Liberty's of London and a book launch party!

On Monday this week I spent the day meeting up with friends in London - a long way from home! Of course, as luck would have it, Monday was also the start of the London Underground strike which certainly made the whole day more complicated. 

Anyway, after a rather long time in the queue waiting for a taxi, I managed to make my way across town to Liberty's of London where I was meeting up with my fellow blogger, Jacqui. This is our third meet up in the city, but my first visit to Liberty's and what a treat that was!

We found a corner to sit and chat for a while and there on the coffee table was the beautiful Iris Apfel book, Colourful, featuring Iris wearing the peapod trouser suit. I couldn't resist having a photo taken showing us together.

Liberty's was all that I had imagined and more. The variety of goods is huge and didn't disappoint. Jacqui and I particularly enjoyed the clothes department where we found pieces for each other that were very 'you'.

Liberty's clearly encourage their staff in self expression through their clothes. Doesn't this young man look wonderful!

Every corner is a photo opportunity for a couple of bloggers!

Isn't this print fabulous!

Every floor was wealth of treasures...

All too soon it was time for Jacqui to make her way to catch her train home, so we walked the short distance to the station together, but managed to get one final tourist shot together. It had been a glorious day, perfect for many commuters to walk to and from work in the September sunshine.

By early evening I was in Marlybone High Street at Daunts Books, the location of the book launch party for my dear friend Tiggy Walker's love letter to her recently departed husband and radio 2 DJ, the legend Johnnie Walker.

Tiggy gave a wonderful, warm speech about their life together, captivating her audience with comedic moments which her editor had banned her from including in the book. Both Sides Now was also the song played as Johnnie's coffin was brought into the church for his funeral. Johnnie was a great believer in the afterlife and is making himself ever present in Tiggy's life which she finds so comforting. For Johnnie the human experience was only a small part of a much bigger journey.

Tiggy and TV and radio presenter Jeremy Vine stopped for a quick photo call.

The biography has already made it to the top 50 recommended reads in Amazon.

The evening was one of friends and fun, love and laughter. Tiggy's energy was infectious.

I asked for a photo of us together, only to be reminded by her press agent that perhaps we ought to include the book...

I'd had such a fun day, a wonderful opportuntiy to do something completely different and a long way away from my everyday life on Tresco. Jacqui and I had talked for two solid hours about blogging, family life and the joys of dressing up. And it was an honour to be invited to the gathering of friends and family who shared in the excitement of Tiggy's achievement. I can't wait to settle down and get reading the final installment of Johnnie and Tiggy's life together.

                                                                        Anna x

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bloggers meet up, book launch party, Both Sides Now, featured, Iris Apfel, Liberty's of London, peapod trouser suit, Tiggy Walker, trip to London

Sunset Shades, our SNA challenge for August

Hello again and welcome once more to our Style Not Age Challenge for August. We're sporting Sunset Shades this month as chosen by Emma and my offering was shopped from my wardrobe. Let's catch up with my fabulous fashionista friends first though...

Hilda sent one of her holiday snaps and she too has shopped her closet. Her sunset shade top fulfills the remit perfect and doesn't she look carefree and lovely! See more from her on Over the Hilda blog. 

The holiday theme continues with Jacqui and her outfit which she bought in Sicily. The silky two piece is co-ordinated with pink sandals and orange handbag - all sunset hues. Catch up with all Jacqui's news on her blog Mummabstylish. 

Emma's sunset shades are both from River Island, recently rediscovered in her loft - what a joyful find! See more of this fabulous outfit on her blog Style Splash. 

This was my work outfit from Sunday. I suspect it looks more beach than workwear but I so love it that I decided what the the heck and wore it anyway. I did get quite a few compliments so I maybe wasn't so wrong.

The broderie anglaise dress was a charity shop find costing me £5. Worn on its own it is indeed the perfect beach cover up but by adding my (made by me) petticoat it changes the look to something more dressy. 

My two-tone bejewelled sandals were a Vinted buy earlier on this summer and goodness what a lot of wear I've got out of them already! I do love them so much. And not only that, but they've comfy too.

Nothing new with my jewellery either. The pink and orange necklace was a Zara purchase from years ago but works well with today's look and the perspex rings are very old too.

Steve did the honours with this month's SNA photos. I'd stepped outside to take a photo of the sunset from our house and decided that the warm evening light might be flattering enough for this capture session.

As ever, thank you for dropping by to catch up on our latest challenge. Hope you're still holding on to summer weather. We've been hit by the predicted stormy wet weather overnight. Let's hope it'll pass soon. Take care!

                                                                        Anna x

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Second hand jeans - two ways

I recently had a couple of nights on the mainland during which time I managed to fit in a bit of charity shopping. My most exciting find were these two tone jeans for £6. They seemed relatively new as they had a crispness to them which made me think they'd not yet been washed, so were perhaps a bad buy for the previous owner. For me they're an absolute joy of a find and I couldn't wait to wear them!

I rolled up the trouser legs, added a belt and they were good to go. I have a simple white tee shirt underneath this new sweater from Number36 boutique in Penzance - I now have three of these Miss Carla jumpers and I love them!

This is a great weekend outfit. It's perfect for out boating when you need an extra layer when out on the water. By the way - could someone slow things down a bit - the last of the summer is simply speeding by!

My second look for these jeans is with this colourful jacket which I've showcased previously, see here. The no label jacket was from Vinted and really ticks all the boxes for me. It's colourful, easy to wear and great fun. Wearing it with the jeans is a good smart/casual combo and one that I'll look forward to showcasing again.

The tee shirt is old, as is the bejewelled belt (was from Amazon) and the crochet flowered sandals were from TK Maxx (maybe last year...). 

The outfit is another ode to summer from me. A wonderful mix of colours and patterns that typifies my style.

Nothing new with the jewellery. The rings are both old, charity shop finds and the sunglasses are from Radley. Reflected in my sunglasses is my bike leaning against the bench and my phone on a mini tripod. This spot is great for not only catching the evening sun but also for getting out of the main thoroughfare of the island. Hopping on my bike to come here beside Pentle Bay gives me the chance to capture the look of the day while still being relatively private. Not only that, but I always stop to enjoy the view of the beach beyond...

Many thanks for dropping by. Enjoy the last of the summer!

Anna x

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featured, Miss Carla sweater, N36boutique, Number 36 boutique, pre-loved fashion, Radley sunglasses, sparkly belt from Amazon, TK Maxx sandals, two-tone jeans

It's time for the Mermaid coat's summer appearance!

Yes, it's that time of year again! For my new readers, and hopefully I do have some of these, I have this summer event where I take my Mermaid coat off to the beach and have a photo shoot for no other reason than I like to. Increasingly I view my blog as my personal online diary, probably because I'm aware that times and trends change and eventually this might become for my eyes only. For that reason alone, I want to document the evolution of myself over the years, capture the passage of time, but most of all to see the happy memories from a very happy life.

I suddenly find myself, at the grand old age of 67, to be much more self concious, more aware of a softness of my body, a lack of tone, as my battle with time becomes more apparent. As Steve took these snaps, I felt a coyness perhaps, as I struggled to reveal the truth of myself.

How foolish to be shy in front of him, but really it was because I knew I felt awkward to reveal myself to you.

Little by little...

...as one pose unfolded after another, I relaxed, realising how silly it was to hide when my intention was really to share with honesty what a 67 year old body looks like.

You can read my discomfort here, the awareness of that gooshy tummy, those lumpy thighs - what am I doing?

Trying to hide and reveal at the same time, to feign confidence, wishing that my body wasn't telling this particular story.

I'm nothing if not honest and this post has to be one of my most honest this year. I owe you my honesty simply because you're interested enough to show up. Thank you. I could easily have edited this post to show you glimpes, nothing that revealed how age and motherhood have impacted on me, but trickery isn't what I'm about.

The fact of the matter is that I love our beach days. I love the feeling of the sun on my skin, the freedom a bikini offers, the illusion of still being beach body ready. I'm probably hyper critical, but I have ridiculously high standards in most things - that's who I am.

And thank God for Steve! He's never tried to dissuade me nor cajole me, but has always supported my choices of subject and outfits, allowing me to test myself, express myself even if it might feel uncomfortable. Will this be my last bikini shoot? Only time will tell.

                                                                            Anna x

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beach cover up, beach shoot, beachwear, bikini shoot, featured, summer shoot, this is 67, topshop mermaid coat