***Note: This was my 1st blog post & outlines the intentions for Russian Dressing, published on October 27, 2014.***

Welcome to Russian Dressing!

Hа здоровье is the typical Russian toast “to health,” which is the ultimate “wellness” goal I want out of this Образ Жизни  (“lifestyle”) blog.

Some background info-my first foray unto Internet Land was during the  “golden age” of 2006-2007, between the height of Myspace and the rise of Facebook. Maybe it was because I was a youngin' or maybe the Internet truly was a novelty, but surfing the Web felt FUN back then. I spent hours on the Teen Vogue forums, where members shared anonymous outfit posts, advice, and the first seeds of blogs. After years of lurking/Facebooking/Pinning, I have finally joined the blogosphere. I've always been interested in fashion, in food, in lifestyle branding, and in magazines

Enter 2014-we're addicted to social media. Normcore is "in" right now for a reason-why would we want "brand names" (the craze of yester-decade) when we exchange our personal brands on social media? What's the difference between a sell-out and a sales(wo)man? To this day I still gravitate to the “anonymous” sites that remind me of the Internet’s freedom and creative capacity that social media once encompassed. Aside from my 9th grade blog-induction with the Teen Vogue Forums, it was actually Reddit that inspired me to take up blogging in 2014. 

We’re at the point in which capitalism has invaded our psyches, defining us by the goods that we buy, the numbers we represent, by the fact that we are human capital. Am I excluded from this? Absolutely not-how can I say I'm not a little materialistic, wasteful, and greedy? I'm American and proud of it. At the same time, I do not want this blog to be defined by what I buy-I want to touch upon the spiritual as much as I need &/or use the material. How and why will elucidate the content of what I produce in the blog.

I intend for the content of this blog to be somewhere in between the content of http://www.reddit.com/r/FoodPorn and http://www.reddit.com/r/shittyfoodporn. A well-curated and -styled Reddit post that is as aesthetically pleasing as it is practical, authentic, and realistic. 
{Vice meets Refinery 29 meets frankie magazine}
 Also, because that middle ground touches upon the elegance, strangeness, extremism, and even the folkloric kitsch and whimsy of my dearest Russia.
The Recipe for Russian Dressing:
  • Outfits
  • Keto-friendly recipes (sometimes visually appealing, sometimes not so much)
  • Health tips (fitness, food, beauty-related)
  • Art & design (papercraft, music, nail art, creative ideas, whathaveyou)
  • Documentation of my budding career
  • Critiques relating to the spiritual, physical, & ideological ordering of society 
Why Russian Dressing, you ask?
everything tastes stranger in Russia

The real Cold War-Is that Baskin Robbins in Putin’s mouth?


"Russian Dressing” is a pun for my love of food, fashion, and all things Russian. My obsession with Russia flavors a lot of my life, which I hope this blog captures. I graduated from Wesleyan University in May 2014 with a degree in Russian Studies & International Relations. I had planned on moving to Moscow after graduation, but unfortunately, given Russia's current political situation & antagonism to American business, that fell through.

На здоровье is the central element and background story to this blog because I am using this blog as an inspiration,documentation, & celebration of wellness. As much as it is a resource, the Internet can certainly promote some less than healthy phenomena. In years past it did in fact feed my sickness, plunging me deeper into depression, anxiety, and seclusion. It is not a valid excuse, but I don’t think I was ready to create a blog until now.  


 xo  SFB