Rejuvenation Ramblings

Dear Friends,

Miracles happen. Today I spent the day almost medication free and, as reward, Mother Nature decided to give me a dose of her best medicine: blue skies and SUNSHINE! I think those who recommended I get a little more Vitamin D in my life (thank you to ALL for the sympathy and recommendations!) were right on target, because my outlook on life was transformed by those golden yet ever-so-frigid rays.

In celebration of my nearly-healthy status, I spent the evening sanitizing my cabin. I'm pushing the restart button next week and revamping my existence in an effort to live as healthily and disease-proof as possible. Sanitizing was just the beginning. Vitamins, exercise, and a consistent sleep routine are being added to the check list. I actually swallowed the ridiculous cost and joined a Moscow gym this week. People, this city is expensive. I will never complain about San Francisco or New York again. But back to topic: my running routine has been severely limited by the winter weather...I'm just not that hard core...and this girl needs to get her cardio ON.

As far as the sleep routine goes, I'm having difficulty. Why? I've been reading War and Peace this week. Amazing. Be prepared for a post completely dedicated to the genius that is Tolstoy in the near future. The major drawback to being completely drawn into his Russia of 200 years ago is the serious lack of sleep that has ensued. And during a week when I'm trying to get healthy!!! You see, my normal solution when I get completely drawn into a book is to just make a night of it, sacrifice sleep, and plow through until it's finished. (Patience is not my greatest virtue). This has been a long-standing tradition since my childhood...I read under the covers, in the bathroom and in the closet by both flashlight and candlelight, as necessary. Every night I had to come up with a new strategy to keep my mom from glimpsing the light that might give me away. Meet my early rebellious tendencies. ANYWAY, I'm reading War and Peace via the convenience of Kindle and, while there is much to be said for electronic reading, I will say it's major drawback is the lack of a physical book. Profound, right? While my Kindle can tell me that I'm 83% finished with a book, I have a hard time grasping what that translates to in actual book-held-in-my-hand land. W&P isn't exactly a quick read, but on Wednesday night I decided I must be somewhere in the vicinity of the end, and opted to just "plow through it." It was suddenly 6 am. And I hadn't finished. So the sleep routine is forthcoming. As soon as I finish the book...

In other news, we still have snow. And a lot of the beautiful, fresh kind this week. It's made some of the Christmas decor all the more beautiful. Yes, we're still all done up for the holidays over here.

And in the continuing holiday spirit, I broke into another one of my Christmas presents. I had intended to save these for a seriously rainy day a month or two down the road (the beauty of preservatives), but the past two weeks demanded dipping. Who am I to intervene?

While I don't enjoy being confined at home with no will to do anything but sleep, the few days I spent in bed did make for some convenient vacation planning time. June feels impossibly distant given the current winter conditions, but I'm already looking forward to family adventures in London, Paris, Italy, and Switzerland. I'll be asking all of my travel-savvy friends and fellow expats for recommendations and advice, so be prepared! But the real icing on this particular vacation cake? It ends in Russia with my SISTER! For all I might complain, I love this place and I'm thrilled that I'll actually get to show it off to someone I love!

Consider these my rejuvenated random ramblings. Happy Weekend!

Moscow Mondays: Christmas Take 2!

The beauty of arriving back in Moscow on the 3rd of January was that as our holidays were ending, theirs were really only just getting underway. And people here take their holidays and relaxation very seriously, a la Russe. As in, the normally swarming metros feel almost void of people and there's a Christmas tree on every corner (in the center anyways). Except that they're not Christmas trees...the major Russian holiday is New Year's. Orthodox Christmas falls on January 7th, and while everyone is celebrating at that point, it's primarily due to the fact that they just never stopped celebrating New Years.

I love it. I came back to Moscow and it felt like a different city. Especially since the weather had warmed up significantly in my absence.

Christmas Day (Round 2) I took to the streets to check out the holiday makeover. And to walk...it's a popular Russian pastime. During daylight, it was lovely. In the evening, it was stunning. And seriously cold. My friend Nastya found us a Russian "mythology" tour of the area around the Kremlin. Most of the stories and history were presented in an "official" version and then several variations of myths followed. Needless to say, my sense of Russian history is all the more confused. We cut out of the 2.5 hour walking tour a bit early. There comes a point when nothing makes it worth being out in the cold for even a minute longer. We were there.

Besides, we had business to attend to: my first Russian cooking class! Pilmyeni are delicious and fortunately not overly complicated to make. They're also something you can cook and eat pretty much immediately, which is an added bonus. And ultimately, I think cooking makes the best possible souvenir. It's always fun to bring a piece of a country home with you that you can recreate. When I find myself homesick for Russia (assuming a time when I'm not living here), I'll have a comfort food to bring me back home!

And of course a Russian cooking class would NOT be complete without a matryoshka apron.

While, we couldn't fit everything into Christmas Day, the weekend before we also enjoyed a holiday highlight: The Nutcracker. If you ever decide to brave the cold and visit Russia during the winter, try to hit it up over the holidays. And DON'T miss our Bolshoi Ballet performing this classic. If you live in Moscow, add it to your bucketlist. The set is stunning, the dancers are fantastic, and there's nothing quite like seeing a Russian classic while on Russian soil. When in Moscow...

I'm chalking up Second Christmas as a success. While it's back to work for most of the Russian populace today, never fear...Old New Year's and another day off is just around the corner! After all, the best holidays deserve to be celebrated twice!!!

Moscow Mondays: Живописный мост

Happy Monday! What joys has your Monday brought? Mine thus far has included:

• My coldest day in Moscow yet: -20 Celsius / -4 Fahrenheit.
• Despite the awful temperatures, today I saw sunshine!!! We're down to about 7 hours of daylight and those tend to fall while I'm in the catacombs of the opera. Sunlight, even when doing nothing for the temperature, is a beautiful thing. 
• A final exam. Oh, Russian grammar...how thou dost try my patience. To help us channel our Russian energy, the university shut off the heaters for the morning. Okay, not really. But they were definitely broken. And it made me doubly thrilled to finish the exam. 
• When it's -20 out, every step outdoors must be calculated. Post-university I decided to grab some delicious döner kebab, as it just so happens that the BEST place for it in Moscow is relatively near my university. When I say "relatively near" that means about 10-15 minutes on foot. In the elements. It was a risky decision, but oh so tasty!

• This advertisement seen today in the metro = my personal life motto. "It's cold outside!" "In your soul it's warm!" Chocolate: "Optimism in your hands." Made. My. Day.

Today's original Moscow Monday game plan was a trip to an icon museum. But since I had only seen it on a map and couldn't accurately gauge how many minutes it would take to walk from metro to museum, it was out. So instead, I bring you:

Живописный Мост

I pass by it every day on my way into the center and I've been meaning to photograph it since Day 1. Today's sunshine made it irresistible, so instead of spending 15-20 minutes outdoors hunting for an icon museum, I spent about 40 minutes forgetting my frozen feet and snapping shots of what could be called my "hood."

While the red of the bridge is much more vivid in autumn or summer sunlight (I believe summer sunlight exists in Moscow, though I'll have to see it to be convinced), I love seeing the river iced over. Rumor has it that people walk across it comfortably in the winter months. Hasn't made it onto my to-do list...my calculations suggest that would be too long spent out of doors...but we'll see.

I found this blog that has some stunning pictures of the bridge in warmer days. Weather AND photo jealousy ensued and I'm determined to devote more time to learning to coax beauty from my camera.

While not my immediate neighborhood...this is my neighboring civilization.

But there's no place like Home Sweet Home.

This Moscow Monday was yet another reminder of the stunning beauty this city has to offer. And the two blankets, hot lemon water, and fresh pair of thick socks that awaited upon my arrival at my cabin? Equally gorgeous! 

My Moscow Style

Current Moscow temperature: -12 Celsius. And I'm sticking with celsius since it sounds more dramatic. For those of you not feeling the conversion, that's approximately 10 degrees Fahrenheit. Add some wind to that and...bottom line? It's COLD! While we've already experienced some comfortably cold weather, this is new territory for the season. And I'm afraid it's only the beginning of what's to come.

My sense of style is adjusting accordingly. As I peruse the Facebook or some of my favorite blogs, I find my mental dialogue significantly altered. Rather than the usual, "Oh, what a cute little dress!" or "She has REALLY gotten in shape...looks great in those shorts!", I find myself thinking, "Where's your coat?" and "Sweetheart, don't you want to put some real clothes on? Your ankles are showing!!!" Temperature in their respective location is irrelevant to my automatic thought process.

A recent girl's night out to my favorite Moscow mall (Метрополис, Метро Войковская for anyone who's in Moscow and curious) also reflected a change in my tastes. The only thing that could really catch my attention? Sweatpants. In every form. And large, oversized, cable-knit sweaters. Basically, the more it resembled a blanket, the more attractive it was.

Consider the following, and you can see what I'm envisioning. Except none of the loose, flowing business...you wrap that blanket tight around you lady!

Source: dressinterest.com via C.J. on Pinterest

(here)

(Here. Last season? Irrelevant.)

While I have yet to spurge on a blanket/sweater, I am seriously eyeing these:

The Russian's first concern when it comes to cold is footwear. They're convinced that if your feet are warm, the rest of you will follow suit. I'm not going to argue with them...they've dealt with this climate longer than I have. Winter boots are in order! BUT, are these the ones?

HESITATION:
1) They're EXPENSIVE! I don't think I've ever paid this much for one item of clothing/shoes.
2) They're UGGS. For some reason, I've long been biased against them. And I don't care much for the look of the originals. But these...
3) They're EXPENSIVE!

JUSTIFICATION:
1) I will wear them EVERY day in the foreseeable future. This is a true statement...currently I can not envision life beyond winter. Warmth is a distant memory.
2) After finding them online 2 evenings ago, I have dreamed about them every time my feet hit the pavement.
3) I read approximately 50 reviews: the woman from Alaska had me when she said that they had fabulous traction against ice! In general I don't really feel at danger in Moscow, save for my greatest foe and constant threat---the layer of ice that now seems ever-present on the streets. I've almost fallen approximately 34 times and am certain to actually do so any day now. Unless I buy these?
4) I have not purchased any clothing/shoe/accessory in 4 months. So while these aren't exactly in the budget, maybe I've unintentionally saved for them?

If you have anything you'd like to add to the JUSTIFICATION list, please feel free to comment. You're only invited to add to the HESITATION list if you provide me with an alternative comparable in look, warmth, and ice-defying traction. And then you will be my best friend.

And there you have it. Style? There is no such thing. Warmth triumphs all. This evening, that means sweatpants, sweater, and ACTUAL blanket (not the sweater version). With a cup of cocoa for good measure.

Sending warmth wishes your way!