My "Uzbek" Dress: Part 1

Part 2 is here.

I was playing with my clothes recently, trying to find a way to combine pieces which I added to my wardrobe this year to the pieces which I have owned for a while. One of the most challenging pieces in my wardrobe, I found, was this beautiful Ikat dress which I purchased over a year ago, but had no success styling until just recently.

Not Your Common Pea Coat & Colorful Life

The thermometer is slowly going up here in Seattle. It shows 38F  today and supposedly will be in 40s by  tomorrow. Yey! Aren't you guys happy for us, Seattleties? I do hope so! I am Russian (even worse - Siberian) and I am soooo happy for all of us here. Let me tell you, in the past few years I completely forgot (lucky me!) how to dress for cold. I mean, I do remember it theoretically. Wake me up in the middle of the night - and you'll hear a coherent lesson about what to wear in freezing weather, it is our specialty as Russians (especially Siberian or Northern folks). So my brain still remembers. But (and that's a big but!) my body did forget! It completely forgot what layers mean, what kind of layers, how many layers... and how does it feel to come inside after a short walk in freezing temperatures and watch with amazement how your body just crashes becoming something jelly-like very fast.

Online Style Party: How I Wear My... Red

Jill of Everything Just So and Adrienne of The Rich Life on a Budget co-host what I call an "online party" on a monthly basis. I learned about it just recently, and absolutely admired the idea (one of my favorites is How I Wear My Animal Print from October 2013). It is inspiring to see so many wonderful women around the world doing fun stuff with their personal style! The theme of December was How I Wear My Red, and I've decided to participate for the first time. Please take a look at all the photographs at both Jill's and Adrienne's blogs:

How I Wear My Red at Everything Just So

and

How I Wear My Red at The Rich Life.

Shoe Shopping or Shopping Shoes? + Sneak Peek

There was actually a coat shopping plan that day. But shoes were also on my mind. The truth is that they almost always are. You see when I told you that I have wide feet, I wasn't kidding. All my life it has been a challenge to find a pair of shoes which A) I will love to look at, and B) I will love to wear. Shoes are just such an uncomfortable "garment"! I love shoes. But mostly just visually. In my dream life, I walk barefoot.

Parka's Life and Adventures

It's freezing here in the Pacific Northwest - rare for us! It just keeps getting colder and colder. They say it is one of coldest spells in Seattle for years. Here is hoping that we will have only a couple more cold days, and that will be it! For many, many years!

These days, I just don't feel like many layers. I still wear my boiled wool jacket, combining it with pencil skirts and turtlenecks or cardigans for quick errands around town (no photos just yet). But when it is below 30 F, I get into my parka! And even though I don't feel like shooting new pictures of my parka outings, I thought that it would be great to find old photos of me in my parka and to dedicate the whole post to this wonderfully cozy number. 

Reflections

I have just realized that the last post was my 40th post. I am 40 years old, and this is my new blog (not the first blog I've ever written, but the first one in English and the first one about style, clothes and all that stuff), and I have written 40 blog posts in short 3 month (I started in early September 2013). That in itself calls for celebration. But I started thinking what this blog actually added to my life and my understanding of myself. It is the very reason I started it 3 months ago (and started researching about 5 months ago). I have started this blog to get to know me better. And I did, in a few different ways. Am I done? Far from it!

Winter Teal

We have freezing temperatures here in Seattle for the last few days. It was 37F (just above 0C) during the day, and it is in 20sF (below 0C) at night. I don't know about you guys, but I am wearing my down parka these days and only think about being stylish. Oh no. Please don't make me answer this question... again! I live in the US for almost 12 years now. Just how many times do you think I heard this question in the past?

Well, just once then. But that will be it!