farewells by my colleagues did not send me into tears, which suprised me. And Ron too. He kept close to me that day, just in case I would break down haha.
Congrats to your retirement! It seems you have/had lovely colleagues. Great outfits. My fav is the one with the leather dress (of course) followed by the one with the yellow sweater. The hut really needs some oiling or color to not rotten in the humid maritime climate. Your living room looks like in a furniture catalog with all those flowers. Stay safe and sane. I agree not dressing up is depressing.
Hi Nicole, how lovely to hear from you. The hut was built with impregnated wood so I don’t think it would rot but Ron just didn’t like the sight of it. And yes I have had lovely colleagues which I am going to miss very much.
You stay safe as well.
Really fun to see your different outfits in one week. You have some fabulous pieces!
I know. I love my wardrobe and it would be such a shame to just walk in jogging trousers with a T-shirt all day. I probably will try and get a job (for less hours) or another occupation in a couple of months. If Corona will allow. I need people, structure, challenge, laughter and… a catwalk haha.
So good to see that you still had such a special day. I love how positive you are about it all.
Very impressed with how well you dress yourself every day even if you barely step outside.
Although I question your theory that you need to keep ‘training’ your feet to be able to wear high heels. What’s the science behind that?? I’ve heard more strories that you’re actually doing your feet damage by wearing too many high heels. Perhaps something to study / investigate now that you have more time 🙂
The “science” behind training my feet and leg muscles is very little. Observation is 1 haha. When I had my knee problem (it is way, way better now although not gone) I couldn’t walk on high heels for at least a year, a year and a half. Although three independent orthopedists had told me I was allowed to do so. I took the safe road and stayed on flats. When the knee got better I took out my high heels again and found out, it wasn’t so much the knee which gave me trouble, but the leg muscles. I had to train them again. Being such a lover of high heels I persisted. And I also think that when you wear slippers all day, your feet aren’t confined in shoes anymore and perhaps get wider? Just my thoughts though. No science.
You look good in every thing you wear! You are so funny, dressing up at home! I never can wear heels again because of my feet so I don’t have that problem! Love the leather dress, and the leather jacket and all of your boots. Happy retirement, although I think you will find something constructive to do!
You are right Linda, I do need something constructive to do. Something that gives structure, colleagues, challenge and… a catwalk for my clothes and heels haha.
I really feel better when I dress up at home. As I am typing this I am wearing a red dress with black high heels haha.
Happy Retirement! Thanks for the smiles and beauty you bring – appreciated now more than ever!
I will continue as long as possible Anne. Would have been lovely to meet you again in Amsterdam this summer but I don’t see that happening.
I always look forward to your weekly blog, I love how you use bold colors that really suit you. Your office personnel really stepped up! Now that you are retired are you going to tweet your closet of your “work “clothes? I envision you as upscale casual .
I didn’t have “work clothes”. I worked on the marketing and communications department and could wear anything I liked. Sneakers, jeans, whatever. But I do like dresses as well and am very fond of my high heels. So I don’t want to go to upscale casual. It is the easiest and most obvious thing to do but a part of me would die. In a couple of months I will have to look for an environment where I can wear dresses and heels and which gives me colleagues again.
Greetje – What a fabulous party – your colleagues are so creative. Congratulations on your retirement. It sounds like you’ll be very busy. I’m not retired yet (one more school year is the plan), but now that I’m working from home, (school librarian doing read alouds using Zoom) I don’t know how I managed to have time for work before!
My colleagues were indeed very creative and so sweet. I am going to miss them like hell. I wanted another job for less hours straight away and that is not going to happen of course with Corona. Fortunately my income does not depend on that. It doesn’t matter as I thought it might be a good idea to have a couple of months “vacation” anyway as I never had more than 3 weeks off in my whole life. I really enjoy retirement and like you say, I wonder how I managed to have time for work. But in a couple of months I probably miss interacting with people a lot and start searching.
Your daily outfits are inspiring! You really are a master of the “half tuck.” I’m not so good at it but am going to go practice now.
The half tuck is good for me because I am an inverted triangle. So I need to cover the fact that my hips are narrower than my shoulders. And hide my flat bum. You don’t have these issues, so you can style yourself in another way. More houreglass I guess. Oh and I see you avatar now.
I love how your colleagues celebrated with you Greetje….I bet that was so heart warming. And you have the best body no matter what age….if only I looked that good.
Along with your fabulous closet. Too bad we don’t live closer so we could swap. Granted you are tall and everything would be too long for me…haha!!
OXOX
Jodie
http://www.jtouchofstyle.com
You are joking, you have a gorgeous body. Curves only at the right places. And yep, my closet is filled with treasures, I will admit that. It is a good thing you live far away. I imagine you cutting away at my too-long clothes hahaha.
Happy Retirement ~ always enjoy your blog! 😘🌺🌷🌸💗🙋🏼♀️
Thank you very much Cheryl. Such comments make my day. And even in confinement I am enjoying retirement. Not having to get up when an alarm clock goes off… heaven.
You look so great in that yellow jumper- and the jeans game seems to be extra strong this week! Happy retirement!
I know… about the jeans. I noticed it today as well. Have to up my game, this won’t do.