Going out

My shopping outfit

 I suspect many that read this blog do not live full time and many do not go out on a regular basis. This was the case for me for a long time, then several years ago I started to venture out and that turned into a regular monthly outing. Then the pandemic hit and everything came to a halt.   Since then I have been going out but not on such a regular basis. I have written about a few days I had earlier this year and recently I was lucky enough to meet up with a lovely friend and spend a few says just being me. 

As much as I would like to get out more often at the present time that is just not possible, that being the case I feel it is important to concentrate on the quality of time I have not the quantity. When I go away for my few days 'Andrea time' myself and my friend spend a lot of time planning what we are going to do so that we get the best possible out of our relatively short time. That planning not only covers what I am going to do but what I intend to wear, making sure I have suitable footwear and appropriate clothes for the situation I expect to be in. A short skirt and four and a half inch heels may look fabulous, but not the best thing for a days shopping in winter. 

So for this most recent outing, we decided to have a couple of evening meals in the hotel, a late afternoon lunch and on our shopping day we would round off the day with a meal in a restaurant. The evening meals were lovely, a chance to wear a nice dress and enjoy a lovely meal in great company. The late lunch was very similar and as with all three meals (and breakfast for that matter) the staff were lovely which enhanced the experience.

On our shopping day we arranged for a taxi to take us into town, the driver was very nice and chatted to us. We started in the modern shopping centre lots of well known shops to choose from, browsing is one of the best parts of my shopping day out, just wondering around looking at what's on offer, chatting about various items and just enjoying the moment. 

Girls night!

Stopping for a coffee is a good thing, apart from being able to rest your feet it gives you time to think about where you have been and where you want to go next. We did exactly this stopping for a coffee after an hour or so, then continued on our way. I particularly like old style department stores, and there is a lovely one in Guildford, it brings back memories of my youth, and is a delightful way to browse. This particular shop also had a coffee shop, although I opted for orange juice this time. We rounded off our day with a meal at the Ivy restaurant which was superb and considering the the quality of the food, the excellent service and the surroundings the price I thought was very reasonable. After that a taxi took us back to the hotel, the end of a fabulous day.........

So my advice is if you can get out into the world, do it! If you can find a friend to go with even better, it really makes the experience much better, plan your trip, dress appropriately, be confident and above all enjoy yourself!