Winds of change are blowing my way

Summer is almost gone (but never forgotten!), I'm eating ice cream and writing this blog post on my balcony. Life is pretty great at this moment. I have so much to tell you!

Where should I begin? The major news? Yes! Guys, I got into school! I've started to study Hospitality Management in Tampere University of Applied Sciences just two days ago! I'm really happy that I got in and my class is awesome. I've had lots of fun with them already and even though tonight I'm taking a day off of group activities, I'll catch up when I get back from NYC.

Summer went... well while working. So nothing new I guess.

And let's take a small throwback to last weekend. I spent the last weekend in Helsinki attending my dear friend Kipa's surprise baby shower! I baked a cake for her and kept her busy while the others went to her apartment and decorated it. At the same time we were looking out for possible shots for a baby bump photoshoot we were planning on doing. The party was successful and in the evening we left to Vallila to take some photos of the mom-to-be (and the dad-to-be). I stayed the night and on Sunday we continued with Kipa by heading off to Alppiruusupuisto (Rhododendron Park) to take some more pictures that turned out to be just gorgeous, even though the blooming season had been long gone.

So... New York City is waiting for me in only two days! Honestly I'm so excited and terrified at the same time. This will be the first trip I'm doing completely solo. I already have so much planned!

Let's just say that I have hop-on hop-off bus tour, new york city pass (with admission to 6 attractions), helicopter ride over manhattan, a course at magnolia bakery and the cherry on top: wicked on broadway. I've been planning a lot like what to do and what to see on each day, since the NYC pass has attractions that obviously will have queues (even though some give you the opportunity to skip them). So the plans kind of... live through the trip.

I'm also waiting for Monday's welcome party at my hostel and meeting all the new people. I'm hoping that everything will go well and I don't lose stuff (or forget to pack something essential with me).

Alright, so next time I'll write I'll probably be in New York already. So until then!

Ahoy ahoy!

top & dress: modcloth shoes: sievi purse: michael kors

I spent the last weekend baking and visiting Helsinki. My godson celebrated his seventh birthday on Saturday and on Friday I baked a cake for his party. I've baked a cake since he was three or four I think. Last year it was Teddybear's Day Out, year before that it was Mickey Mouse and before that it was Cars. This year he requested a princess cake on the inside, him and the family dog as decorations. And I delivered. Now I'm not nearly as professional as some home bakers but I enjoy it and I think I'm getting better each time, especially since I usually tend to make cheesecakes and cupcakes. Cakes... well not so much. Sugarcrafting is also super fun and I enjoy it a lot, but I'm really hoping to take a course one day.

 

Even though it wasn't 100% what I wanted (like how the green cover wasn't smooth and non-wrinkled), I liked how the characters turned out to be. I was a bit nervous since I had never crafted humans before. In the end it turned out better than I expected really. And the only thing that mattered was the sparkling eyes and wide happy smile on my godson's face when he saw the cake. He was really adorable going all "look at my awesome cake" to the guests. Yeah I might've been a bit proud too, but it's still not perfect. Perfect doesn't even exist.

On Sunday I woke up in the morning and started driving towards Helsinki. I was meeting with Kipa there (you know, the blonde girl from London post ;)!)and attending Viini, ruoka & hyvä elämä (wine, food and good life) fair there. I was particularly interested in the cake decorating championship competition. The cakes were superb, and one of the two of my favorites won the whole competition. Such talent!

After walking around the fair we headed out to the city centre, visited Lush (which is like my ultimate downfall because of the pretty soaps and smells <3), Forum and Fazer before heading to Vapiano to eat. Vapiano has been kind of our tradition for such a long time. Good food, excellent company and oh god the desserts too! We both were so full before leaving towards her apartment where we spent a little while before I headed to my car and drove home.

Such a lovely weekend, I can't say anything else.

Summer is here!

SUMMER IS HERE. I've had the weekend off and I've done some amazing stuff. Yesterday my godson's mother came to visit with their new dog while my godson and his father are on a fishing trip. The day was so lovely all around - we bbq'd, watched the dogs play and went to our local market.

Today I packed up my camera and drove to Tampere to have a little photoshoot with Haja. She needed me to shoot a couple of dresses she had made with her own hands (and they were gorgeous!). I picked them up and we drove to Tulitikkutehdas, which is an abandoned factory full of very nice graffitis and rustic feel - perfect for the dresses. Her little sister Giko was with us too, wearing the other dress Haja made.

After we finished shooting them in the match factory, we headed to Arboretum to take some pics - this time me in front of the camera. They turned out very pretty and I finally got the chance to wear the flower crown I've been dying to take out for a photoshoot. And well, we finished that photoshoot off by having Giko take photos of me and Haja, goofing out (yeah, it's not even possible to have decent non-goofing pictures of us - or well, it is, but it's so rare you might have a better chance of seeing an unicorn).

And today had the most perfect ending with us going to see my new apartment - which was now empty as the previous tenant had moved away. I took some before photos and some video material I'm going to release later on. We have good plans going on, I already know how my new kitchen will look like (and I love it!) and I'm just so excited to move to my new apartment in the fall.

But for now, I say goodnight and LET THIS SUMMER BE AWESOME!

with love,

Weddings - I love weddings!

 

Yesterday we celebrated the long awaited wedding of M&J. For once I was invited to a wedding as a guest - honestly it has been almost 20 years since I was in a wedding in the role of a guest and not a photographer. It's funny how in the middle of everything you start to think like a photographer and remember that "Oh right, I'm here as a guest". Though yes, I took the official wedding photos of the couple and a few at the church and at the party. I just can't seem to put my camera down, eh ;)?

Anyway, my morning started with a hairdresser at 9AM. The night before I had dyed my hair, even though the world seemed to be against it by losing our electricity (and of course, since I live in the middle of the forest, our water pumps don't work without electricity either - luckily I just got the dye washed when the water ran out and the electricity came back on two hours later). Anyway, hairdresser. I wanted something with a braid but also something with curls and I had my flower crown with me.

(dress: modcloth.com, lacy in love in mint, cupcake earrings & necklace: elvari, shoes (though not visible): minna parikka)

I had bought this perfect mint green lace dress from modcloth.com and I have pretty much fallen in love with it. Modcloth is always my go-to place for my dresses, so if you ever wonder, my dress is 70% surely from there. Also it seems that according to some articles, flower crowns are last season so I'm a year late but I don't even care cause flower crowns are pretty. I really liked how my hair turned out and how well the curls lasted for the night.

First I headed to the hotel to take a few photos of the bride getting ready. Unfortunately I had mixed up the hotel so I waited in the wrong lobby for some time but they weren't far from each other so it was a quick fix. After I got a few photos, we headed for the church. And need I say - the bride looked absolutely stunning. So did the groom.

There was quite a nice surprise at the church when finnish singer Eino Grön sang "Kel' Onni On". After they were happily married, we headed for the wedding party held in Haiharan Kartano. What a beautiful place. The night was full of good food, well-planned programme and we also had fun little photobooth there (as you can see, I was mainly in the role of the photographer in photobooth but I just can't stay serious for too long). We headed home a bit before midnight so we actually stayed for such a long time.

I wish all the best for the newlyweds and the little baby they'll have later in the autumn <3.

with love,

Time to start a new hobby

Once upon a time I had too much free time and decided to start a new hobby with my best friend Haja. Alright, it was actually something I've been dying to do for a long long time. You see, me and Haja started a beginner's course in ARCHERY. I remember we were probably around seventeen when she had been trying archery with her class and asked me to come with when they told her that she could come try it for free two times (or something like that, it's so long I can't remember). Well, today we started it as a hobby.

Not gonna lie, I've always wanted to try archery and fencing. I've always been into stuff like that cause I find it very intriguing and fun. But hey - it went fairly well! We already got to shoot arrows and I didn't shoot anyone, eh? Neither did Haja. Okay, I'm kidding we're not that bad. It was really fun to learn the right kind of posture and how to work with the bow - no matter how many times you've seen it in movies and TV-series, it's not as easy as it looks. Unless you're some kind of a target practice wizard.

I can't wait for next week to get to shoot some more. Also, it's surprisingly cheap. Yeah, if you buy your own bow and arrows, those probably cost quite a lot but once you've done that - it seemed that one season at the place (free use of the "cave" and all that) was 10€/20€ which isn't really pricy at all. So I think this one is here to stay. Perhaps we'll even get so good that we could actually compete. Once we learn all the right techniques and tips.

I could recommend this to anyone. It's good practice and lots of fun when you're not all serious.

Also, other news! I went to see Disney on Ice with my godson and his mom. It was just magical. I've never been before so I was thrilled to see it. And FROZEN, oh my god. So beautifully done. Even though (well it's not a secret) I just can't stand "Let It Go" in Finnish. The lyrics are somewhat... odd and the singer can't hold the last high note but instead screams. Of course after the song ended and the staircase rolled back, there was a prolonged version of that scream.... eeeesh.  Otherwise I love Frozen. Just... not the dub really. It could've been done so much better like all other Disney movie dubs (to Finnish I mean). Still, it was a pretty show and I had a good time. My godson had missed me and I had missed him too! Too long had passed since I last saw him. I need to find more hours to the day so I could manage to do everything I need to do! I have no idea where all the time goes!

xoxo,

Home cold home

So, all good things come to an end and sadly it was time for our little trip to end too. It had been amazing five days really! On Saturday we headed to Venice Beach and Santa Monica. The sun was shining and it was around 25 degrees (C) so it was really hot (for us anyway). We started at Venice, where I unfortunately lost my pretty flower crown :( I think the wind caught it somewhere before we hit the beach. 

I took my shoes off and went straight to the ocean. Well, I only got wet to my calves, but some waves were big enough to wet my dress' hem. But as said, it was really hot so it dried out pretty quickly. It was pretty chilly but at the same time it was just so refreshing. There were surfers all around and it looked so much fun! Maybe some day I'll get to test it too! I certainly want to. 

After we had had our fun in the sun at Venice, we continued to Santa Monica and we walked there. It was about 3km one way and walking in the sun without a hat wasn't probably the best idea. I didn't get a sunstroke and I remembered to put sunblock on my arms and chest, but I forgot to put it on my face so hello a little bit burnt forehead! But hey - at least I got some tan? Wohoo. Also I think I made my first and only celebrity sight at Venice - I'm pretty sure I saw Maisie Williams sitting in a cafe at Venice Beach! I didn't bother to check but either it was her or she has a long lost identical twin.

Santa Monica Pier was great. We actually went to the Ferris Wheel to see the absolutely beautiful landscapes. And we ate some pizza there. After that we walked back to Venice and went to see the Venice Canals. Oh lordy they were quite pretty. I'd love to live in those houses beside them. They had such a cute little boats - one house had this duck boat and another had a self-made gingerbread house boat. That was pretty awesome!

On our last day we drove to see the Hollywood Sign. We drove through Hollywood Hills to see the iconic sight and took photos of course. After that we drove to the Grove and I bought myself a very nice wallet/purse from Michael Kors (it was so friggin cheap compared to Europe!). The salesman (I think his name was Rodrigo or something) was just so super nice and super sunny, god it was like the best service I had ever got! Also Sprinkles Cupcakes, noms! They were so good. I've wanted to try them ever since I heard about them. Besides, I've always wanted to try these "REAL" American cupcakes since I'm a cupcakerer myself and I'm always looking for new inspiration.

While we were shopping at the Grove we got a text telling us that our flight to London was going to be delayed by two hours. We didn't have any plans after Grove/Farmer's Market so we just made up a plan to drive to see Malibu. We didn't really stay there, we just drove around and then headed to the airport.

The trip was great, the flights back home... Not so much. I've got to be honest with you and tell a little secret. We had bought the flight with our own cards but we went to the check-in desk together (I prefer the machines but there wasn't any for Norwegian) and thought that of course we'd be sitting together. But NO! It had never occurred to me that the person who did our check-in didn't even ask if we wanted to sit together.

I, as a person who has a terrible social anxiety when it comes to sitting next to strangers, was pretty much on the verge of panic attack but we thought that it'd cost to change places. Another thing is that on a plane or train or bus I always sit on a window seat. So pretty much the worst thing ever happened to me on the plane to London - I got seated in the middle row, in the middle seat AND I had strangers on both of my sides. Later at night when I went to the toilet, I saw rows that had only ONE person in them so I was seriously pissed off. It's nothing personal but I'm just so uncomfortable sitting next to a person I don't know so it was literally the flight from Hell.

It would've been worse if I didn't get any sleep. So I kind of got a bit drunk before the flight by drinking a small bottle of sparkling wine and a glass of long island ice tea (THANK GOD FOR THE RIGHT AMOUNT OF ALCOHOL IN THOSE IN AMERICA) and it helped me relax a bit. Now usually I don't rely on alcohol but this time I kinda knew that listening to music or anything wouldn't help so the couple of drinks took the edge of. I don't usually drink wines so sparkly wine did it's thing for me, haha. It was seriously funny because usually I require at least like 6-7 drinks to get even a bit tipsy. We ate at a restaurant because due to the delay we got $13 meal voucher from Norwegian. The food was really good (I ate a chicken sandwich) and our waitress was really awesome. I actually left her a message on the receipt because I work at customer service myself and I know good service really deserves a praise. And she certainly did (of course on top of the tip).

So I slept like a wee baby the whole 10 hours flight back and only woke up to go to the toilet. I'm currently working on this little problem of mine though so it was also kinda... good that I got put there but I was certainly so pissed off. But I won't bother writing to the airline about this cause I know they're going to appeal to the fact that we should've known cause we bought the tickets separately (like seriously, HOW are we even supposed to know that?!).

But main thing, I'm still alive. The flight from London to Helsinki was a bit better because haha, I got seated in the front row (THE LEG SPACE, GDI!) and on top of that the person who was supposed to occupy the window seat had accidentally taken my aisle seat. I asked him about it and he said that if I didn't mind, I could take the window seat! I was just like "NO, I DON'T MIND AT ALL!" and sat my tushie down. Haha, he was a real British gentleman, he was really nice when we talked a little. Funny enough I've always found it very easy to start a conversation with British people? I don't know what it is but I'm not as anxious with them. Maybe it's because I've lived in Ireland and visited London and met a lot of British people in my life? Go figure.

All in all it was a great trip even though my spirit was a bit ruined by the flight mix up and everything. But I got home alive and well, maybe a few mental scars but they'll heal. Now I've got my first touch of America and I. WANT. MORE. So what's next? New York? Florida (actually Haja promised to go with me one day and we'll do a amusement park run - Disney, Universal, Harry Potter etc.)? Chicago? Seattle? Texas? Las Vegas? Who knows, I'm open minded and ready to go! These boots were made for walkin' (even though resting is also good)!

Last but not least, before I left for my trip, I made a Facebook page for PPD! Go like it ->> HERE

xoxo,

It won't be long

Holey moley, only one night and then I'm heading to the airport to board a plane to Los Angeles. Well, technically first I'll be boarding a plane to Gatwick and then to Los Angeles but it's almost the same thing, right?

So I had done a few lists what to take with me and of course my mom, being the worrying kind, had also made her own list of what I should take with me. Since I have 11hr flight from London to LA, I'm pretty much taking my whole technology shabang with me... so laptop, iPad and iPhone, even iPod (i just found it yesterday, it's Classic 160GB and after like... 3 years of not using it, it still works. Damn.)

The only thing that made my packing a lot harder, was my lovely dove sitting in my bag. And then cuddling next to me and wanting to be pet and snuggled and everything. She was making puppy eyes at me. And like, when I thought she'd stay put and started to put things in my bag, there she was again, sat in front of me, giving me her paw to hold and licking my face. She knows I'm going on a vacay. And for a while she was mad ad me too. Like *judging you* mad. She even made a face!

 

So right now, I'm hoping that I've got everything in my bag. I shall arrange my cabin bag later on, just before I leave since I still have my phone charging and obviously I'm using my computer.

As of the long flight - I have prepared myself with 9 iBooks, 3 movies (all the Hobbits. I haven't watched anything Hobbit related in a week and I have serious withdrawal symptoms) and of course, I have a dictionary downloaded in my iPad, music in Spotify + iPod and I have my unfinished book saved on my laptop so I can write it if I get bored. Since both Hobbit 1 + 2 are 6hrs 30mins altogether and last time I checked the third Hobbit was 2hrs 40min and took 40% of my battery so I don't think I'll be able to watch two movies on the way there. And of course I've been trying to keep myself awake and adjust to the time difference so I'd be able to get few hours of sleep on the plane too. Somehow I still think I'll be awake most of it... I have two carry-on chargers for my phone and iPad but there's none to Mac's so I won't be able to charge it so when the battery's gone, it's gone. However, I do have an adapter for Britain with me too I can recharge my computer there. However, it's pretty much useless during the trip TO LA cause I won't be using my computer on the flight to London anyway.

So tonight I'm hopping onto a train to Helsinki since I'm staying the night at my friend's place and we're heading for the airport early in the morning. I'll also be staying at his place when I come back since our return flight is in Finland at midnight.

But now, I shall head back to packing my stuff. I'll probably make another post when I get there, with pics and everything! Can't wait! Meanwhile, watch one of my fave stand up comedian's irish impression down below:

xoxo,