Moving

Should someone still be checking on this blog, I have just moved on to a brand new blog.

Hope to see you there.

This will officially be the last post on this blog, and I will most likely shut this one down for good over some time.

Cozy evenings

When the rain is pouring down and the air turns crispier, there really isn't much you can do (except buy plane tickets elsewhere) to avoid the fact that autumn is here. After the long, hot and sunny summer I feel like embracing the cooler weather and the grey skies. No red or orange leaves yet but soon, soon they will be clogging the gutter and turning into a brown mash that sticks to your shoes.

On a brighter note, the darker the evenings get, the better excuse I have for lighting candles.

Then there are things like apple pie and tea and friends and rererereruns of the Black Adder.

Apple pie recipe will follow, now I'm off to bed as I'll be working tomorrow... as usual.

Last days of summer

Here are the pictures of the outfit I wore last week when I went to town with Maria. Having woken up relatively early that morning, I opted for a relaxed and comfy outfit. It was a lovely and sunny day but as it was not extremely hot, I could wear the cardigan I knitted last winter. The romper was a sales find from Bik Bok back in June, I think. Most of my summer clothes were still in the Netherlands and I needed something I could just throw on and head to the beach. I have been wearing it quite a lot, as it's both cute and comfy.

It's already September and summer seems to be over. There are still some golden days left but it has been raining a lot more lately. Not that it makes any difference when you're working. I've surprised even myself by working almost every day this past week. I really don't know whether it's because of the money or because I don't feel like sitting at home while everyone else is either studying or at work. Maybe a little of both. I do however intend on clearing up a little more space in my calendar for my blog. (and your blogs, I really need to catch up!) We'll see how far my intentions bring me...

Anyways, I wish you all a wonderful week! 

Glimpses of Helsinki

I love Helsinki. It's my adopted hometown, since I don't really have one. My love for Helsinki goes as far as to say that I will never ever move to another city or town here in Finland (I know, never say never... if I ever wind up having six children and a hoard of dogs and cats, I might want to live elsewhere) as long as I live and breathe.

On Wednesday I went wandering about the downtown with Maria. We browsed through some interesting little shops and sat down for korvapuusti (or cinnamon roll, if you prefer that) and hot chocolate at one of my favourite cafes in Helsinki, Café Succès. I first went there with my dad when we were going to the Open Night at my future high school. He had been somewhat of a regular customer back when he went to the same school and the warm ambience on a somewhat cold and slushy February evening stayed with me and during my years in high school, I would frequently skip the lunch break and get myself a huge croissant and a cinnamon roll with a cup of hot chocolate to go. Sadly the service and the product quality are not quite up to the same level as before but there is always something very nostalgic about Café Succès.

After the short pause we continued walking. We walked through Ullanlinna, all the way across the Market Square and Senate Square, looking for a nice place to take my outfit pictures. Maria suggested the small park in front of Ritarihuone, the House of Nobility, but as beautiful as the flower arrangements and the fountain were, we deemed (or I did) it unfit for my outfit. I did however snap these pictures because the milieu was stunning to say the very least.

The last picture is from Mariankatu, right next to the House of Nobility. Throughout the day Maria and I had been admiring the old buildings and wailing every time a horrendous monster like the one in the picture scarred the otherwise picture-perfect scenery. I honestly don't know what they were thinking back in the day... ripping down beautiful historical buildings and replacing them with something "hip and contemporary." When traveling in Europe I always admire the way most cities have a very ubiquitous feel and look to them. Helsinki, however, has many beautiful streets and neighbourhoods that reflect the different eras and styles, but it also has these buildings that look simply out of place. I actually feel a little sorry for the misfit buildings. In some other company they might be even somewhat attractive but next to the neoclassical beauties they just appear even more plain and awkward. Sort of like when a tall person stands next to a short person. Then again, this is one of the features that makes Helsinki so unique and interesting. You can never know what you're going to find.

You may wonder where the outfit pictures are, but I thought I'd let them have their own post, or actually, I thought that these pictures deserved their own post without my face gawking at you a million times. Thus the outfit post will follow later...

Hard to believe it's already Friday but here we go again. I'm going to work today and tomorrow so no weekend for me just yet. We'll be celebrating Erica's real birthday tomorrow by going out so that ought to be fun. Other than that I'll be cleaning and organising my closet so I can finally take those pictures of my little apartment. I've lived here for almost 5 months and I still haven't shown you any pictures. Shame on me... I promise to get to it asap!

Just a little catch-up

One sign of a great party might be the lack of photographic evidence. You don't want to get your huge camera and start snapping pictures of others having a blast when you're having fun yourself, too. Last Saturday, however, at my friend Erica's birthday party, I did want to take a few pictures of our "amazing" '80s-themed outfits, but alas, my camera decided to stop co-operating. Since Trang hasn't sent me the pictures she took with her camera (and I doubt many of those pictures are worth showing to the world) this grainy and silly selfie (including a trout pout) I sent to D after Trang and I were finished with getting ready happens to be the only picture I can show to you.

Nevertheless, despite of my camera behaving like a proper diva and refusing to perform, we had a lovely time. '80s music, pizza, cheesecake and enough blue drinks, wonderful company and coming home at 4 am. No need to elaborate further, it was a very successful evening despite of the less fabulous state I was in the next morning. Luckily Erica and Maria came over to eat pizza and watch movies so I didn't have to spend the entire Sunday suffering alone. (even if I was the only one suffering)

On Monday I was supposed to clean but I ended up catching up with all the TV programs I had recorded on my Finnish version of TiVo. On Tuesday I was working and today I woke up early because of a doctor's appointment and afterwards headed to town with Maria. We walked around Helsinki pretty much the entire afternoon and visited interesting shops and sat down at one of my favourite cafes. This time my camera was working so I'll have pictures for you tomorrow!

How has your week been so far?