Ecru boilersuit from Tu

Happy Friyay!

Friday/Friyay, whichever, I'm still happy to be on the cusp of the weekend. Even though I'm furloughed, I do love to have that Friday feeling where the weekday pressure is off. My weekdays are proving to be much more challenging than I expected. I thought I'd be bouncing out of bed at 5am, galloping off to the beach and then swirling around the house like a hyman tornado, spring-cleaning every nook and cranny before lunch. And yet, it's not like that at all. My sleep is disturbed and my very early mornings often result in a mid-morning slump. I'm trying to avoid the news as it's my main source of stress, but I'm like a kid with a scab on its knee who just can't help going back to it. But, from what I can gather, I'm not alone with this lack of productivity. The simple truth is, we're not quite sure how to deal with these most extraordinary times, are we?

But, one thing that's well within my limits is dressing up! I saw the TV advert for Tu Clothing in March and immediately fell for the charms of this ecru boilersuit. The colour, the elasticated waist, the cut, the fit - all are perfect for my colouring and shape. I seem to be having a bit of a moment with cream denim of late, but that's no biggie is it? I can happily report that the boilersuit is still available online here. At £35 I consider this to be value for money as well as being practical and stylish. Ideal for simply lounging around indoors or for striding out for the daily walk, it really is a great buy.

I opted to add orange as a feature colour to the ecru (mainly because I thought Steve would pass a comment about me looking ready to do a bit of painting and decorating). 

The orange resin necklace is ancient, the orange leather belt and across the body bag are charity shopped as are the rings. The sunglasses are by Quay Australia.

The orange embroidered trainers are by Replay from TK Maxx. Comfortable and very in keeping with today's easy-to-wear look.

I'm very happy to report that I've at last finished my clothes changeover. It took longer than usual, but I've done a fair bit of downsizing and reducing the actual volume of clothes I have available for spring/summer season. 

This year I've chosen to colour co-ordinate the pieces rather than group them into dresses, skirts etc. The shoes underneath reflect the colours above.

I have under-the-bed boxes and on-top-of-the wardrobe boxes housing summer shoes and sandals too. Winter shoes and boots are packed up under the bed too.

The run of colours goes from light to dark. The smaller shelves are home to handbags and scarves. (Not colour grouped I've just noticed.)  A lot of the handbags have smaller ones stashed inside each other.

On the far right are my jackets, tops and trousers, and casual footwear.

Jumpers and jeans are housed on the far right shelving system. The whole run of wardrobes is fronted with mirrors allowing plenty opportunity for self criticism. There's a whole load of angst goes on up here before you guys get to see the outfit of the day!

Wishing you a lovely weekend!

                                                                                       Anna x

Easter chick

Happy Easter!

Dear readers, I hope you're having a happy Easter - well as happy as it can be under the circumstances. Steve and I stepped outside our house yesterday to capture these shots of my take on being your Easter chick (forever tongue in cheek, that's me!). As you can see, it was a beautiful sunny, hazy day. 

In the midst of this, our local Church Warden, Rachel came along with some palm fronds on her way to decorating the outside of St Nicholas Church. Rachel was also working alongside the Easter bunny, helping to scatter some chocolate eggs around the churchyard for the island's children. 

And not to be outdone, our local delivery driver turned up keen to photobomb our session - Hi Barek!

I've been busy this week doing my clothes changeover, dragging bags and suitcases out from under the beds to bring my spring and summer clothes out again. The remit this time has been a bit different as I'm not actually at work, therefore lots of my clothes are redundant at the moment - particularly my opening night party clothes are still unpacked for the moment. 

Yesterday was supposed to be the first exhibition of the year, our Easter Show, at the gallery and this was the outfit I would have been wearing during the day for our first phase of the meet and greet. The trouser suit is by JD Williams, one of my favourite buys from them last year. I love wearing it, love the sunny colour and the instant togetherness of wearing a trouser suit. The trousers may be a tad snug, but they do have a bit of stretch which does help. I've linked through to a similar suit on their website currently, modeled by the gorgeous Andrea who I worked with during my stint with the brand. Happy days!

I styled the suit with these New Look kitten heel boots for a bit of a retro look. I bought them a couple of years ago and they've been so useful, lending a real statement to any outfit. The white ruffle shirt was from TK Maxx. I've added a stretch belt which was a charity shop piece. 

Bangles, rings and necklace are all pre-loved and much loved by me too.

These long time favourite sunglasses are by Quay Australia - note they reflect my reluctant photographer. Poor Steve, has ended up being my one and only photographer by default currently! 

He may be reluctant, but he still does a very good job. Thank you darling!

This is the view from my washing line and it's often remarked that I have the best vista ever for such a mundane chore - I have to agree.

Thanks for joining me again today. I hope you're all having a chocolate-fest kind of a day and that the sun shines on you during your exercise break! And in the words of the great Crosby, Stills and Nash - "If you can't be with the one you love, love the one you're with..."

                                                                           Anna x

Ralph Lauren military jacket

Hello again!

Welcome to my Friday hook up. I'll confess that this OOTT was from those pre-furloughed days when dressing up for work was the joy of the day. There's no better motivation than knowing that you'll be customer facing and therefore under scrutiny. I have lovely clients who pop in to see me, confessing that they merely want to check what I'm wearing that day! So, no pressure there then. But honestly, I do love the excuse of work, in fact any excuse, to dress up. 

This is the first time I've shown the bargain of the month that I found in February when I was on a quick trip to the mainland. As is my habit, I checked out TK Maxx on this very brief trip and was lucky enough to happen across this wonderful military style jacket by Polo Ralph Lauren. It was the only one in the store as is often the case and to my delight it fitted like a glove!

Regardless of the crazy price saving here, I have always lusted after this style of jacket. I think Victoria Beckham designed one a couple of years ago, but even before then it's been on my wishlist. I see it as a wardrobe staple, one that can be dressed up or down and is an absolute classic in my eyes. You'll be seeing a lot of this in future I promise you.

Barrel buttons and braiding are typical of this type of jacket, but on top of that, the woollen fabric is weighty in a reassuring way, without being too heavy - it remains sleek, is what I'm trying to say. Yes, it's true love, that's for sure.

Perfectly pleasing pre-loved rings.

I bought the off white jeans on the same shopping trip. The brand is River Island, but they were on sale at TK Maxx for £9.99 as opposed to the £40 original price tag. You know how I just love a bargain! Next time I'll style them up with a sweater to show you the neat cut of them including the black belt which ties in with the black contrasting stitching. They're high waisted, neat fitting and will be great for the spring/summer period. I've paired them with my much loved black patent chelsea cowboy boots from Topshop last year.

Yes, here's another pair of Radley London sunglasses, courtesy of my friend Ellie who designed them.

And finally, I think I'm beginning to make headway with all of my chores at home. I've been feeling a bit overwhelmed at the sheer number of jobs that are calling out for my attention. So the other day, I decided to break these down into bite size pieces and hey presto, I've tidied the cupboard under the stairs!

I'll leave you with a few beach photos from the past week. I've been following the tide around, swimming on the high tide every day which has  been such a treat.

 

Until next time, stay home, stay safe!

Anna x

On feeling blessed

Hello and welcome again!

You join me today as I talk about counting my blessings during this strange time where lock-downs and furlough are now part of our daily life and the only news on TV and radio relates to the Coronavirus. Our world has changed so much in the past months. The pandemic that seemed so distant from us when it was contained in China has gradually seeped into our everyday lives impacting more than any of us could have imagined. And yet in the midst of all of this, there is a growing awareness of self responsibility, care within our neighbourhoods and gratitude to our NHS which is long overdue. More than ever, I feel very blessed to be living on this remote island. A vetting process in place for anyone trying to access these islands, prohibiting an influx of those trying to escape their primary home. The message to stay at home is finally reaching everyone, even those to whom rules don't normally apply. No matter if you're rich or royal or young or famous - anyone and everyone is prey to this new enemy, invisible yet deadly. And so this modern day wartime spirit is continuing to strengthen as we pull together to unite and stay strong.

I'd like to say hurrah for the BBC news coverage which is gradually finding some happy stories to tell us. In in a time where we need to be kept informed, we also need encouragement, recovery stories and ways to keep ourselves physically and mentally fit. Enter stage right the amazing Joe Wicks who single-handedly is dragging the nation up off the sofa and getting our children motivated for their daily workout. 

I'm so grateful to live right here on the edge of the beach. This photo is taken less than 50m from my house: this is the view from my kitchen window, giving me an ever changing vista of island life as the tide comes in and the tide goes out. And talking of tides, I'm so happy to have this opportunity to follow the tide around daily, as I can now swim on the high tide every single day. I love to swim on the high tide as every beach looks much more pretty on a high tide. Today's high tide is at 3.47pm (Sunday) and will be a 5.1m high. I'm mainly governed now by wind direction and sometimes will walk to the most sheltered beach others, if I'm busy, will mean just a quick dash on my bike so that I can be there and back within the hour.

This was Pentle Bay on Thursday, location of my daily swim at lunchtime. I left home at 1.30pm to walk to the beach along the banks, swam from the far end to this point and then swam back. I sat for a while on the rocks, taking photos while I drank my flask of hot lemon and honey. Much as the sea looks tropical, it was still very cold and I had to march briskly onwards towards the south of the island with woolly hat and gloves on as I tried to warm up. I stopped along the way to collect sea glass and pottery pieces strewn along the high tideline. I think I met about four others, rather I saw four others as we all veered away to give each other space. 

By the time I reached Appletree Bay it was almost 5 o'clock. I'd had this idea to create something to post on my Instagram to tie in with the clapping for the NHS at 8pm on Thursdays that's becoming our lovely new ritual. Our local GP practice have recently sent out a message for us here to abide by the rules of social distancing and to stay at home. We're all hoping that the virus won't reach us, but as we emerge from the restrictions I do wonder if it's inevitable that we'll be hit in the second or even third waves. As you can tell, even living in our island paradise, we still feel the same anxieties as everyone else.

Enough of all that now! Let's talk about the outfit of the day. These fab applique jeans cost me £4.50 from a Truro charity shop earlier on this year. I've paired them with my Frida Kahlo tee shirt from Primark last summer and these comfy stretch pink sock boots by Jeffrey Campbell. The cute wool jacket was another charity shop buy last year and works really well to add a bit of funk to this look. 

The two toned suede belt was from Benetton a few years ago and the rings were both gifts from friends. The blue and pink floral bangle was a £1 wonder from a charity shop

The floral sunglasses were a sale item from Sainsbury's quite a few years ago, but perfect for this floral themed ensemble, don't you think?

I've decided to try my utmost to live in the moment, find joy in the everyday, observing happiness in the most simple of things, count my blessings and not stress about the future. We can only influence our own tiny little worlds currently and I'm trying to keep my own little family unit fed and loved and safe. Beyond that, if I can bring a little bit of pleasure into the blogging world with my outfit of the day, then hurrah!

Take care and keep safe!

Anna x