Hot pink cure-all

When she's got the winter blahs because Annecy is perpetually grey in the winter (mountain weather?), what's a gal to do?

If it's super mild, which it thankfully has been most of the winter and def was last week when hubby snapped this shot, well, she goes out to frolic in the snow (translation: went on a grocery run) wearing her NEW previously-loved wool colour-block cape (courtesy of Etsy).

Bright colours are a tonic for the blahs, I find, and I was so thrilled with this cape (especially since it was on sale and super inexpensive for what it is) that I threw it on when really I should have worn a longer coat to protect me from the wet snow, which melted the next day, yay!

The cape is by a company called Coloratura, which started in Boston, USA in the 1980s but has since moved to Pennsylvania. It specializes these days in artisanal-made capes with a bit of a Native vibe, which look very different from the one I have, a thick blanket-like 100% wool open cape that I can phwing oh so artlessly over my shoulder and pretend I'm glamourous when really I'm starting to waddle like a duck. I just love the little pointy hood too; it makes me feel like a little gnome.

I don't wear the colour much, but ever since discovering a nubbly crayon of a certain hue in the crayon box when I was a kid, hot pink - and yes, neon pink too - has been an emotionally-charged colour for me, and always happy happy happy.

I found this 1980s wool dress, with batwing sleeves and floppy funnel neck, on Etsy as well - in fact it's from the same seller as the cape, and it was a screaming deal. Not sure if I'll show you the look **sans** thrifted Windsmoor coat as I look rather like a pink blob in it at the mo, but it's cozy and satisfies my hunger for brights.

I'm wearing it with a vintage Kangol angora hat gifted to me by a vintage pal, my thrifted Kenneth Cole Reaction boots, my new "Pippi Longstocking" striped wooly tights, and a vintage 1980s statement piece necklace made of multi-hued Lucite-like chunks.

Ok, let's throw in the beat-up leather purse I found a few weeks ago at the thrift shop in town, which had a **braderie** outside that day, meaning everything on the table was a Euro each (!) - finally, I found something for a Euro in France!! It was fun to rummage; I found a few things, another purse and some clothing for bebe, which I'll show you another time (the lovely all-wool men's scarf underneath, which I'm using as a table runner, was found at the same shop this weekend for .75 centimes).

On the subject of France, my French lessons have taken a back seat these last few weeks to intensive baby research (cribs or bassinets which meet European standards, trying to find out what the hell those standards are etc). I realized last night after a particularly late Internet session that I'm just a week or two from the beginning of my third trimester, and we've done next to nothing planning-wise - AK!

Back to the pink: I've had this sheeny quilted silk down-filled Hilary Radley jacket (which I bought new but on sale) for years. I tried to give it away to a homeless woman I used to talk with all the time in Toronto years ago, but sadly I couldn't find her. In the end it suits the alpine life in Annecy, and the jolt of my fave happy shade cheers me when all I see is a sea of black coats on the streets. It also matches my face, which has recently broken out in dry, red blotches - mind, if that's the only pregnancy complaint I have, I'm doing well!

You can see I've fully internalized the alpine style ethic with my new fur hat. I thought the studs jazzed it up, and it was a screaming 50 percent off (but still not a deal by any means ... we're in Annecy, afterall). Though it's not minus 20 degrees C like it is in my hometown in Canada, I still find it cold here - perhaps it's the damp mountain air? - so this hat makes a real difference, especially on my daily lakeside ambles. Hubby has one too, a totally different style, but I still fear, with his new lace-up boots that are similar to my new Uggs, that we may start looking like one of those couples that wear the same thing - scary!!

Let's banish that disturbing thought. It's been snowing all day today - the first major snowstorm where there are several feet of the white stuff on the ground - so I'll leave you with some lovely shots from around the lake on my walk today, whose icy bleak beauty rather counter the pink parade. How all the snow makes me think of Ottawa, Canada! This is the wee man-made island on the lake, which is a bird sanctuary, I'm told.

Mammoth droopy willow beside the lake in the Jardins de L'Europe, a lovely English-style landscape garden park filled huge trees of every type.

Looking from the gardens over the Pont D'Amour to the other side.

I'm joining all the lovely ladies at Patti's Visible Monday, because, amidst this greyness, my pink surely stands out! Like me, Patti is wearing a gorg hue in her post today, and a sweater dress to boot. And if you're groovin on the hot pink, I must credit my muse for today, Sarah, whose stroke-able hot pink velvet wiggle skirt egged me on to do this post (though, alas, I will never look so hot in MY pink!).