Sergeant Stripes

No, I'm not the most consistent blogger in the blogosphere...

Another month has gone by and I haven't posted anything. Of course, I could blame it on "The Wire" that is finally done and I've had about a week to recover, clean the house like it should be cleaned, order a new fridge, order a new computer...

My war with the fridge is finally over. It was supposed to be a No Frost experience. Instead for the last 3 - 4 years I had to defrost it every 6 months, then every 3 months, then every month. It sucked, people! So last Friday I broke down and paid for a spanking new Sharp fridge with 7 year-warranty on the motor. Delivery is scheduled for the coming Wednesday. So what did my old fridge do? It got pissed off and stopped working. Good thing my parents live downstairs and I just moved all my food to their fridge.

Can't wait for Wednesday!

I leave you with my stripey outfit I wore sometime this month.
I got a lot of compliments on the scarf from our elderly customers.

It was one of those non-elegant days.

Three Ways Inspiration

The Blogger hiccup kicked me out of circulation for another 4 days of so. Of course, my posts are short and simple, and there's not much material there to retype. But when you spend hours on end working on your computer, once you finished work the last thing you want to do is spend more time on the annoying slow ancient PC (it's about 6 years old, a real pensioner).

So here is my last Thursday thing. Inspired by InStyle magazine. It's from their "Three Ways" feature. I opened the mag and immediately thought: Cool, I already have this tunic! No need to spend extra.

Here is what they wrote about Look # 1: White skinny jeans make a lean counterpoint. Ground the look with earth-toned accessories, such as a beaded necklace and woven sandals.



I don't own any woven sandals but brownish flats seemed like a good choice, especially because I had to do some running around that day.

So here is my version:

I got this top last spring for peanuts (about 16 bucks). I would never think to pair it with white. Thank you, InStyle, for the idea.

I got this bracelet at the artisan fair (I hope that's what you call it) at the shopping mall where I work. Every Tuesday I have to close my eyes as I ran to the car. Temptations on every corner.

Diagonal elevator shot to show off my new haircut. It's a bit fuzzy from the humidity as I just walked in from the heat. I find that Frizz-Ease works the best for my hair but have you seen the price of it lately? I mean, in Israel? It's NIS 99 (like 26 USD!!!) I remember the drugstore product prices in Canada and feel like weeping.

Next on my list is something yellow. Maybe I'll start with a bright sunny scarf, I don't know.

Thanks, Blogger!

I wrote a new post last night. Nothing overly special, but I put some effort into it. You know.

AND THE BLOGGER ATE IT!!!!!

And I can't redo it now because I have to work!

UGH!

My Lady Dragons

Funny, I wanted to name this post "Great minds think alike" but this title was already taken by WendyB for her Sunday blog post. But Wendy was talking about vintage checkered sunglasses. And I would like to talk about something completely different, that is Vivienne Westwood Anglomania + Melissa Hart Lady Dragon shoes. And I didn't just steal the idea from Pearl who wrote about the very same shoes in her Saturday post. Because this is what I bought and wore last Thursday.

Look, I'm a proud owner of the Lady Dragons in black!


I saw them in a shop called Factory 54 which carries all kinds of stuff, designer "leftovers" so to speak, at slightly reduced prices among other things. I saw the shoes, I thought about them for about a week, and then decided that I had to have them.

So Thursday, when I start work at 12:00, I stopped at the shop on the way to the office. The shoes were still there, I tried them on, bought them and changed in the car (couldn't walk out of the shop in them as I had to take off all kinds of stickers first).

I knew I was going to buy them, so I built my outfit to match the future shoes. And it worked I think.

Of course, nothing is perfect, and the shoes are a tad too big, maybe half a size or so. But I can work with that.

They have little bows as you can see. And such a comfortable heel. Though I might have to play around with clear inserts just to make them fit a bit better (so my foot sits farther back). Or not.

The sitting on the table shot, as usual. Here you can see my turquoise necklace, a birthday gift from BFF.

One more pic of the shoes. Swoon! They'll go with so many things!

And some eye-candy saved for last. It's my birthday Tignanello purse. It's less pink and more fuchsia in real life, like in the first picture.

See how little we need to be happy! At least for a day.

Total Rip Off

Lots of fashion bloggers write about getting inspired by fashion mags and other bloggers. I wrote about it too and tried to recreate the outfits I liked the best. Other times I see something I liked, say pair of shoes, and go to ebay in hopes of buying exactly same thing. It happened a couple of times. But here I'd like to present "and now for something completely different" case. Which is what you do while suffering from total lack of imagination.

A sale in the shop also helps.

Here is a page from the "Jump" catalog.
Interesting skirt, lightweight flowy blouse.
So what's a girl to do?


Easy! Just buy both items on sale (two for the price of one) and wear them together!

My blouse has white buttons which I prefer. And it required a camisole underneath, which I already had. Throw in some heels and you're done.

Pearls seemed to be the obvious jewelry choice for this outfit. Oh so breezy and light!

Goofy face included.

These are my extreme pointy shoes from some years ago. The color matched the skirt, and they are super comfortable.

I got this shirt from the same catalog. But the model is wearing it with tight white shorts. So I'll have to think of something else to wear.

Do you ever copy shopping catalogs in full?

Colt .45

Hi everybody. Another year passed and I've changed the caliber. From .44 Magnum to Colt .45

Yes, I've turned 45 and it's hard to believe... Or not so hard. They say that you are as old as you feel. In that case I'm about 30 - 35 maybe. I'm not going to break into deep philosophical thought, who needs it? Instead I'll show you the dress I got from the lovely Pearl of Fashion Pearls of Wisdom and ShopStreetStyle. Remember I told you about the leopard print vintage dress? Well, it arrived and just in time for my birthday.

Of course, I was going to wear it somewhere nice and take brilliant pictures and post about it. But my workload is still crazy, so if I don't do it now, who knows when it's going to happen! I took the unglamorous photos in my cluttered walk-in closet, lighting is poor, facial expressions are slightly off, but the dress is gorgeous and it fits perfectly!

I wore my brown shoes - the safest choice. Pearl styled it with red shoes which would be a great option for going out. I still have to experiment and I will.

It's a wrap dress, so it can be easily adjusted for the best fit. I know now that UK size 14 is size 12 American - a useful bit of info for future online shopping.

Boy, am I glad this picture is so fuzzy! What's going on with my lips?

I'm trying WendyB's pose again.

And sucking in my stomach while I'm at it.

Here is a desperate attempt to find a more pleasant backdrop which would be my lemon tree. But the tree is slightly worn out after the winter and the balcony wall needs paint, and the dog looks kinda bored. Oh well, I tried.

Other than the dress I got lots of skincare, a couple of nice chiffon tunics and a pink Tignanello purse that I'll have to show off on this blog. Birthdays are fun!

What To Do On A Weekend

So I just returned to my blog again after a long break and what? More translation work came my way. Second season of "The Wire" landed on my head like a ton of bricks. This time the deadlines were unreal so I shared the load with another translator. Four more episodes to go. In the meantime, I wanted to post these since last Saturday which turned out to be a Caturday because we went to a cat show in Ashdod. Nothing huge, just a gym full of interesting looking creatures. The quality of the photos is not that great, mostly because you couldn't just stick you head into the cages to get a clearer shot. I loved this little beauty in her giraffe print bed. Most of the cats were sleeping or almost asleep. This one had it's eyes open just long enough.

I have no idea what breeds they were. I just wanted to see some kitties.

(This is not my finger. I had pink not chipped nail polish on my nails!)

There you go. A sleeper.

This guy was huge. He looked like a guy to me, but I might be wrong.

Serious dude.

I believe this one is a sphynx. Very active and not sleepy at all. Look at all the prizes!!!

And back to snoozing again.

The best looking cat in the country waited for his present at home. Snooker loved his new toy that I bought at the show. He loved it so much that I haven't been able to find it for a couple of days now. He stashed it somewhere. Probably at the same place where he hid the cover from the TV remote battery compartment. It's a very secret place.

And this is what I was wearing that day. I bought the pants for several reasons. Last month's InStyle, Sheila's blog (from her leopard week) and WendyB's "bloggers caught red-legged" saga. So I've joined the club. It's the second wearing of the tomato legs. I'm still working on what to wear on the top, which shoes, to cuff or not to cuff etc.

I'm trying Wendy's trademark pose in flat shoes.

Have You Met Pearl?

I'm talking about a gorgeous fashion blogger Pearl of Fashion Pearls of Wisdom.

I read her blog every day.

Pearl is a real expert and not just in fashion but vintage fashion as well. You should pop over there and see

her amazing collection of dresses and shoes (and bags and...)

But this is not the only reason to visit Pearl's blog. She has opened an "online vintage shop with a blog style twist" and here is the link

http://www.shopstreetstyle.com/

I opened the page, read the insightful post, scrolled down to her collection and immediately found a gem. Don't try to buy the leopard wrap dress, it's mine!!!

And an added bonus is - Pearl has announced a fab giveaway - a £20 gift voucher for her vintage shop.

It's worth signing up for Twitter and Facebook just for this.

Another Two Months...

About two months have passed since my last post, that is. I was so busy with work and other things in my life that I just thought "short break will do me good". And now, here we are, it's end of March already.

Spring is very short in Israel. Pretty soon we'll be wearing summer clothes and complain about the heat. And there's nothing I can do about it. One nice thing about the Spring is that we get to see this beauty, and it's just 20 minutes walk from the house. Almond trees in bloom.

Look!


Rows and rows of pinkish white clouds.


Flowers are so pretty.

I just missed a bee in this one.

Kid found a caterpillar and put it on a tree... Lunch!

Boomer enjoying a day out in the sun.

You can see the first green leaves coming out.

It was a beautiful day, but very-very windy. Good thing husband came with the car to pick us up. We felt as if the wind tried to blow us off the road!

I took these pictures couple of weeks ago. Now all the flowers are gone and there are almonds in their place, still soft and fuzzy.

Just now, when I'm typing this "I'm back" post, I got a message that I'm getting more work coming this way. It's great but the deadlines are crazy. Will negotiate. Wish me luck.

Another Purple Day

In the yesterday's post I wrote about blogs inspiration. I posted some pictures of my purple shoes... which inspired today's outfit. Mind you, I just wore the same purple dress. And purple trench. And the amethyst ring.

I got this trench couple of weeks ago and it's my third time wearing it. It was 70% off which was more than nice. It's quite thin even for Israeli winter, but the day was warm and sunny. This is my morning shot in the elevator, they finally reinstalled the mirror, thank you very much.


After work I went to Zara to check out their end of season stuff. I tried on a dress but didn't buy it. Instead I tried to take my photos which was a bit awkward. This is me trying to look nonchalant. Oh, I'm just checking my messages!

Then the corner cleared up and I took this one. Check out the party dresses on the left! I touched the fabric - they are so stiff they could probably walk on their own!

At work it's the usual mess. Our server gave up the ghost, it's in the lab since yesterday, and we couldn't open the programs we work on. No access to the customers files, no necessary forms, nothing. So all the stuff had to be done manually which means we'll have to key it in later. And the pile is growing... So it was a stupid day. But it's over now, at least for me, and I don't have to go back till Thursday noon.

Tomorrow I'll be working at home, translating a cool police show. It has a great opening song by the Blind Boys of Alabama. I even downloaded it on my cell as a ringtone. I especially like the words "you gotta keep the devil way down in the hole". Everyone has their own devil that has to be kept in the hole. Good luck to us all with that.

I Got an Award!!!

Stylish Lotus from Red Phoenix Emporium nominated me for an award!!
Thank you so much, Lotus.

I'm supposed to tell you 7 things about me. Let's see...

1. I'm a shopaholic and I'm constantly trying to kick the habit. It doesn't help that my office happens to be located at the shopping mall. It takes me ages to get to the car after work. Right now hubby's been out of work for a long time and money's tight. So I close my eyes and run for it... Remember that movie "Confessions of a shopaholic"? It made me want to shop like crazy.



2. I used to smoke but I quit. Apparently it was much easier to quit smoking than buying stuff.



3. I love animal prints! I have 3 pairs of shoes and 2 pairs of boots - leopard, snake you name it. And a bag. When I heard that leopard print was "the new black" I was happy. Look, that's what I'm wearing today!

4. I love winter and really dislike summer. It used to be the other way around, but living in Israel killed the summers for me. Give me boots, jackets, trench coats any day. Summer here lasts pretty much 9 months. Funny, in Russia I dreamt of moving to the warmer climate, live by the sea, enjoy the weather. Now I live 20 min away from the sea (by car) and I go maybe twice a year.

Here is a photo of a boot. I wore them yesterday with fishnets. It's been ages since I wore fishnets!

5. I traveled quite a bit and lived all over the globe (I call it living even if it's for a couple of months. You have your routine, your habits, your hangouts - local way of life). Which city would I pick?

Paris is my favourite. I grew up in Saint Petersburg, Russia and Paris reminded me of my hometown. Only much better. Runner up - Berlin. And Vancouver BC just because it's so beautiful.

This is moi in Paris in 2008. Photographed by my lovely cousin. Love all that hustle and bustle (and the pic is taken on a Sunday!)

6. I'm very easily influenced by other people fashionwise. Bloggers' world has been a huge inspiration for me. I look at your photos and suddenly it hits me - I have this! I can wear it like that! Or the worst case scenario - I see something in a shop that reminds me of a blogger's outfit and... See number 1.

Best example - these shoes by Carlos Santana.


I saw them on BudgetChic blog and just had to have them!!! It was probably 2 years ago or more. I wore them once to a wedding. OK, they were 25 bucks plus shipping (ebay). Cost per wear? Astronomical. Still love them though. Mmmmm, purple!
Another photo from that wedding outfit, just to see the color.

7. I love my TV. What are my faves at the moment? The Mentalist, Castle, White Collar (waiting for 2nd season here), True Blood, Supernatural. I used to watch CSI a lot but then we changed the cable company and I lost it. I also watch Covert Affairs, Lie to Me, Closer. I loved Dexter.

My second job is directly connected to the TV shows. I translate films and series from English to Russian, working mostly with subtitles now. I watched and translated so many of the crime shows. The other day we watched "Law Abiding Citizen" and I could predict almost everything that happened in the movie.

I would do translations only if they paid better. This job is the best for me. You work from home, no phones, no clients, just deadlines that I can almost always handle. I think this job gives me a lot and teaches me lots of things. You can't have it all I guess.

Well, these are my "secrets". Thanks for listening.