Best of 2018 and Intentions

JANUARY 2018

To end this year on the blog, I've decided to pick my 10 favorite outfits of the year. I feel that each year, from the very beginning of my blog, I learn something new about style. It all started with colors for me, then I moved to patterns, layering, and proportions. 2018 became a year of textures and details. I wonder what the next year will bring? I would like it to be a year of refining my style: sorting things out, donating what I don't wear, finding new combinations with existing things, and adding only things that are of higher quality and which really resonate with me. It's been my intention ever since I started getting an interest in clothes as a child or teenager, but there were also periods of lost and returned interest, periods of different abilities, skills and focus, and periods of experimentation. I have a feeling that it's time for refinement of whatever I've learned in the past few years, but I'm not the one who thinks that our goals are set in stone. I'm not saying that there is no place for goals and plans in our lives - sure there is. But I also love watching the natural flow of life, seeing how things develop organically, without us forcing them, but rather staying open-minded. So, I send my intentions out there and see what happens - it'll be fun seeing how they transform and manifest themselves in the new year.

Happy Holidays!

I will not be myself if I don't wish you happy holidays and don't share with you some of our latest outings and other slices life generously offered at the end of the year. So without further ado, let's dive in!

Red with Teal or Blue

Ta-daaa! To those of you who put bets on the color of my second beret and guessed red:

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

I bought three berets this Fall: gray, blue and red. I thought that either I would share them all with my daughter, or that she would choose the one(s) she likes and make it (them) her own. And since she has just discovered her love of the color red, I was almost sure that she'd choose the red one, but to my surprise she chose the blue one instead, perhaps to match her new wool coat. The blue one was also the smallest of the three and just wouldn't fit all that extra fluff I have in my big head, so it seemed like a perfect choice anyway.

The Cutest Couple on the Town

 

As you can tell, my new wool berets quickly became my favorite headwear (I soon will show you the other color that I got... can you guess what it is?). Another strong favorite of this Fall is this rust plaid dress by eShakti, made of cozy brushed cotton and fully lined (the style and fabric is similar to the skirts you've seen before, last time in my posts about Portland back in April 2018 HERE and HERE). I wore this dress sleeveless when the weather was warmer earlier this season, but now it is wet, blustery and penetrating - just perfect for layering with turtlenecks! (I guess it is time to refresh my stock with other pretty colors too.)

Modish Matrons #30: Iceland

If you ask me why Iceland even came to my mind when I put together the list of themes for the 2018 Modish Matrons back in December 2017, I couldn't explain - it just did. I have never been to Iceland and I didn't know the first thing about it. Obviously, I had to visit and learn. Or at very least commission sending a photographer to this intriguing far away place. The things we do for blogging, right? 

Sequins Are a Girl's Best Friend

I didn't know this line when putting on this outfit for the opening performance of the new professional regional theater program in Tacoma, and yet I wore sequins as if I knew.

Tartan and Snake Print; Freedom and Gratitude

To all my American friends and readers, 

Happy Thanksgiving!

It is my most favorite of ALL the American holidays, and I am so happy to celebrate my 17th Thanksgiving this year! I am truly thankful for my life, for everything that it throws at me, good and bad, I love it all. I really came to believe that contrast is what shapes us - what helps us to sort out the infinite ways of life, choose what feels right to us (to each, their own!), and what makes us who we become. It's easy to feel gratitude for good times, but I've learned to love my disappointments and crisis just as well, because like nothing else, they really teach me to focus on what I want to experience, on what I actually want my life to be. If everything comes easy, then how can we know what is important to us and what is not? How could we learn to appreciate? And how could we ever be able to make choices and stick to our dreams? And our freedom to dream and freedom to make choices is what it's all about to me. That's what I celebrate on this day, and I am deeply and forever 

grateful.

Back to September

Hello my dear friends and readers,

November has been a busy month so far, and to tell the truth I haven't even taken any new outfit photos yet. But I still have some unposted outfits from the past months, and why not use the power of our imagination, and instead of documenting what's happening right now, get into a time machine to travel a couple of months back?

Modish Matrons #29: Beautiful Black

"Beautiful Black!" said Beate.

"It sure is!" said Tina and I.

And so the month of November is dedicated to this elegant, dramatic and edgy color - BLACK. I admit that I do not wear black very often, but I have a few favorite things in black, and for this outfit I remixed some of them in a new and a bit unexpected way. The only new thing in my outfit is...

Fall Fun & Food

Hello my dear friends and readers,

This post is more of a "slice of life" post than a style post, which some of you, I know, prefer to pure fashion/style blogposts. I will share some of our Autumnal outings and my Fall recipes, so if it's your cup of tea - I hope you enjoy it to the fullest (pun intended)!

Velvet in the City

What I like about velvet pants the most is the fact that I can feel dressed-up and be as comfortable as if I was wearing pajamas. Especially pants like these, with roomy legs and elasticized, stretchy waist - nothing gets too tight, nothing pinches, nothing irritates or restricts movement. I bought this pair last Spring for their gorgeous rich color (what would you call it?), and wore them recently with light long coats and sneakers, for different occasions, locations and moods.

Library Happenings and Secrets of Public Speaking

Most people, at most times, go to a library to see books. But on October 5-6, 2018 some folks had a rare opportunity to go to the Puyallup Library to see book authors! I happened to be one of about 30 local authors who were honored to present our work during this event. 

Modish Matrons #28: Colorblocking...Colorblogging!

Hello lovely friends and dear readers, and welcome to October Modish Matrons! This month's theme is Colorblocking...Colorblogging! offered by gorgeous Tina (as you might know, we rotate each month). As soon as I learned what the theme was, I thought of this fabulous skirt, and the rest of the outfit came together spontaneously.

Playing with Neutrals

So, the Summer is coming to an end as we speak (though to me, it ended on August 31st - you see, Fall starts on September 1st in my Russian mind every year, no exception). But our playing with fashion continues, and why not play with neutral tones for a change. I love bold colors, but from time to time I feel inclined to wear neutrals - it's refreshing, as if I push an invisible restart button of my style.

Dahlia Display

Despite my honest intention to continue wearing my Summer wardrobe, Fall arrived early and settled in the mid 60s F, with clouds, rain, and even a bit of thunder. Whether it came here to stay, remains to be seen. So at least for the moment, off with cotton and linen pieces - and on with polyester dresses and cozy sweaters we go! Last Sunday, the weather was especially tricky - cats and dogs one minute (gullywasher, as Justin said), and sunshine the next one. I dressed to take a walk in a mall, since the changeable skies couldn't decide what to send onto Seattle, but while we were driving, it started looking so promising that I remembered one garden I used to love and haven't visited in several years, so we changed gears and instead of the mall, went to the garden.

Flamboyant in the Office

I wore this outfit to an important appointment earlier this week, and to me it is an example of expressive personal style even when you want to look professional and pulled together in an official/business/office situation. Honestly, if you're not required to wear a uniform at work, or you're not going to meet a president of  a country or the Queen, there is no reason not to have fun with vivid colors and bold patterns. If a part of you, like me, is flamboyant, there is no need to be afraid to come across as a bit flamboyant - it only will be genuine.

Better Late Than Never

Would you believe that after all these years writing about style, this is literally the first time that I am actually aware of the Fashion Week happening in New York as we speak? I can't explain it other than being preoccupied with other things in life, but honestly, high fashion just didn't interest me (though I watched a few shows in retrospect, and I even have favorites). Anyway, that was until just now - I can feel a change coming. In previous years, I haven't watched any new shows nor read fashion reports, but I am going to do it as soon as I finish writing this post. The realization, or better yet, an almost palpable feeling suddenly dawned on me, that with all the people excited about style and fashion, it must be a pretty amazing event, with all the energy building up around the world of expressing ourselves with clothes... I feel like I want to be a part of this energy, so I am going to dive in, start educating myself and getting some inspiration too. Better late than never.

5 Years and 500 Posts!

Dear friends and readers, join me in the celebration of 5 years and 500 posts of In The Writer's Closet! Some time back in the Spring, I noticed that I was getting pretty close to the big round number of 500. That presented an interesting opportunity and challenge to write the exact amount of posts to sort of happily coincide with my 5th year blog anniversary. But then I realized that to me, it would feel too restrictive to try to fit in a certain number of posts... What if I would not feel like posting so often? Or, the opposite of that, what if I would had so much to share that I arrived at the 500th post too early? So after questioning myself like that and not having any answers, as I don't possess a crystal ball, I decided to let go of this intriguing idea and simply allow things unfold naturally. If it happened organically, then so be it, and if not, then oh well, it wouldn't be the end of the world. And so I forgot about the idea. But some time in mid August, I realized that I am indeed arriving at the number 500 without any special efforts, and more than that - even though the actual date of my first post was September 9, I can choose to celebrate on the 5th as well, so here I am, 

5 years, 500 posts on the 5th! 

FIREWORKS!!!

Modish Matrons #27: Road Trip

When back in late 2017, Tina, Beate and I were planning our Modish Matrons for the year of 2018, I got an idea of a Road Trip as a theme - I thought it was quite fitting for the end of Summer, when many folks hurry trying to squeeze in just a little more vacation time, and not necessarily even a long vacation, maybe just a day or two away before the Summer is over. For my fellow Americans, the first weekend of September is also an unofficial end of Summer (a long Labor Day weekend) before the new school year starts, or at least this is how it is done in our local school district, which I think is pretty smart.

Hidden Village

 

Last Saturday night, feeling exhausted and a little chilled after the whole day spent outdoors, we stopped at the closest restaurant we could find, which happened to be a vegetarian and pescaterian Thai place in Bellevue, WA. We are neither, but sort of naturally leaning that direction in the last couple of years, and we love Thai, and our dinner was amazing! Anya got wide rice noodles with "veggie meat" (you wouldn't know the difference, honestly), Justin had pineapple rice with prawns, and I had pad thai with mixed seafood - delicious! No wonder I look as pleased as punch in these pictures! 

Caution: Fire and Smoke

I asked myself why I chose this particular outfit today, what influenced my decision? And the answer came quickly - this sundress with its hot colors and flame-shaped edges has always reminded me of fire, and forest fires is what's on our minds a lot lately. Of course, summer heat can bring forest fires pretty much anywhere in the world, and I hear there are such fires in Germany, Siberia and other places. What we experience here is rather an outcome of such fires in British Columbia, and we have the heaviest smoke which just hangs in the air and doesn't move for a few days, a very unhealthy air quality that is, they say, at the moment the worst in the world. As we are calling for rain to set out the fire and ashes in the atmosphere, I just couldn't help but create this rather expressive clothing duo.

Our First Festival: Flavor of Federal Way

Hello my dear friends and readers,

First I want to THANK YOU for all the love and support you gave me here on the blog as well as on my social media, and via personal messages! I deeply appreciate your kind words and wishes - I read them all! I am eager to tell you everything about my experience of Flavor of Federal Way, the Multicultural Festival that we were honored and excited to be a part of.

Summer Patchwork and Back to Who We Are

Just as quilt makers collect various scraps and fabric pieces which may or may not end up being a part of a quilt, as a style blogger I am also left with a variety of "scraps" - pictures of my outfits which were sometimes created purposefully and thoughtfully, with an intention to become a "quilt" - a post about a particular ensemble; while other times happened almost unintentionally, randomly, on the way to an event (or sometimes at the event), with very limited time and/or lighting for a decent photo shoot. I collect such picture "scraps", Justin's photographs of my outfits (my form of art) and from time to time combine them to create a post-quilt with all those lovely scraps... And so I've done with this post, showcasing 5 outfits which will tell you a few more stories of my Summer. Many pictures and words!

The Woman Who Runs With the Wolves

I have some exciting news to share, but first let's talk about this amazing dress! How happy I was to find it at my local Target! A short back up story. It's a part of the Who What Wear collection and comes in the whole range of sizes, regular and plus, which is great, but typically there isn't a lot of that collection available at my local store. I prefer shopping online anyway, but oddly enough, even though the dress just screams my name with all these bold colors and various stripes...I was indecisive for too long - the dress sold out in all plus sizes online. Oh well, I thought, maybe it wasn't screaming my name after all. But then...

Modish Matrons #26: Blue & Green

Hello dear friends and welcome to Modish Matrons!

In August, we follow Beate's steps into the beautiful sisterhood of two summery colors - BLUE & GREEN! We wear them together, just as we see them together in nature, and especially in abundance during Summer peak. 

Falling in Love with Life Again

Summer, I'm in love! This Summer, I'm in love - in love with this Summer!

I have a reputation as a positive, warm and light person, someone who is full of sunshine and completely in love with life - and while all of it is true, another part of the truth is that the last few years were hard, in various ways. My family and I were thrown challenges so difficult to deal with, that at some point, it seemed like I fell out of love with life - something I never knew could happen to me. A very few people and things were helping me to hold myself together, and I am so grateful for all of them. Blogging about style and meeting you, my far away blogging friends, have been a huge part of it. Without even realizing it, you've been helping me to go through the process of dealing with life's unexpected twists, grieving, doubting and reinventing myself. It was a courageous, genuine, honest journey, and as a result of it I know myself so much better now and I've became so much stronger. Particularly this Summer, it feels like I'm finally approaching the end of this long journey. I was struggling to find my way back to JOY and LOVE of LIFE for what feels like such a long time, and now it finally feels like I'm back, as if this Summer's warm and caring hands nursed me back to life... It's been sunny, warm, at times hot, with some cool days (a welcomed relief!). And we've been busy - but a good kind of busy, you know? Of course you do!

Having Fun with Style

I wore this outfit a week ago, and I couldn't wait to share it with you - I love it so much!

(Insert many sparkly heart emojis right here!) It is one of those outfits when I truly and freely had fun both creating and wearing it! And I can see many different variations of it in the future.

I Heart Dresses

I don't know what's your most favorite type of clothes, but mine, without any competition, is dresses! This past weekend, I made my goal to go out, wear dresses and take pictures. You see, more often than not, I stay at home and don't dress up at all; or if I go out, I don't take pictures of my outfits; or I don't feel satisfied with my outfits enough to share them. It's all fine, but as a result, I don't blog as often as I used to, and while it is also OK, still sometimes I miss it. I miss sharing my pretty dresses (and other things) with you, my stylish friends! So this weekend my faithful photographer and I made a point to bring our camera along, and I made sure to wear the prettiest outfits which I will be sharing with you over the next few days. And I am eager to do that! Are you? I sincerely hope so, 'cause ready or not - here I come! Yay!!!

Modish Matrons #25: Boat Trip & 2 Year Anniversary

Hello friends!
Welcome to the July Modish Matrons and a new theme offered by TINA - Style for a Boat Trip! That's not all though, since we also celebrate 2 years of our fun creative link-up this month, but first things first! Please visit my fabulous friends, two talented bloggers from Germany, TINA und BEATE, to see their unique takes on the theme!

Fish and Butterflies, and Life Updates

While Seattleites, Tacomans and their neighbors are experiencing a heatwave here and now, let me take you a week back in time when we were still in the mild mid 60s F with some raindrops thrown in for good measure here and there. Such weather was perfect to take my fish dress for another outing - so she wouldn't feel abandoned after her trip to Washington DC last month... besides, I promised you then to talk about my travel wardrobe! (HERE)

Going Back and Forth in Time, Gifts from Bosnia and Herzegovina & Gloriously Overgrown Garden

Do you like when I share with you combinations with my old clothes? New purchases are exciting, and I do enjoy my new clothes very much, but at the same time I love wearing something I bought last year, and two years ago, and four or five years ago, and on some occasions even much earlier. My goal as a fashionista is to have a closet full of stuff that I love and collect over the years. I do make some mistakes (I call them experiments), but it's gradually getting there. So here I'm wearing another mix of old and new from my closet. I wore it yesterday, on a cool and drizzly day, cool enough for a thin sweater. But I will get to it later in the post, because at first I wanted to talk about...

Dress Up, Dress Down

There is absolutely nothing wrong with either approach to dressing, and I use both, though I mostly show dressed-up versions of my outfits on the blog. In this post, I will share two outfits, very different in style and feel - in some ways, they really couldn't be more different, but I created both and I enjoyed them both equally. I just try to listen to that little bell that goes RING - when something from my wardrobe clicks with my current mood or energy level, and considering the weather and the situation I'm about to enter, I think it's pretty much all I have to know regarding what outfit to pick. It usually takes no more than a few minutes - and I am out the door!

Modish Matrons #24: Inspired by the 1980s

Hello friends! You are welcome to join my gorgeous MODISH MATRONS squad for our new theme - Inspired by the 1980s! When I offered this theme, I imagined I would combine bold colors, batwing sleeves, big bling jewelry, colorblocking... something like it or all of the above. But when it was time to come up with an outfit, my mind went blank - it just couldn't decide what to focus on. Until I remembered the denim dress which I bought back in Winter or early Spring and which immediately brought me back to my own 1980s (the late 80s to be precise), when my distant auntie handed me her unwanted deep blue velvet suit, not too different from what Princess Diana would wear (HERE) - a midi length pencil skirt with a peplum jacket. I remember that at first, it seemed very outdated and matronly to me, but then I made it fit my then slim, perfect hourglass figure, to attend a New Year's Eve party - and I think I looked pretty adorable and classy in my hand-me-down suit!

State Affairs: Trip to Washington DC

Despite all the jokes said by my husband's American friends about him being married to a Russian spy, you can hardly find a person standing as far away from politics as me. Yet, sometimes politics affect my personal life and demand me that I take action. I won't get into details as to exactly why I had to go to Washington DC, as it was a purely practical reason, and way too complicated and boring to even talk about it. Trust me when I say that I postponed this official business for as long as I could, a bit too long for my own good really, and there was a sudden sense of urgency when I finally plucked up the courage to deal with it. It all went well in the end, and the whole appointment took only 16 minutes, which became the most expensive 16 minutes of my life to date. I could of course fly to DC on my own which would reduce the spending by far, but what fun is there in that? We don't do things for purely practical reasons in our household, so when Mama had business in Washington DC, everyone else suddenly found things to do in Washington DC too! So fasten your seat belts, 'cause here we come!

Forty Five and Full of Drive

We are back in Washington State, returned from Washington, DC! To most non-Americans it probably sounds like it's not a biggie - wouldn't these two Washingtons be close to one another? In fact, everybody knows about Washington the capital of the US, but not as many know about Washington the state. But to those who know, it's obvious just how different these two Washingtons are - different in nature, climate, history, subculture, spirit, vibe, style and definitely very different location, as the capital city of the US almost could not be further from our state. We are 2,763 miles or 4.446 km apart, which is more than the distance between my Russian hometown Krasnoyarsk and the capital of Russia, Moscow (4,150 km)! And would you believe that before our trip I did not know that? I honestly thought that it would take three or four hours by plane to get there!

Long After

May has proven to be a surprising month on more than a few occasions, and it brought surprises this year as well - involving unexpected trips, new cities and airplanes. But before I leave for my unexpected trip, I thought I'd stop by to say hello and share photographs we took in Tacoma's Point Defiance Park in early May. May is also the prettiest month with the abundance of blooms in magnificent Northwest gardens. I hope you enjoy the season, wherever you are! Have a fantastic week, and I'll be back soon with news stories, pictures and comments!

Cannon Beach, Oregon: Ocean, Muffins and Puffins

The pictures for this post have been sitting in my blog drafts for almost a month now without posting, not sure why - perhaps because I don't like to end things. But I do like to have a closure, so here you have it - PART THREE (final) of our early Spring mini-break in Oregon State. Click here to read PART ONE and PART TWO.

More Oregon vacations from previous years in these posts:

MAY 2015 

DECEMBER 2015 

AUGUST 2016: PART 1 and PART 2.

I also invite you to look at my old Russian blog for a zillion photos of Portland, Oregon that we took during our first few trips there (prior to this blog):

PORTLAND JAPANESE GARDEN 

(considered the best Japanese garden outside of Japan) 

and PORTLAND: CITY OF ROSES, BRIDGES, TRAMS AND BOOKS.

Both posts written in February 2013, with pictures from 2007, 2011, 2013 taken by Justin and myself (yes, I used to bring a camera wherever I went, for many years!).

And now on to the final destination of this year's trip.

Live and Let Live

"You astonish me in that you can look both stunningly dramatic and also cute and adorable, two looks that don't seem possible in one person." These words my talented blogger friend SHAWNA said about me in a comment to my post, and I cherish them, because they resonate with me deeply, and I've never heard anything quite like this description, either about myself or anyone else, really. Although I remember both comments being said to me independently from one another by other people who knew me in the past years. I thought about it today and realized that blogging is what bonded these two sides of me visually - the warm, genuine and personable part of me with the bold and dramatic part. It helped me to dress that bold part more consistently than ever before. And so thanks to my style and blog journey, my whole personality started shining through.

Modish Matrons #23: All White

Happy May!

As usual, I start a new month with a new Modish Matrons link-up (open for the whole month) and a new, most unexpected theme offered by Beate - ALL WHITE! Please visit my dear friends TINA und BEATE to see what they have in store for us this time. 

Navy Blue Love and Paintings by Ivana

I have heard that blue is the most common favorite color, but I must admit it had been my least favorite color for as long as I could remember, to the point that when I would get something blue as a present, the whole thing would puzzle me, like...'do you know me at all? have we ever met?' If the answer to these questions had been yes, you'd have known that I had no use for anything blue in my home. I've always loved greenish blue hues, but not "blue blue" ones. I wonder why? I don't recall any negative associations with it, no bad memories as such, but pure blue (no matter light or dark shades) used to seem depressing to me. And it really had nothing to do with the English use of the word blue as meaning "sad" or "depressed" - I learned it only after I moved to the US, which was 16 years ago, and I had been living and speaking other languages for twice as along at that point. In my native Russian, oddly enough, depressing feelings are commonly seen as green  - we say "тоска зеленая" (green anguish) or "позеленеть от злости" (to turn green with anger) which I personally don't agree with, to me green is a color of peacefulness and cheer. But I had similarly strong negative associations with the color blue. Until a few years ago, that is. And then I started warming up to different shades of blue.

Pleated in the Park

Hello hello!

It's been a while since I posted or replied to your sweet comments. I have a couple of outfits I haven't shared yet, and the final post about our Oregon vacation is still in the making. To ease into things, I've decide to start with the improvised photo shoot that I had with Anya last week.

Portland: Lan Su Chinese Garden

"It’s 16th century China, and you’re standing in the entry courtyard of the private home and garden of a wealthy family. The garden around you is their spiritual utopia, a peaceful and soothing place designed to help them escape the problems of everyday life and discover their true selves by connecting with nature." This description you'll find at the website of the Lan Su Garden in Portland, Oregon. And a very similar description you'll hear when you take a guided tour (free with your tickets to the garden). I've only visited this magical place twice, once in the middle of Winter when the persimmon tree was covered with bright "lanterns" - its fruit. And another time just two weeks ago, in early Spring, when magnolia, camellia and many other trees and bushes, the names of which I don't even know, offered their splendid blooms.

Lucid Dream

Yesterday, I took my family to listen to a lecture by one of the leading thinkers of our time, bestselling author Deepak Chopra. I have just finished his free 21-day meditation course which he offers in collaboration with Oprah Winfrey, and this was my second time meditating with them. (If you're interested, you can find more information and sign up for a newsletter HERE.) I really enjoyed this experience, so when I learned that Deepak would be in my American hometown Tacoma, I bought three tickets for my whole family to attend. (His next events would be in Zurich, Switzerland; Hamburg, Germany; Prague, Czech Republic; Eugene, Oregon; Paris, France; London, UK; Amsterdam, Netherlands and São Paulo, Brazil - an impressive international list.) It was a week night, so of course everyone was tired - really, it's hard to make it after a long day and in the middle of a busy week, and Anya even fell asleep a couple of times during the lecture, but at the end we all were happy that we made it - we felt uplifted, energized, and in the long run we all benefited from this event.

Portland: Bread and Bridges

Eats and paths, what can be more essential than that? Especially when it comes to travel. In today's post, I'm taking you on a little getaway to Portland, Oregon, where we spent a couple of days of our family Spring break. We will explore some Portland paths (a.k.a. Bridges) as well as learn about local eats (a.k.a. Bread), and my hope is that we will discover some of the elements that make Portland Portland. Of course, it's only a brief glance, and I hope it'll be interesting to those of you who have never been there and might plan a trip in the future. With Portland being only 2.5 hours from our home, it's surprising that we don't visit more often. Justin and I were there last time 5 years ago during my parents' stay, and for Anya it was her first trip. 

Modish Matrons #22: No Matter the Weather

Happy Easter and welcome to Modish Matrons, 

the party where my dear friends TINA und BEATE and myself get together to celebrate style and creativity! Each month, one of us offers a theme, and April was Tina's turn. "No Matter the Weather," said Tina, leaving it wide open to interpretations. "Hmm," said I and scratched my head trying to find a focus for my outfit.

Searching for Sakura

 

There are a few ways I approach weekends. Sometimes, I plan way ahead - for instance, I formed the habit to plan a coming theater/concert season, so I study what local theaters and concert halls offer in advance, mark my calendar, so I won't miss plays and other events that interest me, and start reserving tickets. From time to time, I revisit my list of events throughout the season and see whether something else catches my attention. I started doing it years ago, and for that Justin calls me our family's cultural ambassador. 

Contrasts and Variety

We did this photo shoot last weekend at the University of Washington in Tacoma. It's a beautiful campus nestled in the hills of Tacoma right in the heart of the city, from where you can see Commencement Bay and the Port of Tacoma, and take a short walk to the three museums across the street - Washington State History Museum, Museum of Glass and Tacoma Art Museum.

Another Day, Another Dress

Another spring day, another floral dress. I think the only time I showed this dress on the blog was over a year ago, in the FEBRUARY 2017 post. In real life, I wore it multiple times, and especially often recently. Its cheerful pattern and bold colors have the ability to lift up my mood, and the versatile style makes it a good choice for various occasions. 

Spring Again

Spring! And Earth is like a child

who has learned many poems by heart.

For the trouble of that long learning

she wins the prize.

Her teacher was strict. We loved the white

of the old man's beard. Now we can ask her

the many names of green, of blue,

and she knows them, she knows them!

Earth, school is out now. You're free

to play with the children. We'll catch you,

joyous Earth. The happiest will catch you!

All that the teacher taught her—the many thoughts

pressed now into roots and long

tough stems: she sings! She sings!

Rainer Maria Rilke (translated by Anita Barrows and Joanna Macy)

Phenomenal Woman & Local Food

Happy International Women's Day,

my lovely international women friends!

Wishing each and all of you lots of happiness and joy this day and always!

Being a woman is awesome! I think each and every woman is phenomenal, 

and we all are here to discover that phenomenal woman within ourselves!