Rachmaninoff's Concerto No. 3 Played by George Li & Symphony Tacoma

Hello lovely friends and readers,

Are you still here? 

Anyone? 

Sorry for the long radio silence. I know it's been a while since I last posted or commented. It has been the most surprising Fall, life got busy, and I will tell you more as I get a chance, but today I offer to take you to one of the most memorable concerts I've been to in my entire life. And I'm pretty sure I'm not alone in this impression as the gorgeous Pantages Theater was packed to the fullest and burst into the longest standing ovation right after George Li played the last notes of one of the most technically challenging piano pieces ever created, Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3. 

April Showers, Fridays for Future and My Contribution to the World

Thank you so much for your wonderful comments on my previous posts!!! They brought so much joy to my heart, and I mean it. I do miss interacting with you guys, and I feel like I am very much behind each of your real life series. I lurked at your blogs a few times in the past few months and have every intention to catch up some day, though it is still challenging at this point. I thought that my workload would be lighter in April, but boy I was wrong! After finishing with one gig, I continued keeping myself busy with new ones, and after family time, trying to keep the house in at least a tiny bit reasonable state of chaos, and time to rest and recharge, there is very little time for blogging and fashion. But it isn't a bad thing, and even rare style and blog encounters can still provide fun as well as a break from other activities and responsibilities.

Red with Teal or Blue

Ta-daaa! To those of you who put bets on the color of my second beret and guessed red:

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

I bought three berets this Fall: gray, blue and red. I thought that either I would share them all with my daughter, or that she would choose the one(s) she likes and make it (them) her own. And since she has just discovered her love of the color red, I was almost sure that she'd choose the red one, but to my surprise she chose the blue one instead, perhaps to match her new wool coat. The blue one was also the smallest of the three and just wouldn't fit all that extra fluff I have in my big head, so it seemed like a perfect choice anyway.

Northwest Does Southwest

On my recent thrifting trip with my daughter, I was immediately drawn to this vibrant Southwestern inspired jacket. I inspected it thoroughly: it was well made, 100% cotton, thick tapestry kind of weave. It looks very 1980s to me, and I'd say that the boyfriend jacket cut and especially shoulder pads are a dead give away, but I must admit that the label looks completely contemporary, as if it was produced just yesterday. So I really couldn't say how old the thing is. It is in excellent condition though, no signs of wear whatsoever, and the price was $7.99. I held on to this find until the very end of our shopping, and then...I put it back on a hanger and left the store.

Modish Matrons: Take a Clue from That Painting

 

Don't let April Fools fool you! Just listen to what the wise BEATE suggests for our April link-up party - take a clue from that painting, cool and lovely Modish Matrons! What painting you ask? Read on!

Boho Chic My Way

If you think it always rains in Seattle, think twice! We had a whole FOUR mild sunny days since the beginning of October. Wahoo! (Read HERE - please note that even though the article declares 3 sunny days, we managed to squeeze another day and a half just after this read!) To be fair, it is the first winter like this in our 10 years living here. Previous years were sunnier and milder, and I noticed that we get especially nice winters when my folks are visiting from Siberia, so we intend to bring them here again soon - you're welcome, Seattleites!

50 Years of Happiness

October is rich with birthdays in my family - Justin's as well as my nephew's birthday are tomorrow, Mom's and two of her sisters (twins) on the 24th, and then my Dad is not very far away on November 1st. But this year, we also celebrate my parents's Golden Wedding Anniversary. Almost exactly 50 years ago, on October 15th 1966, Misha Lialin and Nadia Shadrina, who first met in the 6th grade and then hadn't seen each other for many years (so many that my future Dad did not even recognized my future Mom) became a family. They were beautiful, young, head to toes in love, and poor as church mice, my future parents. There was no white dress, no wedding rings and no photographs. Just a small civil ceremony with a couple of witnesses, as was required. But on that day, a new life began for the two of them - and, a couple of years later, for my brother Andrei, and in 5 more years for me.

Call Me Quirky

This was not a planned photo session, but I am so glad we took a few pictures when I met Justin for a lunch date and some errands in town on Friday.

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.

Now

I am who I am. Today. Now. This is me. I can be totally satisfied with the thought of who I am - or not. It is up to me. Being just a little human girl, as my then 5 year old daughter put it (yes, about me! she always had somewhat mothering feelings towards me, as long as I can remember her), so yes, being just a human girl, I am not totally satisfied. I think it's OK. It's just in our nature to not be totally satisfied - it helps us to move forward.

Anthropology: Becoming an Artist

Anthropologie, the whimsical, artistic brand of clothing and home accessories was one I admired from afar, but hadn't bought anything simply because they don't carry plus sizes (I think the largest I've seen in stores was XL). That is, not till this season when I saw their ponchos and decided that they might fit me just right - and they did, despite the fact that they are marked as either L or XL, the cut is so generous, it easily will accommodate quite a range of sizes and body shapes, which are, along with the warmth and coziness, some of the great characteristics of this type of clothing.

Luxuries of Winter

 

One of the unexpected developments for me this Fall/Winter was finding this faux fur coat and falling in love with it. So I'm from Siberia, right? How much do you think I wore fur coats (genuine fur, like sheepskin or nutria coats, and mink and fox hats) in my life? That's right, much. At some point, you just get tired of the whole thing. I did not have any fur coat ever since I left my homeland, which was almost 14 years back. But somehow I loved this coat so much, and even though I was afraid it would be heavy and bulky like those I used to see when I was a kid, I decided to give it a try. The coat did not disappoint, it is everything I wanted it to be - soft, lightweight, cozy, warm, with pockets, a pure joy to wear! I wear it all the time, with everything - dresses, skirts, pants, denim. I'm often complimented and asked where I got it (see the info at the end of the post if you're interested). It sure is a keeper in my closet. And with it, many luxuries of winter returned to my life as well. I found myself enjoying knit hats and scarves, leather gloves, tall boots - all the things I was so eager to discount once I moved to a much milder climate.

City of Dreams. Part I

Earlier this Autumn, in September, we made a trip to one of our most favorite destinations around the Sound - Port Townsend. The town is located on the very northeastern tip of the Olympic Peninsula and is surrounded by the waters of the Strait of Juan de Fuca and Admiralty Inlet, by a harbor called Port Townsend Bay. The bay was named by Captain Vancouver, the famous English explorer whose name you can see all over the map both of the US and Canada - we've got Vancouver Island and Vancouver City in Canada, a town in Washington, plus mountains in Alaska and even New Zealand. George Vancouver originally named the bay Port Townshend after his friend Marquis of Townshend. 

Oh Boy!

I'm getting into hats! 

This one was found at a music shop on Bainbridge Island, 100% cotton, made in the US, by a company called New York Hat Co - read about their hats and interesting history. The name of this canvas cap is Spitfire - how appropriate for me, natural + fierce, yep, that pretty much sums me up in just two words. They also offer lovely fedoras and other kinds of hats, caps and beanies - great selection and quite reasonable prices. Do check them out, you might also find a hat that reflects your personality.

Last Days of Summer

Thank you all for your kind words and wishes! You are my favorite, lots of love to you all! :)

We had a great summer this year - I hear it was the hottest on the record, and certainly an extremely dry one too, with many forest fires and burn bans lasting all summer long. To me it was much hotter than I prefer, but not nearly as hot as summers are in many parts of the world, including my homeland (which not many people realize about Siberia - 100 F and humid is quite common there). Here, temps did not go as high as 100, the hottest days I remember were in mid to high 90s, but it was consistently in the 80s for probably the whole three months, which is much more hot days than I care for (just how many days I can spend on the beach? certainly not 90 in a row). I admit I feel exhausted by the heat, and lots of things I would like to do I put on hold until the heat is over, but I still managed to do lots this summer, including daily writing and, oddly enough, lots of cooking experiments. This is still by far the most wonderful place to live, of all the places I've lived or visited, and if this was our hottest summer ever, I'm game. On to my outfit now. 

Like an Angel, Only Different

Seeing an outfit of the beautiful Austrian blogger Curvy Claudia made me realized that I can create a very similar all white outfit from the existing pieces of my wardrobe. Why this outfit has not happened to me earlier? I really couldn't tell. But I have a suspicion that maybe I felt that all white is not really for me - I don't believe I ever had many white things. All the three pieces here are relatively recent purchases (and all, weirdly enough, from Lane Bryant, bought of course on a really good sale, each piece at a different time). I remember having a snow white short Spring coat as a teenager - my auntie donated hers to me, and it felt so luxurious and out of a different world in the small working town where I grew up. Later, when I already was working for a publishing company and made my own living, I ordered a custom made long off-white coat - I ordered it from my other auntie (as a matter of fact, they are twins) and loved it to no end. It was elegant, dreamy, very dandy, and I was getting tons of compliments wearing it. 

Wearable Art

I asked Papochka to be my photographer again today - thank you, Papa!

I often want to wear something comfortable and unpretentious (also known as casual), and at the same time interesting and just a little bit whimsical or fancy. 

Land's End: Cape Flattery

I wanted to share photos of our New Year's travel to the land's end - на краешек земли, as I call it. 

We do a lot of road trips. Practically every weekend we go exploring our amazing state which has so much variety (4 different climate zones, to begin with). There is probably not enough time in our whole life to really get to know every bit of it, and we do have quite a few favorite places where we return regularly, but we also love discovering new-to-us corners of Washington (with occasional trips to beautiful neighboring Oregon). This time, it was a trip to a new place, and literally a corner - the most Northwestern corner of the contiguous United States.

Please note: many photos in this post. 

Bonus: you don't need to fasten your seat belts or wear your hiking boots to start your trip.

Rays of Sun

I would like to share one of the happy days we spent traveling with my parents. We visited the gorgeous Whatcom Falls north of Seattle (a couple of hours drive from where we live) near Bellingham, a lovely and very friendly college town only a few miles south of the Canadian border. It was a mild and drizzly day, one of many such days the Pacific Northwest has in store for us this winter. All the greenery which surrounds us year round benefits from the wet climate. And I benefit from the greenery, so I won't complain too much about rain. But I think it's no coincidence that I am drawn to bright, vivid colors most of the time. They bring sunshine to our gray days. And I bring sunshine to our gray days. Not just with my smile and heart... but with my head, neck, arms and of course those golden rays of sun - my legs! I think I was particularly inspired by ever colorful Monica of Senora Allnut (not one dull outfit in her blog!) this time. And I couldn't help but thinking of Beate and her hikes as we took an easy hike admiring the abundant nature - the waterfalls and rain forest. 

Rare Guests

Snow is a rare guest here in the Puget Sound area - it's usually us Seattleites who go on special trips to visit the snow which is only a couple of hours away in either the Cascades on the East side or the Olympic mountains on the West. It is the mountains which hug us from both East and West that protect us from the extreme weather conditions. It's not common to have  snow on the ground here by the sea, but we usually have a day or two every year when we get the white dust in our yard. My parents though don't recall any snow when they stayed with us during the winter two years ago. You'd think that being from Siberia, we must love snow and miss it, yes? Nope, not in this household at least. But I have to admit it looks really pretty, it changes everything and adds light to dark months.