Finding locations for a photo shoot is always difficult and even more in winter. This brown jumper and patterned trousers had not been shown on the blog yet and it is a warm outfit. Just right for this cold weather. In other parts of the world it is much colder, but for us Dutch, minus 2 degrees Celsius really is cold nowadays. In the old days we had far worse temperatures plus snow. Because of climate changes, our winters aren’t that cold anymore.
Marjolein was my photographer and she had suggested to use a Christmas fair as background. It sounded like a good idea but luckily she checked it out a couple of days before our shoot and the fair was a disappointment. Then she suggested to go to the centre of The Hague and use the windows of Bijenkorf department store as background. They always have fairy-tale windows. Alas, this year they are obviously economizing. Look at the tree they have in the store (below):
We were heavily disappointed. Their windows were just sales windows, obviously sponsored by brands.
Below: A window sponsored by the brand Sandro. I imitated the mannequin not too well, I’m afraid.
Fortunately there were fun stairs with a light show next-door.
Below: We created a little video.
Now, those stairs we can use.
Below: LGBTQ tribute.
Below: Lovely background of peonies.
Below: And popcorn!
Want to see more? Probably not, but as this was the only background we had, you are going to have to.
Below: In flames.
Below: You cannot escape advertising; somebody’s got to pay for it. The casino in this case.
A bit more about the outfit…the orange bag you have seen last week, the brown cashmere jumper and the patterned trousers are from one of my favourite shops in Haarlem (LAB Women’s Clothing). They have quite the slimming effect. The necklace is at least 20 years old.
Below: We decided to go to “The Passage”. That’s better; at least here is a bit of a Christmas atmosphere. It isn’t Beverly Hills but at least the old buildings are nice. That’s me in the black coat; at last, a red carpet for me LOL.
Below: Like everybody else we took a photo with the tree.
Below: We also found this bench which is quite quirky and complemented the colours I was wearing. The boots are Fly London and several years old.
Below: I thought we had enough outfit photos and I was freezing, so off to a nice restaurant for lunch. We chose LEUK (which means pleasant or nice) and we can give this one in The Hague, our thumbs up. Very friendly service, good food and lovely cappuccino.
I made Marjolein take off her coat and pose in front of the restaurant. She did it reluctantly haha. New fashionable black trousers and cream jumper, finished with a pop of green with this great bag.
Not too much variation in this outfit section and hardly any story. Bear with me dear readers, cold days bring limitations.
What happened in my life this week
It was a very quiet week. The photo shoot with Marjolein above, was of course nice. And Ron and I had dinner at our friend’s house (Georg and Marla). That was a pleasant evening with delicious food. They are such good cooks.
Marcella (of Lara Design) committed herself to run a stall with her jewellery at the Haarlem Christmas fair. That meant 3 days from 8.30 to 20.00 hrs in the freezing cold. Despite her moonboots and her ski trousers she was still cold. I popped round on the Saturday morning for some moral support.
Below: Mum in one of her new jumpers with pearls.
Below: Mum as my niece, her husband and their children visited her. I think this is an adorable photo.
Below: My niece’s husband (lovely man) fixed the front door’ draught.
Email shenanigans
There was the matter of a glitch in my email program Mailchimp. I couldn’t fix it as it required expertise I do not possess. For days I called everybody who I thought, would be able to help me. Ron came to the rescue by searching Google for ‘expertise’ and ‘Mailchimp’. He found saskiasmit.nl who solved my problem in no time, was very helpful (even in the late evening) and gave some additional advice. She gets an A+ from me.
It wasn’t even expensive which is rare.
Why is it rare you might ask? Well, they say you can only combine two items from the triangle ‘good’, ‘fast’ and ‘cheap’.
- If you want something done well and cheap, you have to be patient as it will be fixed in the ’empty’ hours.
- If you want something done fast and cheap, you can bet it will be done badly.
- If you want something done fast and well, it usually is pricey.
Which is why Saskia is rare. She did the email job very quickly, very well and at a low price.
Wi-Fi shenanigans
Even though we have a new router, the Wi-Fi problem with Ron’s iPad is still not solved. Numerous phone calls to the provider haven’t led to a result. They say they tried everything and cannot help us anymore. So very disappointing.
Together with my neighbour Monique I saw the film Ticket to Paradise. Although it was enjoyable, I totally agree with the review of the Daily Mail: “For my money this is predictable fare, lazily plotted and scripted, and it gets even more predictable, as the visiting Americans are left wide-eyed by the quaint local customs.” From the start you knew how it was going to end and all the bits in between weren’t funny enough. A shame as both George Clooney and Julia Roberts are such good actors.
Thursday and Friday our streets were covered with a sheet of ice which made it hazardous to walk outside. When Monique and I returned from the film on Thursday evening, we laughed as we really felt like two old ladies, treading very carefully. Younger people were walking carefully as well, but we were walking like penguins, as Monique phrased it LOL.
I have been styling new outfits with clothes from my wardrobe and found that restrictions bring out the best styling. As it is winter, I am wearing my thick jumpers. It is not necessary to wash them immediately after wearing once, especially as I always wear a top underneath. To put them back on the shelf in the wardrobe isn’t a good idea either, so I stack them on a cupboard in the bedroom. I try and wear them as often as I can so I can wash them again. In doing so, I combine the jumpers differently and come up with new outfits. Restricted by re-worn jumpers, who would have thought.
Nothing else is new, so see you next week.
Greetje
Your orange shoulder bag and Marjolein’s green bag make my heart sing.
I’ve taken a shine to flare pants, as they do amazing things to balance curves.
Great background — always something interesting. It would be challenging or boring to do a style blog in the cold winters here…freezing in a blizzard, freezing in the wind, blue fingers, etc.
Thanks for brightening my day.
Bags are such an important item that can make an outfit. Not as important as shoes, but nearly.
Flared pants also balance my not so curvy body, but my broad shoulders.
Blizzard, freezing wind…sounds a lot worse than the Netherlands. It is bad enough here. I don’t have the money to book a studio and a photographer who knows what to do with extra lights and indoor photography. So cold it is.
Many of the chic ladies I follow are taking a (well-deserved) blogging break, so I was very happy to realize I hadn’t yet read your weekly post! It was like an early Christmas gift! You never fail to give me a smile.
Merry Christmas to you and your family, Greetje!🎄🎁☃️
Oh good Sarah, giving you a smile is the whole purpose of this blog. I am not taking a blogging break, not even on the 25th. It might get difficult to do photo shoots because of the weather, but then I can always do the blogging trick of showing you old photos.
Merry Christmas to you and your loved ones too.
I give most of my winter jumpers a wash right before I swap over my closet for spring, but I rarely wash them after a wearing, as like you, I also wear tops under them.
I love those funky trousers, Greetje – they look so good on you. The stairs are a fun backdrop, but I do love that covered shopping gallery area.
Heh, they have that same saying, as applied to tattoos.
I would go mad if I had to give ALL my winter jumpers a wash at the same time. I have so many and most of them need to be washed by hand.
The covered shopping gallery has more old-wordly appeal, I admit that.
The saying is applicable to anything.
Merry Christmas to you and your loved ones. In the north of England we have been suffering from the cold too, but as I type on Monday it is 11 degrees!
I must say I do love Marjolein’s bag. It’s a lovely shade of green.
Have a lovely week!
It is the same here Carole, 10 degrees on Monday and no ice anymore. Hurray.
I complimented Marjolein on her bag as well. It is indeed a beautiful green and an arty design.
Merry Christmas to you too.
Greeting from southern California, Greetje.
I loved the picture of you wearing the red hat and muffler while visiting the Lara Design booth–your smile is dazzling and really captures the joy of the season. Your posts are always delightful, entertaining, and educational.
Happy holidays to you and your lovely family. I look forward to seeing what you wear to your celebrations.
The red hat is actually bright fuchsia (not that it matters). Me smiling at people passing the booth was about the only help I could give Marcella. She is too good in selling to get a sale spoiled by me.
Thank you for the compliments, I try my best.
I won’t be wearing anything new to the celebrations and what I do wear, will probably be warm. I see all these bare dresses on Instagram and in magazines and shiver.
Wishing you and your loved ones happy holidays too.
Hello my love. Loved the pants and accessories but NOT the top, very dull and shapeless, did you no favors. Marjolein’s jumper was perfect and would have worked stellar with your outfit, especially with the boots. I’m no fashion expert, but my advice is stay away from drab color, shapeless tops. More structure, more color,(which you do most often)! (And I am so not an expert. ) Your mum looks radiant, adore the pic with great grandchild and great-great grand children! Happiest of holidays. xoxo
I thought the top is rather sleek and chic, creating a slim figure, but, as they say…so many people, so many tastes.
You are right that I usually go for structure and colour, but I love to digress as well.
The photo of mum with her grandchild and great grand children is so warm and loving.
Wishing you a very nice and happy holiday period too.
Hello Greetje,
I enjoy your Sunday posts and your fashion flair!
Here in Vancouver Canada we are enjoying our 2nd snowfall of the season reaching an amazing -7 degrees celsius tonight. Quite unusual to have it so cold. Merry Christmas to you and your family.
Ohh brrrr, so cold in Vancouver. I thought temperatures in Vancouver were usually like this in winter, but you say it is unusual. What do I know hey?
Merry Christmas to you and your loved ones too Marnie.
Your outfit was very colorful and happy! I want those colored stairs! Very interesting~ and I would love to go shopping with you! I loved the “Passage” area very much!
Mom looked great! Loved the family picture! A framed print of that would be wonderful!
We were lucky to find the stairs with the light show, otherwise the post would have been boring.
The Passage is old and luxurious, really nice.
My mother assembles all photos on her iPad nowadays. All her walls are already covered with many family photos.
Merry Christmas see you in 2023!
Thanks Nancy. Merry Christmas to you too.
Enjoy your blog, your outfits and your forays into town for photo shoots. You have become an much awaited part of my Sunday’s. Happy holidays to you and those you love, Claire, east coast of the USA
It pleases me so much Claire, that my little blog is so appreciated by you. Such comments make blogging worthwhile.
Wishing you happy holidays too.
I so look forward to your Sunday blog: the beautiful architecture, as well as your taste and style. Loved Marjolein’s jumper (“sweater” in Canada, but I like the word “jumper” is good), and especially her green bag! Delightful. We are having a a rare dump of snow today in Vancouver. Hunkering down!
I follow Sheila’s blog, Ephemera, and she lives on Vancouver Island, so I am getting the weather reports from your neck of the woods. As for Marjolein…she loves clothes as much as I do. We used to swap a lot when we were young and lived only a street away from one another.
Fascinating background — those stairs are amazing! Wishing you and your family a very Merry Christmas. Thanks so much for all the work you — and your photographer friends– do with your blog. I look forward to “catching up” with you each Sunday.
There are times when I am fed up with creating outfits, going out into the cold to get photos etc. But when I complain to my husband, saying I’m thinking of giving up the blog, he reminds me of all the joy it brings me. So far, I have never really considered to stop blogging. We all have our bad days. And comments like yours, keep me going.
I love the picture of you sitting on the bench. I’m going to look for a top like you have on. It looks so comfortable! I also love Marjolein’s boots. Merry Christmas to all of y’all from D’Lo, Mississippi, USA🎄
The top is indeed very comfortable. It is cashmere and the brand is probably Herzen’s Angelegenheit. I took the label out but I am pretty sure. The shop had several colours. Soft as a kitten.
Marjolein had an impressive collection of boots and I agree, these are very nice with the metal toe.
Merry Christmas.
I love your orange bag! So beautiful.
I saw Ticket to Paradise and I agree with you — not worthy. However, I did develop an obsessive love of Julia Roberts’ embroidered dress, seen in the photo above. It’s ridiculously overpriced and currently unavailable, but I know far cheaper options will come around next year.
I had been eying orange bags for about two years and when I found this one, I didn’t care that financially, it wasn’t the right time. I just jumped at it.
You are probably right about the dress and when the cheaper options come on the market, it will be summer again. No use now.
Love the stairs – so clever and bright. I’m not a fan of browns, but, as usual, you make it look great!. Your legs look miles long in the patterned pants.
I hope you have a good Christmas. We celebrate Chanukah and Christmas so we are starting to light the candles tonight, and I’m making latkes. Here’s hoping that 2023 will be a better year for all of us!
Thanks Anne. I must admit I knew the outfit made my legs look miles long. Never a bad thing, right?
Happy Chanukah and Merry Christmas to you. May 2023 be a better year indeed.
I love today’s outfit. Brown is a fav color of mine. Either my color palate is really off but true red is no longer a color on my computer. It comes off as a deep pink or rose. Your necklace and bag look pink which really looks good with the brown. All the ornament on the trees and the “red carpet” are a deep pink. Strange.
A very Merry Christmas to you, Ron and your Mom. And a great 2023!
Very strange Myra, as the bag is orange and the necklace black with orange. No idea how to change that but I bet it is simple.
I found this on the internet:
“To calibrate your LCD panel on a Windows 10 computer, go to Settings > Display > Calibrate display color. Then go follow the steps to set your gamma, brightness, contrast, and colors. You can also use online tools to calibrate your LCD panel.”
Hope this helps. Wishing you and your loved ones a Merry Christmas and fantastic 2023 too.
Hello, You…
You know what? I actually prefer your Mum’s outfit this week! Sorry, but I agree with you, the fairground background wasn’t the most flattering either. Loved ‘The Passage’ photo though. Very elegant!
Merry Christmas, kiddo, to you and Ron and Mama and may 2023 be good to you/us all.
Gee x
I am very pleased with your honesty. I highly value honesty and will never be offended as I know I cannot please everyone all of the time. There are bound to be outfits and posts not to everyone’s liking.
Merry Christmas to you and your loved ones too. And yes, may 2023 be good to all. Thank you very much for being such a faithful reader.