all shades of west coast tan

Whatever is called “nude” anywhere else in the world is called “tan” in California. Tiny adjustments of living on the coast are the most flattering ones - ever. Isn’t it awesome that your life is so outdoorsy that your natural skin color Is no longer nude, but tan, all the time. I find it funny that a search for “beige” wedges in any conversation with my girls immediately turns into “hey you mean sand, right?” and “nude” sandals into “oh, taaaaan is what you said, gotcha”. It feels amazing when you have light creamy OPI on your nails and it actually stands out instead of melting in your usual pale skin undertones. It’s amazing how any outfit looks better on, and how much brighter all colors are when your skin gets darker and darker under warm Cali sun rays. Here you are active, doing smth all the time. San Diego has more yoga studios than any other city in the US. They are literally at every corner. I found my master in Bird Rock Yoga in Pacific Beach, whose practices I joined every day during my trip. If only I could kidnap her and bring back to Moscow in my suitcase! She gives the perfect amount of challenging poses and stretching, keeps the best flow in the world throughout the whole practice and makes you set the intentions so nice and smooth that you get out of the studio being like “holy cow, it was amazing”. Complete zen, balance and harmony. She was saying that if you ever lose your balance, you should put everything else on pause, take a minute, take an hour, take whatever time you need to get it back, and start from there. Right in front of the studio entrance there is that random office place, where guys put notes on the windows that say “we love yoga girls”. Well, these weirdoes apparently like sweaty quiet creatures holding on to their yoga mats, barely making it to the car lol. And, btw, being a yoga girl, is a love;)

Travelling to a new place is always smth challenging and amazing, going to the place you can call “home” feels different. There is a city, no, not even a city, a specific district somewhere so far from home, where I know better than Moscow. Cafes, where I don’t need a menu to order, neighborhoods, where I can give directions to tourists and know exactly how many blocks is this bar down Cass street. Never changing servers and bartenders. Starting a day with mimosas, and going on with tequila shots. Happiness from just being somewhere and feeling ocean salt on your lips, even if you never went to the beach today. They say, friends is the family we choose for ourselves, but my Cali family I didn’t even choose, it was meant to be. Bikini shopping and bar hopping, watching old school shows on TV and making fun of me being the youngest. Bear hugs at the Fish Shop parking lot, tears in SD airport at 5 am and promises that it’s gonna be less than 2 years this time till we meet again.

Did I have an awesome vacation? It couldn’t be any better.

Do I feel comfortable on my American Airlines San Diego – New York flight right now, heading home? I guess I should.

Is there anything I can dream about? Yes, I wonder if the Universe lets me cut Moscow out of its initial location and put it somewhere in the US, preferably closer to the Pacific? Hey, seriously there is no need in all those states in between coasts! No need in corn fields and gas stations and Targets in every town!

Next time I am in Cali even more people will probably be married, or have kids, someone will find a new job, others will start their own businesses. Tracking how my friends become adults, succeed, settle down, buy houses, find hobbies, get new pets and cars, change their hairstyles and live their lives is amazing. Sitting now on the plane, I get vivid flashbacks of these three weeks and can’t be more grateful for them letting me live their usual lives, at least for a little bit. Grilling chicken to make tacos, putting ice cold drinks on coasters from the bars, playing with dogs. Putting extra sun block on tattoos, inhaling ice cream on Coronado Island, dripping milky sweet goodness all over, shoe shopping and fighting waves in the ocean. Head stands and dolphin poses, grabbing Rubicon Deli sandwich and eating it on the beach. Morning runs and late dinners.

When I was flying out there I went on a search for myself. This time I found smth different.

The perfect balance on Earth is located in California. All zen of the Universe is here.

It’s hidden in condos overlooking the ocean and home owned delis.

It’s behind surfers’ eyes and locals’ smiles.

It’s in the sand and waves. This zen flavors your coffee and makes you inhale love and exhale gratitude. If ever there was an endless summer, this is it.

I left it with a million of thanks for my little family who was there for me these three weeks. I will cherish these moments forever, I promise.

Till next time, the golden state, till next time.



Frisky sparkle in my eyes

 

Frisky sparkle in my eyes can appear for many reasons. It may be smth simple, like getting a text message from a guy, being like “babe are you lost or smth?”. It might also be cause I’ve been shopping so hard that all my muscles are sore as if I was working out instead of getting new fancy outfits. I get this sparkle when someone throws me in the pool and when tears roll down my cheeks cause that salsa sauce is damn hot. What can be better than devoting warm yoga practice to your own self and laying down in shavasana thinking of how awesome can this “right here right now” be if you put a tiny bit of effort to make it happen. What can be happier than little pleasures of life, like branching at Bruegger’s bagels with friends and randomly meet more people out there, cause that’s what Pacific Beach is about – you just meet everyone everywhere and they are all friends. What can be cooler than staring at Hugh Jackman’s abs in the new Wolverine movie and wonder who the hell decided to pick that Russian actress to play the evil part lol. Going to Horton hotel lobby downtown for an awesome piano performance and taking the most disgusting shots of tequila – ever. And then the next day have the most amazing homemade pineapple tequila shot, as if Universe knew exactly what I needed to balance back.

Find out that the yummiest coffee in the entire world is brewed by a tiny local San Diego company Better Buzz and sip it laying out in a bikini on the Bay. Talking to my Nika face for hours about everything in the world and being a little social butterfly, having a drink here and there. Switching from beer to daiquiris and vodka in just one night, and feeling like crap the next day. Making up new words and mixing up phrases by the end of the day, when I get tired. Thinking partly in Russian but mostly English. Smelling grilled meat and bacon. Playing in the pool, as if you are a five year old. Snuggling with dogs that you justmwant to hug every second, and appreciating friends that care so much that after grabbing a cab for you at 3 in the morning (which literally took me 3 minutes and 6 blocks to get home from a bar), they text you, call you and e-mail both personal and work e-mails (obviously getting an automatic reply “I will be back in the office on August 8^th blah blah”) to make sure I am alright. Realizing the sense of that phrase about friends being family we choose for ourselves and also, unexpectedly, the sense of life. Being here feels so comfortable and natural, as if I am visiting my family, as if any home I go is my home, as if every day was just meant to be.

There might be no mascara going on for these couple weeks but there is definitely that funky sparkle in my eyes. Life is beautiful, especially when ocean breeze replaces regular wind, and Hazelnut Divinity replaces regular coffee, at least for a little while;)