My friend Marianne gave me this colourful midi shirt dress on one of the get-togethers of the BVA girls (my group of friends). She got it from her daughter and it is by H&M. It came with a belt in the same fabric, but somehow I lost that. I tried about seven different belts and suddenly remembered that I had a purple belt, bought in the sale with my Shopping Saturday girlfriends (in this post, scroll down). All right, I thought, perfect colour and shape.
However…I have to really pay attention to this belt and push it down, otherwise I get a big fat belly, as you can see in the photo below:
It was sweltering hot at 15.30 that day as Kitty shot these photos. Because I know a body shaper takes a size off me, I wore one. Not funny in this heat. Don’t tell me I am mad; I know I am an idiot.
Below: We chose the Ripperda park as our background. Wigbolt Ripperda was a very historic figure. Together with another historic figure, a woman called Kenau Simonsdochter, he resisted the Spanish army in a 7-months siege of Haarlem. In the end they had to give up and Ripperda was beheaded. Read more about Ripperda here.
Below: Nice statue of two bears in the park. Fighting or playing?
Below: Kitty made me walk on grass with my high heels. These photographers have no mercy. Ron used to place me in the sand of the dunes with stiletto heels.
Below: We continued at the big park a few metres away.
Below: It is a grand square with the houses built in a circle around the park.
Below: I ‘climbed’ on this stump myself, no pressure from Kitty. It looks really low, but for a woman of 66 with a bad knee and on high heels, this is high enough. Getting on it wasn’t a problem, but getting down again, was. Oh, I am getting old. I am demonstrating here that the golden chain can turn this clutch into a shoulder bag.
Below: The tree was too lovely not to use as background.
Below: Besides the belt/belly thing, there is another tricky thing about this dress: the slits at the sides. I might want to look for a pink or purple underskirt. This black one isn’t really elegant. Or I can sew up the slits a bit more.
Below: There is a very low fence around the park and I managed fine. Still…at my age and on heels…
Below: I am cheeky enough to sit on somebody’s windowsill.
Below: Or on somebody’s bench. This is my more serious face. Makes a change from my eternal grin.
Below: Trying to blow some air on my face and wave some air under my skirt. Not very lady-like but these were desperate times.
Below: Close-up of face, eyebrows, belt and pattern dress. And… I finally have my own earrings in. The right earlobe is fully healed, unfortunately the left one is not. The eyebrows still have to get a bit lighter.
Below: Kitty, just back from a holiday in Italy (COVID-proof holiday), very tanned, in a new dress and with streaks in her hair.
What happened in my life this week
Saturday. Not an awful lot, just blogging, reading. In the afternoon Ron and I went into town to sit on a terrace (in the shade), have a drink and watch the people walk by. I always love that. Ron got overly enthusiastic and urged me to go into a shop to search for new shorts as he isn’t too fond of the white ones. I tried but couldn’t find anything. In the shop Ron had me try on a yellow and white dress which was heavily reduced. It was a darling dress but the hem ended the width of a hand above the knee. I just cannot do that. Ron and the shop owner couldn’t see the problem. Cannot remember what I wore that day and didn’t take a photo either.
At the end of the afternoon Kitty took photos of me in two different outfits. And it was hot again.
Sunday. Did my exercises. Still very proud of myself. Rest of the day was really quiet. Did a little survey amongst the neighbours how they dealt with the heat. Four women admitted to sitting in their living room in their underwear, behind closed curtains. Like us haha.
Monday. My step daughter’s wedding dress had arrived at the shop and we immediately went for the first fitting. As it had cooled down a bit I could finally wear jeans again. (Link to original post.) And I did walk on these heels. It takes a bit of effort. They are by Michel Vivien. I prefer the original styling with the legs of the jeans longer and with the silver pumps. The temperature required sandals though.
Below: After the fitting (which went really well) we had lunch together. In the Netherlands we are now obliged to leave our name and telephone number at every restaurant, bar etc. in case COVID-19 breaks out in a place.
Tuesday. Exercise in the morning, some blogging and gardening and in the afternoon meeting friend Misja (blog MisjaB) at Vascobelo (one of my two favourite coffee places). Below: We sat in the garden of the restaurant and I took this photo of her. As always she was perfectly dressed, very arty. She is growing her hair longer, so she needed to pin her long fringe away from her face.
That day I wore this (link to original post):
Wednesday. Photoshoot with Loes as I wanted enough blog photos in stock. Just in case ‘my’ photographers cannot do a shoot. We had lovely cappuccinos and ‘pastel de nata’ (Portuguese pasty) afterwards. Yummy.
In the afternoon Ron and I had to sign a legal document at the notary in Amsterdam, so I dressed for the occasion. Link to original post from 2013 (!!) when I still had brown hair. You see, some clothes are so good, you will keep them forever. That is why my wardrobe is so big.
Then Ron and I got into an argument, a fight. I won’t go into the details as I don’t want to air my dirty laundry in public. But, as I always tell the nice stories about us, I want you to know there are these moments as well. Don’t want you to think we are Mr. and Mrs. Perfect. Even in a loving marriage there are moments when you don’t see eye to eye.
Thursday. Ron and I went to his allotment garden in the morning and settled our ‘fight’ as mature people by talking and listening to each other. We are good now.
As it was still warm, I wore cut-off jeans and a linen shirt. Did some blogging and reading in the afternoon. A bit boring but I cannot venture out. Our prime minister has urged us to respect the measurements to control the COVID-19 virus as the cases are increasing again. In the evening we walked the dog along the seashore. Watson loves to dive into the sea, swim and chase the seagulls.
Friday. Fun day. Exercises of course and at noon I met my friend Marjolein in Amsterdam to go to an art fair. Here she is, totally colour coordinated:
She has the same chocolate box bag as I do (she spotted it first in the shop), so she texted me to ask whether I was wearing mine that day haha.
The art fair was about up-and-coming and established contemporary artists and was held in the Amsterdam Westergasfabriek, a fabulous series of buildings.
Here you see Marjolein in front of artwork by Thomas Trum we both liked. Wonderful with the vibrant colours she was wearing as well.
And I really liked this artwork by Gilleam Trapenberg.
Afterwards we had lunch in one of the many restaurants on the premises. We also paid a visit to the Tony Chocolonely chocolate shop. Their main office is in one of the buildings of the Westergasfabriek. Below: Marjolein pretending to eat the mini chocolate bars.
After a stroll around the adjacent park we said goodbye. A lovely afternoon with a lovely woman.
Greetje
Leave a reply