All my friends are dear to me and my heart is capable of loving them all equally. When you make a new friend, it doesn’t take any love away from your old friends, your heart just expands. It is such a magnificent phenomenon.
You are about to see many photos of my day with the Shopping Saturday gang, wearing my wide cream trousers. Sabine took 295 photos and I narrowed it down to 27 which is a quite an achievement but still pretty much for one post. If you think it is too much, just scroll through them quickly.
Below: It was a beautiful sunny autumn day. We had arranged to meet each other at the Noordermarkt in Amsterdam, starting with eating the world famous apple pie at café Winkel 43. Well, world famous it is; there were at least 20 people queuing to order. I bet the place is on Trip Advisor, Lonely Planet and Booking.com.
The staff didn’t serve or take orders on the terrace anymore (probably another case of staff shortage). We decided to move to the neighbouring café.
Let me re-introduce the Shopping Saturday ladies to you.
Below: Anke.
Below: Sabine.
Below: And of course me, myself and I (before the eyelid operation).
Below: At the market you can buy flowers, farmers’ products, jewellery, vintage stuff, cheese, sweets etc.
Below: And you can buy caps. Sabine used to live near this market and always bought her caps from this stall. She was torn between these two.
Below: The girls had fun.
Below: We all loved this purple hat, what a beauty. Alas, it was too big for the both of them.
Below: Anke pretended to phone me on this very old dial phone. We call this old stuff, brocante, like the French do. It is a fancy word and should refer to anything which is lovely and old but not yet antique. Antiques should be at least 100 years old.
Not everything is that beautiful, there is also a lot of junk. Then again, beauty is in the eye of the beholder LOL.
Below: A word about the outfit. The cream trousers I bought in Amersfoort was also the day I scored the Wandler bag I am wearing. I like the wider trousers trend and bought this pair mainly to go with my oversized men’s jacket. That is indeed a nice outfit as you will see in the future.
For this Shopping Saturday I chose my Marc Cain top. That was a bit of a mistake. From the font it looks flattering. For a sideways view, you’d see a bulging stomach and belly. Of course I did not include those photos. Anke and Sabine never said a word about that. Sweet, but I wouldn’t have minded if they had pointed it out. The top looks much better worn with a skirt as in this outfit. Or perhaps my body has changed in the last 4 years.
Below: As I photographed Sabine at the cap stall, a man behind her noticed that.
Below: Spontaneously he wanted to be in the photo with Sabine haha. He is quite a dish.
Below: As we left the market to wander through the ‘Jordaan’ (an old and much loved area of Amsterdam), we saw this bench. I had to sit there and have my picture taken with all these lovely flowers surrounding me. As I stood up, I noticed the little sign ‘Private’ (too late). Someone already came to the window.
Below: Anke wearing the cap Sabine decided on. I think she looks like Jacqueline Kennedy in this photo.
Below: No idea what was so funny. We just laugh all day.
Below: We crossed the Lindengracht market (big market) where these two men singing old Amsterdam songs. I could have stayed with them for hours and sing my heart out (off-key but with a lot of enthusiasm).
Below: The store below sells samples of clothes that have been worn on the catwalk. I fell for this very cuddly vest, only to find out at home it is very difficult to style for my figure. Will I never learn???
Below: Anke found this elegant autumn jacket.
Below: I did not buy those silver boots. I drooled over them, but high heels are out of the question nowadays.
Below: Continuing our shopping spree in Haarlemmerstraat. So far Anke only had one bag, which was about to change.
Below: In Haarlemmerstraat we found a couple of vintage clothes stores. The dress Sabine is holding up would never be my pick, but I know that if Sabine would have bought it, she would have made a smashing outfit with it. She is so good at styling. Don’t you just love her jacket? We loved her silver boots as well which you can see better in the first photo of this post.
Below: It was way past lunch time so we stopped at this café/restaurant (the one in the top photo). Poor Anke got a lot of attention from this (obviously inebriated) man who claimed he was a singer and insisted on being photographed with Anke.
Below: In one of the vintage shops we saw this chair. I love it, especially the Barbie doll in the back pocket.
Below: Anke bought this vintage shirt; the trousers, however cute they may be, were too tight. She scored very well that day. Sabine found the cap and I only bought that cuddly orange vest (didn’t cost too much).
Below: Anke carrying two bags now (and more inside the bags). I wore my leopard print summer coat with a puffer jacket underneath from Uniqlo. Such a great solution for spring and autumn.
Below: One building on the Haarlemmerstraat for you, a former Catholic girls’ school.
It was one of these days you want to play on repeat.
What happened in my life this week
Below: This Saturday I saw another group of friends, the BVA girls, the ones I went to Spain with this summer. Our sixth member, Marianna, was under the weather, health wise and couldn’t come. A shame as we haven’t seen her for a long time. From left to right: Claudia, Marijke, Marianne, me and Jilske.
I have never had so many compliments on a garment as this day with my Big Bird/Pino jacket. At least 8 people stopped me to say they loved the jacket. And we were in Veenendaal which is not exactly a place of high fashion (understatement of the year).
Sunday I saw mum, she was attired fashionably in purple. On Tuesday I picked her up and we went to see an eye doctor and an ear doctor in the hospital. Everything went very smoothly. We want to preserve her hearing and eyesight as much as possible.
Monday Marcella visited me in the morning (forgot to take a photo). We hadn’t seen each other for weeks as she has been ill. We had a lovely chat for a couple of hours and then went our separate ways. Me to the seamstress to get another cushion cover for dog Watson.
Wednesday my friend Selma hit Haarlem with me. We both had store credit with kpa.haarlem so that was our first stop after coffee and lunch. We both found a pair of trousers; hers is vegan leather (I love that term) and mine are pleated trousers. I should have left it at that, but I wanted to show her Paragons where I bought my vintage Kenzo men’s jacket. On our way to that shop we popped into foof, a clothes and shoe shop. Darned, I bought bordeaux coloured boots. Do I need them? Of course not. Am I getting into a financial dip because of my spending habits? Of course I am. I need a psychologist. Or would a hypnotist help? Perhaps I should start looking for a job two or three days a week. It would give me colleagues to laugh with, money in the bank and no time to spend it.
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Thursday was a day of errands and bike repair etc. In the afternoon my friend Yvonne came for a cup of coffee and a chat.
Friday. In the morning I had a 2 hour conversation with a former colleague and that was so nice. We were close but due to Covid, hadn’t spoken one another for 2 1/2 years. We made an appointment to meet.
Rest of the day was a strange day. I got an epiphany concerning a money matter and that was a bad one. I was right and it would have been soooo much better if I had realised this 8 months ago. Oh dear. It ruined the rest of the day.
Greetje
I once bought a similar little fluffy vest like you did. The combo of the model of the vest , the length and material make it unflattering on almost everybody.
If you would really consider working again, please choose something like being a salesperson at KPA.
Three afternoons a week. No salary. Just a spending credit to buy their clothes (with a discount)
Hahaha…what a clever idea but alas that is not going to work. I cannot stand a whole afternoon with my knee.
But I have already abandoned the idea of going back to work.
I always enjoy reading about your shopping adventures with your beautiful friends. It’s obvious how much fun you are having so hooray for you and your friends. Very stylish ladies! The outfit with the wide-leg pants looks good. I think the belt is a good addition.
Thanks Linda. Yes, my friends are stylish, I cannot deny that. I love them for the fun part as you can imagine.
The wide-leg trousers are good, but I won’t wear it with this top anymore. I meant to wear it with my oversized men’s blazer which looks better.
Love the wide-legged trousers on you, Greetje! What a fun day you all had – I can tell how much you all love being together. It just makes me smile to see you hanging out and shopping. And then to see your other group of women! Don’t you find you appreciate seeing everyone so much more? I really do.
Your mum looks lovely in her purple.
I love my friends to death and couldn’t do without them. You are the same; you have such a consistant group of friends who see each other every week (or so). Great.
The wide trousers make you look very tall and slim and the belt adds a lot of interest too. All your friends look very stylish – love Sabine’s outfit in particular (trousers are a lovely colour) and Marianne’s jumper really suits her. Hope your finance problem gets sorted out soon.
Sabine and Marianne are both stylists, really. They just know how to put together an outfit.
My financial problems would be over if I stop going into shops and buying clothes. I wish I had discipline in that area too.
How wonderful that you have so many amazing friends to hang out with, and go on shopping sprees! It looks like you had so much fun, with lots of laughter. They’re the best days. Sorry you had such a dreadful financial epiphany though. That’s a real bummer 🙁
Big hugs
Suzy xx
Well, the financial epiphany turned out to be not too bad (I think), but my credit card debt was. All good and well these shopping sprees, but it ruins me haha. Well, I am rich because of all my friends.
It looks like such a fun time with your friends! I love Sabine’s colorful outfit. The cream trousers are so good on you, and the top looks fine from the photos you’ve shown. I like the belt with it.
Thanks Susan. But as Josep-Maria pointed out, the outfit is cute but not me. He is so right. The man knows my blog from when I started and is always honest. Love his comments.
I love the look of Sabine, a woman with style. Your look today is… conventional, animal print and light-colored pants, it doesn’t seem like your look to me, honestly. Although that doesn’t mean you’re not cute with him. Some men in your country seem a bit annoying! LOL. I also love your Big bird/pine jacket.
Sabine is a woman with style for sure. She is also a good stylist.
The man at the market wasn’t annoying, just flirty and funny. The one who insisted on being photographed with Anke was drunk.
You are very right that today’s look is conventional and not my look at all. As you say cute but not me.
I bought the trousers to go with the men’s blazer, but thought it was also nice with the animal print jumper. I won’t wear that combination again.
Greetje, I love your blog. I live in England and love seeing your pictures of beautiful buildings and scenery in Holland as I will never travel to these places as I can’t leave my dog. Also love your outfits and stylish friends.
Thank you very much for your compliments Valerie. I really appreciate them.
Glad I can entertain you and who knows…perhaps in the future you’ll find someone who can take care of your dog for a week or so? We have the same ‘problem’ and my husband is very particular about who is allowed to mind his dog. We found someone but they aren’t always in the country.
I received the email alert telling me your blog had been published. Hoorah! You looked to have had a fantastic time with your friends. I look forward to seeing the new boots in a future blog.
Yes, we certainly had a good time and yes, you will definitely see my new boots quite soon.
I love your pictures that include your stylish friends. We all need people who can laugh with us through the years.
Thank you for making me smile every week.
Good luck with your financial epiphany. We all have had those days too.
Making you smile made my day. The first goal of my blog is to let people smile or perhaps even laugh.
The financial epiphany doesn’t seem quite as bad as I thought it would be. But my bank account really doesn’t look good. I will either have to get a job or really get my act together and not buy things anymore.
What a great shopping day. You all look like you are having so much fun. You all look fantastic, and I especially love Sabine’s jacket. Your cream pants are so elegant.
Have a great week. Sorry about the financial epiphany. Better late than never?
It isn’t fake, we really did have much fun. We all make an effort to look good when we get together. Sabine’s jacket was the bomb. The financial epiphany seems not as bad as I thought it would be, thank god.
I’m positive my friends, my husband and I enjoyed that famous apple pie at Winkel 43 while in Amsterdam three years ago waiting to board a river cruise! Yum!
You have so many wonderful outfits that I’m sure you could “shop your closet” for weeks without needing to venture into another store.
What lovely friends you have that you all enjoy such great times together–much more rewarding than any new clothes, right?
I’m now going to start describing myself as brocante!😉
Winkel 43 is very famous, so you are probably right.
Brocante as a description of yourself is a very good idea; I will probably steal that idea.
You are gently nudging me towards spending less, enjoying friendships and shopping my own closet. So wise. I should listen to your advice.