Rose garden filled with thorns aka. birthday

Another year older, again. Where have all these years gone? What have I achieved in my life? Where am I going? I bet everyone actually thinks at least one of these when they turn yet another year older. That happened to me yesterday. Gladly, I don't really stress out that much. Within the previous years I've arranged a birthday party, rented out a space and invited all my friends over to have a good time. This time I spent my birthday with my two best friends - the ultimate crew as I named out Whatsapp group - Haja and Miss H. 

I spent the morning at work, running along, trying not to sweat much so I could actually look representable later. I had bought a new pink dress (I think I mentioned that in some of the earlier posts, yeah? Well that's it in the pictures) I've been dying to get out and what would be a better occasion to dress in pink from head to toe than a birthday? 

After my shift was done, I headed for Hatanpään Arboretum, which has become my go-to location for all kinds of photoshoots and festivities. It's just so pretty and I had heard that the roses in the rose garden were now in full bloom (or had been for a week or so). And I have a slight obsession to take pictures with flowers (no kidding?!) so it had to be done.

Sadly it was raining when we got there. But the rain never bothered me anyway, right? I even had my pink umbrella (from Ikea, of course) with me! So I gave my camera to Haja and she began shooting photos.

And talking about photoshooting - it's not all that serious, not with me in front of the camera at least. I mean look at these silly behind the scenes -photos!

Yeah no, I just can't be normal all the time. Well most of the time anyway. 

After we were done shooting, we headed out to pick Miss H and drove to the city centre to have a nice birthday dinner. We had chosen to dine in New York, which I can gladly recommend to anyone - good food and reasonable prices too! I ate my regular dish - Broadway Chicken and it was damn delicious. And a cheesecake cause on birthday you're supposed to have cake too (I did make one it just failed magnificently).

After eating we walked a short distance to a surprise I had arranged for me and my friends - ROOM ESCAPE. I had really dreamed of going to one so long I decided to give one to myself as a present. We booked "The Office" and started playing. Those of you who don't know what a room escape is - you will be locked up in a room full of possible clues and you have to get out in an hour. Sadly, we didn't quite make it, we had one lock left when the time ran out. But it was super fun, we worked really well together and I was so proud of us all! I really recommend that to everyone cause it's not only fun but also builds up very good teamwork skills!

And well, that was the day. I had just lots of fun (I also might have bought a long-craved Michael Kors Jet Set Travel Tote so I'm full-on pink in London. At least on one day). 

So yes, I have a weekend off and I'm starting my summer vacation NOW! The weekend includes lots of packing and when I get back from London, my kitchen has been already delivered YAY! They just have to install it too so that takes a little time and then I get to cleaning and dragging my stuff in there. I just can't wait. It's going to be glorious!

xoxo,

Welcome to my crib: PART 1

So at last I'm able to make this little post about my new apartment. I'M SO EXCITED, OKAY? It looks fabulous already with all the walls painted and floor installed. So before I start, here have some before pictures and before video!

So from to the top to bottom, left to right: bedroom, entrance, kitchen, room 2, entrance to kitchen + room 2, living room. My bathroom is only going to have some very minor changes, such as installation of these walls around the shower so that's a bit irrelevant to this post and therefore I won't include that in here.

Now first and foremost, I'm quite a colorful person (or so I've heard) and it's not really my style to go all white. So I chose not to have tapestry in my apartment but in fact, all the walls in each room are in the same color (so no one wall enhancements either). The only tapestry I'm going to have is going to be in my kitchen and that is for the space behind the tap and so forth (so we're talking about a really small space here).

I have already bought lamps for each room - my bedroom is going to have a lamp my grandmother gave to me for this apartment, but you guys will see that later, when I'm all done. I have ordered my washing machine and my fridge plus my kitchen (and bedroom closet) is on the way but they'll arrive in late August (cause the factories are on a holiday in July :/). There are still some minor things to do, like painting the balcony door and putting sockets on and whatever, but the biggest changes have been made and now all we can do is wait until August.

I already bought a couch too. I was in luck when I went to Ikea to buy it and they only had TWO pieces in my selected color available (the color wasn't in production anymore) and I got 70 euros off the couch too. So I bought it and we took it to the storage in my building. Unfortunately on part didn't quite fit there, nor did it fit the elevator. So I carried it to the 5th floor. My mom helped me for the first floor but I decided that I could carry it on my own (memo to me: wrong move. broke my back and my ankle [again], don't do it).

So now, ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce you to the apartment 2.0:

 

So yes my bedroom is pink, my entrance is light lavender, my living room is bright green AND my kitchen is light brown (more like "cafe latte" color). I love it and I can't wait to get to decorating. Luckily I've bought the most expensive things already so the only really expensive one I still have to buy is a TV. Other than that I still need a few cabinets to my living room, a bed (already decided on that too) and some minor stuff like tv table, chairs and a bench and mirror to the entrance. But that's about it with the mandatory things and then it's all about the small things (most of which I already have).

Which is good cause I'm going to London! Yes, I already mentioned this on my facebook, but I'm going to London for a week in late August (18th-25th to be exact). We're staying near Hyde Park and we have already booked an Afternoon Tea Cruise on Thames so that will definitely be a new experience for me and I'm so excited. I'm also definitely going to visit Harrod's Food Hall again AND the Ice Cream Parlour because it was so heavenly the last time I went there.

What else is new? Well I bought a new pink dress. I actually just realized that I'm a pink person and I have many accessories in pink but I have only a couple of pink dresses. So yes, this dress will probably make it to London too!

Last weekend I also had the pleasure of being a wedding photographer to a very lovely couple and the photos have turned out so great (so far)! Now I'm just waiting for my vacation in August (I'll start my vacation on 17th of August, the next day I'll leave to London and after I get back, my kitchen will be installed and I'll move my stuff in).

What do you think of my new apartment? Would you have your apartment colorful or neutral?

xoxo,

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,