Margaret Josephs’ Zig Zag Dress on Instagram

Real Housewives of New Jersey 2022 Instagram Fashion

Margaret Josephs looked groooovy in her zig zag dress on her Instagram. This dress has such a 70’s vibe which I am currently obsessed with. If there was anything I could do it would be to take a time machine back in time to shop it authentically. But thankfully this is how fashion works and cool era pieces usually circle back. Now I only wish I had one to take me to the future when a Style Stealer of this dress is in my possession.

Sincerely Stylish,

Jess

Click Here to Shop Her Alexis Dress

*She got hers from: @shopmarissacollections

Photo Credit: @therealmargaretjosephs via Getty Images

Info: @@therealmargaretjosephs

Originally posted at: Margaret Josephs’ Zig Zag Dress

20 years ago, the first time I was on Koh Lanta, I experienced a monumental event. Not because I was on a tropical island for the first time, and not because I was new to Thailand, nor somewhere so remote. It was because of the brief overwhelming feeling I experienced, like a eureka, of my future in retirement.

It felt so good!

At the time, this was very odd as I’d never really thought about retirement – it was decades away. I decided this crazy feeling was caused by experiencing extreme heat and didn’t think about it again for years.

The next year, I returned to Koh Lanta for my winter vacation to once again get away from the below zero temperatures in Canada. I stayed in the same beach bungalow and even met some of the same tourists from the year before.

I continued to vacation on this tropical island each winter, meeting more people, both tourists and locals. During those first years, I spent my days on the beach, swimming in the turquoise Andaman Sea, walking the beach, and enjoying the variety of beach restaurants close to my bungalow.

I Didn’t Expect the Transition

I loved being a tourist on Koh Lanta and structured my work back in Canada so I could take more time off during the winter months. I began to explore the island, the markets, the trails, and the other beach villages. There was a lot happening on this small island, and I found I was spending more time off the beach.

People told me that it was the natural progression, for those who returned each year, to transition from a tourist to a local expat. At first, I laughed at the idea, but then I realized that this was exactly what I was doing.

Exploring the Options

I was exploring the island to figure out what living there would be like, away from the tourists. I loved what I was discovering. In addition to the beauty of the island, there was a large expat community of people from all over the planet.

There were all kinds of people, especially many artists which nurtured my creative side, and lots of retired women, who were active and engaging. I developed a great circle of friends and regretted returning to Canada at the end of the winter. While in Canada, I longed to be back on Koh Lanta.

Looking for Permanent Accommodation

Each year I’d accumulate things and leave them with a local until I returned the following year. Around my 7^th winter on Koh Lanta, I started thinking about getting a place. My two-week vacation had turned into many months, and it would be cost-effective to rent somewhere for a few years. I could have my own space with my own things and call it home.

The following winter, I looked around for a place off the beach. While many of the homes I saw were amazing, they were either too expensive or too big. The ones that were affordable were either too far from the beach or in terrible condition.

The next year I continued my search. Again, I was shown unsuitable places. I instinctively knew what I was looking for, but nothing was available. That year, I actually realized that I wasn’t searching for a vacation home, I was looking for my retirement home.

Preparing for Life in Thailand

My time on Koh Lanta each year was full of great people, wonderful food, and terrific adventures. While most of the time my life was wonderful, I did get myself into some harrowing situations. I always figured out how to handle myself, and learned how strong I can be, when the occasion calls for it.

I began to study Thai and started to speak with the locals, which introduced me to the Thai culture. This was definitely an eye-opener, as this culture is very different from the Canadian way of life.

I learned when yes means no, to never ever exhibit frustration or anger, and to always have a smile on my face. As a Canadian, I’m used to always apologizing, but on Lanta I learned to also say thank you in almost every sentence. Sounds crazy, but it feels good to smile all the time and express gratitude about everything.

Do I exaggerate? Not really. I learned that by being humble and respectful, things seem to work out for the best.

Getting My Own Place

Just when I’d given up on finding a place on the island, I found the perfect villa. It was a one-bedroom bungalow, inside a large walled-in property. It had the most enchanting tropical garden and was a short 5-minute saunter from the beach. I bought the place. I couldn’t see ever wanting to leave, so buying it was a no-brainer.

That was 10 years ago. I’m still living on Koh Lanta and have never, not even for a nano-second, regretted buying my home and retiring way out there on a remote tropical island. I’m happy, healthy and my life is full of the things I love to do. I eat fresh food from the markets, and exercise daily to keep the body, mind and spirit healthy and strong.

Retired Way Out There: My evolving life on Koh Lanta, Thailand is the story of my transition from tourist to retired local, way out there on an amazing island in southern Thailand. It includes my many trips to the island, and my decision to retire there and get a home.

You can marvel at all my adventures, perils and discoveries on my journey to becoming a local expat. The book also includes a chapter with helpful advice for those thinking about retiring abroad.

I wrote this memoir as I love sharing my story and approach to retirement, encouraging others to be positive, make good life choices and find happiness each and every day on the journey through life.

It’s all good!

Are you living the expat life? Where have you settled? If you’re not there yet, are you considering moving abroad? Which location would you choose? What’s stopping you to look for your perfect home away from home?

If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, STYLECASTER may receive an affiliate commission.

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The older we get, the more often we find ourselves looking back and musing on the trajectory of our lives. Did we get it right? Or is there, indeed, one right way?

There are many dimensions to such questions, but here I want to consider motherhood in some of its manifold complexities. This is, indeed, a step back as I write more frequently on being a grandmother.

How Many Children?

Some of us managed to have the exact number of children we planned for. A bit of good luck.

But there will be some who had little say in the number of children produced, since Mother Nature has a funny way of getting the upper hand.

We may have intended to have none, but one or more somehow found themselves born. Or we may have had plans for a large and active family, but ended up with only one or, perhaps, none at all.

I suspect that any regrets on this score are not evenly balanced. Those who wanted children – but never managed to have any ­­­– are likely to feel considerable pain. The strong urge to procreate is not readily quelled.

In contrast, those who found themselves with one or more children, even if unplanned, will almost inevitably be glad that they came along. There may be a few women who would secretly wish away their children, but I suspect it is rare thought and always unspoken.

For me, I had two children, both planned (but see below) – a girl and then a boy.

The Spacing of Children

When I had my first child and those around me were doing the same, it was said to be important to have another child fairly quickly, so that the first one would have someone to play with.

I must admit that when I looked at those mothers with a short gap between their children, I felt, very simply, that I could not cope with so much going on at once. Their day-to-day lives looked like mayhem.

Of course, I would have coped if I had to, but it seemed like very hard work. Rather like having twins. This would not have suited me.

I have no idea what is the ideal spacing between children (and how do you define ideal?). But it is certainly easier for the parents if the first child can manage some tasks on his or her own before a second is born.

By dint of circumstances (doing graduate work, a reluctant husband, an unfortunate miscarriage and the vagaries of Mother Nature), I ended up with the extreme course of children born nearly 13 years apart.

This meant effectively raising two single children, although it didn’t always feel like that. I well remember when the youngest, an active boy, was two and my daughter was in the throes of adolescence at 15. It was not anyone’s finest hour.

With the high divorce rate and frequent second marriages, there may be many women who embarked on a similar course, with children widely spaced (but of different husbands).

To Work or Not to Work

These days, this is not a very frequently asked question, but I am sure we all remember how very important it was in our day.

Growing up in the 1950s, it was very much assumed that women would stay home and look after their family. It was just what women did.

Doesn’t that sound such a very ancient thought! I remember many a young man would opine that he wouldn’t want his wife to work, because it was his job to provide for his family. And many many women concurred.

Such attitudes persisted, so that when I had my first child in 1969, it was still the prevalent view. I happened to be the daughter of a working mother and, for me, ‘normal’ was to have both parents at work. I decided to make no decision until my baby was born.

But when I chose to undertake some part-time work and leave my baby daughter in the hands of various paid helpers (the word ‘nanny’ sounds too grand for the people involved), I was the object of considerable veiled criticism from the women around me.

“I don’t think anyone else would have the patience with my child” was a frequent comment, spoken with an air of disapproval. The underlying message was, “how could you be so awful as to leave your child with someone else?” I tended to reply that I did not have much patience myself.

Yet by the time my second child was born in 1981, views about working mothers had completely reversed. Even when I was pregnant, friends would ask “When will you be going back to work?” It had become the conventional assumption.

Indeed, by that time, those who stayed at home to look after their children became a bit defensive of their decision. I am not saying they should have been, but simply that they were.

Autre temps, autre moeurs (other times, other customs).

And at all times, there were some women who needed to work to support their family. For them, it was not a choice at all.

Looking Back

And now, whatever we did on this score, it is too late to go back. If you are 60+, you are no longer making decisions about having children (although at 80, I still have the occasional dream that I am pregnant).

The deeper issue, which requires a discussion all on its own, is whether we were ‘good’ mothers – and what this even means. I will leave this for another time.

Did I make the right decisions? Who is to know? Both of my ‘children’ are doing well and are now parents themselves. It is always hard to know what might have been if you had made different choices.

I think it best not to dwell too long on what cannot be changed.

Did you have the number of children you wanted? Were you happy with their spacing? Did you work when they were young? Do you feel you made the right decision on this question?