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!

When Tina chose Boat Trip as a topic for our styling challenge, I knew I wasn't in too big of a trouble - I love boats and I live around boats, so one thing is for sure - there won't be any difficulty finding an appropriate place to shoot! But the closer it was getting to shooting time, the busier we were getting here In The Writer's (and Sometimes Translator's) Closet. Plus, the weather was cool, breezy and a bit rainy for the last week or so. But true boaters go out on a boat in any weather, right? So armed with a newly thrifted jacket à la denim for a cool sea breeze, Justin and I took these pictures in one of our local little marinas.

Not only did we discover a lovely little spot just a few minutes down the road from our home, but we also witnessed a major great blue heron hunt! We see herons on a regular basis, but always alone or at most two or three of them within a short distance (and even when we lived in a beach house, it was still the case). But this time, we spotted about twenty of them (!) fishing at the same location, periodically changing from one fishing spot to another. 

"Herons, herons! What about toucans?" All right, all right, Touky, I'll introduce you to my audience! Guys, meet my new friend! Isn't he just irresistibly cute? I have to say that I accumulated quite a collection of beaded pins lately, and the toucan really stands out with vivid colors and intricate details. I have a feeling we'll be getting along just fine.

Other than Touky (sale, Chico's) and the coral jacket (Goodwill), you've seen all the pieces on numerous occasions: the eyelet skirt - HERE and HERE, the sailboats top - HERE and HERE. It's interesting that I was just recently rediscovering my mini collection of denim jackets and tops, and I thought that it would've been great to have such jackets in all colors of the rainbow... a short time later, I find this one. It is made of a linen/cotton blend, and I got it new with tags for only $12.99.

So, two years, huh? But how it all started, you ask?

2 YEARS OF MODISH MATRONS

For those of you who aren't familiar, here is a very brief history. Exactly 2 years ago, in July 2016, Tina, Beate and I teamed up to celebrate style and creativity for a themed link-up party for the very first time. I called it MIDLIFE FUN as opposed to a known phenomena "midlife crisis", and for our first get-together we wore shorts, of all things. (You can see my first post HERE, Tina's HERE, and Beate's HERE.) We loved it so much that we decided to get together every month, and till December 2016 we continued posting under that name.

Beginning January 2017, we started using the name proposed by Beate - MODISH MATRONS. Just as our first name, it has a somewhat paradoxical ring to it, which I love - life itself is but a paradox! I love what Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estés says in her bestselling book Women Who Run With the Wolves, "If a woman holds on to this gift of being old while she is young and young while she is old, she will always know what comes next." I think it is a brilliant way to look at age, aging and the whole relativity of it: do not exclude seemingly contradictory things, but include them! This sort of contradiction, or paradox, is what gives life richness, spark, quirk and true wisdom!

To celebrate our 2 year anniversary, I picked a couple of my favorite posts - one for each year: 

2017: WONDERLAND

LITTLE NATASHA / LITTLE BEATE / LITTLE TINA

It was Tina's theme, inspired by the timeless tale Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (as well as cartoons and films based on it). Whenever I revisit these posts, our photographs always bring a smile to my face, and I think it's because I see how all three of us really got into it, how we created something from our own imagination and from the stuff/materials/props available to us in our own closets and our own backyards (read: towns). In these respectable modish matrons, I see three little girls, playing in their own little worlds and completely lost in their game, as if nobody is looking!

2018: SIMPLY RED

BEATE IN RED / NATALIA IN RED / TINA IN RED

I was taken with this Beate's theme, the idea of which was to wear as much red as possible. I have never created a total red look before, so it was quite a challenge. Red is such a strong color that sometimes people take it negatively, as if a woman wearing red is "trying too had", desperately wanting "to be noticed" etc. I too used to have my own reservations about the color red (the historical meaning in my home country was one of them). Do you know what this experience made me think about all that negativity and those reservations about red? Pish-posh! Wear as much red as your heart desires (and not only on Valentine's Day). I think that maybe what we all discovered preparing for this theme, was just how much energy the color red can give us! You start feeling powerful and simply unstoppable, not to mention, pretty gorgeous too!

Happy Anniversary, my lovely and daring Modish Matrons!

Be old while you are young! Be young while you are old!

Here is to new adventures!

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