Super-woman

I like to think that I don´t appear as a superwoman, I get that a lot you see, where do you find the energy to do all the things you do...well, I can tell you I live by myself, it's just me and my cat. I am not running a household of seven!
My excercising is something that comes and goes in waves. I love to cykle, ski, dance, yoga, run and go to the gym, but believe me, I do know how to be lazy and I´m quite good at that.
I hope I´m not making anyone feel guilty about themselves - there's too much of that in the media anyway.

I also feel strongly about self-hatred, something that especially women are familiar with. I heard on the news yesterday that 50% of Finnish women diet. Because they are not satisfied with themselves. Nowadays I can honestly say I like my body, yes, obviously if you asked me what I'm not pleased with I could come up with a list for you, but I try not to look at myself through critical lenses. I try to look at myself with gentle loving lenses and be proud of who I am and how I am unique and beautiful. I only have this one life, it's filled with wonderful people and wonderful treasures! I am not going to live life consentrating on my bum or my tummy or boobs or how I would wish them to be different. They are my boobs, my bum and my tummy! And I like them. No, I love them!

Here is an interesting article in a danish paper, a bunch of extremely brave and beautiful women talk about their relationship with their bodies and their sexuality. This is what we look like. All different and beautiful! I was very touched by the story of Edith, aged 86. How she misses intimacy with her husband. They often hold each others hands, but one night she felt she needed to climb into his bed, to be near him, but because he has demens he has rails on his bed, so she could not manage to get up again and needed to call for help. But just to cuddle was wonderful!

So please, be gentle and loving towards yourself!

Above is an image of a certain someone who is very gentle and loving towards herself and she knows how to enjoy life to the full!

Running

I used to go on and on about how I simply love cykling, but I think I shall go on and on about how I love running;)
I have again tonight completed a long run. Feels wonderful! Especially since I felt rather tired after a long day at work, but I made myself a smoothie consisting of strawberries, banana, raw chocolate beans, raisins and youghurt. Delicious and gave me energy. Though I had to wait for a few hrs for the smoothie to "settle" before I could run;) But I run under clear stars and on empty paths. Just me and the stars and lovely running music.

Saturdays Nightwish consert was fun but the music is really not my cup of tea. But what I truly enjoyed was watching a band that love what they do. And passionately!

On a sadder note, me and the most lovely person have decided not to date anymore. I believe we will become friends. I´m fine. Truly. Honestly.

Good night!

Should I paint my nails black?

I just received two free tickets for tonights soldout Nightwish consert in Helsinki. And I have decided to go! YES! I even surprise myself! It is not the kind of music I usually listen to but I thought why not give it a go! So, Nightwish here I come!

Here is their first hit with new vocalist Anette Olsen called Amaranth.

I had a lovely run again last night, it really is something I enjoy and I get so much energy from running. After the run I enjoyed a sauna and then I was literary ready for bed! I woke up early this morning and attended a yoga class before going into work and now I´m ready for a night of heavy music;) Ha! I must remember my earplugs! Should I paint my nails black?

International

Today has been the international womens day. I bought myself some flowers when I did the groceries. And I did the laundry today. Managed to sqeeze in an interview for the radio inbetween my household duties;) I talked about gender equality and feminism. I even appeared on the news. I assume that was my 15minutes of fame. I had imagined them to be slightly more fancy :D

Beetroot, my love

I´m making beetroot for dinner. With a green salad on the side.
I boil the beetroot al dente, then add balsamico, a little honey and tarragon. Top with either goatcheese or feta. Delicious!

Above is a vintage print in my kitchen of a painting by Helene Schjerfbeck, finnish painter.
In june there will be a large exhibion of her work at Ateneum art Museum that I am very much looking forward to.

Right now you can see Jupiter and Venus clearly in the sky. I wish I had a telescope.
Last night we watched Melancholia by Lars von Trier. I enjoyed it tremendesly. I have enjoyed his previous work and I wasn´t let down.

Sunday

It has been a lovely weekend! It still is!
On friday evening I took myself out running and enjoyed a sauna afterwards and fell asleep happy and tired.
I attended a yoga class in the morning and had a nice day at work and walked home in wonderful sunshine.
In the evening I went to a club and danced again for hrs on end and fell asleep with a huuuuuuge smile on my face, I was so happy and so was my body.
Now it is a sunny but cold day. I slept late, made ryeporridge with blueberries and a large pot of coffee. Listened to the radio and fell asleep again. I have no plans for today except meeting the most lovely person in the evening. He is leaving early in the morning on a trip and will be gone for a week :(

My tulips... I so enjoy them even though their "best before" date has expired long ago.

Have a wonderful sunday friends!

Weekend

So much looking forward to the weekend, I work tomorrow but will try to have time to ski. Last saturday I also worked, in the evening I read poems at an event and after that I headed to a club with a friend and we danced for at least 3hrs non-stop! I was happy!

This song has been in my head since last night when I heard it for the first time. Makes me want to dance. I love dancing! I could not live without music and moving to it. This is one of the songs competing to represent sweden in this years eurovision song contest, I think it could have great chances in winning.

Above is a ceramic tile by a finnish artist called Beni Juslin. I have it in my kitchen. In fact I have a few of his tiles.

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend! Enjoy!

So much...

...is going on at the moment. Plenty of fun stuff. And then the most lovely person moved house. I helped out as much as possible and that has been a lot fun.
The spring seems to be just around the corner, you can hear the snow melting, the birds are loud and busy and we have a new president in Finland.
I have been listening to Salif Keita a lot lately. I love his Moffou album. Back in 1990, I lived in Paris. One day in the summer, me and my french boyfriend saw a small poster for a worldmusic-festival and we realised it was the same day so we decided to check it out. There were not many people, at the most a few hundred. And suddenly they announced they had a specialguest and it was none the less than Salif Keita himself!
Here is a lovely song called Ana na ming. Enjoy!

This little bird I bought in an african store in Helsinki.

Writing

I am stuck indoors as I have a deadline for a text in a few days and tomorrow I´m stuck in no less than three work meetings! The sun is out and it´s very mild. I´d love to jump on my skis and enjoy the forest and the beautiful landscape, the fresh air.
There will be time for that. Just not today.

Yesterday me and the most lovely person met up at the library, I needed to fetch a book I had ordered. Then we popped into an antiqueshop that was just about to close but the owner said we were welcome to have a look around. I found some lovely crystals and a catalogue of machines (you never know - it might be useful...?). Then we headed to the Ateneum art museum and saw the Carl Larsson exhebition. After we had dinner at a lovely restaurant, I had ah so delicious beetroot lasagne and a glass of white wine. On the way home we picked up traditional buns with cream and marzipan. At home we made tea, enjoyed the buns and lie on my bed and listened to a loooooong chapter of an audiobook. Then we fell asleep!

I´m not related to the young lady in the image. Just a photo I purchaised on etsy once. It was slightly torn so I made a passepartout of a bookpage and decorated it with flowers and managed to cover the torn part... It fits the frame perfectly.

Reminder

I have framed a sentence given by a friend. In finnish. It's hanging in my kitchen. It reads "Remember, that you are a paticularly wonderful person." Just thought I'll remind you too;)

Drawing challenge

Unfortunately my post that I had prepared for saturday just never appeared for some reason.
Here is my butterfly (a few days late!) and here´s plenty more!
I must say I do enjoy these challenges as it is simply fun to draw.

In the morning,,,

I woke up at 4. I could not catch the tail of my sleep so I made myself a cup of tea. I decided to climb back into bed. I listened to my cat snoring. It came from under the bed. At half past six the cowbell went (my neigbour has a large cowbell on her door - it makes a lovely sound). And I heard my neighbour walk down the stairs to catch the paper. Then I must have fallen asleep.
Today turned out a busy and fun day.

Tomorrow I´m hitting the forests. It´s time to ski.

Goodnight!

Spring?

I received these flowers yesterday. I suddenly realized we are heading towards spring. I need to have my bike repaired (I had a flat tire just before the snow arrived and I just felt too lazy to do anything about it so I just carried my bike in and locked it and thought I'll get back to you when spring is ahead - and that is now!).
We still have plenty of snow and it is rather cold still. I´m planning to ski later in the week, I'm too busy next few days, but I should have time for wintersports later this week.

Freeeeeeezing in red

It is so cold now! It has been fairly mild but now it´s really cold and the wind, oh my, it really makes your face go numb!!!!
I have new RED winterboots and I feel light as a feather when I walk the streets of my city.
I have a few meetings coming up, need to take my RED boots for a walk and then get creative, it´s stuff for a magazine, it´s workshops, it´s work.

Have a wonderful weekend, keep warm!

Electionday

It is election day today.
I was honoured to co-host the Haavisto-folk 2012 event at the culture-factory Korjaamo in Helsinki. Wonderful performances and such warm and friendly and accepting atmosphere. I cried in the taxi on my way home and thought to myself, whatever the outcome may be tonight, we still are all winners. As what we gained from this two week long intensive campaign, is hope. And hope has no skin colour, no age, no size, no gender, no religion, no nationality, no sexual orientation, no political stand. I feel that the community I live in now is different.

I am very proud to be a finn today.

You turn your head for just one moment...

...and this is what you find!

Winter

I have been out skiing. Yesterday I skied 10km and tomorrow I assume I shall ski the same amount or/ and if I have time perhaps a little longer. Tomorrow I also have a sauna afterwards and dinner. If I can predict the future a certain someone will be exhausted in the evening. Skiing + sauna + dinner => sleep like a log! I do enjoy winter!
On saturday is my birthday, the most lovely person has invited me for breakfast in the morning, in the afternoon my ex-parents-in-law and my mum and dad are coming for coffee and cake and in the evening a bunch of friends are coming over for sparkling wine and bits to eat and lots of handmade chocolate;)
So a fantastic weekend ahead.

Above I´m holding a postcard with an image by artist Ulla Jokisalo. And wearing a similar pinholder as the beautiful hand in the image.

Wishing you a lovely weekend!

Presidential election

Yesterday the presidential election took place in Finland.
What amuses me and what also makes me happy is that this wasn´t supposed to be possible;) An openly gay man married to an immigrant voted for 2nd round in the Finnish presidential elections!

Image by Mika Niiniranta.

Romantic wabble

Oh yes indeed, this girl is charmed, so I´ll warn you, skip this blogpost if you´re allergic to romantic wabble. Come back another day as I swear this will not become a habit of mine;)
I met my darling last night again. He surprised me. He had put up a tent in the guestroom, and placed fairylights on top of the tent so that I could look at the stars whilst lying inside the tent. I am so lucky.

One cannot help but listen to Norah Jones and sigh. And sigh again. And again.

Above are reflections of candles in my window.

Hello

The image on the postcard is by finnish painter Elin Danielson-Gambogi called After breakfast painted in year 1890. I love the attitude and the cigarette.

But have you seen this? I do appreciate when people make an effort like this.

Tomorrow I´m meeting the most lovely person again. Today I missed my gym-class because we were chatting on the phone and suddenly I realized we had spoken for more than 2 hrs!!!! And my gym-class had already started! My goodness we are silly;) And I´m so sorry for this silly nonsense.

Picasso's jug meets fishmould in my kitchen

It seems to me as if the jug wants to kiss the fish. But it cannot bend and get close to the fish because there's the plate with the fruit and they will fall and drop onto the floor and someone passing might slip on the fruit and...


This is so lovely. I even like the background sounds. It's from the film. It makes it so vibrant somehow. I know there is a cleaned up edited version of the song but I don´t find that appealing.

Rain, rain go away...

...come again another day!
Or rather another month! We had lovely winter weather and now it's all gone and it's pouring down with rain. I got soaked last night when I went for a run, it was lovely except for wet feet;) And soaking wet trainers isn't at all fun.
Lovely weekend ahead. Meeting up with friends tomorrow afternoon and we shall all go for a swim in the beautiful Yrjönkatu swimminpool. The page is in finnish but the top image will give you a hint of the beautiful interiour of the swimmingpool. In the evening the most lovely person is coming to my home (we decided to skip the light fandango and have a homely night instead).
On saturday my dear friend A is coming to stay for the night, she will be leaving for Frankfurt on sunday morning, so I am very happy to have her stay with me before her departure.
My brooch appeared on "Min morgon" morning telly yesterday, one of the guests wore a large peony. And the outcome was fantastic, I got plenty new orders. So I need to get busy making brooches...and that is great as it is something I really enjoy making. Here's a poor quality pic:



Also this week, my namesigns that I made during the summer for a broadcasting company, appeared on tv on wednesday as the talkshow "Lilla onsdag" season 3 kicked off.
And klicking on this link you'll be able to see the first sign.
Here's a poor pic also:




So, it's time to wish you a good weekend. I'm challenging myself to get out into the rain and attend yoga...it's just a bit haaaaard as it's really pouring down and it's not tempting at all...and my apologies for the weather-moan!!!!

Winter

We finally have snow!!!! And the past few days have been fairly cold. Walks in then park, meeting friends at cafés, holding hands in the cinema and plenty of chocolates bought in the sales, that´s what my winterdays have been made of;)
I saw a beautiful iranian film called Nader and Simin, A separation. It was very touching and I loved the persian language. If you have a chance to see it, please do, you will not be dissapointed. The acting is just such perfection and you believe each character and they become so fragile so vulnerable, so alive and real. Such a lovely sad film. I did also laugh quite a lot as life sometimes is rather funny.

Above are tealightholders I picked up at the sales. I keep saying I never attend the sales but I obviously do! Self-deception!

Happy New Year

I had a lovely new year's eve. I attended a party with good friends, lovely food, pink sparkling wine and live performances. Can one ask for more? Yes! Because I even got kissed at midnight under the fireworks by the sea!

Happy New Year dear friends! And thank you all for still stopping by though my posts aren´t frequent nor all that flashy or interesting. But where they ever? Never mind, I still like to blog but I have no direction nor goals for that matter;)

Here´s a great tune by Tom Waits. I hope I don´t fall in love with you from my favorite album Closing time.

Above is a french lady. She has such an amazing gaze as if she could see far away into the future...she has a butterfly brooch, lovely.

Holidays

I´ve had a wonderful christmastime, spent time with my loved ones and my dear dear friends. Lots of food and conversation and I even did a little project I had been planning for a while, just never had the time to complete it until now;)
I wallpapered the wall behind my bed with the pages of an antique german flora from year 1903. It was in very poor condition with plenty of pages missing by the time I found it at a fleamarket. So I gave it new life as wallpaper. And I feel as if the flora really came alive. As you can see in the picture above.

I hope you´ve all had a splendid christmas!

!auluoj äävyH !luj doG !samtsirhc yrreM! !leön xueyoJ

Soon but no hurry

Christmas is just around the corner. I´m soooooo looking forward to the holidays this year. Tomorrow I´m preparing dishes for christmas eve. I´m spending the evening at my friends house, we have decided to make wonderful vegan foods, some of it I´m preparing tomorrow.
I have done the finishing touches to my christmas gifts and listening to music, I got a real kick out of Eliza Doolittles Pack up -song. We really shouldn´t care about what other people might think, just follow your heart and enjoy whatever you do!

And above is someone pictured who really does enjoy whatever she does. My darling inside a paperbag;)

Origami

My godson turned four. I made him an origami-mobile. There are 16 cranes. I also gave him a book.
Very hectic morning so wishing you all a good start to the week. Dashing to work! But first to the post-office and I think there might be a little que...

~light and flute ~ flute and light ~

I saw this image in a magazine and remembered that I have the exact same lantern...but where oh where did I put it when I moved...believe me there are sooooo many things still missing...but I decided I was going to hunt it down and hooooray, I finally found it!

I have fallen in loooooove with this flute music. Turn the lights down, lit a candle, or many, make yourself a cup of tea, put your feet up and enjoy!

Soon...

...the days will become longer. Only a few more weeks. So until then we better do with plenty of candlelight. I bought extra long candles!
Tomorrow I´m meetinga friend for brunch, then we shall attend a christmas fair, dance argentinian tango in the afternoon and go for drinks after. That should be a saturday to remember!
And I´m sorry to inform you that all the brooches have been sold. More to come. I´ll let you know by e-mail, once a new bunch is ready.

Have a happy weekend!