reading

Fyodor Dostoevsky - The Brothers Karamazov

from outside fo New York

I am not in New York right now, and that's a very good excuse not to write... I guess :) Well, you can always find something to justify the lack of discipline. But indeed I didn't write for a long time. Another reason for that is that I am not working anymore, and I don't have those amazing days when it's just me and my work computer and I have nothing to do at all, besides writing this blog.

So, some updates from my life. I am in Saint-Petersburg right now. I came on the 8th of July. Tanya also came back from her internship the same day. We all got together to go the cemetery on the 10th of July, one year later since mom died. It's still the idea that I cannot explain or get used to.

Soon after that our days became crazy getting ready for the visit of Mike's family to Saint-Petersburg and for our party which was scheduled for the 18th of August. We were running around meeting people, who were taking part in the celebration. All in all it was great success I think. We have lots of pictures!

We had many guests! My friends from University and high school, our relatives and family friends. Total a little less then 40 people including Mike's family. We had great photographer and restaurant.

Since Mike and his family left, it was kinda sad and mellow here. Weather is like weather in the fall in Russia. It's cold and it rains almost every day. And I am here all by myself... I mean without Mike :) Because actually I am meeting my friends almost every day! I have so many people here who are happy to see me, and it's a blessing.

I am doing some volunteer work for my high school which is getting ready for its 100th anniversary, and it keeps me busy. I also do lots of house errands while waiting for October when I will go for my visa interview in Moscow. Dad, Tanya and granny already have their visas and we are going to buy their plain tickets this week. So, everything is almost set to go :) I just need to be patient and not to complain without real reasons all the time!

ILP is over

Last night, I went to the Leadership program dinner - the last event of the International Leadership program in I. House. Leaving my room, I told Mike, we will have chicken marsala. And we had it with the sides of potatoes and string beans. The same menu over and over again. Greet everyone and say thank you - check; remind about the mission of I. House - check; leadership, tolerance, different cultures - check, check, check; chicken marsala and potatoes - check. The whole evening was like an obligatory assignment for the programs office that they had absolutely no desire to do.

I truly enjoyed my fellowship. I liked the work I was doing, the yearbook video I was filming and editing was something that I really like to do in life: to film and edit. I am very grateful for the people I met. After one year in Columbia, I realized that I didn't have any friends or even people I know around me! Mostly, because my classmates with whom I developed somewhat decent relationships moved from NYC after the school was over or just started new life outside the university and we had nothing more that would connect us. The leadership program in I house, helped me to meet people and I think I even have a few friends now!

Everything was good in the program, except the programs office. I think the problem is that they actually don't think about fellows as real people who need to be treated seriously and fairly. They consider us as temporary students that they don't have to work long with, and thus they don't have to think about maintaining good relationship with. Plus it's just students, not trustees, not speakers, not donors, not even colleagues. Sigh. So, after all, I am glad that all that nonsense is over.

reading

Ernest Hemingway - For Whom The Bell Tolls

Wedding Preparation Updates

Dad's visit was great, even though it was just 2,5 days. But we managed to do everything we planned, including the dress try on! He loved it and the next weekend I went to order it. When I came to the salon, I couldn't find it on the rack. So, I waited for the assistant to help me. She couldn't find it either. Then she checked it on her computer and pulled it out from the back of the room. You can imagine, I started to get nervous. I was thinking it was all bad sign. :) The reason for them to put my dress away was that it was discontinued starting the following Monday. And the day when I came was literally the very last day when I could order that model! I couldn't believe that and ultimately decided that it was a good sign. Dress is scheduled to arrive on June 13th. Can't wait!!!

Back to my my dad's visit. We also went to the Russian restaurant to have dinner with Mike's family. It was something! Our parents finally met. I think it went well, and both sides left with good feelings. I hope so very much.

Anyways, the preparation for both weddings is going very well. Dad in Russia was checking some restaurants, and we think we found something interesting. We already have a photographer and I have a stylist for my hair and make up. The next step will be to find actors and music for the party and rent cars.

As for American wedding, we booked Bethlehem Chapel of National Cathedral and Chevy Chase Club as a reception site. We have photographer and we are currently working on the guest list to send save-the-day cards. Everything is going very well, I think. It's fun as long as you don't stress out too much about everything.

The Dress

These days I am running around New York trying to find my Dress. Everyone is saying that, oh, in New York, you won't have any problems with selection. I thought so too, but it turned out to be completely not true.

New York is famous for its Garment District and world famous designers. It's not my budget category, unfortunately. There is not much on Manhattan for real people who are just out of college for instance. Most of the bridal salons with dresses priced $1000 and under are in Brooklyn, Queens and NJ. So, the weekend before I had a 2-hour subway ride to the East end of Brooklyn for a 15-minute session of putting on two dresses I found previously online. These 15 minutes were great, just went by too fast. It felt like the lady who was helping me with dresses, wanted me to leave as soon as possible. Despite all that, the dress I managed to put on looked beautiful. To make it what I want, I will need to order neckline change. It will take 6 months and extra money. Plus, I am not sure I will survive 2 hour trips one way for alternations each time.

Last weekend was much more successful. I went to the R.K. Bridal on Manhattan (just 30-minute ride on the subway). The woman there was endlessly patient with me. I tried on 5 dresses and I think I found the one I really liked. I want to come back and try it on again just to make sure. I think I will do it with dad.

Yes, did I mention that?! He is here! I mean not in New York yet, but it's still very exciting that he is in the US. He has his training in Chicago and he is coming down to NYC next Thursday. We are talking on the phone every night, and I can't wait for him to come. And he is going with me to choose the wedding dress :) I just can imagine that! It will be like in "What Women Want".

Big News

I didn't write for a long time. There is a reason. Sometimes when something really big happens, it's hard to write about it. Simply, because it is unclear what actually happened and how to put it in few words. It's easy to write about shopping for Wii or I. House events. But how should I say that I am engaged now?!

Well, yeah... I think that from the very beginning my secret and subconscious motivation to write this blog was to tell about my engagement and wedding preparation. Because I knew it would happen sometime soon. But I didn't know when or where... anyway! :) I wanted it to happen, it happened and I am happy :) so unbelievably happy!

And here is the thing, I don't want to write about the proposal in details. It feels wrong - it was such an intimate moment. All I can tell, it was super romantic, in the most right moment ever, and, yes, I cried.

Now, when all parents are informed, we are all planning the wedding. Two of them! Reception in Saint-Petersburg on the 18th of August and the whole ceremony on the 24th of November in Washington, DC. It's not set in stone yet (how Mike likes to talk about it), but we plan around these dates. So, now, when I broke the silence about our engagement, I would write more about wedding plans and about everything that's going on.

Friday

It's Friday. Couple hours left at work. Then I will go home and the weekend will start. It was such a long week! So cold outside - almost every day it was about -10C and very windy. I think I spent all my energy for warming myself up, because I feel very tired and exhausted. On Wednesday, I even didn't hear my alarm clock and woke up one hour later. That day I was supposed to wake up earlier to meet Tom before work. I managed to get ready in 20 minutes and met him in ABC almost on time. Amazing.

I was meeting him because I needed to pick up a tape and a DVD with our Master's project from him. Later that day I sent it to the international film festival in Qatar. Nina, Tom and I are hoping to win something... We think we deserve a big prize for our hard work.

The most important event of the week was dad's visa, of course. Yesterday, Mike called his parents and hopefully they will be able to come to New York on that weekend. We are already anticipating awkwardness of the situation and making plans how to make it go as smooth as possible. Mike and I are together for more than 6 years already, he was living with my family, I was living at his family. But our parents never met. That will be the first time.

Other than that Mike and I are going to Port Jefferson, NY, tomorrow, our little Valentine's Day getaway. On the 14th of February, which is Wednesday, he will be working late at the Ballroom dancing, so we came up with this amazing idea and made reservations in bed and breakfast on Long Island. I'm taking my new camera so I can practise my photo skills a little bit.

Overall, it was another good week. And more to come.

So much to do for dad's visit!!!

Yay! Dad got his visa. It's multi-entry for 2 years. I don't know why he got so lucky, but it's amazing! So today I also bought him a ticket from Chicago to New York and took days off on the 22nd and 23rd of March. It's crazy. I am so happy he is coming!

Now, I need to find where he is going to stay. All I-House Guest rooms are booked. So, honestly, I have no idea what to do! :) But I don't think it's going to be a problem. We'll see. It will work somehow. All really difficult stuff is actually behind already!

reading

Brigitte Aubert - Death from the Snows

**not sure I will be able to make it to the end of the book. I don't like it at all.

keeping fingers crossed

Last year, I always had this feeling that I see someone I know on the streets of New York. I though I saw someone from my high school, university or even my sister. But in reality, I never met anyone on the streets I know. I think it changed. Looks like I lived here long enough to meet one of our clients at my gym and a guy from the I. House on subway. I am meeting people! It makes me feel like I belong here.

Today, my dad had an interview at the U.S. consulate in Saint-Petersburg for the American visa. He was invited for the arthroscopy workshop in Chicago, and on the way back home he will have 3 days to visit me. So today, he had this interview and it sounds like he got the visa! The procedure in the consulate is the following: they appoint a day for an interview, you come, answer all the questions and at the end of the interview they tell you if you are approved for visa or not. You get your passport 2-3 days later. That is very interesting time, when you know that you are supposed to get it, but you don't actually have it yet. So, you are still nervous: what if they change their mind! So today they said that dad is all good to get visa, but we are waiting for him to get his passport to start major planning for his visit.

But, oh my god, if he comes here, it would be so awesome! So, so good... But, I will wait, until he gets his passport!

New Year in Russia

I am back to New York. It was such a wonderful trip home. There is nothing better than to be with your family. Suddenly you don't worry about bills, what to have for dinner, and lack of furniture and comfort at home. Everything is perfect: the way I remember it, the way I used to. Almost. The feeling that something is so terribly missing didn't leave me even for a second... The feeling, that mom will just walk in and then finally everyone will be together to have a happy New Year's dinner. This feeling will never be gone, I know it.

It's interesting, how habits live in your hands. I know exactly how to turn on light in the rooms, I know where all dishes are, and how to turn on tvs. Click-click-click.. I didn't think about it - my hands were doing it, even though I didn't use all these for six months. It's good to be home.

New Year's night was great. First we were cooking for three days. On the 30th we moved everything to granny's apartment. We bought a tree for out apartment and put decorations on it. On the 31st we bought a tree for the granny's flat. We like to have a real tree. After that dad drove us around the city to see how everything was decorated: it was our walk :) by car. We stopped at the cemetery and put there some flowers. When we came back to granny's apartment we started doing the table. It was such a tasty dinner! When it was close to mindnight, we listened to the president's speech and then opened champagne. We didn't say any toasts, we all knew what we wanted to say: we want this year to be over. We hope the next one will be more kind to us.
Around 2:30 my sister and I went to my friend's house. We spent there good amount of time drinking and dancing. It was a lot of fun! As for the presents, my family did it on the 1st. It was so great! :) Tanya and I made little quizzes for each present, and an answer to a quiz (number) - was a number on a present. We made dad go to count his CDs, granny was remembering how many doors she passes to get to her apartment, we remembered our old home phone number and license plates. My main gift was digital photo camera, professional quality, so now I will be doing really good pictures :) I am very excited about it.

All seven days after New Year's night went very fast! We were visiting our friends at the countryside, I met my high school friend and my university friends, Tanya and I went to the sports club, we made manicure, I did my hair and we went to a night club. I was flying back on Sunday. I was in I.House at 10:30pm Sunday January 7th. And at 9am January 8th, I was already at work. That was great vacations - refreshing and inspiring. As in old Russian legends, knights were getting powers during the battles by leaning on the "Mother-Earth", I got my powers from being home.