Something Old, Something New

I adore the mixes which come together over time. Take this outfit - the white jeans and utility boots are recent purchases, but the chunky sweater is my old favorite from 7 or 8 years ago. I added my most favorite vintage clip-ons ($5 find) and a vintage carpet bag ($9 find) - and voila, a cozy, casually chic, trendy outfit (I at this point truly enjoy some current trends!), with a bit of whimsy and its own strong character.

Of Kangaroos, Mushrooms and Acceptance

What to tell you about this outfit? Hmm, let's see. The dress is something new to me, "outside of my comfort zone" would be the correct description. Only outside of that zone actually feels quite comfortable to me - it's inside of the zone which gets uncomfortable, to tell the truth. And I am not only talking fashion here. Just think of it. We stretch outside of our so-called comfort zone when we feel uncomfortable staying inside of the zone. It's that very discomfort of staying inside of the the circle (or a box, if you will) we got used to which makes us move outside of the "comfort zone". So really, the "comfort zone" becomes a discomfort zone, and vice versa - a new territory, a "discomfort zone" becomes the more comfortable and desirable place to be. 'Nuf philosophy, it's a style blog after all, isn't it? I laid my eyes on this dress the minute I saw it on the web. I had my doubts about the lines ("Won't I look like a kangaroo in it?" I asked myself), the price was biting, so I waited for quite a while. But I found myself coming back to this design over and over again - some part of me knew it was the dress for me. So I used the opportunity of a Black Friday sale and from the comfort of my sofa, the dress was ordered. When I received it and put it on... I knew I found my new favorite.

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. 

Brr

It's cold outside, the snow seem to be stuck to our yard (hopefully, not for long). But it did not stop Anna and me from going to another little community theater this past weekend. Theater is on my mind lately. I just can't help it. I want to see them all. This time, we went to the Lakewood Playhouse which is about half an hour from our home, to watch Little Women - an American classic, based on the novel by Louisa May Alcott. 

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.

Mama & Papa Play Dress Up

These photos were taken on one of the first few days after my parents' arrival. I offered my Mom to try on a few of my dresses and skirts. She zeroed in on this one - you can tell that she feels good wearing it, even though she ideally would need at least one size smaller.

If You Let It

Anna and I went to see Mary Poppins, the wonderful heart warming musical presented by the Village Theatre in Issaquah (for Seattle folks - their other stage is in Everett). I'll tell a bit more about it in a sec, but first I wanted to say that I tried to wear black and white this past weekend to join Sacramento and Monica and Share-in-Style which is always great fun, I even prepared an outfit (hopefully will be able to wear it tomorrow), but this dress put a spell on me - I just couldn't resist it and wore it again. But Anna saved the day without even realizing it, by putting together this black and white outfit. Do you recognize the dress she has on? That's right, I have a skirt which I showed many times on my blog (last time I wore it for another "Julie Andrews musical", oddly enough - read HERE about my outing to see Sound of Music). When I bought this skirt, Anna liked it so much that I ordered one for her too. I love how she wears it as a dress here - very creative! Her sense of style started blossoming pretty early on. At the age of 9, she was already putting together stylish and truly unique outfits, constantly being praised by grown up fashionistas.