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.