WHAT WOULD I WEAR FOR OUR ANNIVERSARY DINNER

Hello dear friends, how are you all?

It has been a while since I posted anything on my blog.  It seems that this latest lockdown punched the air out of me and left me feeling deflated and bored.  Last year the company I work for was not affected by the lockdown and we continued to work from our office.   This year, however, we were not so lucky.  In order to bring the case numbers down, more severe restrictions were imposed which led to a complete closing down of the construction industry and as a result our company was left without any work and all of us were stood down.  Originally it was for two weeks only but now it's extended to a further four!!!  😢😢😢

My gym, which has been my refuge for many years is closed too, as everything else except essential services.  At least we are still allowed to go outside but just to get some take-aways, do the grocery shopping, walking or exercising.  I have already cut my hair twice 💇but it will need a professional colour treatment pretty soon and if the lockdown continues, it's going to be a problem.  I am sure, this scenario is very familiar to all of you, so enough said.  

My husband and I are trying to stay fit and keep a positive attitude as much as possible😊.  We do a lot of walking, reading and TV watching.  We really enjoyed watching Atlantic Crossing.  Based on historical facts, it is a story about the romance that blossomed between FDR and the Royal Princess of Norway during WWII.

The other one of our favourites was a lovely Italian drama series Made in Italy about the birth of Italian fashion industry set in 70's Milan in the offices of a fashion magazine called Appeal.  Rumour has it that the show is based on the life of late famed Editor-in-Chief of Vogue Italia,  FrancaSozzani.  I couldn't take my eyes off the miniskirts, high boots, big sunglasses, head scarves that were so expertly curated to reflect that era.  And speaking of fashion, I would like to tell you about the dress I am wearing.

It is yet another dress from Reiss.  I love this label but only dare to buy their clothes when they go on sale, which offers quite a generous discount.  If you are a regular reader of my blog, you might remember me modelling a few Reiss items I acquired in a similar manner, otherwise I find that their price tags are rather high.  I was looking for a dress to wear to dinner to celebrate our wedding anniversary and since it is in the middle of the Australian winter, I thought this knit dress would be perfect.  

The knitted dress is a big trend this winter season and there are so many options to suit everyone's taste, shape and budget.  From hugging rib dresses to luxurious cashmere turtlenecks, the knitted dress offers daylong comfort without compromising on style.

As on previous occasions, I found this dress on-line .  Its newly discounted price tag caught my initial attention.  I immediately liked its chic berry hue that reminds me of the colour of ripe figs.  The shape of the neck with a flattering off-the shoulder feature with a zip running along one shoulder, the draped silhouette and with yet another decorative zip running off-centre of the skirt - these appealing features confirmed my decision to buy it.

I was imagining wearing it to our anniversary dinner at one of our local faves called Brown Sugar with my LV classic black patent pumps and an oversized necklace which I bought in Sorrento a couple of years ago and only wear on special occasions, but it was not meant to be.  COVID has struck again and most of our state went into lockdown.  Nevertheless, we decided that since we can't go out, we will celebrate it at home and asked the restaurant to cook our celebratory dinner.

I covered our dining table with a linen tablecloth and used our finest glassware and crockery to make it look special.  When the food arrived, I lit up a candle, my husband poured our favourite wine, we made a toast and proceed to eat dinner.  My husband ordered their signature fish pie with leek and truffle oil with Paris mash while I enjoyed their squid ink pasta with spanner crab followed by a fruit crumble with vanilla ice cream which we shared.  The food was cooked to perfection, the dishes packed in special containers and were still hot when we unpacked them.  And the instruction on how to cook and assemble the crumble was dead simple.  It was not exactly how we planned it, but we made an effort to make this evening special and that is what counts.

How do you celebrate an occasion while on lockdown?  Please share your ideas in the comment section below.  I really appreciate your intake.

 Until then

Anna,

xoxo

This post was featured on Links à la Mode fashion roundup by Independent Fashion Bloggers.

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CARGO PANTS AND BOHO BLOUSE

Hello dear friends, how are you all?

It has been quite a while since I touched my blog.  As you may or may not know we are now in a lockdown which originally started as a two weeks affair and now it has been extended by another two and it's not clear what might happen next 😟😟😟.

On top of if, the weather is so bad, it's cold and raining all the time, so even though we are allowed to go outside to exercise or have a walk, it's not very pleasant to walk in the rain with a strong wind blowing into your face.

Anyhow, it occurred to me that rather then dwelling on the negatives, I should try and find some positive aspects of the current situation.  And here is one example of how I did it.

I figured that now is the time to do the things that you were meant to do a long time ago but have been delaying doing them for a lot of good reasons 😉.  One of those things that long has been on my agenda was cleaning up my closet, giving away the clothes that don't fit me anymore, mending lost buttons and torn hems, re-discovering some pieces that I forgot I bought and feel happy about it. 

Case in point, today's outfit.   I was going through the shelf where I store all my jeans, slacks and other pants that don't need to be hanged and came across these cargo pants.  If my memory serves me right, I bought these pants in 2019 and wore them for the last time about 5 years ago.  When I got them out, I wasn't even sure that they would still fit but surprise, surprise they did.  That alone put a great smile on my face 😂.

I then checked out all my tops trying to figure out what can I wear with it that I haven't worn before and came across this white boho style top with tassels and intricate embroidery running along the deep V-cut of the blouse and along the slits of the sleeves.  It was a hand me down from my older daughter, she bought for herself while holidays in Brazil but grew tired of it very quickly.  I used to wear it with a white denim pencil skirt but since the skirt became too tight and went to the clothing bin, I was struggling to find a perfect fit for it.

I decided to put the two together and actually liked the result.  The khaki, which belongs to the Green colour family, works well with the red elements of the blouse (Christmas decorations are the best example of this classic combo) and the loose fit of it goes well with the tight fitted cargos.

I do apologise about the quality of the images, my husband is still learning how to use his phone when taking photos indoors 😏.

So all I need now is for spring to arrive and COVID to go so that I can wear my newly re-born outfit.

And that is all for now, do please share your thoughts in the comment section below.

Until then,

Anna

xoxo