One Brown and Two Pretties / Yksi ruskea ja kaksi kaunista

On Thursday night I was in a hurry, running to our student association's sit-down- dinner when I realized that I had forgotten my purse at home. I did have my huge canvas bag where I had stashed pretty much anything anyone might want for preparing herself for a party (as I had to help with the decorations  for the party and I didn't have time to go home in between). BUT I had forgotten to grab anything that one might put some extra change and lipstick in, well, you know what I mean. So, of course I had to go and see if I could find anything at any of the stores nearby. At Aleksi13 (which also happened to be the first place I went to look) I found this adorable brown leather clutch (which is slightly smaller than I usually would like, but oh so cute!), and I just couldn't resist it. And it was 50% off, so it was at a very reasonable price, which is always a huge plus. Worked like a charm at the party too!

Then earlier this weekend I went to visit my parents, who had just came home from their trip to Barcelona. My mother is a GREAT fan of everything Desigual, so it was no wonder that she pretty much emptied all the stores available to her in the city. I was VERY lucky, as she got me not one, but TWO bags in awfully pretty colors! The larger one is more of a handbag/messenger bag type of thing (with both longer and shorter straps) and the smaller is for parties and such, says mother. (The bigger one is this year's collection and the smaller is from last season, I think.) I love it how well my mother knows both my needs and love for all kinds of bags. :D Don't you just love all the details on the bags Desigual is so well known for?

What do you say, what else a girl might need on a bag front? I think I'm pretty well covered for this season.


Torstaina juostessani ainejärjestön sitseille tajusin, että olin unohtanut pikkulaukun kotiin. Voi kauheus! Mihin sitä nyt voi laittaa huulikiillon ja muun tarpeellisen härpäkkeen kun ei ihan perus-kangaskassiakaan viitsi illallispöytään tuoda? Onnkeis apu löytyi ihan yliopiston nurkilta, Aleksi13:sta, josta löytyi ihastuttava (vaikkakin) pieni nahka-laukkunen. Laukkuun mahtui juuri sopivasti kaikki mitä pitikin, ja hintakin oli puolitettu! Mainio löytö mielestäni siis. 
Vanhemmat oli syysreissulla Barcelonassa ja äiti oli tuliaisia ostaessaan varmaan tyhjentänyt paikallisen Desigualin puodin. Itselleni saaliista päätyi kaksi aivan upean mahtavaa laukkua, isompi käsilaukku ja pienempi juhla-olkalaukku. Värit, mallit ja kokokin osui molemmissa aivan nappiin. Näille löytyy varmasti paljon käyttöä!

Ps. I'm really very sorry for the photo-licious post, but I just loved all the details on the bags and couldn't resist! I hope you don't hate me now... / Pakko vielä pahoitella kuvapaljoutta, en vaan kyennyt vastustamaan kaikkia ihania yksityskohtia laukuissa...

Close to Skin

October was so called "Pink Ribbon" Month, a campaign month for spreading awareness about breast cancer and the research about it. It seemed like everywhere I turned the media (including social media) was full of breasts and people touching them. And that's really wonderful! Breast cancer is too awful and way too common to go unnoticed and undiagnosed. I think there are very few people who have had nothing to do with it, in fact I think most of us know at least someone who the disease has touched in the most profound of ways. 

So, keep touching your boobies, girls (and boys!!), it might save your life one day. 

Lokakuu oli ns. Roosa nauha -kuukausi, virallinen kampanjakuukausi rintasyöpätietoisuuden ja tutkimuksen edistämiseksi. Sosiaalinen media ja tiedotusvälineet ylipäätään tuntuivat olevan täynnä tissejä ja niiden kopelointia. Hyvä niin! Rintasyöpä on surullisen yleinen vieras, ja uskoisin melkein jokaisen lähipiirissä syövän koskettaneen ainakin jotakuta. Kannattaa siis pitää huolta rintavarustuksesta ja tunnustella oma etumus säännöllisin väliajoin.   

Thanks to "Breasts everywhere I go!" campaign I also turned some attention to my own pair of mammary glands. Unfortunately I have not been paying them the attention they deserve, and as a result my underwear drawer is really a very sad sight. Once you have passed the certain cup size(s), it's just almost impossible to find pretty and comfortable underwear at a reasonable price. Luckily for me I spotted a sale at my local mall, which just happens to carry a good selection of underwear boutiques. So of course I just had to go and see if they had anything for me. 

 
And SCORE! This selection came from Change and they had a lot of very pretty underwear, so it actually was somewhat difficult for me to choose which I liked the most! In the end I decided on two pairs of sets and some extra panties (because you can never have too many of those), and it was all for a very reasonable price too. What I really liked the best about these is that I got excellent customer service and so I was finally able to find a good size and fit for me. If the beauty comes firstly from within, then good underwear comes as a good second. :D

Itiksessä oli Kuutamolla-viikot, joten pitihän sitä mennä katsomaan jos vaikka löytyisi alusvaatteita vanhojen ja kulahtanaiden tilalle. Päädyin sitten Changeen ja sieltä löytyikin vaikka mitä! Kiitos hyvän palvelun ja laajojen valikoimien, sain kotiin asti kaksi settiä ja ekstra-alushousuja. Tulee paljon ryhdikkäämpi olokin kun on kerrankin hyvän kokoiset ja näköiset alusvaatteet. 

Sheepies and Horsies

Okay, remember the "Iceland I Love You" post I posted a few days ago? Well, it didn't help that I saw there two videos just now on the blog. Seriously, SO cute! And I really need to go to Iceland. ASAP.

For the sake of my mental health and all. *nodnod*

sheep 0001 from paul taggart on Vimeo.

Horse Love from paul taggart on Vimeo.

An Island That Wants to Be Your Friend

I was going through my blog reader list trying to catch up with everything that has happened to people lately, when I followed a link and that followed to another place and we all know that's how you find yourself trying to find some Really Weird Stuff on Wikipedia or something.

ANYWAY.

I stumbled across this blog (and its siblings of the same project) originally a social media project but I think it's actually something more. This is what "they" said at the website:

All of this is a part of Iceland Wants to Be Your Friend, an independent a social media project, orginally created at the initiative of the Icelandic Tourist Board, by Takk Takk (that’s us) using nice people and fancy machines.

The FB description goes like this:

I am a little island in the middle of the ocean. I'm full of mountains and glaciers and hot water and sheep. And nice Icelandic people, who like to make music, and who are sometimes cold.

The Tumblr gladdened my day immensely, at least, so I hope there's at least one reader out there who likes Iceland as much as I do and want to be friends with it too.

Midnight Sun | Iceland from SCIENTIFANTASTIC on Vimeo.

Sunday look

It was dreary dark and gray outside, I just had to do something about it. So I went and took out my brightest lipstick, and first put it all over my face (almost literally), washed it away and reapplied to (more) proper places. With such a great lipstick I just had to put some (very little) mascara too, thanks to my otherwise pretty-much-non-existent lashes. To add some pop and gloss I also dabbed a little bit of lipgloss on too. 

Yay for bright and shiny face! :D

Lipstick / Huulipuna : Rimmel 016 Heartbreaker

Lipgloss / Huulikiilto  : Lumene Natural Code 001 Berry Melba

Mascara / Ripsiväri : Lumene Blackest Black

With such a lipstick on, you never notice that I'm actually wearing my comfort cardigan and very comfortable sweatpants. 

Päätin sitten näin harmaan sunnuntain ratoksi maalata naamani punaiseksi, ensin kovin kirjaimellisesti, sitten vähän ihmisystävällisemmin ihan vaan huulet kaikista kirkkaimmalla huulipunallani. Komeuden kruunaa huulikiillon hiven ja silmissä vähän ripsiväriä tasapainottamaan lopputulosta.

Kirkkaan huulipunan kanssa lähikaupassa ei toivottavasti kiinnitetä huomiota siihen, että päällä on venähtänyt villatakki ja verkkarit. 

Fish soup and Fazer

I've spent the past few days mostly with my lovely two-year-old niece Elle (that's what we call her anyway). I can't help but wonder at the imagination and enthusiasm such a little girl can generate in her play and in everyone around her. We just all love her to bits and pieces.

Yesterday, my sister brought my niece to my parents' for a visit and she also made some fish soup for us all. I don't usually eat much fish, but when there's a two-year-old exclaiming how much she likes "lohli" (lax, that is), I had to grab a plate and eat some too. :D

After dinner Elle and I drew pictures on my new notebook, called "Today is Super" which I got from my trip to Kiasma (the Museum of Contemporary Art) the other day. I just love it it, has the fun and practicality combined in one pretty book! 

In case you wondered, there's a pirate boat (drawn by the auntie), colored by Elle; as well as clouds and fishes drawn by the assortment of family.  

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Today I had promised to take Elle to the city centre "for a coffee", something that made my niece very excited.  After getting her acquainted with university life (like returning books late to the library and chatting with friends in front of classrooms) we made our way to the Café Fazer where we got big cups of hot chocolate, doughnuts and a box of juice in case we got thirsty later. I think that generally speaking Elle behaved better at the café than I did. I just love taking pictures of people eating. 

(Yeah, I'm weird like that.)

My father came to pick us up as it was time to return Elle back to her parents, and it was almost a shame that we didn't have more time just the two of us! I would definitely love spending more time with my niece, she's such a sweetheart. 

As we drove to my sister's, I couldn't help but comment that if it was just a little less cloudy, it would be a perfect fall weather, with both a bit of rain and sunshine and a good part of the leaves already turned a lovely shade of yellow. And there it was, the rainbow to celebrate the beautiful day with the family.

Olen viettänyt aikaa perheen, ja ennen kaikkea siskontytön kanssa. Syönyt lohikeittoa ja piirtänyt merirosvolaivoja. Tänään kävin näyttämässä myös "tädin koulua" ja tietenkin käytiin myös kahvilla ihan oikeassa kahvilassa. Elle käyttäytyi niin kuin hienot neidit käyttäytyvät, tädistä en ole ihan niin varma. 

Illalla kotia päin ajellessa keltaisten puiden päälle piirtyi kaunis taivaan halkova sateenkaari.

Ou, mon chou!

If you only knew me from this blog, you'd probably think that I do nothing else except visit my friends and cook huge dinners. And it's actually quite true, it's really one of my favorite activities there is. I mean, good food, good company, what more one could ask?

Last weekend a friend of mine invited me over for dinner. She wanted to try some recipes and in the end we ended up messing around her kitchen for about three hours making cabbage rolls. Oh yes, it was all because one cabbage! (And my friend's tiny kitchen.)

I was never very fond of cabbage, but somehow it has piqued my interest. It started with some traditional casserole, my interest increased when I found a delicious salad based on cabbage leaves, but I have to say, the cabbage rolls are the best of the cabbage food bunch. You definitely should try them, even though they're pretty time-consuming. They're SO good and cheap and really easy to do. Trust me!

Here Miss P is filling the rolls with our soy-based filling. 

Miss M is anxiously waiting for her dinner.

Unfortunately for her, the rolls needed to bake for another hour after filling.

But here they are, all ready to be eaten!

Misses P and M enjoying their homemade cabbage rolls by the candlelight. 

Thank you girls for the lovely evening!

Viikonloppuna ystävä kutsui kylään ja tehtiin kalikääryleitä. Hermothan siinä meni ja aikaa ja sormet paloi, mutta hauskaa oli. (Ohjeen löysimme Kotivinkistä 15/11, mutta kysykää mummoilta/äideiltä!) Kuten ehkä blogista huomaa, ruoan laittaminen ja syömään kokoontuminen ystävien kera on kovin korkealla prioriteettilistallani. Hyvä ruoka, parempi mieli, sanon myös ma! 

Maailma mukana / The world with me

My old handbag is finished with me. Really, we're running on borrowed time. I got it at Century21 at New York City in 2008 when I was au pairing there for a few months. And all this time, we've been through thick and thin, from early April to late November and sometimes in between. It's been with me pretty much everywhere.

Don't get me wrong, I have purses, wallets, carrier backs, back bags and such, but only one handbag I really love. And now that I really need to find a new one, I found out that it's surprisingly hard to find a good one, one that fits all my requirements. And by requirements I mean things like it has to be a handbag but with good handles, it has to have more that two or three pockets, no black thankyouverymuch and oh, I have to be able to fit ALL my usual stuff in it. And there's a reason why I call one of my bigger bags by the name "World and It's Friends" (referring to its carrying space).

Well, let's just say that I don't much care for the fashion this fall.


Yesterday I had an hour or two to pass between meetings so I just strolled around city center window-shopping. And see what I found! Could this be my next Happily-Ever-After (Or At Least Every Summer) Bag?

promod.eu

Promod has finally made its way to Helsinki too, so of course I had to go to check it out. I know the bag is this weird shade of mustard shade (which is so not me, usually) but I think it would go great with my purple and brown fall coats. What do you think?


Laukkuni on päättänyt ottaa loparit, ja mistään en löydä uutta. Haluaisin nimenomaan käsilaukun (en olkalaukkua), en mustaa (tai muuta tylsää "syys""väriä"), siinä täytyy olla taskuja ja muutenkin tilaa kaikille päivittäisille tavaroilleni. Yllättävän haasteelliset vaatimukset nähtävästi, sillä useista epätoivoisista yrityksistä huolimatta, mitään ei ole löytynyt. Alkuviikosta olin kuitenkin tappamassa aikaa keskustassa ja päätin käydä katsastamassa Promodin uuden Helsingin liikkeen. Sieltä löysin ylläolevan laukun, joka sai kun saikin sydämen pamppailemaan. Väri on kieltämättä itselleni kovin kummallinen, mutta miksipä ei kävisi violetin tai ruskean syystakkini kanssa?

Family Matters

Like in many other families, Sundays are almost always dedicated to family, at least in my family. We don't have a tradition of Sunday Dinners all together or anything, it just seems to be the day when we tend to gather together to share a cup of coffee, take a nap on any of the multiple sofas in my parents' house, to make trips to the city. This Sunday was no exception, I got my brother to pick me up and we drove to my parents' for early dinner, which surprisingly enough my father made this time. Basically it was just steaks and salad, but it was all good anyway. And I made a blueberry-apple-pie out of the last blueberries and apples of this season. Delicious!

My brother and I. He's wearing the "Army Pickles"as he's doing his military service at the moment. Aww, my little brother is all so grown-up and handsome! 

My father made a salad. Basically its just tomatoes and mozzarella with some spices, but it was excellent anyway. Especially since my father doesn't usually cook, at all. 

The blueberry-apple-pie before going to the oven...

And then served on a Paradise plate with whipped vanilla cream. Yummy!

Here's the recipe for the pie, it's really very simple.

Isoäidin omenapiirakka / Grand-mother's Apple Pie :

2 munaa / eggs
1 dl sokeria / sugar
100 g margariinia / margarine
2 dl jauhoja / flour
1 tl/tsp leivinjauhetta / baking powder
omenoita, marjoja tms / apple slices, berries etc.


Vatkaa munat ja sokeri vaahdoksi, lisää rasva. Sekoita kuivat aineet ja lisää taikinaan varovasti sekoittaen. Kaada voideltuun vuokaan ja lisää päälle omenat viipaloituina, marjoja tms. oman maun mukaan. Lisää päälle sokeria tarvittaessa. Paista 200°C n. 30 min. 


Froth eggs and sugar, then add melted butter/margarine. Mix and add the flour and baking powder. 
Grease a pan and scrape the batter into it. Sprinkle the berries (or fruit slices) on top of the batter and add some sugar if necessary. Bake at 200°C for about 30 minutes.


Sunnuntait on perheen päiviä, ainakin meidän perheessä. Tänäänkin, kuten useana muunakin sunnuntaina, mentiin pikkuveljen kanssa (joka on varusmiehenä Santahaminassa tällä hetkellä) vanhemmille syömään ja hengailemaan. Iskä teki ruokaa ja minä omena-mustikka-piirakkaa. Hyvää tuli, vaikka aluksi vähän epäilyttikin! Ohje ohessa, nauttikaa. 

When life gives you lemons...

... make lemonade! 


And so I did. On one August early evening, I spent an amazing hour or two with a good friend of mine, making blueberry jam, baking blueberry cakes, squeezing fresh lemons and just hanging out and having fun. I really really love my friends.

I had never thought that making lemonade would be so easy and the result would be so good! Here's the recipe I used:

• Ingredients
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 cup fresh lemon juice (from about 6 lemons)
• 
  
• Directions
• In a small saucepan, combine the sugar and ½ cup water. Bring to a boil, 
• stirring occasionally, until the sugar is dissolved; let cool. 
• In a pitcher, combine the syrup with the lemon juice and 2½ to 3 cups water. Serve over ice.

Enjoy! I may add some other recipes some time in near future, I've been baking a lot lately. 

Elokuussa vietin illan ystävän luona, hilloten mustikoita, leipoen kakkuja ja puristaen sitruunoita mehuksi. Kaiken puuhailun ohessa oli ihana vaan viettää aikaa tärkeän ihmisen kanssa ja nauttia hetkestä. Ystävät on tärkeitä ja rakkaita.