Look what I got for Christmas!

Happy New Year to you, my dear readers! I hope that you've had a lovely break and managed to stay well. We've had a super family time over the past couple of weeks and it's been one of our best Christmases ever I would say. My daughter's boyfriend came over from the mainland for the festive period, adding to our excitement as this was the first time we've met him. Suffice to say that he's an absolute gem, a real find and such a happy addition to our family.

So, this amazing vintage leather jacket is what Steve bought for my Christmas. Of course, I made sure that wishlists were passed on to everyone, and this is what I directed Steve to. Many moons ago I had a patchwork leather blazer that I passed on to a friend and this reminds me somewhat of that. The jacket was from eBay, bought at the end of November, leaving just the right amount of time for it to get here in the midst of the postal chaos.

I love the variety of skins used to create this very unusual jacket; the animal print, embossed hide, diamante studs, floral prints, tassel fringes and leather ruffles all go to make it quite unique. It's like wearing a piece of art. Oh my goodness, how I love it! 

I teamed the jacket with an old gold sweater (from H&M) and these funky new jeans (Primark). 

The gold leather Chelsea boots are very ancient (from River Island), but much loved.

I took myself off for a Boxing Day walk to burn up a few excess calories and also test drive the bomber jacket and see how it fitted. It's fab, passed the test with flying colours! 

I stopped to enjoy the view. I wasn't surprised to see lots of people out, stretching their legs after all of those Christmas Day calories. Family groups with dogs, couples out walking and driving past on golf buggies, all passed by below my hilltop perch in the half hour I sat there.

Today's jewellery features another Christmas present - the necklace (Zara) was from a girlfriend and is a perfect accessory for this look. The gold coloured flower ring was a Christmas pressie from her too, a couple of years ago. The other gold ring was a charity shop find. The sunglasses are by Quay Australia.

Apart from family meals together we had a pretty low key time over the holidays. We met up with our extended family for drinks one night which was another excuse to dress up, but no pics of that. I did manage to get some shots of the day that I dressed for work as my favourite Christmas movie, Elf.

This was very well received by all of my customers at the Gallery that day, resulting in lots of laughter and appropriate comments.

And this was my outfit for NYE at home, where I did have my very own kitchen disco while hubby snoozed in front of the TV.

I did full on glitz for that, wearing silver and gold sparkles, sequins and glitter. None if it was new, but all fulfilled the need for full on glamour on the home front!

And finally, here's some swimming shots from the festive period. The first was my last swim of 2021.

And below is the venue for my New Year's Day swim. Green Porth was tucked out of the westerly wind affording just enough protection to make it look nigh on perfect.

I was joined by two islanders, Rebecca and Emma for the swim which was in aid of Mental Health Swims. Photos from each of us earned donations from Speedo. Somehow a group swim always feels better, dare I say even warmer, as you have the lovely distraction of chat and laughter throughout.

Not drowning, just waving!

And that pretty much rounds up my past week or so. It's been great to have some time away from work and to relax in my pj's for a change. I do hope you've had a lovely break from the norm and that you managed to spend some time with your nearest and dearest. Sending you lots of love and good luck for 2022 from my island home.

                                                                                         Anna x

Bold in gold

Hello again my lovely readers! Yes, I'm bold in gold today as I try to feel more like my old self. To be perfectly honest, I'm still a bit washed out and not exactly bursting with energy, but I'm working on getting my fitness levels back up to speed. I've been back in the sea again a couple of times this week and golly, what a shock that was to the system! I could barely catch my breath when I got in on Sunday. Those first dozen strokes had me gasping as I submerged my face in the icy cold water. Seemingly the average sea temperature for Scilly in November is about 12 degrees which would definitely take your breath away! 

After my most recent post I set myself the challenge to perk up my dressing as I thought I'd drifted into the gloomy levels of brown, brown and more brown. Hence today is all about the gold! I'm still shopping my closet and delighted to showcase these old items which epitomise enthusiasm when paired together. 

The gold sweater is from H&M, is very old and was a hand-me-down from my daughter quite a few years ago. My Toxic3 jeans are a couple of years old and did I tell you, that I actually bought two pairs of these as I was worried that they'd go out of stock by the time I'd need to replace them? I wear them both in rotation so that they look the same. Crazy? Maybe...

The gold Chelsea boots are very old and are from River Island. They're real leather hence they are just going to keep looking better and better as they age. 

The wide band ring was a charity shop find and the other one was a concession purchase as I went through an airport. 

The oval link gold coloured chain was a Primark purchase a couple of summer's ago. It's one of those timeless pieces that work with so many outfits. The round framed sunglasses were from River Island a couple of years ago - cute aren't they?

My thanks to Sasha who stepped into the breech with today's photos. The winter is always a challenge weather-wise and she just happened to be in the right place at the right time - well, at least I thought so! 

Take care and let's catch up again soon!

Anna x

Black trouser challenge 3

Here it is, the third variation featuring these fabulous black trousers from River Island. I wonder how many of you will see the appeal of black and gold done this way?

What's interesting about this offering is that much as a chic, more sophisticated styling was maybe lacking, I still felt this outfit was more fun than ever. This just seemed to bring out the high spirits in Polly and I. I felt playful and the shoot did spiral downwards...

Now, it may be that ankle boots and cropped frilled trousers are not a marriage made in heaven for some of you and that's okay. I wasn't really sure about this move when I put these together, but I was drawn to at least give it a go. I'm completely on the fence now. The first person to tell me they don't like it, and I'll be agreeing. I think it's that flash of bare leg. Polly, on the other hand, loves this look. These boots are new and I just couldn't bear to pack them away for the winter without at least one outing. 

Details - sweater: H&M, trousers, boots and sunglasses are all from River Island, necklace: gift, rings: charity shopped.

My next feature will be Ping Pong Piece on the 20th so please do pop back to see what the subject of the day is.

Anna x