Playing With Interiors

Art Walls &

Creating a Bedroom Where There Was None

"Never stop to think... do I have a place for this?"

Mary Randolph Carter

The blue pillow cases are made from old kimonos by a Japanese lady (charity bazaar). 

Window curtains from Russia (gift from Mama). 

Quilt - Macy's (sale).

Justin bought me a new pocket camera: my old one went dead after extremely productive life, and another one was lost for a while, and when we found it, the battery exploded, and instead of buying a new battery for $30 to $50, he decided to invest in a new camera. So I'll most probably be getting back to my habit of taking tons of everyday pictures (which is both a wonderful hobby and good for family archives). I thought I'd share some with you - nothing super artistic, point and shoot, but with lots of character, warmth and attention to details, you know - the way I tend to do things.

Contempo

Thank you for your kind, thoughtful comments on my last post, beautiful stylish ladies! And thank you so much for sharing your stories and thoughts. We both are very touched, Mama and I.

On to today's outfit (last Saturday actually).

I know contemporary fashion is not at all everybody's cup of tea. Some of my beloved blogging friends, women of distinctive and unique style, are not especially impressed or even interested in today's fashion. I actually happen to like it, or rather I came to like it - I came a long way. Remember I told you that I sort of took a vacation from fashion? Well during that vacation, things changed - they actually changed a lot. If you would take that vacation with me, you'd probably notice it too. One day I realized that I just don't get today's fashion. What's with the proportions, with the lines, what's with everything, and where is beauty in it all? What sort of fashion is it and why don't we all go back to the 90s or something. Why the 90s? I think because it was a time when I was young and hip, had a career, had money to spend on clothes, was not married, had no kids, no big ambitious plans, free as a bird, with active interest in fashion and style. I knew how to appreciate that fashion.  

Blue Eyes, Red Pixi, Healthy Salad, Light Heart

When mama visits, I take her at least once during her stay to Erica for a stylish haircut and good professional color, and all the wonderful service Erica provides. Back home, they can't afford a nice hairdresser - both Mom and Dad are retired with less than modest means for living, so they are always looking for ways to cut corners. Mom's haircut is usually hit and miss, and then she just buys an inexpensive hair color from a store, and her sister colors her hair. That is also hit and miss - for instance, last time the color turned out way too bright for Mom's liking (Anya, her granddaughter, did appreciate it though). So this time, Mom's wish was to make her hair more natural looking, warm brown, sort of honey walnut color as she described it. That was difficult to do, given the bright purplish red Erica had to work with, but I think it turned out pretty well.

Light Travels Faster Than Words

This is for my beautiful friend Sacramento and her beloved Victor.

The candle holder is a hand made clay sculpture of a beautiful angel. It was given to me by a dear friend in Russia, many years ago, not long before my moving to the US.

The candle is from a little Russian Orthodox Monastery on Vashon Island, which I can see from my window. 

Love,

Natalia

Land's End: Cape Flattery

I wanted to share photos of our New Year's travel to the land's end - на краешек земли, as I call it. 

We do a lot of road trips. Practically every weekend we go exploring our amazing state which has so much variety (4 different climate zones, to begin with). There is probably not enough time in our whole life to really get to know every bit of it, and we do have quite a few favorite places where we return regularly, but we also love discovering new-to-us corners of Washington (with occasional trips to beautiful neighboring Oregon). This time, it was a trip to a new place, and literally a corner - the most Northwestern corner of the contiguous United States.

Please note: many photos in this post. 

Bonus: you don't need to fasten your seat belts or wear your hiking boots to start your trip.

Most Beautiful Month

My dear friends, thank you so much for your wonderful, generous comments to my last post. I'm overwhelmed. I never think of myself as being "always gorgeous", not even a slight bit. Maybe I should show up in PJs or my fuzzy robe (love, love, love) more often. OK, maybe not. Thank you, guys! I am very touched by your kind words, you are amazing!

All right, on to today's look and some other stuff. Today was black, gray and white - the colors of the landscape in many places this time of year.

Warning: Many photos in this post.

Just Keep Playing

I look almost like I know what I'm doing on these pictures. I promise you - I don't. I just keep playing with the clothes and accessories I like - some of it works, some of it doesn't. This time, I think, it worked pretty well. And I usually don't over-think my outfits - they all are born in just a few minutes. Very rarely I would plan an outfit for the next day. Well yesterday I actually thought I would wear a new dress (it's so cool and sexy) for another play Justin and I were going to see today. Good plan. Except that just the thought of wearing it on a drizzly gray day gave me shivers. I wanted something cozy instead. That other dress can wait. I thought that I haven't worn this set much (what looks like a sweater dress is actually a sweater+skirt set), so I decided on that.

Open the Door

Today, I want to celebrate opening new doors.

I realized a long time ago (I was still in my early 20s, if not earlier) that things that you choose to focus on should come together effortlessly - as in "naturally", not as in "without working on them" that is. Some say, as if it is meant to be, because that's exactly how it feels. First you realize that you have a dream, and from that little burst of desire to create something, if you stay tuned to it, let go of the fears and doubts which always accompany dreams, especially in the early stages, if you stay open to the ways your dreams come true... dreams do come true.  It does not matter what exactly your dream is - maybe you really want to create a wonderful healthy relationship, or learn a new skill, or create a piece of art, or start a business, or knit a sweater for the first time in your life. All that matters is that it matters to you. Any dream is significant, any dream that comes from the very heart of your being, is worth investing in. And the first thing that you invest in your dream is always this positive, open, enthusiastic energy which, despite your doubts, will lead you to the realization of your dream.

Romancing The Times

Happy New Year, dear friends and readers!

We are back from our little getaways, reconnected with each other (we had a grown up family vacation, while Anna spent a holiday with her father traveling down to San Francisco and up to Vancouver, Canada), and getting ready to go back to school, work and everyday life tomorrow. I will share some of our trip photos here on the blog, but first I wanted to share our spontaneous photo shoot of a couple of vintage dresses which I found just before Christmas (read the story here). These dresses have no labels on them, and I can only guess the era they were made or, as a possibility, they were custom made later, with those eras in mind, inspired by vintage fashion, using vintage fabrics and even vintage techniques. I'm only writing here about our best guesses as I'm certainly not an expert on vintage fashion.  It was quite intriguing to research these fashions, and if you can tell me more from these photographs, I'll be very grateful.