I've Come Out of the Closet!

Hello friends, 

Long time no see! I've just realized that I haven't posted in this blog since May. I missed sharing my outfits! So please feel free to praise or critique me - from you, my loves, I accept it all. I missed you and this form of creativity and connection with like-minded people a lot! I can only hope that some of you have missed me too. :)

Solstice, New Hat and Love

Hello again, dear friends and followers!

HAPPY SOLSTICE!

I know, it's been a while since my last post, and I can't tell you how many times I tried to reconnect with you all, but something just didn't click. Thank you to those of you who reached out via email, Instagram and Facebook, I really appreciate your thoughtfulness. I also would like to say thank you to people who buy my books. I don't know how you find them, whether you read my blog or not, but I want to say that it touches my heart every time when it happens, it just doesn't get old! I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Life has been a whirlpool of changes, events and emotions in the past several months for all of us, and even those who fortunately didn't have personal losses still experience loss and grief. Psychologists say it is normal at times like these.

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. 

Library Happenings and Secrets of Public Speaking

Most people, at most times, go to a library to see books. But on October 5-6, 2018 some folks had a rare opportunity to go to the Puyallup Library to see book authors! I happened to be one of about 30 local authors who were honored to present our work during this event. 

Modish Matrons #27: Road Trip

When back in late 2017, Tina, Beate and I were planning our Modish Matrons for the year of 2018, I got an idea of a Road Trip as a theme - I thought it was quite fitting for the end of Summer, when many folks hurry trying to squeeze in just a little more vacation time, and not necessarily even a long vacation, maybe just a day or two away before the Summer is over. For my fellow Americans, the first weekend of September is also an unofficial end of Summer (a long Labor Day weekend) before the new school year starts, or at least this is how it is done in our local school district, which I think is pretty smart.

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...

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)

Two Magic Ingredients

Inspiration comes from all sorts of sources, sometimes unexpected ones. I don't know what you thought when you first saw this outfit on me, but I know what two little girls in a movie theater thought when they whispered to each other and giggled, looking at me wearing this very outfit. And what do you know, they read me as an open book!

Love of Sea and New Book

Who can tell how inspiration works? Some think that things, people or events inspire them. Others say that it comes from art and stories. Some find inspiration in memories of the past, while others in fantasies about the future. Like many artists, I find that very often inspiration comes during the process of work (as they say in Russia, appetite grows with eating) - I start dressing up and new ideas come, or I start writing and the more I write, the more inspired I feel...

Dainty Flowers and Big Reveal

 

Dresses are and quite possibly always will be my favorite garment to wear - I dream of a closet full of dresses in every possible color, hue or shade ... some day. This wrap dress in the 1950s style with dainty flowers all over it was a Spring find earlier this year and became a very welcomed addition to my growing dress collection. It's made of lightweight breathable cambric, with a lightweight breathable cotton voile lining - perfect for hot days! In fact, so perfect that I got a little lost waiting for the hot weather to arrive, and when I realized that it's already mid-July, I put the dress on without hesitation, even though it wasn't a hot day, but rather cool and breezy. But I thought I'd wear it anyway, before the Summer is over.

Modish Matrons #13: Safari

Our July theme was offered by Beate, and it sounded like this:

Heia Safari: What would you wear if you only could shop your closet for packing that suitcase.

Now, that's a challenge! Anyone could feel puzzled if not defeated by this theme! Anyone but fierce and fearless MODISH MATRONS (insert drum roll here)! Tina and myself followed Beate's lead and created our own versions of African travel worthy outfits. As always, I cannot wait to see the girls' interpretations. Please join me - let's go visit BEATE und TINA! 

Dress Up and Off You Go, or Do You Know Oprah?

This gorgeous mixed prints dress was spotted by me on eShakti back in March,which seems like eons ago. I ordered it without hesitation, thinking that such dresses don't show up often and would be gone in the blink of an eye. I was right because it really disappeared rather fast. I think they came out with quite a few incredible dresses back then, because they seemed to be a little overwhelmed with orders, and delivery from India took a bit longer than usual. To the company's credit, they sent me a gift card as an apology for the delay, which was a very nice thing to do to appreciate a faithful customer, such as myself. You might think I'm reviewing a free product, but I'm not - I as always just share my personal experience with you, at my own expense, so to speak. 

Anya and Her Wings: Books & Games for Fun Family Time

My dear friends and readers,

I usually open my posts with a photograph of my outfit, but this time I wanted to tell you about another creative child of mine - the BILINGUAL BOOK SERIES and INTERACTIVE WEBSITE that my brother and I have been working on for many years now. Come and meet our awesome team who tirelessly work on this fun educational project! Since we are not only the authors, but also makers of our books, we do all the promotional stuff ourselves. We are at the very beginning of a long journey, there are lots of things unknown to us, and we learn as we go. Your encouragement and friendly support mean A LOT to us! If you have children, nieces, nephews, grandchildren, or if your friends and neighbors have kids who might enjoy our books, please consider purchasing them. Books are a wonderful gift! On our website you can enjoy our FREE GAMES and COMPLIMENTARY COLORING PAGES - gifts to all our readers. If none of the usual retail options I discuss below work for you, contact me directly, and I will figure out a way of delivering our beautiful, heartfelt books, made with lots of love and humor, right to your doorstep - signed by me of course! If you are signed up with such websites as Amazon or Goodreads, you are welcome to leave your honest feedback about our books. We were over the moon to receive our first review (5 stars!) from lovely and thoughtful Ivana (read it on her blog HERE and on Goodreads HERE)!

Please feel free to ask me whatever you're interested in - 

I'm open and eager to talk, and I encourage your curiosity. :) 

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.)

Happy Birthday, Sister! Happy Birthday, Book!

This is the way Andrei, my beloved brother greeted me on my birthday this year. :)

Now I can tell that I was born twice, both times in May. First, in 1973, in a far away town in Siberia, as a little girl named Natasha, with long red hair and blue eyes (as mama describes me). Second time, in 2016, in America, as a book author Natalia Lialina, though my red hair is now short, and my eyes became green.