Moments of April 2014

April was about mixing patterns - florals, stripes, plaid! Lots of bright colors. And with cool temperatures, still sweaters and coats. I also had good times thrifting (you can find some of my treasures under the label "secondhand"). There are even more thrift finds in store. Sometimes, it's all about waiting for a perfect pairing ... and if there is anything I'm terrible at... it is waiting! Mom used to tell me "hold your horses", when I was younger. When I told Justin once that he got extra patience when he was born, he replied that I did not, and that I did not have the patience to wait for it. We both burst with laughter - that's how true it is! To tell me to "hold on" is the same as telling a May storm to hold on. There is only so much holding on we can do, guys. Honestly!

What's next then? I envision dresses! Lots and lots of dresses.
Cough, cough.
Actually, I don't even have "lots and lots of dresses"... yet.
But I have a few which I am so eager to style. So hold on tight, May, here I come!

Uncomplicated

I actually wanted to wear a dress yesterday. In fact, I have wanted to wear a dress for quite a while now... But there is always something. Either the Pacific Northwest sky with its rain or unpredictable clouds and sunshine, and rain, and thunder, and some more sunshine mixture throughout the day (where did it learn to do so? was our sky on vacation in Scotland or something?). Or I feel as moody as our weather, and just don't feel like dressing up. We had a relaxed out-n-about kind of day, and I knew I needed something to be and feel comfortable all day long. So after a nothing-to-wear kind of morning when half of my wardrobe was out and any combination seemed wrong, I finally picked this new-to-me sheer striped blouse and weekend/boyfriend jeans which are completely impossible to resist 'cause they are like a good old friend, you know, so soft, and comfy, and just perfect in every possible way.

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall...

When my daughter was 7, she wanted to be a rock star for Halloween. We bought her a sparkly outfit, and I got the idea of a make up and a hairdo which she agreed to. I was pretty happy with my accomplishment, especially given that I am not all that interested or experienced in creating make-ups and hairdos. I was anticipating her looking in the mirror and giggling happily ... what a cute little glamorous rock star she was. 

Anya looked in the mirror and instantly broke into tears.

- What's wrong? You look so pretty! Don't you like it?

- No! I like MY face!

Unexpected

This gorgeous whimsical beauty of a pattern peeked at me from a random stuff rack at one local Goodwill store. I don't even know what sort of mix was on that rack - the new arrivals which were not sorted out and put on their proper racks yet, or the stuff customers tried on and rejected. What I know for sure is that if not for that random rack, I wouldn't find this top. When I had it in my hands, I noticed that the size was marked as Small (let me remind you that I typically wear  XL, so even if I sometimes check racks with size L, I never even think of checking out a rack with size S...) 

Fate! ;-)

Tights as Inspiration

Do you change outfits a few times a day, not for any practical reason, but just 'cause it's fun? I know that since I started blogging, I do. I also very rarely repeat the same outfit again. It's more interesting to find new ways of mixing for me these days. So, this particular outfit actually started as adding these fun floral tights to another outfit I wore earlier in the day. When I put them on, I realized that shoes were wrong, so I changed shoes. Still did not work, so I realized I need to change the whole outfit just because of the tights. Easiest thing to do would be, of course, just add another pair of tights, which would go well with the previous outfit. But this pair was so much fun to look at! I don't remember when I had floral tights last time... when I was 17, perhaps?

Russian ABC: B Is for Borscht

I have had this idea for a while to write a series of posts about my native culture. I sort of naturally started doing this and introduced you to such very Russian phenomena as banya (here) and traditional Russian platok (here and here). I thought it could be fun to do one Russian cultural phenomena for each letter of an alphabet, and borscht would be my pick for B, as it is one of the most famous and delicious soups in world cuisine. Then I received a request from a friend to give her a recipe, and as I stayed at her house, I cooked borscht to share with her, and decided to photograph the process and finally write a recipe for my blog. When Shawna posted her yummy Italian soup, I saw that it is just the right time to finally begin realizing my idea about the "Russian ABC" series, which will not be in alphabetical order though, as I don't want it to become something forceful and too "thinky" - I enjoy the natural pace of life, and a spontaneous approach to my blogging is a must for me.

All Kinds Of Beauty

When beautiful Sacramento a.k.a. Mis Papelicos invited me to participate in her Share-in-Style, and I learned that the theme was Flowers, I couldn't resist. There is something about flowers for me this Spring. It's every Spring, and in general any season when I can admire flowers (thankfully, it's a big chunk of the year in the Pacific Northwest), but there is something very special going on this particular Spring. So here is my take on Share-in-Style: Flowers challenge.

WARNING: not many words, but many of pictures of flowers taken today! :)

Sunshine & Shine On Awards

Lovely Elsie of The Cooking Wardrobe nominated me among other amazing ladies for the Sunshine Award and the Shine On Award. Thank you! I am honored. And excited! Well, who doesn't like to talk about themselves, right? Not bloggers and certainly not me. By the guidelines of these awards, I have to write all together seventeen random facts about myself. Seventeen facts about me? Only seventeen? Hmm... which ones to choose... OK, I'll just see what comes to me today. And yes, I am going to combine them all together. All seventeen facts. So get comfortable, guys. 

(Clearing her throat.) 

Here goes!

One Man's Trash

Our weather is quite changeable, as Spring is supposed to be, of course. Yesterday, I took my daughter and her friend to the beach after they came back from school. The temperature was in the 70s, it was sunny and felt like Summer. Many kids were playing in the water (even though Puget Sound is cold, especially this time of year), some even had their swimsuits on. Northwesterners are funny that way - you will see both shorts and parkas on the same day. Today, it's again rainy and mild, just like it was a few days ago, when I hit a couple of consignment stores in search of some treasures.

Green on Green on Green? Yes, Please!

Thank you for all the kind and sweet and fun comments you've left on my and Anna's latest posts, and for your congratulations on my 100th post as well! To tell the truth, I would have easily made it my 300th post by this time. I always have so many more ideas what to write about than I actually write. The majority of my writing never sees pages - either paper or computer screen. That's just how I work - I always "write" in my head. :) I also have more outfits to post (there are two or three sitting there in my computer files which I haven't posted yet). Sometimes I think I'm just afraid to either bore or overwhelm people if I post too often (which never happens when I read the blogs of others - if I love the blog, then it's never too much for me to read). Sometimes, I am just not in the mood to post. There are also such things as commenting on others' posts and replying to your comments (which I love to do), but they all require time and energy, because I love it to be meaningful. I will be sure to get to commenting and responding when I am in the right place. Sometimes I just need much more "me" time than "in the world" time, especially when I am getting ready to write something of my own. But even when I might appear to be away, I am definitely here, and if I don't respond right away, it only means that I am in my own world for now. :)

Tie-Die and Teal

At the beginning of my blog, I thought that Anna and I will both write in it - sort of two generations, mother and daughter, and two takes on personal style. But then Anna (or Anya as we call her at home) got really busy, and then she got really into her own many interests, and it just so happened that she did not write here for a few months. I don't know whether or not she'll decide to post here on a regular basis in the future, but since she is on a school break now and we finally are having a great relaxing family time, I asked her if she'd be interested to post her recent outfits, and she agreed! You can find other Anna's posts under the label "Anna's fashion" (there are also a few posts featuring Justin under the label "Justin's style"). The first photo is by Justin, he took it last evening on the beach. All other photos are taken by me during the day.

The rest of the post is by Anna.

Hi, its me, Anna. Yesterday, I sort of had a two-in-one outfit. I know I haven't posted here in a long time, but even if I wasn't here, it doesn't mean my fashion stopped. Anyway, on to the outfit.

Internal Sunshine

Can you believe it?

This is my 100th post!

So just a little shy of 7 months ago, I started this blog. I started it just for myself. The Summer before, I discovered that there are such things as personal style blogs. Personal style (not fashion so much) was something I became really interested in after a few years of wearing dark blue jeans literally every single day, with something loose over them to hide my thickened body. But then I discovered all sorts of women who were posing in front of the camera and posting photos of themselves, and they looked so pretty and so confident, and they were saying something like "Style is not a size, but an attitude" and a bunch of other cool stuff about positive body image.