The Woman Who Runs With the Wolves

I have some exciting news to share, but first let's talk about this amazing dress! How happy I was to find it at my local Target! A short back up story. It's a part of the Who What Wear collection and comes in the whole range of sizes, regular and plus, which is great, but typically there isn't a lot of that collection available at my local store. I prefer shopping online anyway, but oddly enough, even though the dress just screams my name with all these bold colors and various stripes...I was indecisive for too long - the dress sold out in all plus sizes online. Oh well, I thought, maybe it wasn't screaming my name after all. But then...

Then I took my daughter swimwear shopping at Target, and somewhere in the back of my mind I was wondering, what if... "What if they will have this dress in my size at the store? What if someone purchased it online and returned it? What if...?" And then I saw it!!! I typically go for 2X (depending on the particular brand and garment), which is a plus 2X, and not the regular XXL, mind you - those are two very, very different sizes with 2 or 3 full sizes between them. The dress I found was in regular XXL, not plus 2 X, but it looked like in just might fit me... I held my breath and took this bold beauty to the dressing room. 

And what do you know - it fit me perfectly! I loved it so much that I wore it the very same day to the movies with Anya (Mamma Mia-2, of course, sobbing again, being inspired again, and feeling so much love and joy again), and then I wore it to a day out with Justin - thank goodness the weather stayed so beautifully sunny and hot because this is the just the dress for summer (100% cotton and all). I accessorized it with a rope belt from my linen suite, old pair of wedges by Tsubo, vintage clutch and a pair of earrings by Iris Apfel. Forgive me the messy windy salty hair - it's just real life, guys! 

  

We took a ferry from Edmonds to Kingston and watched birds from above while standing on the ship - the fishing heron and the nesting seagull. When I took Anya to Day of Surprises earlier this Summer, we actually saw a mama seagull with her little babies, fluffy yellow chicks covered with dark spots - Anya said they looked like cheetahs, they were adorable! Have you ever seen baby seagulls?

There is so much exciting news I wold love to share with you - I don't even know where to begin... I guess the long and short of it is that I am ready for a new chapter. It is something that was cooking on the back burner for a long time, and this August things started happening! I've just renewed my contract as a bilingual story time presenter with the King County Library System for the next year. And while my work with the libraries is still up in the air, I was invited to participate in fairs/festivals as an author of bilingual books and a storyteller! This August, I will be at two exciting new venues in the cities of Federal Way and Bellevue! If you are local, do stop by to say hello - I'd be happy to meet with you! Please mark your calendars:

AUGUST 18, 2018 - FLAVOR OF FEDERAL WAY,

MULTICULTURAL FESTIVAL

AUGUST 25, 2018 - EDUCATIONAL FAIR IN BELLEVUE 

(this event is particularly for the Russian speaking community, but you can still stop by - I'll make sure to speak English with you! :)

August 18, 2018, Saturday, Federal Way, at Town Square Park, 11 to 5

http://www.cityoffederalway.com/page/flavor-federal-way

I will have my own booth at this festival, and also I am scheduled to read a story at 2:30 (there also will be more story times throughout the day). You can find the full schedule of performances at the Federal Way Mirror. 

August 25, 2018, Saturday, 10 to 6 in Bellevue (more details coming soon)

https://www.facebook.com/events/309036689837907/

It's been a long time since I did festivals, and I have never done them as a book author before, so it will take some time to get ready. I also feel rusty as a story time presenter and I'm sure I'll get stage fright, but at the same time it all feels so perfectly natural - as if it is exactly what I am here on the planet earth meant to do for the next 50 years or so. It probably sounds weird, but I'm just being extremely open with you. I am feeling excited, nervous, happy, scared, grateful, eager to meet my readers (both children and adults), feeling like I've learned tons and have so much yet to learn, like I completely let go and trust whatever comes my way, feeling extremely connected within myself, with my soul, with the whole world, with the universe, feeling like I'm living my biggest dream and fulfilling my destiny, like a full cycle and new beginning all at the same time! Sometimes, I am afraid that I somehow will screw it up, but I also know that it is simply impossible - because I am not taking anyone's place, not trying to fill into anyone's shoes, not pretending and not competing - I am simply walking my ow unique way and creating my own unique life. It's happening, it's real, and this is the real, flawed, talented, strong, vulnerable, running with the wolves, authentic me!

And it's not about self-confidence at all - in my opinion, confidence is way overrated in the modern culture. Superficial confidence is simply a mask people put on, a shield, so they can hide their true selves behind it, as much as the lack of confidence is such a shield. What I'm talking about is the opposite of it. It's about the undeniable knowledge of who you truly are, and it is deep, profound and old as the earth itself. And it is worth everything I had to experience, all the fears, tears and dark nights of the soul. I don't need to be "confident" - all I need is to be true to who I am. My soul creations, my words, my books will speak for themselves, they will guide me to those who are looking for them without even realizing it...

 Speaking of my books, I'm blown away by the reviews we receive! 

Without further ado, here is some amazing feedback from some amazing folks:

Isn't it a reason to celebrate? I think so!

And while Amazon is sorting out their clunky automatic system of approving reader's reviews, I'm eager to share them with you along with the photos of the most adorable and perhaps the youngest reader of our books - it just doesn't get any sweeter than that, does it?

Have a wonderful week, my friends! And when you have a chance, 

come and meet me, talk with me, read my books - I know we will hit it off!

Natalia "Natasha" Lialina,

bilingual writer, author, storyteller, philologist

MY BOOKS

Dress - Who What Wear for Target

Shoes - Tsubo (old)

Bracelets, clutch - vintage

Earrings - Iris Apfel

Linking with Visible Monday

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