Over the past year, while Covid has left most of us missing the opportunity to socialize safely, Sue Burpee, writer of the blog High Heels in the Wilderness, has hosted four fantasy get-togethers for her readers. The first, in early April, was an afternoon tea party at the Chateau Laurier in Ottawa. In mid July, Sue invited us to her home overlooking Ontario’s Rideau River for a backyard book party and in early December, we spent a weekend in Paris! Then, most recently, we crossed a magical bridge in the falling snow and gathered for a fantasy pub night in the small village of Ashton, Ontario. 

A retired high school English teacher, Sue is a fashion, lifestyle, and travel blogger, but she’s also a delightful storyteller! A couple of weeks before each fantasy event, without giving away too many details, Sue issues an invitation on her blog. She tells us the basics of what we’ll be doing or where we’ll be going and gives us some suggestions about what might be appropriate attire for the occasion. Then she asks us to send her photographs of what we would wear. By the time we’ve read the resulting blog post and enjoyed the photos, we feel like we’ve been on a wonderful adventure and enjoyed the company of a group of likeminded women! 

Sue’s invitation to the recent pub night suggested that we choose an outfit that would be “dressy enough to make you feel good, and casual enough to wear to a pub.” The pub would probably be a bit drafty, she advised, so we should try to come up with some winter layering ideas. Here in Alberta, we were in the midst of an extreme cold snap at that time, so I was dressed warmly even in the house. In fact, I looked at what I had on that morning and realized that I was almost ready to go! I was wearing dark wash jeans, a favourite animal print t-shirt, a cozy sweater jacket that feels like I’m wrapped in a blanket on a chilly day, and a pair of silver earrings. 

All I needed to add was a pair of black ankle boots and a bright blue pashmina scarf for a pop of colour. I purchased the pashmina in a market in Cambodia several years ago. If I got too warm, I could easily remove the sweater and drape the pashmina over my shoulders.

How’s that for a good reason to get dressed in the middle of a pandemic shutdown instead of spending the day in your pjs? You never know when you might be invited to a fantasy pub night!