On Bottomless Closets, Childhood Flavors and Infinity

This time, I wanted to take my green dress for a walk. I didn't know where exactly we were going, other than grabbing a bite in our favorite local cafe. After we filled our bellies with yummy club sandwiches (that would be me and my dress, though come to think of it, Justin and his shirt too), we decided to go to the movies, and then for a walk in the nearby park where we took these pictures, and then...

Okay, okay, 

I will tell you what we decided to do after a walk, but first let's talk about clothes for a bit, 

shall we? 

Looking at style blogs can sometimes make me as a reader feel like many women have bottomless closets - every time showing something new! Maybe my blog come across this way too. So I have a confession to make: unfortunately, I don't have a bottomless closet, though I think it would be very handy. My closet is overflowing and a bit messy and a constant work in progress really, but it very much has a bottom. I noticed my tastes changed quite a bit during these years of getting into style experimenting. Some of what I used to like, doesn't excite me any longer - and some of it, frankly, doesn't fit. But I collected many pieces that allow me to mix and match and play almost endlessly - and that is what makes my closet bottomless, the (almost) endless combinations I can make!

I think among many other things, what I've learned is that I can create a different character mixing pieces in a new way. Look at my green dress as I wore it back in Spring (HERE) and the way I wore it yesterday. Same dress, but two completely different characters, just because of the few accessories I chose! Another confession: I wasn't able to do it prior my style blog. I wasn't big on accessories, and mostly I had only a few pieces of apparel and a few pairs of shoes, and pretty much everything had to go together with everything else. While it's an absolutely sensible approach, it is also very limiting. When I added not only more pieces of clothing and footwear, but also accessories, I gained so much more creative freedom! This lesson I learned while experimenting. Maybe some learn from books, or from other people's mistakes, maybe it's faster and most probably cheaper. But it's not for me. I enjoy inventing my own bicycles, over and over again! Experimenting and inventing is my "fix" so to speak (and no, it isn't only about clothes and style - it's applies to everything I'm interested in). And that includes mistakes, sometimes pricey ones. It's all a part of the process, and I honestly wouldn't want it any other way!

"I didn't know it about myself..." - how often do you hear yourself saying these words? I do frequently. You know they talk about infinity as if it was a huge non-comprehensible concept. But the infinity is in ourselves - in our own innate ability to grow and change! What's most important in all this style journey of mine is not that I discovered a few plus size shops, but the fact that I opened my mind. And it isn't a one-time action: push a button, and your mind stays open forever. Nope! It's a series of very personal choices that we make as human beings, one after another. There is a deep meaning in it. We need to choose to stay open, over and over again, in different situations and different venues of life. Only then we can discover our own creative abilities, and not just about style or art, but about anything, about life itself. We discover that we are bottomless creativity!

I'm in love with these rich blooms!

Tell me, my knowledgeable friends, are these roses? What kind?  

And back to where we started. I promised to tell where we went after a walk in the park, so prepare yourself. We went to an ice-cream shop! And what do you know, after 15 years living in the US, I have finally learned that there is my favorite childhood flavor here, that something I loved and missed ever since I left dear Mother Russia does exist here too! It's called "sweet cream"! Who knew! I was always amazed how many flavors there are and always surprised that there isn't any "plain" simple flavor that I absolutely adore...and apparently, there is! Not loaded with vanilla, nothing but sweet cream! I'm in heaven! When you have sweet cream, why even add anything else? If you, like me, struggling to find that childhood taste, then look for Cold Stone Creamery in your state, I'm sure you'll find it very satisfying. Now I have the whole different struggle though. I stopped eating dairy almost completely over a year ago, and now I don't know how to keep myself out of the ice-cream parlor! 

I made my family avatars! Aren't they cute? Anya said they are perfect and she loves them!

You can make your own - there is a link on my FB profile (and it's free)!

I added links to my FB profile to the upper bar of my blog, by the way 

(feeling terribly social I guess).

And the last thing. If you are on Instagram, you can find me there too! I hit 100 followers just yesterday, yay! Instagram is new in my life, and I am very pleased how very uplifting this "genre" is! I follow my friends and fellow bloggers, but also some interesting famous people, museums, libraries, theaters...you name it! And I love sharing my own inspiration too - outfits, cooking, beautiful places, some writing, some poetry...bits of this and that, really. Join me in inspiration and admiration for this beautiful thing we call Life!

Dress, hat, earrings - Lane Bryant (different years)

Sunglasses - Christian Siriano for Lane Bryant

Clutch - via TJ MAXX (old)

Bead ring - via boutique (old, $5 find)

Sandals - Dansko via Nordstrom Rack

Linking with Visible Monday
and Hat Attack

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