Through the years I have learned that using different textures create a more interesting outfit. I know what that means but I have never been able to consciously incorporate it. With these trousers and the yellow denim jacket I think I have succeeded. Shiny bronze bag, leather boots, different material trousers, top and jacket…hmmm, not too shabby. Nevertheless by accident. Although perhaps I am beginning to grasp the concept of styling at a deeper level? One can but hope.

On the day of the photo shoot it rained all morning with a bad forecast. Marjolein and I even deliberated to cancel the photo shoot. Knowing that weather is unpredictable in the Netherlands, we decided to go through with it and go for lunch first. After all, that is indoors. As soon as we set off, the sun came out. Yay. It stayed out all afternoon.

Below: Marjolein and I had lunch at restaurant Bowie in The Hague. This was our view, wet streets but no rain.

Below: And this was our view across the street.

Below: We started around the corner of the restaurant. I am hopping here as that was a fun advice from a reader. She had tried it with friends and apart from laughing their heads off, they all looked good in the photo, really lively and not posed.
We can safely say it is not a good idea for me. We did have a good laugh though.

Below: More photos at a canal with beautiful trees. These trousers don’t even look unflattering at the back, which was something I feared.

Below: Marjolein is wearing a great outfit, one that she just threw together in seconds. I love the burgundy with the grey and I love the stripes in the top echoing the stripes in the sleeves.

Below: Marjolein noticed that the owners of this house still had the en-suite dividing doors with stained glass. Beautiful. Such doors used to be in our house too, but the previous owners removed them before we bought the house. They are beautiful but would have made our living room look small.

Below: We walked back to the restaurant where my car was. A quick ‘sitting down’ photo.
(I noticed that I am wearing these brown earrings by Lara Design a lot. Never even knew I needed them.)

Below: My brown ankle boots. They aren’t too high, the heel is elegant, yet not as narrow as a stiletto heel and they are really comfortable. (In Haarlem stiletto heels are impossible to walk in with all the cobble stones). The brand is Via Vai.

Below: I like this shot with one foot across the other. The peeing-in-your-pants pose. And I love an alliteration.

Below: We drove to another area for some variation. Canals are always nice.

Below: There was much more wind here, I was nearly blown off my feet.

Below: Trying to keep the hair nice with all that wind blowing.

Below: We spotted a sort of garden next to the canal with trees that were so bent as if they wanted to drink from the canal.

Below: Marjolein found a gate in the fence. There was a sign on the gate but I didn’t see what it said. Might have said ‘no access’ haha. I only saw this piece of wood with painted birds at the back, fixed to the gate.

Below: It was idyllic. The residents created a little sanctuary for themselves.

Below: Close-up with the brown earrings. When I bought the jacket, it had other buttons which I didn’t like. The owner of the Knopenwinkel (button shop) in Amsterdam advised me these brown ones. Good advice. The jacket is a second-hand Versace. Because of the name Versace, the shop charged quite a high price for it, but it will have been a fraction of the original price. It made me think twice but I liked it too much to leave it behind; my colour, my shape. It is two sizes smaller than my usual size. As long as I don’t button it up, it even looks sassier than my normal size would have.
The brown top is ancient.

Now, a little bit of architecture.

Below: Nice area with lovely houses.

Below: Beautiful details on this house from 1912, like that circle around the top balcony balustrade.

Below: Marjolein and I loved this house. It is big, with lots of rooms at the back as well. But a tiny garden (we think) and it will cost a fortune to renovate.

We had enough photos; time for a delicious cappuccino.

Below: Marjolein at the restaurant.

Below: Miscellaneous. We spotted this lady with her unusual coat. I asked for the brand which is Neige. The grey sleeve is incorrect lighting; it is black.

As usual a great day.

What happened in my life this week

I had a funny encounter at the weekend. While I was in town, a group of young Irish men, perhaps 25 to 32, walked past me. One of them, a gorgeous guy, casually said hello. Without thinking, I replied, “Oh, hi, handsome.” He turned around, his face lighting up as he smiled, and said, “You don’t look so bad yourself.” I thanked him, and we went our separate ways.

It was pure reflex from the days when I was the world’s biggest flirt. You should have heard the seductive tone in those three words, hahaha. Had I been 40 or 50 years younger and unmarried (obviously) I would have had a terrific evening. Proof that a leopard never changes its spots 😇.

It was a quiet week with rain and sunshine. I read two books, did laundry and blogging, went to the dentist and the dental hygienist and followed a webinar about the changes in my pension (good changes). Pretty boring.

I am leaving out that, even though I am terribly overdrawn, I did buy a baby soft pink jumper at kpa.haarlem which looks terrific paired with my black leather trousers which is another indiscretion from a few weeks ago.
What is happening in the world gets me down: the war in Ukraine, how we treat our animals (why am I not vegetarian, even though I buy meat from animals that had a good life?), climate change, dictators ruling so many countries and the possibility of AI destroying the world. It all makes me feel very unsafe, as if a peaceful old age is no longer guaranteed. My reaction is: let’s spend rather than save. Mind you, while that feeling is real, I have overspent every September, even in years when I wasn’t so gloomy.

Did a photo shoot with Ron. The weather is so unpredictable that I cannot plan a photo date with anyone else. I don’t know whether the photos are successful. We did have some issues with light.

Below: Ron and neighbour Froukje working in our garden. Froukje is putting violets in the wash basin against the shed which we use for plants and Ron is putting bulbs in the garden.

Below: I was just looking nice and not doing anything haha. Apart from telling those two in the photo above where to stand and kneel for the picture. (Link to the original post with another belt; the belt is the only variation on the original.)

Later that day we had an impromptu dinner with Froukje and Petro. Ron made spaghetti with homemade sauce. Nice.

Little Evy had a fever so we didn’t visit the granddaughters. Instead we went for the yearly flu shot. The next day I was at the doctor again for some check-ups and questions to be answered, especially about statins which I hate but cannot do without. To save the day, neighbour and friend Mandy dropped by for a coffee and a chat; made my day.

Greetje