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...

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 #21: Baroque

Hello dear friends and readers and MODISH MATRONS fans!

It is time for our new theme, and I thought that March would be perfect for BAROQUE!

Modish Matrons #20: Simply Red

Hello, my dear friends and readers, and welcome to the month of February with MODISH MATRONS! This time, Beate of the Little Railroad Keeper's House offered a theme, and we played with the title for a while, until we came up with Simply Red, remembering the music band (back in the early 1990s, I was a huge fan of MTV, exotic to post-Soviet Russia, and Simply Red was one of the most memorable groups then). Anyway, the idea behind the theme was wearing lots of red at once, and if Beate wouldn't have emphasized it from the beginning, I'd probably settle on one, maximum two red items. But since her thought was to play with red in abundance, I took all the red things out of my closet to see what combinations could work, and came up with this one. I must say I love the result and once again I'm thankful to my style buddies for ideas that help me grow!

Love of Sea and New Book

Who can tell how inspiration works? Some think that things, people or events inspire them. Others say that it comes from art and stories. Some find inspiration in memories of the past, while others in fantasies about the future. Like many artists, I find that very often inspiration comes during the process of work (as they say in Russia, appetite grows with eating) - I start dressing up and new ideas come, or I start writing and the more I write, the more inspired I feel...

Fall Berries

I believe that I mentioned before that recently I fell under the charm of feminine dresses offered by Old Navy. The colors, the patterns, the cuts - everything was spot on, so much so that it was difficult to pick only one dress. But my dilemma was solved quickly with a 50% off offer, and I bought three! All of them are in heavy rotation in the writer's closet this season. One of these irresistible dresses you've seen in my post HERE, another one is in the post that's coming soon, and the third one, in rich Fall berry colors, is in front of your eyes right now.

Being Russian in USA and Podari.Life

Being Russian in America, means that I miss my native language and culture a lot. I am definitely not the only one, so from time to time we gather for special Russian events. Last weekend, I had a unique opportunity to see a famous, gifted Russian actress, strong and beautiful woman, and warm, wonderful person Chulpan Khamatova who visited the USA on tour. Seattle was one of a very few cities where Chulpan stopped (others being New York, Boston, Chicago and Los Angeles). 

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!

Modish Matrons: Folk Art

 

Welcome to Modish Matrons - a link-up that once a month offers you a theme to play with and an opportunity to get together to share our diversity and love of fashion and style! Add your link in a special place at the very end of my post, and please visit my beautiful co-hostesses Tina and Beate to see their interpretation of the theme!

In the Groove

I ordered this dress from the Chico's website, along with a couple of other things during their big sale, and let Justin wrap the box and put it under our Christmas tree with all the other gifts. So on Christmas Eve, I had a little fashion show. While "other things" did not fit me right (and were returned to the store), this dress got very enthusiastic feedback from my family the minute I showed up in it. At first I had doubts (don't ask), but now when I look at these photos, I just know it's a keeper.

Magic Formula

When I look at these pictures, all I see is 100% genuine me. I am not experimenting with new styles, not stretching myself outside of my so-called comfort zone, not channeling anyone, not imitating someone else's style, not feeling inspired by a certain thing or event or a person, and definitely not copying anybody else. This is authentic Natasha. I have worn similar feel outfits (at least, they feel similar to me) since I was very young.  But only now, having observed and absorbed so much in the world of style, I can do things I couldn't do before. It is a more refined genuine version of me, who matured and got seasoned a little, that's probably the best way to put it.

Is It a Sofa? Is It a Bird?

This outfit is very me. The big and bright yellow poncho made of a thick heavy fabric with rich texture that reminds one of the late 1960s/1970s upholstery fabrics is most definitely not everyone's cup of tea, but I happen to love it. It brings much needed sunshine to gloomy days - in fact, that's usually when I want to wear it the most, on gray cool days, which we have in abundance this October. To make the impact even stronger, I tend to pair this poncho with yellow pants too. 

Finest

It's the beginning of vacation season, and my blogging friends post from all sorts of beautiful, exciting places - new cities, new countries, where they travel. Looking at these pictures, you might think that I am also on a vacation, perhaps exploring grand castles somewhere in Europe.

Happy Birthday, Sister! Happy Birthday, Book!

This is the way Andrei, my beloved brother greeted me on my birthday this year. :)

Now I can tell that I was born twice, both times in May. First, in 1973, in a far away town in Siberia, as a little girl named Natasha, with long red hair and blue eyes (as mama describes me). Second time, in 2016, in America, as a book author Natalia Lialina, though my red hair is now short, and my eyes became green.  

Korean Influences

On the right: Portrait of a Beauty by Shin Yun-bok (born 1758), source

This was almost a month ago, back in March, so no fresh green leaves on the trees behind me, neither blue bells, nor dandelions by my feet just yet. Our two-week-long Summer which I was writing about a couple of times lately was not hot (even our real Summer is rarely hot, for which I am greatly appreciative), but we steadily had temperatures around 70 F (21 C) and glorious SUNSHINE, both of which make me insanely happy. It felt like having a mini vacation to restore both my physical and emotional health. But, we now have mild Spring temperatures again, clouds, sprinkles, in other words, all as usual, and while I am not having any new outfits to share from this week, I still have a few outfits and stories to share from the past month or so. Are you ready? Let's go.

Hot at the Museum

Last weekend, Justin and I had a chance to visit an exhibit at the Seattle Art Museum (SAM) - it was the last days when impressionists were on display. I adore that period and adore both softness and boldness of impressionistic paintings. It revealed so many talents, each with their own uniqueness - it's hard to pick just one favorite. Thank goodness, we don't have to pick only one - we can enjoy them all.

Teal Tale

It seems every redhead on earth must know that teal, this greenish shade of blue, looks great on them. Yet when a friend gave me a teal pashmina a few years back saying that it should look good with my coloring, I thought she was joking. My perception of teal was that it was a shade of blue, and I did not like blue back then - in fact, blue was not to my liking until recently, probably only a couple of years ago.

Snow and Vintage + Write and Link

Snow makes a rare appearance here by the Sound, so rare that every time it's a festive event on its own. I can't say I miss seeing snow (especially having snowy mountains as a magnificent backdrop year round), but whenever I see it, it brings my inner child out to play.

Colorful Coastal Christmas

Merry Christmas, my friends and readers!

This year, we decided to take a mini-break and escape to the beautiful Oregon Coast. On the plus side, at least for us geeks and nerds, it is practically deserted this time of year. If you're a party person, the Oregon Coast is definitely not the place to be right now. On the not-so-plus side, winter on the coast means high winds, heavy rain and the possibility of floods. I'm not used to such strong winds, they almost knocked me off my feet, though locals take their dogs for a walk on the beach just as if it was just another sunny day. We also took walks trying to catch breaks in the weather. In general, I wanted to stay warm and cozy, but still look and feel festive and just a bit glamorous. 

Autumn Sunshine

Spontaneous mini photo session in the last rays of sun. It felt very joyous and energizing to wear this monochromatic outfit today. I remember even as a kid I was naturally drawn to yellow, but Mom said very few people look good in yellow, and I would shy away from yellow for years. I do think that lemon yellow is not my best, but this rich golden mustardy yellow, a bit toxic, yet very warm, sure feels like me.