Monday, November 3, 2014

Family Day in Seattle

"As soon as I saw you, I knew a grand adventure was about to happen.” 
― A.A. MilneWinnie-the-Pooh


Another fun cultural family event. You know that I dedicate this year to exploring a myriad of little cultural organizations in the greater Seattle area. I was familiar with a few of them, but most of them stay hidden until you start diggin'. So I started. I was asked before how I even get the information I get (and gladly share with others). That's all 'cause I love diggin'. Do you have some diggin' to do? Call Natasha. Did you want me to dig up some dirt? Stop calling right now. I only dig for fun shiny stuff. For instance, I dug out over 60 theaters in the area. I bet there are some more left!


Theater/concert outings are extra fun because you can get extra fancy too! So while actors get ready to show their art and creativity to us, we too take our time to get creative and expressive and show our art in exchange. Time spent in front of the mirror pays off - both Anna and I felt beautiful, fancy and cute. And rain did not spoil it at all! On the contrary, it was fun to take our umbrellas for a walk.


The theater we went to this time is located in a charming older neighborhood - Maple Leaf in Seattle. There are mostly post WWII buildings, cute little cottages, but you can find noteworthy Victorian and Tudor style houses as well. Apparently, Maple Leaf is one of two homes for a flock of feral conures (parrots) descended from escaped pets. They fly between Maple Leaf and Seward Park.

The theater itself is in an old church building. It's not the first time we visit - I'll tell you more in a minute.


Anna found this dress at a consignment shop last Summer - isn't it a beauty? I'm so glad we can share some hobbies, like thrifting. She is going through a "jeans only" period, so I was really surprised when she showed me this dress and asked whether we could buy it. It was not cheap for a second hand find, but looked incredibly good on her, and it was on sale - so of course we bought it!


This zombie display was removed after we got out of the theater, good thing we took photos - it added to the atmosphere of that day.


It was Dia de Muertos, or Day of the Dead this past weekend. You might know that this unique cultural tradition is inscribed in the List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO (read about the tradition HERE). Children in our public schools learn about this tradition (Anna's school prepared artwork to display in the Tacoma Art Museum), museums offer special Dia de Muertos exhibits and family events - we visited some in past years. This year, we went to see The Green Bird, a Mexican fairy tale at the Northwest Puppet Center, a wonderful little theater, owned and operated by the Carter family. While they are puppeteers themselves and have their own performances on a regular basis, the family also invites other puppet theaters, and one of their returning guest performers is Oregon Shadow Theatre from Portland, OR. It was the second play we've seen by the Oregon theater, and it was again wonderfully fresh, original, colorful, with live music and a great sense of humor. If you are in Seattle, do visit - there are a few performances during November. It's a true family style show where both little ones and grown ups will have great time and lots of laughs together. They also perform at a few King County libraries during their Summer reading program (look up the KCLS web site for the schedule). And if you are in Portland, OR - well lucky you to have such a gem in town!



My outfit is remixed from my closet, put together in a new way which is fun and surprising. You've seen the jacket HERE, the dress HERE. The purse is the newest addition seen HERE. I added a detachable faux fur collar from the Michael Kors poncho sweater I bough on clearance a year or two ago (HERE).


We weren't allowed to take photos during the show, but a part of the Center is a puppet museum, and I took a few photos there.  


An old poster from the USSR where the Carters had performances many years ago, among other countries. Qweti was one of the plays we've seen in this theater a few years back too. It's so fun for me to see Russian!






Justin is the most cheerful and enthusiastic performance viewer - he laughs like a kid and you can hear him applauding louder than the crowd. He only looks like a serious grown man. He's actually incredibly silly, and I adore it in him. But then, you gotta be silly to take all this cultural torture I put on him with ease.


 So that was another theater experience (and I don't write about all that we are having lately), and then we had dinner, visited Barnes and Noble, and strolled in the rain, and it was one fine family day in Seattle.

My outfit:
dress, earrings and bracelet - Chico's (old, on clearance)
jacket - Girl with Curves
faux fur collar - detached from Michael Kors sweater (old, on clearance)
boots - Aquatalia (last year, via Nordstrom Rack)
purse - Inge Christopher via TJ MAXX
frog ring - Lane Bryant sale

Anna's outfit:
dress - consignment shop on Bainbridge
jacket - Justice
scarf - Claire's
boots - Bear Paw 

Justin's outfit:
canvas coat from Cabela's
rain hat - Tilley's from The Traveler shop on Bainbridge
shoes - Ecco

***

19 comments:

  1. First let me begin by saying you look A...Maz...Zing! I adore the dress with the beautiful ornate clutch. And yes, your daughters dress is very pretty. I often wonder what men think about our need to adorn ourselves. Do you wonder?

    My oldest son is a young, accomplished musician. He gave my hubby and I the nicest compliment. He told an audience that he thanks his parents for taking him to orchestras and concerts. Because of this, he has grown to love and appreciate the arts. Your outings with your daughter remind me of my family. We take as many opportunities as possible to take them to exhibits, the theater, etc.

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  2. Beautifully coordinated oufits, the whole family. And lovely autumn colours all around. About puppets: do you perhaps remember a "Kasper" puppet show on TV, 70s-80s? I think it was czech... Maybe. Anyway, the puppets reminded me of that.

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  3. beautiful post!!!!
    first for the beautiful family shown here - second for the wonderful way they dress! and not at least for the puppet theater. we have a big tradition here for puppet theater - http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hohnsteiner_Kasper - i wish we had more time to go to the shows, our weekends are always to short.....
    love the makeup pic :-)
    xxxxxxx

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  4. You look fabulous in this dress, both ways - with the jacket worn over it and without it. The purse matches perfectly. Love all those puppets photographs, beautiful! Anna looks amazing in the blue dress and what a bright and colourful umbrella she's got!

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  5. Wonderful photos, the lurid rainbow umbrella against the muted Autumnal leaves is art!
    Love Anna's dress (she really is a beauty) and you look stunning in yours, the blingy bag, leopard print ,sexy ankle boots and furry collar make for one rock star outfit. Love your description of Justin, I like him even more each time I hear about him.
    The puppet theatre is incredible, I want the tortoise! xxx

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  6. Now that sounds like a fabulous day out! It's true, to find out about interesting things to do and places to visit, you have to be prepared to put in some effort - go digging, as you say!
    Anna looks so gorgeous in that blue dress; it's an interesting design, I can really see why she was drawn to it. Isn't she beautiful? You and Justin are such a lovely couple, I bet you make other people around you feel all warm and fuzzy! You are so glamorous in leopard print, heels and fur, Natalia, you should be on stage yourself.
    Those puppets are incredible, and oh the zombie babies did make me laugh! xxx

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  7. What a fun thing to do! I adore puppets.

    We also look for interesting things to do around our city. There really are lots if as you say, you dig a bit.

    I love your outfit. So classy. The leopard and fur trim are perfect together.

    Those zombie babies were brilliant!

    bisous
    Suzanne

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  8. You both look so gorgeous and playful! I think the best part about your family is that you all enjoy each other's company. I love puppets and would enjoy this show I'm sure, I need to look for them here in portland! I think Anna's dress is magnificent on her and her style is all her own, rare at her age! Justin looks like such a sweet happy guy, he'd have to be, look at his girls!
    Xxooooo

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  9. What a great family trip out for you all - well done you on digging out these places to visit.

    I love that photo of you and Anna with your brollies and the autumn colours. It's great she shares your love of thrifting and her choice of dress is spot on. xx

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  10. All three of you are so beautiful inside and out. It just shines out of you. LOVE Anna's dress and all the pics are fantastic. One of my favourite posts!
    xoxo

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  11. Such beautiful photos! Such beautiful girls! (And you husband looks pretty good, too!) All adorable, especially your very beautiful daughter. And Natalia ... that is the most gorgeous combination of separates I ever saw. Just lovely on you and you in them! So glad you got to see the theatre and the puppets ... I'm a little creeped out at them, like some clowns, but they change completely when they are moving and taking us all to another world!
    So happy to see this beautiful post!

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  12. Your family visit to the puppet theatre looks like a wonderful day out. You look simply stunning in your leopard, black and with that touch of fur. Annas dress is so pretty on her. You girls look to be having so much fun under those umbrellas.I also love the shot of you and Justin, the perfect couple.
    Thank you for you kind comments, Natalia, they mean such a lot to me.

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  13. Thank you so much for joining us for "How I Wear My: Leather, Crystal or Glass." I LOVE that DVF dress on you and you accessorized it to perfection! XO, Jill

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  14. Great post Natalia! You take good care of your family both physically and mentally. I so liked the photo of you and daughter in front of the mirror. And she looks great on that dress. My daughter is on the jeans phase lately,too! And your outfit is such fun with animal print and skirt.

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  15. What a wonderful experience! I love exploring and finding new things to do where we live as well.
    Your daughter looks adorable! The dress is beautiful and the color looks good on her. Наташа, твой наряд прекрасно подходит для выхода в свет :)
    Я рада, что тебе понравились мои цветочки из ткани. Я с удовольствием сделаю тебе такие, только чуть позже -- у нас сейчас гость и я отдала ему свою рукодельную комнату, поэтому временно не творю. Тебе отличной недели!

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  16. Everyone has already said it all! Lovely Anya in her blue, and you in your furry stunningness! Of course Justin with his charm. Those puppets were interesting design. We try and take our kids to shows but I'm not organised enough to do it often. Our life is one big show! They hear me singing and playing the piano, see me painting and writing poems with photography, and dressing up. They see Bushy speaking on the radio, and of course many performances at their school which is big on the arts. Hopefully they don't miss out on too much. Now i feel guilty. Hmmm.
    Glad you manage to get out and about so much. Well done you! Anya is a lucky girl :-) xo JJ

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  17. glad you're enjoying some cultural life around your neck of the woods, very interesting!!, and I love marionettes!!. It's so lovely dressing up to go to the theatre, it makes everything even better!!
    And you're gorgeous, love your dresses (both) and your attitude, fabulous ladies!!
    besos

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  18. As I started to read your post I was going to ask if you've ever seen a performance at the puppet theater. It's a magical place. We took our son when he was about 10 to a shadow puppet show. It was excellent!
    You look very striking and elegant in your special attire. Your daughter reminds me of Helena Christensen, a super model from the 80's. ;)

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