Meet Me at Twilight

 

Sometimes, to get unstuck, all we need is to break loose from the tension of the old patterns. That will allow us to see a new possibility, a new opening that most probably was always there, dismissed as unsuitable, as "not good enough"...

Modish Matrons #38: MM do Africa

When it comes to Modish Matrons themes, I try not to get ahead of myself - I only look at the list of themes (which my friends and I prepared a year in advance) about a week before it's time to post. That way, there is a good chance that I forget what theme is coming next and look at it with fresh eyes, to engage my playful side. Still, often I remember vaguely what themes are coming. But not this time! This month, I actually really did completely forget that Tina offered to take us on a style journey to Africa!

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!

Modish Matrons #32: Knits

As always, my friends Tina, Beate and I welcome a new month with a new style theme, and February we dedicated to KNITS as it was Tina's turn and her inspiration. We've done knits last year as well, and back then I chose my favorite knitted items: long cardigans and a knit skirt (click HERE to see). This time, I knew I wanted to do something different, and at first, I turned to my favorite knit dresses, or sweater dresses as they are often called. But at the end decided to do something else instead...

Happy Holidays!

I will not be myself if I don't wish you happy holidays and don't share with you some of our latest outings and other slices life generously offered at the end of the year. So without further ado, let's dive in!

Tartan and Snake Print; Freedom and Gratitude

To all my American friends and readers, 

Happy Thanksgiving!

It is my most favorite of ALL the American holidays, and I am so happy to celebrate my 17th Thanksgiving this year! I am truly thankful for my life, for everything that it throws at me, good and bad, I love it all. I really came to believe that contrast is what shapes us - what helps us to sort out the infinite ways of life, choose what feels right to us (to each, their own!), and what makes us who we become. It's easy to feel gratitude for good times, but I've learned to love my disappointments and crisis just as well, because like nothing else, they really teach me to focus on what I want to experience, on what I actually want my life to be. If everything comes easy, then how can we know what is important to us and what is not? How could we learn to appreciate? And how could we ever be able to make choices and stick to our dreams? And our freedom to dream and freedom to make choices is what it's all about to me. That's what I celebrate on this day, and I am deeply and forever 

grateful.

Velvet in the City

What I like about velvet pants the most is the fact that I can feel dressed-up and be as comfortable as if I was wearing pajamas. Especially pants like these, with roomy legs and elasticized, stretchy waist - nothing gets too tight, nothing pinches, nothing irritates or restricts movement. I bought this pair last Spring for their gorgeous rich color (what would you call it?), and wore them recently with light long coats and sneakers, for different occasions, locations and moods.

Flamboyant in the Office

I wore this outfit to an important appointment earlier this week, and to me it is an example of expressive personal style even when you want to look professional and pulled together in an official/business/office situation. Honestly, if you're not required to wear a uniform at work, or you're not going to meet a president of  a country or the Queen, there is no reason not to have fun with vivid colors and bold patterns. If a part of you, like me, is flamboyant, there is no need to be afraid to come across as a bit flamboyant - it only will be genuine.

Having Fun with Style

I wore this outfit a week ago, and I couldn't wait to share it with you - I love it so much!

(Insert many sparkly heart emojis right here!) It is one of those outfits when I truly and freely had fun both creating and wearing it! And I can see many different variations of it in the future.

Fish and Butterflies, and Life Updates

While Seattleites, Tacomans and their neighbors are experiencing a heatwave here and now, let me take you a week back in time when we were still in the mild mid 60s F with some raindrops thrown in for good measure here and there. Such weather was perfect to take my fish dress for another outing - so she wouldn't feel abandoned after her trip to Washington DC last month... besides, I promised you then to talk about my travel wardrobe! (HERE)

Cool as a Cucumber

In this new faux leather jacket, I feel like Special Agent Cooper - cool as a cucumber. Being so taken with pattern mixing for the most part, I haven't done much color blocking lately, which is where I started my style experiments back in 2013. I didn't know that term back then, I just saw it done by some fabulous style bloggers, and I liked it and wanted to learn how to do it on my own. I ended up doing a lot of it over the past few years! But time flies, and our interests change, or at least move around - there are always new (twin) peaks to conquer, right? So I haven't color-blocked in a while and felt a bit rusty. But this jacket, guys! It reminded me of a biker jacket I used to wear in the 1990s. It was made of the fabric that looked like crushed velvet, but thick and practically indestructible, and it had similarly cool details and vibe about it. It wasn't such an intense color though, but a beautiful deep gray - I wore it non-stop, with everything. Years passed, and I tried a few moto jackets, but nothing really grabbed me before I found this one. Thank you, my new red jacket, for bringing me back to my (style) roots!

Modish Matrons #19: Warm in Knits

Happy Brand-New 2018, everybody!

Let's make it what we want it to be, shall we?

Tina, Beate and I are having a good start here at our once-a-month get-together, 

and you are cordially invited to join us!

Cozy Edgy

When the weather stays cool for a few months, outerwear practically becomes our main outfit. This simple fact took me a long time to understand, even though I come from Siberia, which is famous for its extremely cold and long winters. When I lived there, I would have one or maximum two coats for Winter, and one or two for Spring and Fall. Since Siberian climate absolutely does not give you a break in terms of cold temperatures (unlike here where even if temps drop a few degrees, they will be back to mild in a day or two), you are stuck with coats for a bigger part of a year. So by the end of each season, you can't stand them, no matter how beautiful they are. When I moved to America, I immediately found myself in a much more comfortable climate. I first spent a few years in Southern Michigan and Southern Ohio where there are four distinct seasons and winter sometimes brings snow and cold temperatures...but not as severe, by Siberian standard. So one of the first things I quickly and happily unlearned was wearing winter coats and hats all together. Oh that felt gooood for a change!

Quintet

From time to time, I have a few sets of photographs/outfits that I haven't gotten to posting for whatever reasons. Sometimes I find that such outfits want to be combined in one post as if they want to make a certain statement. When I gathered these 5 outfits from the last couple of months, I started listening for what kind of music this quintet was going to play together...and what I heard was a distinct tune. When I translated this tune into words, I realized it was 5 style fundamentals that tickle my toes. I suddenly realized that that's what I express with my outfits, more or less successfully, and at the same time what I admire in others (meet my latest style crush: GEORGIANA, and yes, you are so welcome!). So here I am sharing them with you, 5 style fundamentals and 5 outfits: 

COMPLEXITY, BOLDNESS, ECLECTICISM, ORIGINALITY, OPULENCE.

Each Day is Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to all my American friends and readers!

It is my favorite holiday (I wrote more about it in one of my early posts back in 2013, called PILGRIM). Although, I didn't come to America in pursuit of religious freedom, I can definitely relate to early Americans. Even today, in the age of airplanes and the Internet and all possible ways to connect with my family and friends back home, coming to America was and is still a huge leap of faith. As a newcomer, I do and probably always will feel like a pilgrim of happiness. 

Best Accessory

It seems Fall stepped into its full rights only by the end of October this year. We are having a mix of wonderfully sunny days with some heavy rains here and there, which has a good effect on foliage I suppose. It started getting colorful just recently, within a week or so. Justin and I took an opportunity to visit the Arboretum up in Seattle once again, and we think the peak season is only beginning! So if you're in the area, you have a great chance to enjoy colorful leaves for probably the next couple of weeks or so.

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). 

Local Language

This coming Spring marks 15 years of my making the US my home - and 10 years of our family making the Pacific Northwest our home. When you relocate to a new place, there is always a lot to learn, including learning a new language. And I don't only mean a national language - English, in my case. Justin is a born and bred American, but for him too there is a need to learn to understand locals from time to time. Let me show you just a couple of examples of how and why. One occasion would be simply spelling and pronunciation that don't go hand-in-hand. While it's often the case with the English language, there also are other languages that get involved - like French or local Indian tribal languages. For instance, if you're driving I-5 visiting from out-of-state, you might read the name of the city Puyallup as PY-all-up, as in "pie", or perhaps POOY-all-up as in "pooh" (Winnie the, of course), and good luck asking about it then. The locals pronounce it PYU-all-up. Tricky, huh? Yet it's just one example, and every place has plenty - something that only locals know like the back of their hand, and what takes a lifetime for newcomers to learn.

Harmony: Dreams and Life Coming Together

The color green in its many shades and hues has been a strong favorite of mine for many years - to the point that it was the most represented color in my home and wardrobe too, until just a few years ago. I wasn't quite as obsessed with green as The Green Lady, but when I discovered her, I sure felt like we were soul sisters. Green has been a very happy color for me too! (Find proof in my old post The Color of Your Soul with photos from May 2013 - before this blog.)

Vortex

Time flies in the vortex of festivities - I haven't even noticed how the whole week went by since my last post! Both Anna and Justin are on a holiday break, so we spend lots of time together. We listened to a traditional winter concert at Anya's school, went to one of the most beautifully decorated malls around Seattle, watched a street show with guaranteed "snowfall" as a climax, did some shopping, had a nice Christmas Eve dinner at home, exchanged gifts and went for a long walk on a beautiful trail along Puget Sound on Christmas Day. I like quiet family holidays, it is just my speed. And thanks to the Internet, I can always stay connected with beloved ones who live far away.