Guest pen Trang: My weekend - Madagascar 3 and Pikku Nepal

Hello all chubby bunnies! So cause Senja is camping two weeks without internet connection I, Trang,  promised to help her by doing some blogging so you guys wouldn’t be bored.  Senja has multiple times tried to get me start blogging but I’ve insisted cause I know how lazy I can be so there wouldn’t be posts coming regularly… Anyway we made a compromise that I would try blogging as a guest pen so here we go!

 

                                       Did my make-up with Urban decay: Naked palette

 Dress&belt: Via Ebay, Jacket Banana republic, Bag: Marimekko, Shoes: Vagabond (model Florence)

My weekend started with a meeting at my sister’s workplace. There she decorated my nails cause we would be passing flyers on next week so she wanted to do something different to my nails. If some of you are interested, she works at Chenni’s world at Siltasaarenkatu 12 00530 Helsinki (Hakaniemi).

After we were done with my nails I had a date with my boyfriend and we went to see Madagascar 3 3D dubbed in Finnish. You have no idea how excited I was cause I’m big fan of animations! (Like Sensaatio I, too, H-A-T-E horror films.) I have to say it was very good and I bursted into laughter many times. People usually say that sequels sucks, but not at least in Batman’s case or for the animation movies that I have seen (Ice age, Toy story). 

                                                                        Our snacks

On Saturday we woke up very late and then we headed for Itäkeskus hunting a tunika for me. Of course I didn’t found the kind of tunika I wanted when I had a payman krhm boyfriend… (Do you see what we have in common with Senja here?)  Why do I find all the items I want and need when I’m broke and alone?? Does this happens to anyone else than me? Anyway I left with empty hands and heart-brokened cause I felt as a failure cause I didn’t find anything nice as a shop-a-holic. Buhuu.

                                                                        Picture here

Later that evening I was supposed to be cleaning up but instead I was reading this documentary director’s, Micheal Moore’s, book "Stupid, white men" (in Finnish Tyhmät, valkoiset miehet) which tells about how corrupted USA is. It’s 11 years old book but it’s still fascinating to read about a book that tells you how these greedy politicians are screwing up everybody and using taxpayer’s money to help themselves gain more money. Although this book is non-fiction, it’s very funny due to its heavy sarcasm and I recommend this to all people who are interested about what’s going on in this world.

           Dress: Cawaii, Jacket: Banana republic, Bag: Marimekko, Shoes: Adidas, Glasses: D&G

As for Sunday I did nothing wise since it’s my official lazy day. Just helped my sister to print those flyers and then I headed with my sisters to greet grandpa and grandmom. After that we headed to this restaurant named Pikku Nepal in Kamppi where’s Indian cuisine. I myself ordered lamb in coconut cream with cashews (Btw Senja couldn’t have eaten this since she is allergic to peanuts HA!) and it was very good with the rice and naan-bread.

So that was my weekend and I'm sorry that it became very long post and that's the reason why I'm not going to write it in Finnish, otherwise it would be just too long (this has nothing to do with my laziness of course). If you have anything to ask, then comment below and I will be replying you back by my username merssuliini.

Guest post by Johanna: Citrus marinated chicken with fruit salad

Hi there, everyone!

As the lovely host of this beautiful blog is currently enjoying herself traveling, I'm here to entertain you a bit. My name is Johanna, and I write a blog called Handmade Dreams of Mine. I was asked to write a little guest post here, so I thought I'd share my love of Latin kitchen with you - by introducing a somewhat Mexican meal I cooked a while back, Citrus marinated chicken with fruity salad.

I hope you'll enjoy this post, and, let's get cooking, shall we?

Papaya-avocado-tomato salad (4-6 portions)

200 gr of different green salads

2-3 chopped scallions

3-4 tablespoons chopped fresh coriander

1 small papaya

2 tomatoes

1 avocado

1 tablespoon lime juice

3-4 tablespoons pumpkin seeds (roasted)

Salad dressing

Juice of one lime

Pinch of paprika (powder)

Pinch of ground cumin

Pinch of sugar

1 finely chopped clove of garlic

4 tablespoons olive oil

Salt

(drop of white winegar)

1. Mix salad leaves, scallions and coriander together. Mix well and place to a big bowl.

2. Split the papaya in two and scoop the seeds out with a spoon. Cut into four pieces, remove the skin and cut the fruit in small pieces. Place the pieces on top of the salad leaves. Chop the tomatoes in pieces and add to the salad.

3. Split the avocado in half, and remove the seed. Peel the fruit carefully, cut it to pieces and roll the pieces in lime juice so that they don't darken. Mix in with the rest of the ingredients.

4. Prepare the dressing: whisk the lime juice, paprika, cumin, sugar, garlic and olive oil together. Add salt if needed.

5. Pour the dressing on top of the salad and mix lightly. Add a drop of vinegar if you want a bit sharper taste. If you want, sprinkle roasted pumpkin seeds on top.

Citrus marinated chicken (4 portions)

1 whole chicken cut in four pieces (or similar amount of chicken)

1 tablespoon mild chili powder

1 tablespoon paprika powder

2 teaspoons ground cumin

Skin and juice of one orange

Juice of 3 limes

Pinch of sugar

8-10 finely chopped garlic cloves

1 roughly chopped bunch of fresh coriander

2-3 tablespoons virgin olive oil

½ dl (0,2 cup) beer, tequila or pineapple juice

Salt and pepper

1. Put the chicken into a bowl. Prepare the marinade: mix in together the rest of the ingredients in a bowl, and add salt and pepper if needed.

2. Pour the marinade over the chicken. Turn over the pieces of chicken, so that they get the marinade all over them. Leave to marinate for an hour in the room temperature, or if possible, 24 hours in the fridge.

3. Take the chicken out of the marinade, and tap dry with paper towel.

4. Grill the chicken for about 20-25 minutes, or until it's cooked thoroughly. Cook the pieces evenly on both sides, and apply marinade every once in a while. The chicken is well cooked when the fluids coming off are clear - not red.

Serve with desired side dish - I put along the salad shown in this post, but you can also make a tomato-scallion salad and serve the chicken with that, lime pieces and fresh coriander leaves.

I hope you enjoyed this post, at least I had fun writing - and cooking - it.

See ya later!

Makuuhuoneinspiraatiota - Bedroom decor inspiration

Kuva täältä/Picture found here

Kuva täältä (tuosta asunnost olisi voinut laittaa tähän vaikka kuinka monta kuvaa)/Picture found here(I could've reblogged all of the pictures of that home)

Kuva täältä/Picture found here

Kuva täältä/Picture found here

Nyt kun omilleen muuttaminen alkaa olla hiukan ajankohtaisempaa, on tullut seurattua kaikkia sisustusjuttuja aikaisempaakin enemmän. Olen aina ollut kiinnostunut sisustamisesta, ja minulla on aika selkeä sisustustyyli, joka ei nyt ehkä ole kovin omaperäinen. Pidän vaaleista ja valoisista huoneista, eli aika peruspohjoismaisella tyylillä ollaan liikkeellä... Näin illalla on hyvä katsella kuvia kaikista ihanista makuuhuoneista, etenkin kun on nukkunut muutaman yön kapealla sohvalla...

--

Now that moving to my own is a bit more timely, I have been looking up all kinds of decorating inspiration, even more than usually. I have always been into decorating, and I already know what appeals to me the most what it comes to decorating, even though my style isn't exactly original or unique. I love light and neutral colors and big windows, so I think my style is the basic Nordic style... It's nice to look up all these lovely bedrooms when it's evening, knowing that I will be sleeping on the narrow sofa, as I have been doing for several nights now...

Vieraskynässä D - D as a guest blogger

Buttermilk Bisquits -blogissa on ollut muutaman kerran Bisquitin miehen kirjoittamia mahtavia tekstejä, ja inspiroiduin niistä sen verran, että pyysin tuota omaa hollantilaistani kirjoittamaan jotakin pientä tänne minun ja toivottavasti myös teidän iloksenne. Suomeksi hän ei kuitenkaan halunnut ruveta kirjoittelemaan (höh, sanon minä), joten ihan englannilla mennään..


At the Buttermilk Bisquits blog there have been couple really awesome posts by the Dutch husband of the Finnish Bisquit and I was so inspired by them that I asked my own Dutchman to write a little something here for my and hopefully your pleasure. He didn't want to write in Finnish though (too bad for me, but good for you who don't speak Finnish) so it's all in English:

At the kind request of Miss S here, finally a post by the infamous D. I’m here today to share my experiences on Finland, Helsinki region in particular, with you, from a 20-year-old Dutchman’s point of view. Here we go...

Up until now, I’ve been to Finland 4 times. First time was in June, right after my 19th birthday. A mid-summer visit followed short after in August, a cold one in late October/early November and a wintery 11-day sleepover in February to top it off. Good thing I signed up for that Flying Blue membership at KLM... I’ve got quite some miles saved up already.

My favorite stay was in February. I like snow, I like winter and I like cold weather. Simple as that. Helsinki was covered by about half a meter of snow and temperatures got as low as minus 24 ºC. (about -11 ºF) The Finns are obviously more experienced when it comes to winter and snow. All cars have proper winter tires, roads are mostly clean; they even keep the airport going (translated from Dutch) when the whole of Europe is having problems.

The most memorable visit was the first one, the one where I was greeted by S and company. Picked up from the airport, driven into a beautiful city that was completely unknown to me at that point, driving past old and new, gorgeous cathedrals and shabby 80’s concrete blocks, amazing green fields, a limitless amount of trees, a harbor that was quite the size and shopping streets with all the major brands, including the cozy Iittala store on Pohjoisesplanadi, which I eventually did visit in February.

The one thing that spoke to me while wandering around the city center was the accessibility of everything. Everything is within walking distance. From the railway station to the Uspenski cathedral near the harbor is a 15 minute walk. You can walk from square to square and it’s almost impossible to get lost. Whichever way you go, you’ll either hit a major road or you meet the water. Perfect.