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.

Darkest Before the Dawn

Dressing up to me, perhaps unlike many of my lovely blogging friends, is 100% a social thing. I simply don't feel the need or craving to dress up when I am at home - I find many other things that bring me joy and occupy my time. I am a bit surprised when someone tries to change my mind about it. Is there really one right way to live our lives, and everything else is wrong? I don't sign up for that philosophy. Everyone is different, so whatever works. During the pandemic (and we're in the second year by today, as it started earlier in the Washington State compared to the rest of the country, as well as many other countries), so during the pandemic there was practically no reason for me to dress up. As a large part introvert, I initially didn't suffer from the lack of social life at all. Even though I lost some of my work contracts due to closures of our libraries, I still had my students and enjoyed figuring out the new ways of teaching. But by the arrival of Winter, I started missing our family outings and cultural events which used to inspire my creating of outfits and having photo shoots with Justin. 

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"...

Happy New Year!

To all my friends and readers, a very Happy New Year! 

May it be kind and healthy to you and yours! 

I Voted!

So it happened, my friends - I voted! Justin and I received our ballots in the mail, filled them out and dropped them at the official voter's drop box this very evening. (Anya is not old enough to vote just yet, but she will be very soon, just in a couple of months, ready for the next election.) 

Two Autumns, Two Ways to Live

"Have you ever dreamt that you'd be living in such a beautiful place?" asked Justin on our last forest walk. And here is my honest answer.

Family in Fall, Sauerkraut Recipe and New Home

In my last post, I wrote about traditional Fall celebrations in the US which my family and I love, but this time of year is even more precious and beautiful to me for many personal reasons. You might notice it too, life usually brings us things in clusters. One such "cluster" is birthdays in my family. Of course, whenever a few people gather, some of them most probably were born reasonably close to each other, and it's especially true when we talk about a large family. I mean, there are only 12 months in the year, aren't there? But some such coincidences seem more like serendipity or kismet, if you will.