History: State and Personal

When our daughter was little, we visited our state capital Olympia a couple of times. It's is a beautiful small town (population 48,338 as recorded in 2013) on the very south end of Puget Sound, only 50 minutes drive from our home. 

Does It Happen to You?

You open your closet and... go blank.

The things that you have been choosing for yourself with joy and excitement, or at least with some form of curiosity or satisfaction, the things for which you were more than willing pay more or less good money (is there such a thing as bad money though?) because they spoke so loudly to you...

all those things keep silent. Nothing feels exciting. Nothing feels special. At least, not today, or this very moment when you need to dress and go. Everything feels wrong. 

If it ever happens to you, what do you do?

Girl Next Door

On Fridays, when Justin gets out of work earlier than usual, we like to go out to lunch together. One of our favorite places is an Indian restaurant - I believe it's the only one in the nearest town, and it's without a doubt the best Indian I've tried. (I sometimes think, 'can food get any better than that?' There is something so satisfying about Indian cuisine on so many levels - taste, visual presence with colors and all, variety of textures, and of course, of course the heavenly wonderful smells!) I typically choose to wear something bright and colorful in honor of this culture, but yesterday, I felt like breaking the familiar mold.

Japanese Inspired

I really wanted to come up with a Japanese inspired outfit for Sacramento and Rosy's Share-in-Style, and it took me quite a while before I created something that actually satisfied me. I'll confess I'm not a fan of creating "on demand" - I love the natural creative flow when I get inspired from sources I'm sometimes unaware of myself. But I adore Sacramento and what they created with Rosy together, the family of Share-in-Style - it's a beautiful concept, there are a lot of wonderfully talented stylistas participating, such a fun and diverse group of women (so far no men I think), so I tried and tried, and then I tried again, and nothing really exciting, or I just couldn't get excited. It was getting so frustrating that at some point I was ready to give up on the idea and skip the party. Which is, of course, no crime. And yet I did not want to skip it this time, it was important to participate. For the sake of friendship.

*L*O*V*E*

 

I loved Grinch once.

Not the character from the book or movie (though, come to think of it, the very first movie we watched together was... How The Grinch Stole Christmas... what an irony!).

I actually fell in love with a man who easily could have Grinch as his middle name.

And even though, he was a good man at heart, he did not make it easy to love him.

Wearable Art

I asked Papochka to be my photographer again today - thank you, Papa!

I often want to wear something comfortable and unpretentious (also known as casual), and at the same time interesting and just a little bit whimsical or fancy. 

Cosmic City, or What Animal Are You

It's been a while since I posted my outfit - and it's been a while since I dressed up. The flu or whatever Justin and I caught is such a persistent bug, it's been two weeks now and we feel almost normal, but still cough. But after staying in bed for many days and loosing interest in pretty much everything we love (food, fashion, writing, etc), as Justin mentioned, normal feels kinda ecstatic!

These photos were taken on January 25. We had a couple of gorgeous days here (once temperature went up to 67 F). We took my parents for a nice walk in Seattle Center, short monorail ride towards downtown, leisurely stroll to Pike Place Market and then again monorail ride back to Seattle Center. On a day like this, Seattle is completely irresistible! I do enjoy visiting the city once in a while, and Seattle is very unusual for a big city - very friendly and warm, you'll feel at home there even as a first time visitor.

Colorful Universe: Señora Allnut

When I think Señora Allnut, I think bright, bold, colorful. I think patterns, layers, accessories - all in abundance. I think playful, whimsical, eccentric. As much as she mastered combining bold colors together, she also does some of the most impressive monochromatic, and in particular black and white outfits. I am fascinated with the wild sense of freedom and desire to express herself in every outfit she creates. They all are an ultimate ode to both complexity and joy of life. They also feel so fearlessly genuine, so uniquely hers - no copying of others, no following, just pure joy of creating, every single time, from scratch. What makes such a profoundly stylish person who she is? What does it mean to be Señora Allnut? Does the connection with her inner sense of who she really is reflect her sense of style? I wanted to try to get to the bottom of these things, and an idea of an interview was born. Mónica supported the idea of this project, and here it is - I'd like to present you with the very first interview on In The Writer's Closet, and I am incredibly honored that it is with one of the most uniquely stylish and colorful fashionistas of Bloglandia. Señora Allnut, or Mónica from Spain.

I get a feeling that you are a city girl to the core. Is it so? What is your favorite way to explore a city? Do you get inspiration from nature as well?

Yes, I'm a city girl to the core! I enjoy landscapes but I'm not going to make them the center of my life. On the contrary, I usually feel that my life is becoming miserable if I stay more than a week out of a city. I used to read some books, guides and compile a lot of information before hitting a city which is new for me, but I consider all this information as a foundation to feel free to explore in a relaxed way, walking a lot, watching local markets (my favorite places!) or tasting some local food! Not a huge fan of museums, I've visited tons of them, and now I prefer sitting on a terrace to watch the street life.