Mini - to - mine . In style

How about some stripes, colored denim and oxfords in the mini-style? 

This little mini fashion model has gotten a lot of compliments. And frankly saying, I loved her little style myself .

She went shopping to her brother's closet for a T, sister's for Gap jeans, babies for thrifted jacket , and , well, shoes are her own via Gilt. 

Here is a mini-to-me in style :

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Le Vent - ballet in super slow motion

Have you seen this? 

Marina Kanno and Giacomo Bevilaqua from Staatsballett Berlin perform several jumps captured in slow motion at 1000 frames per second.

I am simply blown away by the beauty. Just stunning.

{ seen via acupofjo}

This looks so easy and feather-weight, but believe me, this is illusion at its most. The strength and skill to make it APPEAR like this takes hours of daily practice and years to achieve. I want to go back to the studio right now. (but considering it's 10:30 pm, I'll have to settle for my home barre...)

Thoughts? Videos I should watch? I'm all ears ( and eyes)...

PS: as i was checking through my stats and things at the end of the day, this keyword search caught my attention "is olya living notes from nyc mormon" ? the answer is "no". you can find it here and a couple more answers too :). please, never hesitate to ask! i love answering your questions! ( really do).

insta-life

This is what the instagram thinks of our life lately: 

 

 

 

 

But more then anything, I wish I could post the sound effects that this little crinkled face started to produce lately. To die for. Seriously:

Best part of my day.

How is your week going?

Green smoothie? All the way!

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As many of you know I am a HUGE living/fresh foods and green smoothie supporter. There is no better way to get the nutrients that we need then from our food. You know - like it says above : food-medicine-medicine-food... I attribute a large part to my later two healthier pregnancies to the effort I put into nutrition. I also think it is very , very important to plant the seeds of proper nutrition in my children.

Don't get me wrong - they know that chocolate is, but they also know the difference between good and bad chocolate. I'll expand on that another time, though. today I want to answer the question that I am asked all the time :

HOW DO YOU GET YOUR CHILDREN TO LIKE FRUIT/VEGETABLES?! 

My answer is simple.

Smoothies.

I don't believe in that horrible smelling, disgusting tasting baby good. Sorry, P&G, Beechnut, or whoever else there is that fills those little jars, cups, plastic ( oh , a whole other talk about food IN plastic!) things, but HAVE YOU TASTED IT yourself?! I can bet $100,000 that the answer is "no", because if you have, you would never, ever feed it to your child, and in this case, the logical question to ask is "why would mine want to eat it"?

We make baby food ourselves around here, and in the amounts that the baby would want to eat. And right from the start we add greens, and a lot of them. There is much that can be said on this topic ( and will be , don't worry). Today, however, I want to give you all the excerpt from "Green for Life" by V. Butenko - mother of green smoothy theory.

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10 reasons why to "green smoothie" 

1. Green smoothies are very nutritious. The ratio in them is optimal for human consumption; about 60% ripe organic fruit mixed with about 40% organic greens.

2. Green smoothies are easy to digest. When blended well, most of the cells in the greens and fruits are ruptured, making the valuable nutrients easy for the body to assimilate. Green smoothies literally start to get absorbed in your mouth.

3. Green smoothies, as opposed to juices, are a complete food because they still have fiber. Consuming fiber is important for our elimination system.

4. Green smoothies belong to the most palatable dishes for all humans of all ages. With a ratio of fruits to veggies as 60:40 the fruit taste dominates the flavor, yet at the same time the greens balance out the sweetness of the fruit, adding a nice zest to it. People who eat a standard American diet enjoy the taste of green smoothies. They are usually quite surprised that something so green could taste so nice.

5. A molecule of chlorophyll closely resembles a molecule of human blood. According to teachings of Dr. Ann Wigmore, "consuming chlorophyll is like receiving a healthy blood transfusion". Many people do not consume enough greens, even those who stay on a raw food diet. By drinking two or three cups of green smoothies daily you will consume enough greens for the day to nourish your body, and all of the beneficial nutrients will be well assimilated.

6. Green smoothies are easy to make, and quick to clean up after. In contrast, juicing greens is time consuming, messy, and expensive. Many people abandon drinking green juices on a regular basis for those reasons. To prepare a pitcher of green smoothie takes less than 5 minutes, including cleaning.

7. Green smoothies have proven to be loved by children of all ages, including babies of six or more months old. Of course you have to be careful and slowly increase the amount of smoothies to avoid food allergies.

8. When consuming your greens in the form of green smoothies, you are greatly reducing the consumption of oils and salt in your diet.

9. Regular consumption of green smoothies forms a good habit of eating greens. After a few weeks of drinking green smoothies, most people start to crave and enjoy eating more greens. Eating enough greens is often a problem with many people, especially children.

10. While fresh is always best, green smoothies will keep in cool temperatures for up to three days, which can be handy at work and while traveling.

The ten health benefits of green smoothies was fist published by Victoria Boutenko & The Raw Family as Ode to Green Smoothie in January 2005"

To all of this I'll add just one thing : since my husband switched to green smoothies breakfast, he became healthier, happier, more energetic and alert. And as to kids... unless it's green, they won't drink it.

 That's all.

What are YOU having for breakfast ?

Les Femme Moda : JCrew

Spring's trend of neon , stripes and denim are definitely in my book as of lately. 

 I mean ,you really cannot go wrong with the stripes - there is such a large variety, there is something for someone, and its the insta-French of any outfit ( if you're ever in France , you'll see what I mean). And since Paris is the birth place of all fashion, I say, it's a good thing. When I saw JCrew spring collection, I simply fell in love.

With many thanks to JCrew, here comes the Les Femme Moda, styled my way : 

 

 

 

featuring today. jeans: jcrew toothpick. tee: colorblock stripe. belt: jcrew. necklace: jcrew. bracelets: pandora ( leather and macrame). shoes : franco sartos or similar jcrew here .

 

You've got to forgive me, no shoes shown, but you've got to give credit for my little photographers stellar job as is! 

What are you sporting this spring? And what's your favorite trend?

We'd love for you to find a way to follow us - we'll have a ton of fun together!

ps: shoes linked above anyways.

pps: oh, and don't forget that JCrew offers a student/teacher discount, so if you happen to be one of those - you are in double luck!

Let's have a talk : body. image. health.

 what do you see? and what is really there? and is there the one and only answer?

Today is supposed to be a day devoted to a dancer feature, but I think there is something more important to be addressed first.

Let's do some serious talking here. Have you seen Single Dad Laughing yet? If you haven't ,  in one of his top 10 posts , he talks about women and their hatred toward themselves. His reasoning is that it is brought by men. Well, maybe.

Or, maybe , not.

In my many years of professional dancing, I have seen, heard and experienced negative view on a body image first hand. I never, EVER seen my body as a beautiful one , and have hard times sometimes accepting it as a truth from my now husband ( although I hear it every day + more) . One of my best friends from school dancing days - gorgeous Tiffany ( Dancing Branflakes) devoted whole series to healthy body image.  She too, like many of us, struggled with it.

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Ladies. Now that I am somewhat grown up , I think it's crazy.

It's crazy that we are so affected by the illusion of perfection and that , really, does not exist? The all mighty "supposed to" seems to just rule the universe, does is not? Here are a few examples.

I'll do the ballet world first, because this is where mine root out from. Can I just tell you, how MANY thousands of times I've heard, while pregnant, "well, you are SUPPOSED to be so skinny, because you are a ballet dancer. It's natural".  Sure, it is, when your morning sickness is so severe ALL. NINE. MONTHS , you have the hardest time keeping WATER in. But all and everyone see it as , somehow , a good thing , the "supposed to ".  Yet, only about 50 years ago , not that far , really, ballerinas were of the size that would NOT even qualify for modern skinny. Let me emphasize that again : MODERN. Many may say that it's natural progress - but progress to WHERE?

Anna Pavlova in per prime dancing days. THE ballerina. 

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This is the part that I have very hard time understanding. Just 100 years ago, again in ballet , what is called arabesque was mere 45-50 degrees. Now anything less then 90 is not even considered. Is it beautiful - sure is, but WHERE are we going? WHY is our art form TODAY defines beauty by some freaking body malfunctioning ability to bent itself into a pretzel? Does THAT make one be more beautiful then the , say, less flexible person, who radiates energy of love, beauty,  and passion through his/her movement? Please, don't read it as from bitter-jealous side... I do what modern times require, but I do not agree with it.

a regular girl in training . MODERN day.

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Or in the modeling world. The picture of the model on the cover of the magazine is anything, but deceiving. Everyone knows about the photoshop, sure. Not not too many know that more then the photoshop, good camera angles, flattering lighting and experienced photographer can make any ugly duckling be THE swan of the day.  They create those unedited pictures that make many women go rapidly on "a-pea-a-day" diet, but in reality are nothing, but an illusion. Illusion that can go just the other way around, remember that, please.

I saw a documentary about "blind eyesight" once. The voice behind the camera said something that made me think : blind people "see" images that are more true and real then what human eye creates. They feel by hand and recreate an image that is true in form. We , on the other hand, recreate the image into reality that is nothing but a mere reflection defined by either a mirror ( that has not been made properly, oh, probably for 60+ years) , a window or a camera - all sources that create illusions , not truth.

All that being said, I do not want to justify cookies, ice-cream and fudge dinners, over sized meals or fast-food eat outs and blame the mirror afterwards. Nor do I want to bring the impression of throwing the towel in and sighing " oh, well, it is what it is" to those that are working hard on healthier bodies. I want to create a balance, and then for us, girls, to love what comes with it.

I want to launch a healthy body month ( or two, or three. or maybe a year all together). I want all of us to unite in this , I think, very worthy cause. I have daughters, and so do many of you too. And if not daughters , then it is sisters, mothers, girlfriends, or even a co-worker.  I want them to see themselves as beautiful and healthy, and I want them to be knowledgeable enough about WHAT healthy exactly is.

To start - we all have something we don't like about ourselves. Let's get it out - acknowledging and accepting is the first step in healing. I struggled with my face for decades. My cheeks have always been THE downfall of "ballet appropriate" by sending a message that the body to follow would be 20 lbs heavier then it actually was.  It took a couple years of Louise Hay's "I love my body, I'm grateful for my beautiful body" daily affirmations to break the vicious cycle. But it's still there. My legs could be a couple inches longer, my waist a little smaller... I could, probably, find 20 more things that could be improved. I am sure, you can relate.

Let's change that. Because, I do not think, that any single one of us would want our daughters , sisters, moms or girlfriends to think anything , but how grand, beautiful and perfect they are.

So, I want to devote some time to healthy eating, healthy thinking, healthy viewing of the world to create more happy, healthy and confident us.

And ... after all, confidence is sexy! Let's do it! Are you with me?!
 
PS: Please, feel free to share this post on FB,  tweeter,  blog, tumbler, pinterest, or wherever you feel/think/want.  Shout out wherever your can. Reach out to those you care about. Let's fix what's broken - together we can move mountains.

PPS: Is there something you do not like about yourself? What do you struggle with? Or are you one of the lucky healthy body image ones?  Comment below. There is a functioning anonymous option, if that makes you feel more comfortable. Get it out of your system - this is our safe healing space.

Show & Tell in bits and pieces.

We have been traveling alot ( I love my job!) , and whenever it falls on weekends, I drag everyone with me. What fun is it to be by yourself, right? So, here are some bits and pieces of our crazy busy ultra fun week!

Apparently, one day we color-coordinated in pastels for legs. Did not know until saw this pic. But I say 'yea!' for pink and mint!

 

I'm completely and totally sad that we still don't have one of these. it's a must have for any trip I take out of state. 

following the leader... to cheese & wine section ( for cheese only, obviously)

 

Blurry, but I could not not include - how cute is this? side by side! 

The weather has been nice and warm, even when cloudy. We, naturally, enjoyed it like this:

in picnics like this :

and outside lunches with daddy like this: 

went to the opening gala at city creek, if you are in town - worth checking out, definitely. little ladies were happy to get their "nordstrom special" ( and i even allowed them... sometimes it's ok, right?)

 

disney store line was worth just the happiness of those colored pictures: 

And he practically BEGGED me to push this beauty : 

 stroller : Stokke Xplory

very excited face...

that looks a lot like this lately : 

cannot forget our famous rubber ducky, featured here . you can find and follow me here.

peak into "thank you" photoshoot for "DVF for Gapkids" . We love you too, Diane!

 

And I've seen A LOT of this little face somewhere between hours of 1 and 4 am. Like for 2-3 hours at a time. I must have missed the memo, but I'm glad she let me know! Just look at this excited face. 

love her to pieces ( in case you haven't figured that out yet)

 

And this photo still makes me feel good. he thinks I'm funny. I love it. 

Want to link your bits and pieces? please , do! I'd LOVE to see into your world through your eyes!