Give Me Denim

This summer the fashion blogosphere is all about denim. Lightweight chambray shirts, denim jackets and vests, denim on denim, you name it. Here are some of my favorite looks that I've saved.

 

Brooklyn Blonde

My Style Pill

Suburban Faux-Pas

Sydne Style

I love jeans and I have always preferred them to skirts and dresses, until a couple of years ago. But even then, I managed to buy two denim dresses, here they are:

Last month before leaving for Moscow I went to H&M specifically in search of a denim jacket. I found this one. I'd prefer a jacket without the rips but couldn't find anything else. And I'm so glad I decided to buy it. Judging by the photos from the trip, it was the best purchase I'd made in a long time. Cost per wear must be miniscule. Of course, coming back to million degree heat, the jacket went straight into the closet where it'll stay for another two months at least.

Another item on my list was a chambray button-down. I've looked through tens of them everywhere without success. But yesterday I was finally able to cross it off my list. Thank you, Mango! They had only one left and in my size. But this shirt will also have to wait for cooler weather. I love that it's thin and I'll be able to tuck or half-tuck it in without too much extra bulk. Perfect layering piece.

While in Mango, I found a denim t-shirt. I remember seeing something like that on a blog and thinking "I want one"! So I got it as well. I can wear this now (if I'm going somewhere airconditioned) with everything.

As if two denim dresses weren't enough, as soon as I saw this one, I just had to have it. Classic shirt-dress with sleeves that can be rolled down.

This belt makes it perfect for a 4th of July party.

And this picture deserves to be in the "throwback thursday" pile. I bought this vest at the Guess store in Vancouver B.C. sometime in 1995. I'm so glad it survived all kinds of closet purges! It's a bit shorter than I would like, but still it would be perfect with maxi dresses. Which I'm planning to take with me to Turkey next week. We'll see how my plans work out...

And just to save everyone from denim overload, here is a picture of another recent purchase. I tried this dress on just for laughs thinking I'd never be able to wear anything like this. But it fit so well that I almost wore it home. Never be afraid to think out of the box meaning try on different clothes.

So there. I'm ready for autumn.

Dino Date

Yesterday Kid and I went to the dinosaur exhibit in Rehovot Weizmann Institure. I jumped at the chance to wear my new dress that I bought for the Moscow trip but didn't even take it out of the suitcase. Too cold. Well, it was perfect for here.

 

Big-ass 2 dollar earrings and chainlink bracelets completed the look.

 

I knew we'd have to do some walking, so I wore my old andalusian sandals.   

 

 

The Weizmann Institute of Science is a research center in Rehovot, here is the Wiki page. On the grounds there are some interesting structures.

 

Labyrinth-looking walls.

Lots of trees and green grass.

And fat cats. This one didn't even blink when I came up and ask to take his picture.

 

My son said that this model of a megaraptor was incorrect. The claws should be longer. I believe him, he knows.

 

The argentinosaurus was so huge, Kid had to go way back to fit him (and me) in the frame.

Stegosaurus saying hello. Behind him was something called  eco-sphere. It reminded me of the movie "Bio-Dome" that I translated years ago into Russian subtitles.

My friend amargosaurus.

T-rex, of course!

And ankylosaurus.

 

There were more dinos, but that's for the "experts" (the Kid would sit for hours studying all these photos).

 

 A good educational outing. We got home pretty late mostly due to a traffic jam. Luckily the bus was air-conditioned.

 

Next week he goes back to school.

 

Everyday Moscow

Going on a holiday with a kid means you have to provide entertainment. Luckily for us, my friends treated us to a day at the circus. Here it is, the circus on Vernadsky prospect. You're not allowed to take pictures inside when the show is on... Here is their ad on YouTube if anyone's interested. Trained bears, hippos, goats, beautiful horses - it was a great show.

 

 

My Kid loves dinosaurs and knows lots about them. That's why the Paleontological museum was next on our list. It's open all week except Mondays and Tuesdays and the entrance fee is 250 rubles for an adult and 100 for the Kid. But then again, the price might be different for foreigners. I speak Russian so we went in as locals. The museum is quite far from the city center, subway station Teply Stan plus 10 min walk.

I'm not sure which dinos are these, my Kid could tell you.

We loved the inner garden with dinosaur statues. You can only look at it from the balconies above, that's the idea.

Obviously, the Kid is not the only one who needed entertainment!

This is a "normal" Moscow street. See the trolleybus? I haven't seen them anywhere else. It's like a bus with "tentacles" that are sliding along electric cables above the road. From time to time, if a trolleybus makes a sharp turn, the "tentacles" disconnect and it gets stuck. Then the driver has to get off, grab the ropes (see them at the end of the tentacles there?) and muscle them back onto the cables. Lots of fun.

Moscow is full of shops and fancy cars and well-dressed people. The street is empty because it was the weekend. Otherwise it's a people-soup out there.

 

The province is much more serene and relaxed. These houses are more or less typical, I mean the roof-shapes. The slope of the roof is meant for heavy snow-falls, so the snow  falls off.

 

 

This is my friend's back yard.

 

Look at all these chanterelles!

 And a gooseberry bush. I got all scratched up searching for gooseberries and it was worth it.

Well, this is it.

It was a great trip. A bit nostalgic for me and very educational for the Kid. He ate foods he never even looked at before. He saw the subway and marveled at how deep underground it is. He brushed up on his Russian.

 

And now for something completely different. We're flying to Marmaris, Turkey on September 3d. We haven't travelled since 2009 so this year turned out just great.

 

 

More Pictures from Moscow

Anonymous left a comment in the previous post asking to see more pictures from Moscow and I'm happy to do it.

 

I must say that our photos fall into roughly three categories. Touristy stuff, "everyday life" shots and personal memories that I'm not going to bore you with, they mean a lot to me but nobody else would care.

 

I'll start with the touristy pictures. First of all we stopped at the observation point by the Moscow University. Pardon bad picture quality, I'm not going to quit my day job to become a photographer.

 

I love these buildings, such a typical Moscow cityscape.

 

I was surprised to know that these were free! Normally you have to insert a coin for 2-second viewing. Nice! Kid certainly enjoyed it.

Kazan Cathedral, Red Square. The weather sucked as you can see, but still, it was impressive.

Saint Basil's cathedral, Red Square.

Arbat - a pedestrian street in the historical center of Moscow. I have no idea what this pink person was selling. Should have asked I guess.

Church of the Saviour on the Sands just off Arbat.

You see churches everywhere, not just in Moscow. This is driving through Pavlovsky Posad (in the province where we lived).

 

 

This post is getting picture heavy so I'll stop for now.

"Everyday life" pictures to follow. And I finally learned how to resize my photos using "paint" program. Yeah for me!

 

 

Back from Moscow

Almost wrote "Back from USSR" but that would be so cliche!!! (For those of us old enough to remember the song...)

 

Anyway, it was great. We spent most of the time in the Moscow province and three days in the city. As a proper ex-Russian returning to visit the former motherland, I took pictures of birch-trees. Haven't seen them for ages! Hi girls (Berioza is a "she" in Russian).

 

Typical - no makeup and a cat. And great weather, didn't sweat even once.

Dogs were there as well.

Visited the Red Square of course.

 

Had lunch at a Firemen' pub. 

Wandered about. Isn't it nice? The guy behind me in an orange vest is power-washing the alley.

Look at this subway station!!! Paris metro, eat your heart out.

Moscow is full of surprises. Like this one.

 

The last photo I took was of this mountain ash. So brightly nostalgic.

 

OK, I have about 150 photos but I'm not going to post them all obviously!!!

It was a nice break from the Middle Eastern heat and general disorder.
Oh and the H&M store in Moscow is an identical twin of the Tel Aviv - Azrieli branch!