Routines

(Mushroom, onion, and bacon omelette)

I am such a creature of a habit that nothing makes me happier than a well-established routine. A GOOD well-established routine, I should say, as it takes me months and sometimes years to finagle a bit of my life into a fitting pattern, the repetition of which never bores me but rather comforts me. Like a favorite sweater, a routine should be cozy and it should also fit -- into the time available to it, into the season, and most of all into the notion of a person I would like myself to be.

So it is with my weekend mornings in the fall -- they are long and free, and the weather is perfect for that sort of thing. I wake up at 6:30 --  a late morning for me, since on the weekdays I am up at 5 am. I get ready and walk to the gym for my 8 am barre class. I love morning exercise classes, it's such a nice way of starting the day. Especially barre -- not too intense, but with plenty of varied movement and stretching, I feel energized and not exhausted.

After the class, I walk some more: I stop by a local Italian market to get some fresh rolls and almond milk, and then continue to the coffee shop, to get my latte and Chris's chai (yes, we like foofy drinks, what of it?) and walk back home. The loop home-gym-store-coffee-shop-home is just under three miles, and I get back by 10 am. By then, I am ready for breakfast, and usually cook something fun for the both of us -- omelletes, like the one pictured above. It's from today. Chris also enjoys hash browns, which I make from scratch. We get our produce from farmers' markets, when in season, and from Door-to-Door Organics year round. (And that is also a part of my routine: by opting to have most of my food delivered, I free up time to do other things. Yes, I do realize that we are very fortunate to be able to do that.)

We eat breakfast and drink our coffee, and then it is on to shower, internet and/or movies, lunch, reading, errands, afternoon, grading, prep for classes. I cook lunch as well, since it' the weekend, like this cod with piperade, roasted potatoes, and parsley almond sauce (via Blue Apron).

But it is the mornings that are my favorite, and I treasure every weekend day when it is not too cold or rainy to walk to the gym and all over town, errands and leisure pleasantly entwined, a perfect balance between indulgence and purpose.

Happy new year, Internet!

Year in review: three anthologies and one short story collection, with a few shorts published here and there (Asimov's, ZvR, The Future Is Japanese IIRC). Wonderful trip to BVI's Scrub Island, with tons of snorkeling, kayaking, and paddleboarding. A great trip to Moscow, tinged with sadness, since this is when my father was ill. He is however spectacularly better, and this is something that made me so grateful. Also am grateful for well-being of my friend Tait, and for the chance to see Jason, Molly, and Jesse in person.

Work has been busy but rewarding, with added responsibilities and corresponding lack of time for other stuff. I did manage to add spinning to my usual gym routine, and lifting progressed nicely, to routine benches of 115 lbs.

I am glad I was able to keep up my fashion blogging, not the least because I was able to appreciate (and wear!) pieces by Van Hongo , Ella Lai Fung Kwann, Fyodor Vozianov, Ksenia Schneider and Viktor Luna (thank god for sample sales.) I hope to continue ditching clothes produced dubious labor practices in favor of independent designers.

(Me in my Vozianov jacket. Photo by JR Blackwell).

I rarely talk about my home life here, but this October Chris and I celebrated our 13th anniversary (and 15th anniversary of being together), and I am happy to report that we still like each other and enjoy each other's company -- the recent vacation made it especially clear. It's nice when your spouse is also your favorite person to hang out with. And occasionally climb huge rocks and kayak.

(Chris and I at the Baths, the famous location at Virgin Gorda, BVI)

Notes from the Road and Heart of Iron news

(Image above: North River Terminal, Moscow)

Well, not the road -- I'm comfortably installed in my parents' apartment in Moscow. We've returned from a river boat trip to Uglich -- a town north of Moscow, a part of so-called Golden Ring. Uglich is tiny, and is primarily famous as the site of Tsarevich Dmitry's murder in 17th century (he was second in line for succession). But there're a few churches and other historical sites:

(Images above: Uglich, taken June 4 2011, by me. More photos from this trip are posted on my Facebook, here.)

The trip takes three days by the very comfy river boat, with pleny of sight seeing, reflection and sunbathing along the way. It was really a great chance to catch up with my sister and my parents.

So now we're back in the city, where thankfully there is plenty to do: parks, walks, and opera.

I do however check my email, and so I just learned that Heart of Iron received a starred review from Publishers Weekly, which I'm deliriously happy about. Here's the review (as well as the final cover, yay! If you look closely, you'll see the amazing blurb by Jesse Bullington, whose The Enterprise of Death everyone should read:

Heart of Iron
Ekaterina Sedia. Prime, $14.95 trade paper (312p) ISBN 978-1-60701-257-3

Sedia (The Alchemy of Stone) superbly blends novel of manners, alternate history, and le Carré–style espionage with a dash of superheroes and steampunk. In a Russia in which the Decembrist revolution succeeded and Constantine never abdicated, 18-year-old Sasha is unexpectedly enrolled at university thanks to a challenge her aunt Eugenia issues to Constantine. Her initial concerns about sexism fade to the background once she realizes that Chinese students are vanishing. After a visiting British student named Jack, who has strange powers, helps Sasha prevent a kidnapping, she learns of a plot that could lead Russia into war with China, England, or both. Sedia assembles a nice list of supporting characters--the forceful Eugenia, the Russian soldiers and Chinese fur traders Sasha befriends, sinister spymaster Florence Nightingale--and Sasha's often frustrated but always practical narrative voice smoothly carries the novel to its satisfying conclusion. (Aug.)

Picture post

My mom grows all sorts of amazing plants on her balcony and windowsill -- despite it being December in Moscow. Right now she has a lemon in fruit Here're a few pictures of her bounty:







She also collects frogs: