Bringing NYC Style to Minneapolis

Eleven Eleven, no we are not making a wish!

BeingZhenya — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 01:32:34 +0000

I was tagged by Lena from Coffee Cat in a post called Elevens:

This is how it goes…

You must post the rules
Post 11 fun facts about yourself
Answer the 11 questions that the tagger posted for you & then create 11 questions to ask the people you’ve tagged
Tag 11 people and link them in your post
Let them know you have tagged them.

Fun Facts about Zhenya:

1. I sometimes talk about myself in 3rd person

2. I knew I was going to live in the US since I was 14.

3. I’ve been to the States 3 times (a total of 2 1/2 years) before actually moving here for good.

4. I love bacon.

5. Some day I might just become Jewish, yes, I do have those occasional thoughts.

6. My English grades in school were always better than my Russian ones, even though Russian is my first language.

7. I can knit, crochet, cross-stitch, sew and make beads bracelets (no bragging here, just listing the facts)

8. Up until 9th grade I sucked in gym class, and then something happened and I got on the track team in High School, and later in college as well.

9. I have a Masters Degree in Cultural Studies, my senior thesis was about Russian-American inter cultural communications.

10. There was a period in my life when I did nothing but paint, I seriously thought of becoming an artist.

11. I have seen Keanu Reeves, Alec Baldwin, Kramer from Seinfeld, Charlotte and Miranda from Sex in the City, while living in Manhattan.

And here are my answers to Lena’s questions:

1. What is the biggest lesson your mother taught you?

The importance of saving money, because growing up we had very little.
2. If you had a chance to go on a date with one celebrity, who would you choose? Why?

Nicholas Cage, don’t ask me why

3. What is missing in your life right now?

Nothing really, ever since I got married, it’s been wonderful!

4. What is your guilty pleasure?

Brownies and White Chocolate M&M’s

5. What are your favorite stores to shop?

Thrift stores (Salvation Army, Goodwill), TJ Maxx and Marshalls, Opitz

6. You have a free evening at home; what would you do?

Chores (boring I know, but I’ve been working 6 days a week lately, so I really don’t have time to do them); if it’s not the chores – then watching TV with my hubby!

7. Why do you blog?

Because I can NOT to, I have been blogging since I was 19 or 20, and I believe I have a lot to say. I will admit that sometimes I have the celebrity syndrome, when I think I am extremely popular, but almost 100,000 views on my blog is really impressive, don’t you think?

8. What is/are your talent/s?

I am bilingual That’s a talent alright. I also think I am a very talented interpreter.

9. If someone offered to pay for you next vacation, where would you go and why?

Colorado, because someone did agree to pay for my next vacation And Colorado is simply awesome!

10. What makes you stand out in a crowd?

Usually my outfit, and my confidence (yeah the celebrity syndrome kicking in again)

11. What is your drink of choice at Starbucks?

I hate Starbucks, but if I absolutely had to get something from there, I would go with a soy based iced frappucino

Now my questions and the list of people who will have to answer them

1. If you had to be named after a city, state, or country (etc), which would you want it to be?

2. What did you do for your latest birthday?

3. What is your favorite commercial?

4. Have you ever been in a food fight? Where and when? And who started it?

5. Have you ever sold/donated your blood? If you haven’t do you want to?

6. Which cartoon character do you resemble the most?

7. What do you think Victoria’s secret is?

8. You can select one person from history and have them truthfully answer one question, who would you select and what is the question?

9. If you join the circus, what would you perform?

10. Have you ever eaten a crayon, or glue? Or what strange thing have you eaten?

11. What is the strangest name someone has introduced themselves as to you? What is their real name?

The next ELEVEN are:

Megan (duh!) – Mr. C & Me

Mary – Budget Grad Student

Minnesota Transplant

Lisa – Joliluja

ReFashionista

Melanie – And everything will be made “Rice”

Steph – sojourner4jesus

Anuschka - Into Mind

Adriann – Madame Saslow

Brande – Victory Vintage Style Blog

Sammy – Sammy Davis Vintage

Have fun everyone

xo,

I’ve been welcomed to the Refashion Co-op

BeingZhenya — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 01:08:26 +0000

I am sure you’ve noticed a new “Refashion Co-op” badge on my blog – it’s on the right side, if you scroll down a little Well a couple weeks ago I asked to be added to the other refashionistas, and be able to post on the Co-op’s blog. I was more than extatic to get the email with the welcome to post there. No, I am not cheating on WordPress with Blogger, I am simply joining a community of people who are more or less like me in their love and passion for refashion!

I am yet to post a project on there, but so far I’ve posted an intro and some pictures of my previous refashions!

I promise I will have a DIY/refashion for all of you guys soon, hopefully by the end of this week (it’s just I’ve been working a lot A LOT!)

Meanwhile check out my first post on the Refashion Co-op and don’t forget to bookmark that page!

xo,

Watch Watching

BeingZhenya — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 19:31:01 +0000

So I want to get a new watch, I can’t wait to get it, there are other priorities though, so it’s probably going to be a few more weeks till I actually go and splurge. But this is what I’ve been look at so far:

As you can probably tell I am debating between Michael Kors and Marc Jacobs. Which one do you like the best?

Also I am wearing my husband’s watch for the whole day today, it’s his way of training me into wearing a large chunky watch

xo,

Hey girl.

BeingZhenya — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 03:37:44 +0000

I couldn’t resist stealing this off of another blog here on WordPress! Like the post if you can relate!

Learning Leather

BeingZhenya — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 03:59:15 +0000

As you know I freecycle, when I lived in NYC I freecycled a lot, here in Minneapolis, not so much. Maybe because I don’t need all that lumber or coal that’s being offered But last weekend I got some leather, and it’s amazing! I don’t even know where to begin. You know the really soft kind, the one that you touch and go – Ahhhhhhh! Yup, that kind! So now all I need is a few DIY projects, to put my leather to work! Here are some things that caught my eye, now am I going to have time to do them all? Hopefully! How soon until I post a DIY leather project? Well, maybe as early as this Friday! So stay tuned! And here are my picks!

Leather Journal

Bow Leather Cuff

Leather Necklace

Leather Bracelets

Leather Cuffs

Leather Earrings Leather Head Band

Leather Belts

Leather clutch

All of these projects are also collected on one of my boards on Pinterest – so come check them out and get the instructions from there!

Cheers,

Through the Eyes of a Commoner…

BeingZhenya — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 02:31:30 +0000

An exhibition about Princess Diana is currently being hosted at the largest mall in the US – the Mall of America. Luckily for me, I live about 30 minutes away from there and have friends who agreed to go there with me.

Diana herself is a fascinating figure, I remember watching a movie about her last summer while I was still in Russia. It was extremely touching, though I never really cried. I didn’t cry when she died either, back in 1997 I was only 11 year old.

The whole exhibition is divided into several parts, and it’s so difficult to choose items that stood out to me the most, so I am not even going to try. All I am going to say is – you need to go see it for yourself – and make sure when you are there to look for the prayer book given to Diana by Mother Teresa, that item alone radiates so much energy, that it’ll give you chills!

Cheers,

Strange Shirt Refashion: The easiest no-sew Loop scarf tutorial

BeingZhenya — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 03:23:14 +0000

So I went freecycling today, and ended up getting a few things, including this odd number:

Yes, my friends, that’s a top! I found the seam, fortunately there was only one, folded it accordingly:

And now off with it’s ~~head~~, I mean top (hmmm, top of the top, that’s almost a philosophical question )

And what do we have now? An awesome loop scarf (don’t worry it’s not going to fray – i checked):

I am also wearing my Hello Kitty pj’s but you can’t see them

xo,

Oh, Fairytales… Oh, Refashionistas…

BeingZhenya — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 01:50:05 +0000

Yesterday it has finally dawned on me – Cinderella was the first fairy tale re-fashionista! Of course with the help of her animal friends. And even though her dress ended up ruined,

the tradition of refashioning carries on! Here are my favorite re-fashionistas out there! Hope they inspire you just as much!

http://refashionista.net/

from Columbia, SC

Erica from http://www.recycled-fashion.com

Australia

Cotton and Curls http://cottonandcurls.blogspot.com

Provo, Utah

Also check out her list of refashionistas! It’s amazingly useful!

And of course the Refashion Co-op

Check out their website for useful links and numerous daily posts

Who is your favorite refashionista?

xo,

If your hair is past your shoulders…

BeingZhenya — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 18:22:10 +0000

And you are about to start a new job with Clinique, that hair needs to be pulled back! So I decided to share some ideas, which look easy Now I don’t know how easy it’s going to be to actually recreate those, but I have faith in myself. Plus I do want to stand out and look good, because it’s supposed to boost the sales, right?

Let’s start with a video first, because video tutorials are always the best ones

Plus I love all these:

So which of these hair styles do you like the most? Please do share

xo,
Z

Making fun of the 90′s, because 90′s were FUN

BeingZhenya — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 05:19:41 +0000

Presented below is a visual list of items that were popular in the 90′s, needless to say – I am glad they stayed in the 90′s! And if you grew up in Eastern Europe, you have to recognize some of these!

The hideous hair ties

I don’t even have the courage to call it a scrunchie, this is a hideous cut out of a clown’s wig, at least that’s what it seems like to me today, but back in the day these were extremely popular. Perfect for Gay Pride, don’t you think?

~~Titanic~~ Leo was everywhere, and so was Kate

on T-shirts and Buttons

Leggings were also popular

Plus there were fuzzy sweaters and plastic headbands

There was a ton of other stuff, and no I am not nostalgic, I just like making fun of the 90s, because 90s were FUN!