Tuesday 14 November 2017

Pick-me-up-socks



Kaffesoester in navy trousers mustard shimmer knit and brocade boots
Brocade and more brocade plus shimmer and shine - makes me feel good!

Sunday the whole family celebrated Mum’s 73rd birthday. No-one can tell from her lifestyle how old she is. She’s always active, has plans and places to go and people to see. It’s a joy to watch, and the kind of old-age I wish for everyone! 

Kaffesoester with Mum and daughter
Mum doesn't like to have her picture taken, but loves to photobomb!

Had she not been widowed five years ago, everything had been perfect. But she’s found a way to enjoy herself, both with her family and on her own. All thanks to her fighting spirit. I hope all her grand children have inherited just a bit of it - it’s the best inheritance one could hope for.

We started at her home with coffee and traditional candy-decorated cake in the shape of a girl, made of Danish pastry. After a couple of hours of Hygge we went to a nice family restaurant and had dinner.

Mum's traditional Danish birthday cake
Mum's traditional Danish birthday cake

The week until Sunday was pretty rotten. Needles and knives had a go at me again - I’m not sure what they found this time, but I’m scared stiff waiting for the results. It does take all my energy, so no comments or visits to other blogs. I’m sure this week will be better. How couldn’t it be with these incredible boots and matching glitter socks?


Kaffesoester's brocade boots and glitter socks
I think purple is the new pink!

With fingers crossed for good news on my health - have a great week everyone


Love  Kaffesoester







Monday 6 November 2017

Monies and Mandelas

Kaffesoesters outfit Thursday last week
Bargain knit top, cheap skirt, new reasonably priced coat, all M&S!

This is what I wore Thursday morning. An otherwise plain knit top with cute sleeves, a pencil skirt with a pretty flower print, both M&S, and my tall boots from last year. No jewellery. Why not wear a necklace with that top? Because I needed the right “frame” for my task that morning.

Kaffesoester on Thursday morning
The top makes a good background for necklaces!
Kaffesoester on Thursday morning
See the cute sleeves?

Choosing the right gems at the Monies jewellery sale


Like having an extra Christmas, my BFF and I bought ourselves some very fine presents at the eagerly awaited sale this past Thursday at Monies. JOY!

We saved more money than we spent…. And brought home timeless beauties to adorn ourselves with, along with the memory of the fantastic sights of the other customers who are probably the most stylish women in Denmark.

As always, I arrived early to stand first in line. The weather caused dramatic clouds, but behaved nicely otherwise. During waiting in line I had nice chats with “the usual suspects” as well as one of my lovely neighbours. All part of the fun.

The sky over Copenhagen harbour Thursday morning
The sky over Copenhagen harbour Thursday morning

Since my BFF was running a bit late I entered the shop first, and on my own. I quickly grabbed a couple of handfuls of possibilities. As there was long lines to use the mirrors I tried to take selfies…

Kaffesoester trying on necklaces at Monies
Kaffesoester trying on necklaces at Monies

All but one of the coral necklaces were returned. And then I found this:

Kaffesoester trying a gold necklace at Monies
Can it get more shiny than this?

Isn’t it just perfect? As soon as I saw it around my neck I knew it was a hit. The length is great with every v-neck top and dress that I have, and the shine… It’s like wearing a ray of sunlight! 

In the beginning I felt it was a bit tight. A sales assistant heard that and immediately arranged that a colleague sewed up an extender, a small leather thing, that will add another inch to the length. It may not be necessary on this one after all, but I will probably use it on one of the other necklaces from Monies. How lucky is that?

Kaffesoester's new coral necklace
The new coral necklace

After deciding on the gold necklace and the long coral one, I imagined how I would wear the necklaces, and had the idea that the coral would work nicely with an equally long Sodalite and wood necklace from earlier, especially if I could find a third one to go with them. 

None of the clear Quartz crystals were that appealing to me. So I searched the shelves again, and found what appeared to be Smokey Quartz but really was a man made pendant on a leather cord. This would be brilliant with the other two, so into the basket that went!

Kaffesoester's three new necklaces
The three necklaces that made the cut

Now my BFF was on her first sale at Monies. Dare I say that she went berserk?

Kaffesoester's friend trying jewellery at Monies
BFF trying her first Monies necklace

So many pieces were great on her as she isn’t as voluptuous as me. There’s just room for more “decor”! Not only did she get some fantastic necklaces, she also got three incredible bracelets. The colours were lovely, and they came with a very neat magnetic lock. I can’t wait to see her styling outfits with these finds.

My friends choices
The loot - the "small" necklace in mammoth tooth and gold rutilated quartz

Of course one doesn’t just rush in and pick the items one wants, there’s finding a selection of pieces, trying them on, debating with the other customers (we all help each other), looking at prices and total cost, discussing with oneself (does this even work with anything in my closet), revisiting the shelves to see if anything has been overlooked, trying again, boiling it down to the absolute minimum. 

It takes hours. Three hours this time. It may sound like hard work, but it isn’t - it’s HYGGE! Just look at the beautiful shop interior. Add a nice glass of wine to that and you never want to leave!

The beautiful interior of Monies
Lots of delicious jewellery to choose from
The beautiful interior of Monies
A couple of hours into the sale it gets less crowded

After the best shopping experience in a year we were starving. We wanted a sea view with our lunch so started looking for appropriate restaurants (not too expensive after our shopping spree). We ended up at a sailing club in a not-so-fashionable part of the city and had these lovely plates:

Kaffesoester's lunch plate
A classic Danish lunch course - hamburgertype beef on butter toasted bread with pickles, raw egg yolk and horseradish
Friend's lunch
My friends lunch - a selection of little fish dishes

We had coffee afterwards to end a wonderful day that proved very fruitful. Our closet will not be the same after these buys. Every necklace we got can change an outfit completely. Well worth the money in my book!

Dinner with my Mother’s group


It’s about 18 years ago since we first met. We were 6 women at the first meeting, but one was a lot younger than the rest and quickly decided to find another group. The rest of us just hit it off immediately. We’ve been good friends ever since, and it’s just getting better and better. This Saturday night we had dinner and cocktails - lots of cocktails!

Kaffesoester in gold dress and yellow kimono
Gold is a great colour for a cocktail dress, right?
Kaffesoester in gold cocktail dress with draping
The dress has nice draping, just hard to see here!

Our favourite cocktail is the Mandela, a beer-cocktail, by the incredible cocktailbar Mikropolis in Copenhagen. One of the girls found the recipe online and tested it several times to reach perfection Saturday night - and we all appreciated that (I lost count after number four).

The Mandela beer cocktail
Creamy and sweet taste of coffee though strong and powerful!

At our last “meeting” I had told the girls about a new gold dress that I got for nearly nothing. Of course they wanted to see it, so I took the opportunity to show off both the gold dress and my new boots. I know these boots are just a current trend, but the brocade fabric make them such a perfect addition to my wardrobe. 

Kaffesoester's outfit for cocktails
The elements of Saturday's outfit

The dress is by Biba at House of Fraser, and cost me £10 only! The EEE-width boots are from Evans at £46, and there’s still a few in smaller sizes left. The kimono is from New Look, April or May this year. The Chrysoprase necklace is of course an old favourite from Monies!

As Black Friday isn't that big here in Denmark (yet) I don't mind having blown my money on jewellery and so staying at home, but for the rest of you, I hope you find some great bargains. Good hunting!



Love Kaffesoester