Solstice, New Hat and Love

Hello again, dear friends and followers!

HAPPY SOLSTICE!

I know, it's been a while since my last post, and I can't tell you how many times I tried to reconnect with you all, but something just didn't click. Thank you to those of you who reached out via email, Instagram and Facebook, I really appreciate your thoughtfulness. I also would like to say thank you to people who buy my books. I don't know how you find them, whether you read my blog or not, but I want to say that it touches my heart every time when it happens, it just doesn't get old! I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Life has been a whirlpool of changes, events and emotions in the past several months for all of us, and even those who fortunately didn't have personal losses still experience loss and grief. Psychologists say it is normal at times like these.

Sharing is Good for the Soul

No worries, friends, I didn't finish all these fries by myself - 

I shared it with my friend the Crow!

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.

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.

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!

Potpourri

 

A Merriem-Webster dictionary online defines the French word potpourri (literally: "rotten pot", a name for a meat stew popular in 17th century) as "a mixture of flowers, herbs, and spices that is usually kept in a jar and used for scent" or as "a miscellaneous collection". In the last September post, I decided to bring you a potpourri of my outfits, suitable for a transitional season. I wore these ensembles either in Spring of this year or in Fall a couple of years back, and even prepared photos for publication, but for whatever reason changed my mind and did not post them before, with one exception, when I posted and then changed my mind and deleted that post (yes, my mood can be that changeable - women, eh?). In this mix, I threw together a bunch of colors, shapes and styles; some leaves, petals, and even some bark; and a few classical paintings to make my potpourri more interesting and palatable. Have I stirred up your curiosity? No more introductions then - dive into my recipe!

Modish Matrons #15: Inspired by Nature

Hello, dear friends, and welcome to the 15th issue of MODISH MATRONS!

This month, Tina is leading the way with the theme she offers - Inspired by Nature! And what can be better, especially when I am such a huge fan of green? And, as you will soon discover, I am not the only one. Do visit my adorable friends TINA und BEATE to see all the masterful details of their, naturally, GREEN outfits!

Oopsy Daisy, or Curiouser and Curiouser

 

A "daisy" here refers to the clusters of daisies we witnessed as we walked along the trail we choose for a walk last Sunday, which felt almost like fields of daisies and foxgloves covering the softly rolling hills, very poetic. And an "oopsy" refers to my orange linen pants (previously worn last Summer and shown here: JUNE, JULY, AUGUST in all sorts of inspiring places, so you might want to check out those posts if not for pants, then for beautiful nature and wildlife, which by the way will be plentiful in this post, and I really need to finish this loooong sentence right here ... I'm sure I will hear a sigh of relief now ... there!).

July in the City // Июль в городе

This linen kimono and trousers set is one of my absolute favorite purchases ever. I bought it back in March, and when the parcel arrived from London, I just couldn't wait for the weather to get warmer. It so happened that I had to wait for almost 2 months! I know it's still only early May, but to me, it's an ultimate summer city outfit, and when we got a couple of summery days (which ended with an unbelievable for this city series of thunderstorm), I was eager to wear it.

Этот льняной брючный костюм стал одной из моих самых любимых покупок. Я выписала его из Лондона еще в марте и просто не могла дождаться теплой погоды. А ждать пришлось почти 2 месяца - затяжная нынче весна! И хотя на дворе всего лишь начало мая, для меня это идеальный летний городской наряд, поэтому когда к нам на пару деньков заглянуло лето (закончившись невероятными для этого города грозами), мне не терпелось поскорей нарядиться.

A Focused Bohemian

For many years, I have had a soft spot for all sorts of jackets, blazers and coats. My latest coats-infused madness aside (there will be time for spilling the beans in the Fall), I think I still can share some great jackets like this one, even in the heat of the Summer.

Summer Vacation Capsule Wardrobe. Part 1: Casual

It's been a while since we took a long vacation. By "long" I mean anything more than 3 days, really. We often take day trips, and a few times a year, 2-day or 3-day trips, but staying in a hotel more than that feels quite generous and even extravagant. We felt like we all needed a nice long break and a change of scenery, so one day, practically on a whim, we found ourselves booking a suite in one of our favorite destinations - Seaside, Oregon. We got lucky because in the middle of the peak season, less than 2 weeks ahead, we got the loveliest 1-bedroom suite on the 4th floor, overlooking river and ocean.  It had a full size kitchen, so a couple of times I prepared home meals, which saved us some money. We also had a washer and dryer in the room, which we used only once, but theoretically, we did not need to bring much clothes with us at all. We opted out of the daily cleaning service which also saved us some bucks. All in all, it's a wonderful option for a family. The hotel has a swimming pool and hot tub, offers free breakfast every morning and free happy hour every evening (wine and beer for adults, snack and drinks for kids). If you're looking for a place to stay in Seaside, OR, I can heartily recommend Rivertide Suites - check them out. And no, it isn't a sponsored post.

There's a First Time for Everything + Fun Announcement

Hello my friends,

Before I go on sharing some photos from early Spring that I did not get to share with you yet (also, a fun announcement at the end of this post!), let me tell you what happened yesterday. It was a wonderful day - first of all, it is always joy to visit with Erica (my hair stylist), and this time it was even more fun because I took Anya with me. After the salon, I took Anya shopping for clothes for her, and as we were marching to the food court of our outlet mall, a woman came to me and said,

"I just wanted to tell you that I love your blog!"

What? That has never happened to me before! In almost 3 years of writing this blog, I have not met a reader, with the exception of my wonderful fellow bloggers (which is fantastic, though a little different). Meeting my blog reader Susan was a wonderful feeling, and she was so lovely to say that she feels that I write from the heart. Thank you so much! You've really made my day, and I will always treasure that. 

Barefoot from 90 to 60

Have you put away those jackets and cardigans yet? Well, if you live in the PNW, hopefully, you put them not too far away. After a few hot days, the temperature dropped significantly, which suggests outfit adjustments. In this post, I'll show not one, but two outfits from this week - I wore both of them while hanging out in my neighborhood.

Happy Valley: Trip to Sequim

Back in May, Justin surprised me with a little getaway to the beautiful Olympic peninsula. He reserved a room in a nice hotel for a couple of nights, we packed a few things, got gas for our faithful Outback and left for an adventure on Friday night. It is only a couple of hours from our home, but that way we could get plenty of rest and an early start the next morning.

California Poppies

Spring arrived early in my part of the world, and everything seems to be blooming two or even three weeks ahead of schedule. These happy orange flowers cover sunny slopes here and there around Seattle. You can often find them along highways or on big open hilly places, such as Chambers Bay trails which go over a pretty meadow and gold course, by the shores of Puget Sound, south of Tacoma. I've been wishing to find a place where California poppies (their other names are California sunlight, or cup of gold) are within reach for us photographers. But I hadn't expected to see the whole hill covered with them on my 2-hour hike today. 

Fields of Tulips

It's almost the end of April, and I still haven't written about our Spring break adventures earlier this month. Sorry for being a little distracted lately - I am getting ready to share good news with you soon, but for now let me continue sharing our day trips.

April is a tulip month here, in the State of Washington. If you happen to be here any time during April, make sure you visit our famous Skagit Valley Tulip Festival - and if you happen to live here, I am sure you know what I'm talking about, and you most probably share my enthusiasm. Justin, Anya and I visited Roozen Gaarde, founded by William Roozen, an immigrant from Holland, in the mid-century (last century, though his family have been known for growing tulips since 1700s). Mr Roozen's dream of growing tulips in the valley of Skagit River, where soil is very similar to the one in his homeland, not only came true, but his company became the largest bulb producer in the US!

All the photos are taken either by Justin or by Anya - they both felt inspired by the sea of blooming tulips of all colors of the rainbow. You can see Mount Baker behind the fields (photo above) - the third highest mountain in Washington, an active volcano and one of the snowiest places in the world. Will you come and wander with me through these beautiful fields of not gold, but tulips? (Beautiful song, nevertheless.) 

Walk, Walk and Walk

I can't get enough of this beautiful summery weather. It seems all we do these days is walk, walk and walk. Justin's smart device tells us we walked 24 km (15 miles) this week - a lot for someone who usually spends hour after hour, day after day writing, editing and staring at the computer screen. I feel that life juices came back to my tired-after-the-long-winter body, and that fresh blood runs through my veins again. I feel that this Summer will be different for me, in my wardrobe options for one - nobody on the planet is happier than I am that stores are now filled with clothes made of linen and cotton everywhere,  and you will most probably see a lot of these pieces in different combinations again and again. 

Last Days of Summer

Thank you all for your kind words and wishes! You are my favorite, lots of love to you all! :)

We had a great summer this year - I hear it was the hottest on the record, and certainly an extremely dry one too, with many forest fires and burn bans lasting all summer long. To me it was much hotter than I prefer, but not nearly as hot as summers are in many parts of the world, including my homeland (which not many people realize about Siberia - 100 F and humid is quite common there). Here, temps did not go as high as 100, the hottest days I remember were in mid to high 90s, but it was consistently in the 80s for probably the whole three months, which is much more hot days than I care for (just how many days I can spend on the beach? certainly not 90 in a row). I admit I feel exhausted by the heat, and lots of things I would like to do I put on hold until the heat is over, but I still managed to do lots this summer, including daily writing and, oddly enough, lots of cooking experiments. This is still by far the most wonderful place to live, of all the places I've lived or visited, and if this was our hottest summer ever, I'm game. On to my outfit now. 

Shall We Dance?

Out of the Writer's Closet

Listen, guys, I started this post countless times and did not like the way it went and just hesitated to post. But I guess I'll just come and say what's real right now. I often find myself indifferent to fashion/style during hot weather, and this summer is unusually hot for our region (and for me, a mild weather kind of girl). I sort of lost interest in all that. But I am super busy exploring other areas of creativity, and have been busy cooking (I know, it sounds like a paradox, because it's hot in the kitchen too), or reading about cooking, or writing about cooking, or watching cooking shows (plenty on You-tube), and also very much into creative writing, particularly writing fiction. On the top of that I am starting a new creative writing link-up, dedicated to daily writing sketches. 

Getting out of the closet as a writer is a huge deal. Being raised in a culture that pretty much considers only one way of doing things the "right" way and getting a fancy university education studying all sorts of great writers of the world can be challenging, intimidating and can be big road blocks to get over. Think of it like this: imagine finding your own voice in styling, getting out there in front of other brilliant stylish women and telling them - this is me, this is who I am, love it or leave it. It takes guts, courage, and everything you can think of in this context. But we do it just because it's as important as breathing to us. Can you imagine wearing only sweatpants and dull T-shirts for the rest of your life? I thought so. No more than that can I imagine keeping myself from my desire to write and share. For your and my own convenience I decided to only publish fiction on my other blog (Write and Link will still use In the Writer's Closet as its home base). If you are interested, you can follow my other blog, Out of the Writer's Closet, and read all the details about daily sketches, or writing exercises, HERE. And if you're not, oh well, then you'll probably need to be patient and just wait until the style bug bites me again - I know it will, perhaps when it'll cool down here (though I have one or two summer dresses in mind, and might post them some time soon). In any case, thank you for everything, for all your kind and encouraging comments, I do appreciate them very, very much! And here are a couple of latest outfits when I did at least some attempt to bow to Style.