I’ve spoken about my hunt for the perfect grey winter coat previously, as this year I’m trying to just invest in classic pieces rather than trends, I had all but given up hope when I spied this beauty in the Gap sale, only one left, in my size, was down from £99.99 to £39.99 with another 40 percent off, so for £23.99 I picked up the best bargain I have found in a while, and I’m in love with it.
It ticks a lot of the boxes I had listed for this coat, it is the perfect shade of grey, not too dark, not too light – I am very picky, it has subtle buttons, not over the top shiny ones, it has large pockets to slouch into, oh and carry my phone around, it has a strong collar, and most importantly it falls around knee-length. I have to be honest, listing out all the points it ticks makes me, even more, surprised that I found it, more so because it was less than £25, it just shows that you can still find a good deal out there.
I promise I won’t only wear this with grey, but I thought it made a fun statement to show off the beauty of the coat, plus it was freezing on our weekend winter walk around Anglesey Abbey that I needed this cosy cable tabbard jumper with roll-neck from Oasis **which FYI is in the sale**, which I love layered over a long sleeve tee or as in this case wearing over a thin black roll-neck for extra warmth. If you are going to work a roll-neck you have to do it twice right?
Finishing up my look is my carry everywhere, bottomless pit of a tote that I picked up from Zara, the best bit about this bag has to be the fact you can reverse it for a contrasting colour, so I have the red showing but could have gone for black. I also have this beauty in the blue and mustard colour, which doesn’t seem to be available anymore. It really is the perfect travel companion or winter walk buddy to carry my camera, instant camera, mini picnic, and basically my life around with me. The best bit, well other than the price it is only £29.99, has to be the inner zipped pocket, which attaches to the handle to keep it secure, plus you can remove if you like and use in any bag you want.
Sunday walks are becoming a bit of thing in our household, as we are trying to take time away from our busy schedules, enjoy life and being with each other, and help me especially step away from the computer for at least one day a week. Getting outside is one of my favourite things, I really do think when it is so gloomy that you have to take all the good weather days and enjoy them to the max. Plus what’s not to love about walking around a beautiful place hand-in-hand with the one you love. We are lucky as we live in a village in the countryside, just outside Cambridge, so we get town and country, but when we lived in London we used to wander around one of the parks, or stroll down the River Thames, just somewhere that’s pretty and relaxing.
I probably go to Anglesey Abbey just outside Cambridge about four or five times a year, it is such a lovely relaxing place, and I just adore the wandering walk through the gardens, alongside the river and through the woods, plus it changes beautifully with the seasons there is always something new to admire. In February, it is all about the snowdrops, one of my favourite flowers – well they do herald the arrival of spring plus they are just so elegant and pretty, and Anglesey Abbey has more than 270 species of snowdrops dotted around the place. I know who knew there were so many different kinds.
I also used the occasion to test out my Lomo’Instant, the instant camera from Lomography that we got as our Christmas present from my Mum, as I have wanted a polaroid-style camera for a while. I love digital and snapping away on my phone, I even love the art of editing my images, but there is something fun and more memorable about capturing that moment on instant film and waiting for it to develop. I will be bringing you a more detailed review on the camera soon, which I am loving to capture our first year in marriage memories.
