An evening at the ballet

Last Friday, Jeremy and I and the inlaws went to see Swan Lake. I fully admit I was not expecting to enjoy it - not least because I was just really tired. But it was really lovely. I might even venture to say that, in general, I enjoyed it more than the opera. I feel kind of guilty saying that, since singing is my thing, but Jeremy agreed with me. Perhaps if there were more dancing in opera. Anyway, we saw it at the theater affectionately known as the Stan and Dan. The playhouse is painted a gorgeous cobalt blue color - my crappy photos do not do it justice. There were no photos allowed during the performance, but we took a few during the curtain calls.



I hesitated about putting this photo up since I look like such a cow. However, we don't often get dressed up, and I am wearing my treasured Cynthia Rowley suede leopard-print peep-toes. So here's the proof.

Cruise along the Moskva-Reka

Jeremy's parents are visiting, so we decided this was a perfect time to take a boat ride down the Moscow River.  Yachts leave twice a day from the Radisson/Hotel Ukraine.  Jeremy checked an hour before we left, and the web site said that there were more than 100 seats remaining.  Predictably, however, when we arrived, the very polite (no sarcasm this time - they were actually really pleasant and professional) hotel workers told us that there were no seats left.  Jeremy stood in line along with an angry mob of people who had also checked the web site.  One by one, they all left, all but Jeremy - and they finally relented.  Perseverance pays!

Since we got our tickets at the last minute, we did not have an opportunity to take sultry photos in front of the yacht.

We sat up on the outside deck until it became clear that rain was inevitable.

Then we moved downstairs to drink extravagantly priced (and yet not very good) beverages and enjoy the ambient lighting.

Luckily, though, the gale let up once we hit the Kremlin, allowing for some photos.  While I took this one, a drunken Russian standing behind me waxed poetic about the beauty of the Moscow skyline and the city's place as the capital of not just this great nation, but indeed of the entire world.

My one goal for this cruise was to get this photo.  Wish it weren't so blurry, but the boat was moving at a pretty good clip.

Top for me

I made this top last week.  I used a peasant blouse pattern I found online, but when finished, it was frumptastic.  So I added the band on the bottom, which I think makes it wearable.  It is a bit too baggy, and perhaps at some point I'll get the motivation to fix that problem.  Even so, I'm pretty proud of myself.

Here come the brides: Saturday at Victory Park

Being at loose ends this Saturday, we decided to people-watch at Victory Park.  Though I maintain that the monuments themselves are superlatively unattractive, it's really a pleasant place to spend a summer afternoon.  Bonus, on Saturdays the park fills with wedding parties come to take some commemorative photographs in front of the aforementioned ugly statues.  Hoop skirts and corsets are big this summer in Russian bridal fashion.

Check the shoes:

Back view:

 Front view with close-up:

After we'd had our fill of bride-gawking, we proceeded to the fountains, where Natasha had a dip.

A great afternoon that we plan to repeat before the summer is over.

In case you were wondering ...

... the ants are supposedly gone.  Three guys from maintenance showed up today with a vacuum, ripped out the floor boards under our window, and sucked a huge, creepy, crawly, disgusting ant colony clean out of our walls. 

Shudder.

I am assured that any ants I spy in the coming days are merely refugees from the massacre.  Hopefully the war is over.