Beauty of Gray and Vintage

Why not post the most recent outfit and tell you a vintage story. So, Justin and I took these pictures last weekend, and it was quite freezing outside! It would really be wiser to wear one of my parkas on a day like this, but I wanted to show off my elegant all-gray attire before I show off my coats and parkas. 

The Way We Vintage

 

Earlier in March, we hopped in the car and drove to the new location of our favorite antique mall. Some of you might remember that some time ago, the mall which was located in one spot for 26 or 27 years, had to find a new home. Well, they have finally re-opened, and the visit became the sort of event I've been missing, the one that inspired me to dress up a little.

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"...

Red and White

 

In solidarity with people of Belarus fighting for their freedom.

Жыве Беларусь!

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 #34: Humor in Fashion

Welcome to Modish Matrons April Fools edition!

Comment YES if you can't imagine life without humor. 

YES!

Humor comes in so many forms and shapes, styles and flavors, tastes and traditions, that it probably shouldn't surprise us that at times we don't get each other's sense of humor at all. I pretty much always am open to any interpretation of the themes I come up with, and always ready to relax the rules simply because to me, the greatest beauty of life lies in freedom, and that includes the freedom to understand, interpret and express ideas in the way that is unique to each of us. That being said, I don't expect everyone to approve of  or even understand my vision, and I am eager to see your interpretation of this theme. 

Modish Matrons #33: Old Thing - New Way

Long time no see! 

How have you been, dear friends and readers? February proved to be a super busy month despite being the shortest one, and March is going to be even busier. A few times I tried to finish a post which I started back in January, but alas, it still stays unfinished in my drafts. It's challenging to find extra energy or time for new photo sessions these days. But I couldn't miss my favorite style party with my dearest friends, TINA und BEATE! So on one of the last windy February days, Anya and I stopped by a beautiful park featuring some of the oldest buildings in the area. The park was recently revamped which fitted our March theme to a T! You see, Beate suggested to wear our oldest clothing item in a chic new style. Which our park definitely has done brilliantly - the 1930s art-deco lighthouse (the only lighthouse in Pierce county, by the way) and even earlier lighthouse keeper's cottage now got a fresh treatment in the form of a concrete path leading to the lighthouse from a newly built parking lot. So now we can visit our good old friends, the lighthouse and the cottage, in any weather, even on a rainy day.

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...

Best of 2018 and Intentions

JANUARY 2018

To end this year on the blog, I've decided to pick my 10 favorite outfits of the year. I feel that each year, from the very beginning of my blog, I learn something new about style. It all started with colors for me, then I moved to patterns, layering, and proportions. 2018 became a year of textures and details. I wonder what the next year will bring? I would like it to be a year of refining my style: sorting things out, donating what I don't wear, finding new combinations with existing things, and adding only things that are of higher quality and which really resonate with me. It's been my intention ever since I started getting an interest in clothes as a child or teenager, but there were also periods of lost and returned interest, periods of different abilities, skills and focus, and periods of experimentation. I have a feeling that it's time for refinement of whatever I've learned in the past few years, but I'm not the one who thinks that our goals are set in stone. I'm not saying that there is no place for goals and plans in our lives - sure there is. But I also love watching the natural flow of life, seeing how things develop organically, without us forcing them, but rather staying open-minded. So, I send my intentions out there and see what happens - it'll be fun seeing how they transform and manifest themselves in the new year.

Modish Matrons #30: Iceland

If you ask me why Iceland even came to my mind when I put together the list of themes for the 2018 Modish Matrons back in December 2017, I couldn't explain - it just did. I have never been to Iceland and I didn't know the first thing about it. Obviously, I had to visit and learn. Or at very least commission sending a photographer to this intriguing far away place. The things we do for blogging, right? 

Modish Matrons #28: Colorblocking...Colorblogging!

Hello lovely friends and dear readers, and welcome to October Modish Matrons! This month's theme is Colorblocking...Colorblogging! offered by gorgeous Tina (as you might know, we rotate each month). As soon as I learned what the theme was, I thought of this fabulous skirt, and the rest of the outfit came together spontaneously.

Playing with Neutrals

So, the Summer is coming to an end as we speak (though to me, it ended on August 31st - you see, Fall starts on September 1st in my Russian mind every year, no exception). But our playing with fashion continues, and why not play with neutral tones for a change. I love bold colors, but from time to time I feel inclined to wear neutrals - it's refreshing, as if I push an invisible restart button of my style.

Summer Patchwork and Back to Who We Are

Just as quilt makers collect various scraps and fabric pieces which may or may not end up being a part of a quilt, as a style blogger I am also left with a variety of "scraps" - pictures of my outfits which were sometimes created purposefully and thoughtfully, with an intention to become a "quilt" - a post about a particular ensemble; while other times happened almost unintentionally, randomly, on the way to an event (or sometimes at the event), with very limited time and/or lighting for a decent photo shoot. I collect such picture "scraps", Justin's photographs of my outfits (my form of art) and from time to time combine them to create a post-quilt with all those lovely scraps... And so I've done with this post, showcasing 5 outfits which will tell you a few more stories of my Summer. Many pictures and words!

Modish Matrons #26: Blue & Green

Hello dear friends and welcome to Modish Matrons!

In August, we follow Beate's steps into the beautiful sisterhood of two summery colors - BLUE & GREEN! We wear them together, just as we see them together in nature, and especially in abundance during Summer peak. 

Modish Matrons #25: Boat Trip & 2 Year Anniversary

Hello friends!
Welcome to the July Modish Matrons and a new theme offered by TINA - Style for a Boat Trip! That's not all though, since we also celebrate 2 years of our fun creative link-up this month, but first things first! Please visit my fabulous friends, two talented bloggers from Germany, TINA und BEATE, to see their unique takes on the theme!

Dress Up, Dress Down

There is absolutely nothing wrong with either approach to dressing, and I use both, though I mostly show dressed-up versions of my outfits on the blog. In this post, I will share two outfits, very different in style and feel - in some ways, they really couldn't be more different, but I created both and I enjoyed them both equally. I just try to listen to that little bell that goes RING - when something from my wardrobe clicks with my current mood or energy level, and considering the weather and the situation I'm about to enter, I think it's pretty much all I have to know regarding what outfit to pick. It usually takes no more than a few minutes - and I am out the door!

Forty Five and Full of Drive

We are back in Washington State, returned from Washington, DC! To most non-Americans it probably sounds like it's not a biggie - wouldn't these two Washingtons be close to one another? In fact, everybody knows about Washington the capital of the US, but not as many know about Washington the state. But to those who know, it's obvious just how different these two Washingtons are - different in nature, climate, history, subculture, spirit, vibe, style and definitely very different location, as the capital city of the US almost could not be further from our state. We are 2,763 miles or 4.446 km apart, which is more than the distance between my Russian hometown Krasnoyarsk and the capital of Russia, Moscow (4,150 km)! And would you believe that before our trip I did not know that? I honestly thought that it would take three or four hours by plane to get there!

Cannon Beach, Oregon: Ocean, Muffins and Puffins

The pictures for this post have been sitting in my blog drafts for almost a month now without posting, not sure why - perhaps because I don't like to end things. But I do like to have a closure, so here you have it - PART THREE (final) of our early Spring mini-break in Oregon State. Click here to read PART ONE and PART TWO.

More Oregon vacations from previous years in these posts:

MAY 2015 

DECEMBER 2015 

AUGUST 2016: PART 1 and PART 2.

I also invite you to look at my old Russian blog for a zillion photos of Portland, Oregon that we took during our first few trips there (prior to this blog):

PORTLAND JAPANESE GARDEN 

(considered the best Japanese garden outside of Japan) 

and PORTLAND: CITY OF ROSES, BRIDGES, TRAMS AND BOOKS.

Both posts written in February 2013, with pictures from 2007, 2011, 2013 taken by Justin and myself (yes, I used to bring a camera wherever I went, for many years!).

And now on to the final destination of this year's trip.

Navy Blue Love and Paintings by Ivana

I have heard that blue is the most common favorite color, but I must admit it had been my least favorite color for as long as I could remember, to the point that when I would get something blue as a present, the whole thing would puzzle me, like...'do you know me at all? have we ever met?' If the answer to these questions had been yes, you'd have known that I had no use for anything blue in my home. I've always loved greenish blue hues, but not "blue blue" ones. I wonder why? I don't recall any negative associations with it, no bad memories as such, but pure blue (no matter light or dark shades) used to seem depressing to me. And it really had nothing to do with the English use of the word blue as meaning "sad" or "depressed" - I learned it only after I moved to the US, which was 16 years ago, and I had been living and speaking other languages for twice as along at that point. In my native Russian, oddly enough, depressing feelings are commonly seen as green  - we say "тоска зеленая" (green anguish) or "позеленеть от злости" (to turn green with anger) which I personally don't agree with, to me green is a color of peacefulness and cheer. But I had similarly strong negative associations with the color blue. Until a few years ago, that is. And then I started warming up to different shades of blue.