Friday, July 10, 2009

Guest Blogger - Brooke, Part II

Please welcome Brooke back as this week's guest blogger. And don't forget to tell her Happy Birthday. Happy Birthday, Brooke!!! I hope you had a great day!
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I had a cute outfit picked out for today based on a new dress, but I woke up this morning to the kind of gray, cold, drizzly, windy which demanded long pants. And, naturally, the only rain-appropriate pants I have with me are blue jeans. Ah well. Such is life out of a suitcase. I decided to make the best of it with my accessories.

This scarf was a hand-me-down from my extremely stylish aunt - I absolutely love the rich colors of it. This ring is a traditional Russian style of hand-painted ceramic called finift, which I found in a gift store in a small town called Murom a few hours away from Vladimir. Most rings of this type are huge, like up to your knuckle huge, so I was delighted to find this dainty version.

Today, in addition to being my guest blogging day, happens to be my birthday (fortuitous!). When I got to work this morning, I discovered that my coworkers had not only remembered my birthday but had bought me these gorgeous earrings, which I happily put on. We celebrated with champagne and chocolate, then dispersed to our various tasks. And of course, by the late afternoon the sun had come out!

What I wore while being fooled by the weather on my birthday :


  • Black t-shirt: Forever 21 (hand-me-down from a friend)
  • Jeans: Banana Republic
  • Scarf: Oscar De La Renta for Accessory Street (hand-me-down from my aunt)
  • Hot pink flats: JCPenny's
  • Leopard-print flats (worn outside): Payless
  • Watch: Target
  • Ring: jewelry store in Murom
  • Earrings: gift from my wonderful coworkers!

What I ate for lunch that was typically Russian:



Black bread, a salad made with potato, ham, onions, cucumbers, and dill, and keffir, which is a sort of unsweetened drinkable yogurt. It's not for everyone, but it's really healthy and I actually like the taste. And for dessert, because it was my birthday, I served everyone ice cream with berries that my friend's mom gave me - right from the forest!

Sadly, I haven't been able to get any good pictures of the awesomeness that is Russian women's style. I should say that of course not every girl is dressed to the nines all the time - lots of women wear jeans and t-shirts. It's just that even in casual clothes they look polished, never sloppy. It might have something to do with wearing ridiculously high heels.

Anyway, if anyone is interested in reading more, my good friend Jane wrote this commentary on Russian fashion when we were here together in 2006: From Russia With Love

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Thanks so much, Brooke. Enjoy the rest of your time in Russia!

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Happy Birthday! And what a pretty scarf!

Pauline Wiles said...

Happy Birthday Brooke! It sounds like you have some great coworkers.

Sheila said...

Happy Birthday, Brooke! You look great - I love that gorgeous scarf and ring.