7 years of blogging

Hello and welcome to this celebratory post! I can't quite believe that it's seven years since I took up blogging and yet here I am reveling in my self promotion and the excuse to dress up for no other reason than that I want to. If you're a regular you'll recall my recent post Inspired by Iris Apfel. Well, much to my amazement, I somehow have pulled it off and managed to buy the longed-for suit as worn by Iris in the advert (see here). 

On the launch date of the H&M collection I was off-island and unable to get online to join the queue of fashionistas all keen to purchase their own favourite piece. My best friend Bo who lives in Portugal stepped up to join the race on my behalf. She managed to buy the trousers through the Portuguese H&M website which was no small feat. By the time she had posted them off to me I was home again and had fallen prey to Covid. 

Some five days into the virus I had to go online to pay my water bill and then had the idea that I maybe ought to check out eBay just in case the jacket had surfaced there. My first find was a size 16 version which was currently being bid by 6 hopefuls, raising the price to £533...

I continued with my search and found a jacket in a 12, (brand new with the labels still attached) newly listed with 6 days to run and no bids as yet. I had a few minutes to consider if I ought to wait to bid on the last day, pitching it at what I hoped to be the right price. But, really I knew I couldn't risk missing it. So I bit the bullet and clicked the Buy it Now option. I've not had a moment of regret at paying over the odds for what is my dream suit. It is a thing of beauty, a thing of joy and probably the most exquisite outfit I own. I love it and I deserve it.

In homage to Iris I'm wearing more than one necklace again, but have toned it down slightly this time. There's nothing new here, just a few second hand bangles and various pre-loved rings too. My sunglasses are old, from Radley London.

I bought these pristine new Replay trainers from TK Maxx recently once I knew I'd secured the whole trouser suit - I love the simplicity of the white tee and shoes which contrast perfectly against the ornately embroidered and pearl laden suit. The pea pod pearls are divine, don't you think?

And here's another beautiful touch to the design - the 100 year symbol combined with the glasses the style icon wears. 

Anyway, here's the icing on the cake of my 7th blogging anniversary -

The first outing of this most exquisite two piece was last night when Steve and I were invited to join Johnnie Walker (DJ legend of our times) and his wife Tiggy to their Eurovision party. We were in a small party of six at one of the Sea Garden cottages on Tresco where we enjoyed a running buffet of Tapas and local fare with lots of liquid refreshments. Johnnie wore his Sergeant Pepper shirt and I must admit I'm inclined to call my suit by the same name, although pea pod suit does have a nice ring to it ...

The eagle-eyed amongst you will notice that I had changed into a pale aqua top and turned up the jacket sleeves. If I'd been able to try on the jacket in store I might have chosen a smaller size, but beggars can't be choosers can they? So I'm sporting this as an over-sized jacket as if I planned it that way. To be perfectly honest I see this as a true collectors item. I totally love it and feel it's totally me in fabric form. 

We had a brilliant evening, much aided by great company and the spectacularly welcome result for Sam Ryder for Great Britain. Every time I put on this suit it will evoke happy memories of the night we partied to Eurovision with Johnnie Walker and co!

And finally. No blog post of mine would be complete with out the obligatory photo-bombers...

And what about this bit of visual trickery? See how I launch this bird from my hand to fly off overhead -

And that's it. My 7th year of blogging and I'm still enjoying sharing my island life with you. Please do take a minute to say hi in the comments box if you'd like to share your thoughts about this or any of my posts - I'd love to hear from you.

See you soon!

Anna x