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.

Gypsy, or Channeling My Inner Vix

 

Ideas for an outfit come from all sorts of places. Sometimes, a certain piece of clothing inspires to create the whole look around it. Sometimes, a piece of jewelry demands the whole ensemble to be dedicated to it. Sometimes, it's a place that I'm going to, or a particular event. And sometimes, it's my dear fellow bloggers. 

Sequins and Art of Staying Home. In Two Parts

So what do you guys do when you stay at home with the  flu? 

I think I've watched all the shows, read all the blogs, and cooked all the dishes I could think of. That's pretty much all I can manage now. We are not feverish any more and getting better, but I think Anna will stay at home one more day tomorrow, and I will go completely crackers from cabin fever and exercising Mother Theresa's talent (I have only a veeeery tiny bit of that one!). So I decided to play dress up and blog about it. Anna was my photographer. (She later also played dress-up, but - for the record - refused to be photographed.)

What To Wear To Indian Movie

When I was a little girl, probably younger than my daughter (she's 11), I used to love to go to our small town movie theater. It was a little theater by the woods that back then felt almost like out-of-town. The theater had a cute name, "Brook" ("Родник") and later became a place where young people would go dancing (disco club I guess). As a kid, I usually would attend either a morning or an afternoon showing, and watch cartoons, fairy tales, and children's movies. But at some point, I discovered the joy of Bollywood movies. I did not know the word "Bollywood" back then (and probably did not know the word "Hollywood" either) - we simply called them "Indian movies" (индийское кино) and were captivated with the bright colors, costumes, music, singing and especially with the exotic dancing of these movies. I can't remember titles any more. I remember there was a movie about a girl named Bobbie - that one was probably my favorite as I still remember her! My friend, a neighbor girl Nadya and I, would come see something like "Bobbie", laugh and cry our eyes out, then come back home to our little apartments next to each other, draw little red circles on our foreheads, put on skirts and imagine that we were exotic Indian dancers. There was nothing else in the world we wanted to become - just these gorgeous dark-haired, dark-skinned Indian girls wearing brightly colored exotic clothes, a little sparkle in our noses and a red dot on our foreheads, who dance! I think soon after that I started going to a local dance studio and learn contemporary dancing.

All Kinds Of Beauty

When beautiful Sacramento a.k.a. Mis Papelicos invited me to participate in her Share-in-Style, and I learned that the theme was Flowers, I couldn't resist. There is something about flowers for me this Spring. It's every Spring, and in general any season when I can admire flowers (thankfully, it's a big chunk of the year in the Pacific Northwest), but there is something very special going on this particular Spring. So here is my take on Share-in-Style: Flowers challenge.

WARNING: not many words, but many of pictures of flowers taken today! :)

Green on Green on Green? Yes, Please!

Thank you for all the kind and sweet and fun comments you've left on my and Anna's latest posts, and for your congratulations on my 100th post as well! To tell the truth, I would have easily made it my 300th post by this time. I always have so many more ideas what to write about than I actually write. The majority of my writing never sees pages - either paper or computer screen. That's just how I work - I always "write" in my head. :) I also have more outfits to post (there are two or three sitting there in my computer files which I haven't posted yet). Sometimes I think I'm just afraid to either bore or overwhelm people if I post too often (which never happens when I read the blogs of others - if I love the blog, then it's never too much for me to read). Sometimes, I am just not in the mood to post. There are also such things as commenting on others' posts and replying to your comments (which I love to do), but they all require time and energy, because I love it to be meaningful. I will be sure to get to commenting and responding when I am in the right place. Sometimes I just need much more "me" time than "in the world" time, especially when I am getting ready to write something of my own. But even when I might appear to be away, I am definitely here, and if I don't respond right away, it only means that I am in my own world for now. :)

Weekend Dress

Last weekend, Justin and I took a trip, as usual, to a couple of small towns northeast of where we live. The pier on which I stand in this photo very well could be the longest wooden pier in the whole state, and the houses behind me are the cutest little community called Indianola, which started as a community of summer homes and is now a census-designated place with its own post office (again, probably one of tiniest in the state, if not the whole country) and a club house.

Daring

Shhh! Guys, please don't tell anybody, but I do wear skinnies sometimes. 

Some might find it daring, to wear a bright colored skinnies for a 40 year old woman who, shall we call it, a little bit overweight. But I decided to give them a try last Summer, and I came back to wear them some more this Spring. Not to be daring exactly, but as I started paying attention to fashion and style again, it was like learning a new language. I remember this feeling when you start understanding something which mainly has existed as white noise in your world before. Modern lines, including skinny jeans, were this sort of white noise for me up till last Summer when I decided to learn and understand this "white noise". I have to say it pays off. I like the youthful, energized, modern vibe skinnies have. And sometimes, this is exactly how I want to feel - youthful, energized and modern.

But please don't tell anyone you saw me in skinnies, so they won't send a fashion police squad after me. Promise?

All Your Pretty Purses

...and necklaces!

These pictures were taken in February - the very last day of it. It was such a beautiful, Spring-y day! This sort of outfit is my "go-to" these days. I love elements of military style in women's fashion - although I prefer gold and brass to a camouflage print (triumph and parade vs. hardship and sweat - I guess my associations are something like that). What about you? How do you like your military inspired clothing?

The Color Of Your Soul

We got a warm and sunny day here in the middle of what supposed to be buckets of rain - a true marvel! I did not take any new pictures, but as I went down to the beach to enjoy sunshine, I suddenly caught myself thinking of one Spring day last year - actually, it was my birthday. I don't know how you guys like to celebrate your B-days, but I in the last few years learned to enjoy spending this day with just two people - my husband and my daughter, and even though I love gifts (and yes, I do love stuff), my favorite present seems to be "an event", and above all sorts of events I in a heartbeat would pick a trip to a new place.

Exposed

I was debating with myself about what to wear with this happy orange stripy turtleneck which I have had for ages, it seems, and suddenly remembered this skirt I bough last Spring because I really loved the color. I started paying attention to Lane Bryant back then. I think before last Spring, I might have bought a thing or two from them (in case you don't know - it is one of a few American brands which designs clothes for women specifically in plus sizes, 14 and up). That in itself is a curious subject. As a gal who was on both sides, a regular 6-8 US, and gradually over the last few years grew into 16-18 US, I know a little too well how difficult this transition can be.

Sparkly

I have never worn sequins like this before - I maybe had things with just a touch of sequins in the past. But I couldn't help but try on this purple sparkly top at Lane's Bryant a couple of weeks ago. 

"I would definitely wear it myself," said Anna.

"She knows she is sparkly," said Justin.