loosely joined

Sofia & Brighton

2011-12-28T05:43:00.001-08:00

Best way to avoid work.

Unia - Evening Bag

2011-12-15T12:12:00.000-08:00

Almost There

2011-12-02T04:24:00.000-08:00

Few more days of this...

... and then eight days of this!

Some surprise Shakespeare with Kristine

2011-11-25T14:15:00.000-08:00

I've had really bad luck with my health lately and the day before yesterday was the first day in ages that I felt completely healthy. I spent the day working on my uni stuff and in the evening I got a call from my friend Kristine asking if I wanted to go and see a play at the National Theatre. In an hour. On the other side of the city. After four days at home, the answer was a definite YES. The play in question was William Shakespeare's The Comedy of Errors.

Not that I knew it when I jumped on the bus. The fact that I don't hear that well and Kristine doesn't speak that loud sometimes leaves me a bit confused. And that there is a limit to how many times how many times you can say "Pardon?" in one conversation without annoying the hell out of everybody. (Last time Kristine asked me to see something I thought I was maybe going to a rock gig. It turned out to be the opera Damnation of the Faust...)

I tend to veer towards Shakespeare's tragedies rather then his comedies but I really enjoyed the play. It took me a while to get into it since I found the combination of the lead actor's accent and old english quite hard to follow but especially after the intermission it didn't bother me anymore. The Comedy of Errors is a very classic Shakespeare comedy with mistaken identities and a bit of slap stick thrown into a fast pasted play. The National Theater's production was placed in contemporary setting. I have to say that the props and clothing of the production were spot on. From the cast Claudie Blakley and her chavy Audriana rose to be my favorite. Her performance was absolutely hilarious!

After the play we went for a drink at the British Film Institute's bar. It's been ages since I visited southbank and had completely forgotten how nice it can be.

Sometimes it's good to feel a bit touristy in one's home city...

You fit me better than my favorite sweater...

2011-11-17T16:06:00.000-08:00

November is filled with lovely ladies singing and me behaving slightly overly dramatic.

Oh Lisbeth, where did you buy that top?

2011-11-08T08:57:00.000-08:00

Money, guaranteed to water things down.

I don't know where Lisbeth Salander shops, but I'm pretty sure it's not in H&M.

Halloween

2011-11-04T10:43:00.000-07:00

Did you guess it right?

Annina and I

We survived Halloween and the party. Barely. And Lasse's box had turned into an awesome Sponge Bob Squarepants costume.

Lasse is getting ready for Halloween too...

2011-10-26T13:27:00.001-07:00

I bet you can't guess what he's going to be. And I ain't telling..,

Inspiration for Halloween

2011-10-24T06:05:00.000-07:00

I think I know what I'm going to wear for our Halloween party...

Paintings by Sylvia Ji

I think I can forgive you now Autumn for coming...

2011-10-20T11:06:00.000-07:00

So far you've been nice with your sunshine and all. Pushing it a bit with the wind and cold but we are still good. I actually really enjoyed the day that Martina and I spent at the Hampstead Heath park. The crisp air of October. Leaves slowly turning colour, few of the trees already bare.

I guess it's a bit unfair to you, coming after Summer, I've never really given you a chance. I think this year, we could really be friends. After all, it is not your fault you are the messenger of Winter...

Still don't think that I'm not prepared for your dark days and endless rain! My insides are lined with tea cakes and chocolate for warmth and I have my winter haircut to battle the curse of hattutukka (hat hair?)!

Yours, Roosa

The new (old) hair

Best tea cake brand ( Tea cakes are a bit like Fazer's Suukko)

Hampstead Heath

Martina

Passion fruit flower

Back in Uni

2011-10-17T04:26:00.000-07:00

Work in progress...

There should be a accessory line at the end of this road. Can't see it yet, but I'll get there.

Mölkky and the last day of summer

2011-10-11T14:15:00.000-07:00

Lasse and I opened ( and ended) the mölkky season earlier this October when the temperature hit the record high 29 celcius here in London. Now Lasse holds the title of The Ultimate Mölkky Champion of Stamford Hill by beating me 4-3. I doubt there will be anyone challenging him anytime soon, since I have my doubts about the popularity of mölkky around here...

God how I will miss summer...

London Fashion Week

2011-09-26T13:48:00.000-07:00

“Art produces ugly things which frequently become beautiful with time. Fashion, on the other hand, produces beautiful things which always become ugly with time.”

Jean Cocteau

Since the beginning of the summer I've been working for a leather studio that makes sample bags and other leather goods. Quite a few of our clients were show casing their stuff at the London Fashion week, so the week before LFW was very, very, busy. One thing designers seem to very bad at is making decisions. We were getting calls about alterations all the way up to Friday morning which I thought was a bit last minute, first day of the fashion week being Friday. But we managed to get everything done by dead line. I feel like after the hectic work week I didn't really have the energy to fully explore what the LFW had to offer but at least I managed to see some things...

On Saturday I was working for a up and coming London based luxury bag line on their stall at the Somerset House's designer exhibition. It was good to see what's coming, but in general I'm finding these fair type of things slightly boring these days. Obviously it's good to be out and about and meet people... I think Amelia did well and her collection looked really good, which is the main point. On Sunday I went to take better look of the exhibition with my friend Klara and her boyfriend Josef.

Klara and Josef at the Somerset House

I personally don't have any interest in making hats or headpieces at the moment but I found the hats show cased by the milliner Piers Atkinson absolutely fantastic. I don't know if it was their utter non utilitarian style or my increasing obsession with beetles but I found myself wishing there were more occasions for me to wear things like that.

Talking about non utilitarian style, I went to see the Meadham Kirchhoff show on Tuesday. It was held at the old Eurostar terminal at the waterloo station. The space was filled with pink and baby blue balloons that created a contrast with the industrial surroundings of the terminal. As the show progressed, Meadham Kirchhoff presented us with powder applying sea of Courtney Love-esque cancan dancers, little ballerinas and a massive glittery cake. Oh and the clothes, of course. I wasn't crazy about the silhouettes, but the superb embroidery work of many of the pieces really won me over. And could anybody really say no to all that glitter and pastel coloured lovelynes?

See the catwalk pictures for instance from here.

Coming soon, Galleria Kymmenen

2011-09-19T05:11:00.000-07:00

My sister is one of the curators of this pop up exhibition. If you happen to be in Helsinki, go and check it out. (I wish I could.)

http://www.10987654321.fi/

Dog Derby!

2011-09-14T00:35:00.000-07:00

Der·by

noun /ˈdərbē/

An annual horse race for three-year-olds, founded in 1780 by the 12th Earl of Derby. The race is run on Epsom Downs in England in late May or early June

A similar race elsewhere

- the Kentucky Derby

A sporting contest open to the general public

- sign up for the fishing derby

A bowler hat

A boot or shoe having the eyelet tabs stitched on top of the vamp

I didn't win a penny. Even if I chose the dogs with the professional method of picking the ones with best names. I mean come on, Badger Man, Bit View Opel and Platinum Amy. Clear winners, eih? Ilya didn't do any better either. No beginners luck in this house.

Lets do it again!

I love you Mr. Elbaz!

2011-09-10T15:17:00.000-07:00

Wedding + Brighton

2011-09-08T13:45:00.000-07:00

Our lovely flat mate Vanessa moved to Brighton last week. Ilya's work mate got married in Brighton last week. So last Friday we, Ilya and I, headed to Brighton...

Posing by the Brighton pier

Bride and groom, Daniele and Rupert

At the wedding venue

Breakfast with Vanessa

Oh and just as a tip for anyone visiting Brighton, NEVER EVER eat at the Dumb Waitress on the lanes. The food was bad and the service was even worse. I guess the name should have been a hint for what was to come... Luckily the weather and company were great.

Back home in London. Ilya's special burger.

Primrose Hill

2011-09-02T06:06:00.000-07:00

On bank holiday Monday night Ilya, Vanessa and I went to see how the other half in London lives (i.e. spy on the rich) and ended up in Primrose Hill.

Waiting for the bus in Stamford Hill

Getting lost in Camden

Nope, we sure are not getting better at this...

Primrose Hill

All roads lead to a Pub

( At least in London )

"...Yeah I see you

Riding by on your flash bicycle
Yeah they can do you for that on Primrose Hill
A pretty young mother goes by
She's pushing her pram
Her little baby leans out
Just to see what I am
From the top of the hill
There's a hell of a view
Houses of Parliament and London Zoo
Those politicians all chatter
They trumpet and roar
That must be what those hyenas all
Are laughing for
When you come up to London
It sure is something to see
It's somewhere to go
But it's no place to be
And there's two things
Keeping me from going 'round the bend
I got my music
And this dog for a friend..."

- Loudon Wainwright III, Primrose Hill

Finland

2011-08-24T14:35:00.000-07:00

Forgotten post

2011-07-31T14:47:00.000-07:00

This post has been hanging around for ever without me publishing or finishing it. So now I just decided to publish it as it is...

I got back from Berlin just in time for our third wedding anniversary, few weeks ago. This time getting to Berlin was a lot less eventful then last year, but the city stole my heart like every time I go there.

I stayed in Berlin for a week, out of which three days were my "working" days with Piia at the Premium fashion fair and the rest was holiday with my friend Miikka. We all stayed at the Eastern Comfort hostel boat. It's located between Friedrichhein and Kreutzberg by the river Spree. Or more like in the river, since, well it's a boat. I can warmly recommend the place to anyone looking for a place to stay in Berlin. It's right next to the S and U-Bahns, and both Friedrichhein and Kreutberg are interesting neighborhoods. The staff is wonderful and helpful. And there is just something special about staying on a boat...

From the hostel

It's always interesting to see the first reactions of people to the new collection on fairs. Like last year, I designed few jewelries to the Piia Hänninen collection for S/S 2012. It is nerve wrecking and sweet at the same time. I fell in love with few pieces from the collection ( bright blue leopard printed maxi dress.... mmm) and can't wait for next summer to be able to wear one for real. Piia's lovely intern Alex, who studies fashion design at Parson's, was there with us through out the fair. She was a massive help and I really hope she got something out of the trip as well.

Alex and I

Me wearing one of the next summer's pieces

We are soon off to Finland with Ilya for few weeks. I can't wait to see all my friends and family, it's been a while. Ilya's second nephew is (hopefully) born when we are there, so we actually get to meet a new family member as well!

Like I mentioned in the beginning of this post, Ilya and I celebrated our third wedding anniversary not so long ago. I'm amazed that it's already been three years and that I have somebody in my life who truly gives me space to be me. And like the dorks we are, pretty much all the pictures from the dinner we had to celebrate our time together, don't actually feature the two of us together... Here are few anyway.

Berlin see you soon!

2011-07-04T11:23:00.000-07:00

If you are around, come and say hi!

Heppatyttö -84

2011-06-21T06:42:00.000-07:00

http://www.andreagalvani.com/work/death-image

www.moooi.com

One behind, two to go...

2011-06-18T00:47:00.000-07:00

Oh wow, it sure has been a while since I posted anything here...I had my final hand in for this year last Wednesday. I can't believe I'm done with the first year! The past year has been very intense for me. Going back to school and being a student has been every bit as scary and stressful and fantastic as expected. I have learned a lot about myself and well, about bags. One of the things I've learned is I think I just might be the worst combination there is; The Lazy Perfectionist. I'm very good in doing absolutely nothing at all for days and convincing myself that in fact I'm not doing nothing at all, that it's all part of the creative process, you see? Watching Desperate Housewifes for two hours? Research. Staring at a wall for a another two? Creative thinking. Then few weeks before the hand in I realise that I don't have that much done.
How can it be? With all the research and creative thinking I've been doing.....

At this point I finally start working like crazy. And this is usually where the perfectionist kicks in. This pattern led me to be on brink of nervous brake down after the first two terms. But hear me out! I think on the final term I actually learned something about time management. And almost avoided going completely nuts!

One thing I've been very lucky with is our class. We are a very small group, only 17 people. People come from very different backgrounds and the ages vary from 19 to 35 . At least for now everybody is more supportive then competitive.

With the risk of sounding like a LCF brochure, I'm really looking forward to next year!

Looking inside bodies and listening to the big bang

2011-03-29T08:14:00.000-07:00

Here is a true little gem among the free museums in London; The Hunterian Museum. It probably isn't everybody's cup of tea with thousands of specimens from animals and humans in jars, but I loved it. I went there with Ilya last Saturday and he seemed to enjoy it as well. The picture is from the middle room which was just beautiful with the jars and bones lining the two storey high walls.

I've always had an fascination with anatomy and surgeries. For a brief while I actually dreamed of becoming a surgeon but I quickly realized that the amount of studying required probably wouldn't go together with my personality (almost wrote lazynes but personality has a nicer ring to it). And then there is the fact that mistakes that involve humans and blades can resolve in somebody dying... I think I'll just stick with making bags and jewelley for now.

Another student budget friendly way of spending time are the TED talks. This was among the ones we watched last night. Admittedly, 94% of what she talks about goes beyond me and I do know that it's very much of an hypothesis but there is something about the idea of being able to listen to "the sounds of the universe" that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Yes, I have a very scientific relationship with astrophysics as you can see. And I even found her joke about Battlestar Galactica ,Cylons and Black holes funny, so maybe I shouldn't be trusted on how good the talk is...

Enjoy!

Saturday! Spring! Strawberries!

2011-03-27T08:13:00.000-07:00

"Too much of a good thing can be wonderful. "
-- Mae West

The sun and my holiday are finally here. Me and Lilli decided to celebrate the two by having a looooong Saturday brunch in our garden.

Oh yes, it was lovely. Thank you for asking. And no, no snow blizzards here...

Stuck.

2011-02-22T08:52:00.000-08:00

One day I'll return to this blog. When I'm done being stuck with my design project. (Apparently I'm willing to do anything to avoid it right now. Even updating this blog.)

Snow

2010-12-21T04:58:00.000-08:00

I am not a big winter person. But like everybody else I don't mind having few snowy days, especially before Christmas.
Here in London though the excitement of seeing snow flakes starting to fall is always muffled by the fact that the whole city goes into a lock down if there is more then an inch of snow. Tubes wont run, airports close...

The day before yesterday it started snowing heavily. It didn't last for long but we got a proper snow covering. We took a nice long walk around the neighborhood with Vanessa and Ilya. After we got home I realized that the airports are probably closed. And my sister was supposed to fly in yesterday. Her flight was cancelled along with thousands of other people. Luckily she got re-booked for a flight today and it seems now that she'll be able to fly today. I know we are lucky, there are so many people still stuck at the airports unable to travel. Now we just have to keep our fingers crossed that my mom will make it as well, she'll be flying here tomorrow. Who would have thought that snow can possibly ruin the Christmas spirit?

Fok It - Eihan sita voi kuin rakastaa.

2010-12-08T03:15:00.000-08:00

Aivan hillitonta sarjakuvaa, Fok It. Mene ja lue. Ei mulla sitten muuta.

Waiting for Christmas

2010-12-04T01:32:00.000-08:00

The past few weeks have been busy. I had my first hand ins for Uni and the first delivery for Piia's jewellery. Now that those are behind me (or not really behind, since I still have one more thing to hand in and there is still the main delivery for Piia's stuff) I've had a bit more time to relax and get a bit crafty. As some of you may now, I'm a bit of a christmas nutter. Not the uber crazy type that starts to prepare for it in July, but still... I really like christmas and can't wait for my family to come here. My mom and sister are gonna be spending christmas here with us, just like they did last year.
As my first christmas thing, I decided to build a gingerbread house. It's been years since I have made the dough myself but this year I was forced to as you can't really buy the ready made stuff here. I found the recipe online, and the dough turned out ok. It became quite dark, which I think is due to the super dark syrup I used. I think I promised with the cupcake post that there wouldn't be anymore baking posts in this blog but here we go:

Gingerbread dough:

250g butter
2 dl sugar
1,5 dl syrup (dark)
1,5ts cinnamon
1,5 ts cardamom
1 ts cloves
1 ts ginger
Bring these to boil, then let cool and add
2 eggs
1 ts salt (I used salted butter, so I didn't put any)
2 ts bicarbonate of soda
9 dl flour

Heat your oven to 200 and bake for 8minutes

I haven't found cardamom from a regular food store here so we've brought some with us from Finland. But I'm sure you can find it from somewhere.

The decoration looks like somebody has released their inner drunken princess...

Few icing accidents happened when my icing bag ripped, but isn't part of the charm of home made things that they are slightly crappy?

In this crafty mood I also made a little bday gift for my friends boyfriend. I'm really short on money, but I wanted to give him something.

I hope he likes gin and tonics. And I hope that the Sainsbury's cheapest gin isn't completely awful. But it's the thought that counts, right? Thanks Jyri for introducing me the legendary saying "If life gives you lemons, find somebody with gin and tonic".

Now I need to continue calling our estate agent about a pipe leak, more on that later since I want to keep this post as a happy one, instead of falling into the category of WHY THE HELL NOTHING EVER WORKS IN THIS COUNTRY?!

We Own The Night

2010-11-24T13:46:00.000-08:00

Good news, bad news

2010-11-13T08:57:00.000-08:00

"You are a human being. You have rights inherent in that reality. You have dignity and worth that exists prior to law. "

- Lyn Beth Neylon

Aung San Suu Kyi was released. Good news. Nasrin Sotoudeh was arrested. Bad news.

I am at awe of these strong people who fight for what they believe in. And have that nagging guilt of not doing enough. Thanks to the internet, I can at least send one of these while ranting alone in our kitchen. Every little helps. At least I hope so.

Lately...

2010-11-12T16:28:00.000-08:00

I forgot how quickly it gets dark when it's autumn. I have so much to do, with school and the jewelry, but truth to be told all I would like to do is have big cups of tea and read.

I just finished reading John Irving's Last Night in Twisted River. I'm not surprised that it has gotten so mixed reviews. It's not by any means his best novel with its story moving back and forth in time, which makes especially the mid bit of the book slightly dragging and hard to follow. But having said that, it also did it's trick. For me Irving's books are like an old comfy blanket; it may stink a bit but you now what you're getting and it will keep you warm. I'm thinking about re-reading (or more like re-re-re-reading) The Hotel New Hampshire which is my favorite Irving. I have a habit of reading books that I've already red when I'm stressed out. Ilya's mom once said that she never reads novels twice 'cos there are so many books in the world that she wants to read and feels like she is wasting her reading time with re-reading stuff. I'm the opposite. I like to return to the feelings I've experienced with books. In my current re reading plans are Cunningham's A Home at the End of the World and Middlesex by Eugenides.

***

I started writing this post about a week ago, never got around to publishing it. Since writing the above, I've read Amelie Northomb's Loving Sabotage. I thought it was a bit pretentious... It's a book I've read quite a lot beforehand and expected to like. But something about it just didn't click. I thought it was trying a bit too hard and something about the language made it hard for me to relax and I ended up tuning my self to that sort of auto reading mode, where you just read through the text without actually taking anything in. Or it might be that I'm just in the wrong set of mind for it at the moment.

(I really should sleep now.)

If anybody has any good book recommendations for me, please do share them!

(Maybe not quite yet...)

Bring on the blankets! Prepare the tea! I'm starting a new book that I nicked from Vanessa's shelf...

(Let's hope it's any good)

Look mum no hands!

2010-11-03T12:46:00.000-07:00

I have found my new favorite before and after school hang out, Look mum no hands! on Old Street. Right next to our tiny campus on Golden Lane, this bicycle cafe/bar is the perfect place for a quick coffee/ beer/ book reading before dashing off (oh yes, this is the new busy student/jewelry maker life, where one does not simply go but dashes to places) to the next lesson or lecture. Even if I don't do biking, on doctor's orders and for a healthy amount of fear towards the London traffic, the atmosphere of the place is perfect with the mix of random people working on their bikes, meeting friends or just having coffee.

Naroa

Naroa, Marvin and Vanessa having a meeting. I was just there to bug them.

Rag and Magpie

2010-11-02T10:50:00.000-07:00

You can now buy Genuine Plastic from the Rag and Magpie web shop!

!IAMIAMMEMEMEMIAMIAMI?

2010-10-29T16:15:00.000-07:00

"The present tense of the verb to be refers only to the present; but nevertheless, with the first person singular in front of it, it absorbs the past which is inseparable from the pronoun. I am includes all that has made me so. It is more than a statement of immediate fact: it is already an explanation , a justification, a demand - it is already autobiographical."

-John Berger, About Looking

"Dear Miami,

You're the first to go,

Disappearing under melting snow."

-Roisin Murphy

Edit: The picture is the first the one ever to be published on loosely joined. Before it was this loosely joined, around 2006.

Fuck you BT and fuck you O2 too!

2010-10-20T07:38:00.000-07:00

As you can guess, we STILL DON'T HAVE AN INTERNET CONNECTION.
What we have had at this point is many, many phone calls with both the BT and O2, two engineers from BT and an box from O2 that arrived only after a mere three weeks wait (so I probably should let O2 off the hook now, but I'm too annoyed with the situation to do that).
It's been two months since we moved in. That means two months and no working Internet. Initially I kind of thought that it wouldn't be too bad to be without Internet for a while but let me just tell you it sucks. Of course I can always check my e-mails and stuff at the uni or in some cafe, but it just makes everything so much more difficult. Today I almost travelled to the other side of the town for an lecture, but luckily I bumped into my class mate who told me that the lecture had been moved to next Monday. It's things like this, like the fact that our school only notifies about changes to our time tables on the school's website, that makes living without Internet so annoying...

So no, mom, sister and (facebook)friends,
I'm not dead just offline.

Three is now four

2010-09-30T05:29:00.000-07:00

Our last flat mate Lasse arrived to London a little over week ago, so now we finally have everybody in our new house. Lasse's girlfriend Milla stayed with us for a week as well, which was nice 'cos she was also able to attend our house warming party that we had last weekend. The party was fun but I do feel a bit bad for our neighbours for the party went on until late and I bet we made a hell of a noise... I only took one picture the entire night and lucky you, I'm posting it here.

That's Lasse right there on the left. And on the front the infamous skittles vodka that Ilya made for the party. We had it in red, orange, green and purple. And they tasted just as disgusting as they sound. But they all went so I'm guessing taste isn't the top most priority when people drink vodka at parties...

On the night that Lasse and Milla arrived it was time for us to get rid of some furniture that was left behind by the previous tenants. We decided to have one final sitting and some beers in front of our house on the mangy sofa that was in Vanessa's room.

I've also started uni now, had my first day last Tuesday. First the time table seemed quite empty, but after getting our first briefs I realized that I'm not gonna have that much free time. But it's good, it's what I've been waiting for.

And no, we still don't have proper internet connection. We are using a t-mobile stick and surfing online feels like a flash back from the nineties. So no skype, spotify or youtube for me. And blogger only before 4pm.

Abney Park

2010-09-15T03:42:00.000-07:00

Last week I finally visited Abney Park in Stoke Newington. Just off the Stoke Newington High Street, Abney Park is an old cemetery that's been turned into an local nature reserve. Oldest graves there date back to 1840 but I did see one that was as recent as 1995. The place has an eerie feeling with its tomb stones covered in wines and little paths that zigzag the park. In the middle of the place there's an old chapel with windows missing and the roof caving in that's definitely worth seeing.

The place is also popular for looking for, erm.., company. So even if it was about noon the ratio between men and women in the park was about 30:1. Me being included in the 1. But don't let that stop you from visiting the place for the park is really beautiful and interesting.

The Chapel

I guess you get quotation marks to your at rest once you're "re-united" with your spouse...

I wouldn't mind getting buried there. Even with all the action going on in the bushes.

Here lies

ROOSA

mother of Jooseppi-Kaaleppi and Kosmos Kaarina

wife of Ilya

Died happy while watching the eternal re-runs of the Friends at the age of 108.

"At Rest"

Notting Hill Carnival

2010-09-06T05:39:00.000-07:00

Last Monday Ilya, Vanessa and me went to the Notting Hill Carnival. It's the biggest street party in Europe with around million visitors annually. It's been held every year since 1966 on the August bank holiday. Apparently it was originally a local festival set up by the west Indian community but these days it's an full blown caribbean carnival.
Since it was the first time for all of us, we didn't quite know what to do there or where to go. Most of the time we were stuck in masses of people trying to navigate our way through the dancing people and drug dealers. I don't think I've ever been in a place with so many pushers. Or cops for that matter. We did finally find a place to stop and shake our booties a bit, which was nice 'cos otherwise it might have felt like a day spent in one massive rush hour tube.

Getting there, Seven Sisters tube station

Wait... I think we are here...

Or maybe not...

Whatever!

Paparazzi

Group photo. Attempt number one.

Group photo number two. We are sure getting better at this.

Offline

2010-08-26T09:22:00.000-07:00

We moved to our new apartment in Stamford hill few days ago. It'll take few weeks for us to get the Internet up and running so now I'm regulary visiting cafes with free wifi.
We've lived in London for almost a full year now. The pros and cons of this city are becoming clearer to me. For instance I can never get used to having the cold and hot water taps separate on other sides of the sink. Or how all buses (and whole east London for that matter) smells of fried chicken. Or that they never ever turn off the heating in the buses. Or how dirty the city is sometimes.
The charm of London comes from the same things as its disadvantages. I love the (organised) chaos of this place. The buzzing of people on the streets. Colours, smells and sounds of an large city. How you can get lost ( as I do on regular basis), just to find a new and interesting place. How everybody is here but nobody is from here. The energy that comes from people reinventing them selves and chasing their dreams.

"After a while, he turned to face the blustery Thames and take in the abundance of lighted buildings on the opposite bank -old, new, grand, plain, stately, grotesque - seemingly built without care or reason to his Petersburg eye- as if drunk had been in charge of planning, only sober every fifth day."

"Nobody in London seemed to know where they were, or where anything was, or where anything might be."

Self Help, Edward Docx

Brighton

2010-08-05T03:35:00.000-07:00

Roosa: "Lets go to Brigton!"
Thom: "Um, ok. Why do wanna go to Brighton for?"
Roosa: "Never been there. Why not?"
Thom: "Ok. But what are we gonna do there?"
Roosa: "I don't know. The things that people do in Brighton."

2010-08-04T06:13:00.000-07:00

Vs.

The xx - Islands (and yes, this was ment to be part of the last post)

2010-08-02T10:23:00.000-07:00

New Post

2010-08-02T10:21:00.000-07:00

Like I said in my last post I gave up my job at Urban Outfitters and about two days after I had handed in my notice I was invited to an interview at the London College of Fashion. So I'm going back to school! Weird, huh? I'll be studying accessory design and development. I still need to take the IELTS and get a score of 6 or higher but I'm not really worried. And there is still a lot to sort out with the tuition fees and loans (funfunFUN) but mostly I just feel exited and happy to be going back to studying. It did take me a while but I feel like I'm readier to study now then I was for instance four years ago. So I guess you could say that things happen for a reason. Oh! Or... there is a time and place for everything. Or, no, wait, that doesn't suit this, does it? Anyhow, I think you get my point.

We're also moving soon. Our lease is up on the 25th so basically we need to be in a new place by then. We have put down a deposit for a house, or to be precise, a maisonette in Stamford Hill. The agency is still going to do the credit check before we know whether we got the place or not. Fingers crossed! The place is a bit shabby, but it has a beautiful spacious kitchen and ... (this is the moment to hold your breath in excitement) a GARDEN! And not just a tiny patio but an actual garden with some space for chairs and a barbecue. And flowers. And herbs. Tomatoes? Time will tell. It's completely in grown (over grown?) at the moment but the agency said that they'll get it sorted out when we move in. Originally they said they would do it before we move in but after I expressed my concerns about what would be left of the garden if a bunch of hired construction worker type of guys would come in with just the instructions to clear the place, so the agent said that I would get to supervise the project after we'd moved in. Mmmm. Roosa - Garden Supervisor. I like the sound of that. Too bad it's going to be autumn soon but we should have time to have few barbecues and cocktails there.

I'll be going to Finland as well for a week. I finally managed to book my flights. I'll be going to a friends wedding. Jussi, Jyri's younger brother is getting married on the 14th. I'm planning to design a mirror for them as a gift. I know it's sort of risque to give people interior stuff as gifts, but I want them to have something unique. And I hope they know us well enough that they know we're not gonna be offended if they don't like it. I also bought a ticket for Sunday to the Flow festival. I just realised that the XX is going to be playing on Sunday which is an added bonus since I've been listening to them quite a lot lately. I am completely broke though, so if YOU happen to be around and insist on buying me one of the ridiculously priced beers on the festival area, I won't resist. Wink wink (see how subtle I'm being here).
And I get to see all my friends and family! See you soon peeps, time to get back to work. Or watching stupid videos on Youtube. The joys of idle days and unemployment.

Guten dagen, back in Mile End again

2010-07-14T03:12:00.000-07:00

Berlin was great as usual, but the beginning of my trip wasn't all smooth sailing. So, instead of arriving to Berlin at eight am I ended up spending most of my day at Bristol airport. I got to Luton on time around five o'clock after two hours in London night buses just to hear that the plane that I was supposed to take had been replaced by a smaller aircraft due to some kind of hassle with original one. And unfortunately there was no way they could fit me in on my intended flight. Luckily, however there was I flight leaving from Bristol the very same day! Only 12 hours later! Lucky me. Truth to be told I had no idea where Bristol was until that day. Now I can inform anyone who wants to know that it's a two and a half hour drive from London, three if you happen to be driving between 7 and 8 am. And between London and Bristol you have loads of fields. Oh, and trees. Let's not forget the trees. And one cab driver who wants to talk when you would actually rather sleep but feel that it would be impolite to do so. When you have two people with broken English, both woken up at 3am, having a three hour long conversation it can get a bit confusing at times. Mixed time tenses, words pronounced almost, not quite, right. in the end I wasn't even sure myself whether I'd been in China a while ago, or if I had a friend who is Chinese or if my husband was one. The cab driver had three kids who all study at uni, law maybe or small business, and he was very proud of them. He also bought me a snickers from the gas station and let me smoke in the cab. "If the cops pull us over, we have to tell them that you are my friend, not a customer. It's illegal to smoke in a taxi but who can drive such along way to Bristol without cigarettes?" I did like him.

Me and Tuomas on our fair stand in Premium

Due to the delay I missed the first day of the fair, but it was ok. The fair went well, there was a lot of people and Piia managed to get some new customers. Next summer's fashion seemed slightly boring, following the same trends as this summer. The colour palette is quite toned down with loads of nude tones mixed with khaki and other natural shades. Through out the week the temperature outside went from +30 to almost +40 , so at times the fair hall was like a sauna. But I don't really mind heat. We had Saturday and Sunday off so we got to enjoy the city as well. On Sunday I managed to fall a sleep on the "beach", a swim place that's been build by the river Spree, and woke up with a nice lobster tan on my chest and nose. But what would summer be without few strips of skin peeling off? Tuomas, Piia's new boyfriend joined us on Thursday, this being the first time I met him. So a good trip all in all.

There was also quite a lot of interest towards my jewellery which leads me to my next bit of news. I'm going to start working freelance full time, concentrating on my own jewellery. I handed in my notice day before yesterday, so it's my last two weeks at Urban. I'm going to miss the people there, but I'm sure it's the right decision. I've felt for quite some time now that I don't have time to do anything properly, not at work or my own projects. We are also moving in few months. My friend Lasse is coming to London to do his master's degree, so me, Ilya, Vanessa and Lasse are going to move in together. I just hope we find a nice place somewhere in east, preferably with an garden... Wish us luck.

Miikka and Jyri are now here in London and we are going for a nice walk in Victoria park. The weather here is quite crappy, but it's all good. With good friends, few drops of rain don't matter.

Berlin calling!

2010-07-03T12:22:00.000-07:00

Next Wednesday I'll be going to Berlin to attend the Premium fashion fair with Piia. I designed few jewelry pieces for her S/S 11 "Eagle Soul" collection. Fingers crossed people that we sell loads of stuff! the collection looks really good. I already have my eye on few of the pieces. I really like the dress in the invitation and there is a really cute skirt with the graphic print as well. Too bad I have to wait until next summer to get my hands on them!

www.piiahanninen.com

Jens Lekman is coming to London!

2010-05-11T07:10:00.000-07:00

Jens Lekman is playing in London in August! (And for everyone who don't happen to know I would happily make babies for this man just for the reason of making a song like "A postcard to Nina")

Ilya, being the good husband he is, got us the tickets and I am eternally grateful for that (and might even end up making babies for him one day...) 'cos knowing my track record with getting tickets to anything the changes of actually seeing Jens live would have been somewhere between slim to none.

Here's my favorite version of the song Your arms around me, played just with the ukulele. I think it's better then the one on the album.

Enjoy!

Genuine Plastic on Brick Lane!

2010-05-06T10:31:00.000-07:00

Feather necklace £15

Starting from next Sunday (9th of May) I'll be selling my jewelry on Brick Lane's Backyard market on Sundays. There are few new models, so come and take a look and say hi. Backyard market is open from 10am to 5pm on Sundays. It's located in the Old Truman Brewery, 91 Brick Lane, E1 6QL.

Butterfly necklace £15

Feather pendant £13

Bird brooch £8

Welcome!

Pictures by Naroa Lizar

Paris

2010-04-26T02:43:00.000-07:00

We spent the easter weekend in Paris with Ilya. It was rainy through out the weekend but in the end it didn't bother as much as you would have thought. Our hotel was in Montmarte, right next to Sacré Coeur. Our Hotel, Hotel Montmarte, was, like I said before, probably the cheapest hotel in Paris. The location is great, within walking distance from lots of places and it has walls so it served its purpose. We didn't really do that much aside from walking around and eating (Yes, we did try frog legs and yes, they taste just like chicken). There was however Lucian Freud's exhibition in the Pompidou center which was amazing. They had a really good collection of his works from different times from his career. Watching them made want to start painting again. I had forgotten how much I miss it.

We did also visit the Palace de Tokyo. I wasn't too exited about the exhibition but the space was well worth visiting and I loved the idea of constantly changing exhibitions, the true dialogue of the artist with the space it self.

Paris had a good vibe to it, but just having few days there only left you with an appetite for more. I really hope we get to go there again.

Sorry that I'm so lazy with this blog. I guess it serves its purpose as an monthly update on my life to all of you in Finland... Apart from that, I feel a bit lost with words right now. I always open my computer with the intention of actually writing something in here as well, but then get carried away with other things. And I really, really need to start getting ready for work now.

Bye, bye darlings!

(And some pictures to the end.)

I don't know what's going on with the blogger publisher now, but I can't move any of the pictures around. (It probably has nothing to do with blogger, just my inability to use it. )

Hence the lack of any descriptions on the pictures.

Kassandra's music

2010-04-16T09:38:00.000-07:00

My very talented friend from work was performing in our store last weekend. She's having a proper gig this Sunday which I hopefully have time to go and see. You can listen to her songs on MySpace:

http://www.myspace.com/kassandramusicswe

Ilya's and Mikko's birthday

2010-04-12T09:00:00.000-07:00

So, here are some pictures from Ilya's and Mikko's birthday party. And whoever it is that always swaps my camera to take raws at parties, please stop, I'm lazy. Or at least make it so that it takes both jpgs and raws. Thank you.

Girls (and boys ) all ready to party.

Waiting for the guests. Ilya, Mikko and Saila

Erno and Naroa

Brother and sister

Good Friday to you too!

2010-04-02T07:26:00.000-07:00

Happy easter peeps! (my green toilet bunny got the honor of playing the easter bunny here)

We're off to Paris with Ilya for the weekend! We're taking the Eurostar train from St Pancrass today and will be back late on Sunday. This is my first time in Paris and don't really have any expectations about the place. Everybody keeps telling me that I'm going to love the place and I'm hoping they're right. But just having a weekend away is in it self so great that I doubt nothing can crush my spirits. We'll be staying in a small (and cheapest) hotel in Montmarte. I'm just hoping it won't rain the entire weekend for wandering aimlessly around the city is my main plan for the stay. We're also planning on going to see Palais de Tokyo, highly recommended by both Sakari and Cass. Our train leaves in few hours, so I better get ready now...

I promised Saila that I would post some pictures from Ilya's and Mikko's birthday bash and I promise now that I'll do it as soon as we get back to London. Promise.

Perfect Friday.

2010-03-12T15:50:00.000-08:00

I'm returning to work tomorrow and decided to take some baby steps back to reality today. When I woke up it was raining but by mid day it was sunny and warm outside. It really felt like spring is here (finally). One of my favorite places near our home is a small cafe on Lauriston Road. In fact, I really like the whole Lauriston Road. With its few small cafes, restaurants and stores it has a certain small town charm to it. So, I took a walk through Victoria park to Loafing, where I rewarded myself with a brownie, cup of coffee and a good book.

Victoria Park

Swans in Victoria Park

Loafing, 79 Lauriston Road

Lauriston Road

I got home just in time for Saila, who's here for the weekend. Later we went to the Crown, a pub near us, for pints and burgers.

Perfect Friday.

No sex, No city (but a few words on dresses, shoes and a swollen throat)

2010-03-10T06:37:00.000-08:00

When I finally started feeling that I was getting my mojo back, the universe had a different view. I got tonsillitis. I know it's not like I have cancer or anything, but I really have been feeling like I'm going to die. Sob,sob. Poor me. I've had tonsillitis before when I was younger but this is the first time I have to battle it without the aid of antibiotics. There is a plan for reducing the amount of antibiotics the britons take, so they only give it to the most severe cases. I wasn't one of them. I'm getting better every day but this staying in doors drives me crazy. Not that I'm anyway able to do anything beyond sleeping and watching telly. I even know what's going on in Hollyoaks. What next? Coronation street? Emmerdale? I'm doomed.

However I did manage to send Sara, Vanessa's sister, the first design (How the hell do you spell scetch..sketch...skissi?) of her dress. I'm doing a graduation dress for her. Few days ago we went to Shepherds Bush to look for fabrics for the dress and found this amazingly beautiful silk for only £9,50 /m. It was my first trip to Shepherds Bushes fabric stores and I felt like kid in a candy store. Little shops filled with fabrics, side by side. Coming from Helsinki where your options are Eurokangas and ummm.. the other Eurokangas, I was thrilled. And the prices! On moments like this I really love this city. I haven't done any sewing in a long time and we wont be having many fittings since Sara lives in Finland, so naturally I'm feeling a bit jittery about the project. But it's a good thing because I don't want to completely forget how to do clothes. I still need a fitting mannequin but Nat, from work is going to lent (borrow?) me her sewing machine, so I'm almost set to begin. I'm gonna start posting the process here, probably more as an diary to myself then any interest to you, my readers, but any comments and ideas are welcome.

So, this is where I'm at now. The colors of the fabrics are much nicer in real life and I'm hoping Sara will go with the pink one since I'm head over heels in love with it... I still haven't heard back from her, so it might be that the whole design might still change. I also found these cute feather head pieces from work and I'm thinking of getting one of them for her as a graduation present, that is, if she goes with the pink silk.

More dress related news. I've ordered a dress from Piia's S/S10 collection. It should be in the post by now and unless the f*****g Royal Mail screws something again I should have it soon. I think it will go perfectly together with the Vivienne Westwood for Melissa Lady Dragon heart heels I found from sale. I think I might be addicted. I just love the shape of the shoe and they are so comfortable. And crazy. Just the way I like my shoes. I now have two pairs and I'm trying to stay strong and not buy anymore. But it might be hard with all the new colors coming out this season...

These are the babies I already own. Ilya's comment when I brought the heart ones home? "At least they are not as crazy as the ones with the balls..."

Almost time for Hollyoaks!

Like I said, DOOMED.

Back in London

2010-02-18T02:41:00.000-08:00

I took a weeks holiday in Finland. It felt good to see all the people there, old friends and family. But I was surprised how much it felt like a trip to Finland instead of visiting Home. I guess it's a good sign, a sign that I've made London my home now. I never thought Helsinki could feel that strange, like a place where I don't belong to. Of course when I was with friends in familiar places it felt like I've never even left. But on the moments when I was alone, going from place to place, passing our old apartment, my regular cafe I felt like a tourist. Just visiting. This is the longest I've ever been away from there.
It has taken me forever to write this post and every time I open blogger I delete everything I've written so far. I guess I'm going through some sort of quarter of a century crisis ( is there a word for it, like mid-life crisis, but for a person my age?). If I were a middle aged man I would probably be out shopping for a harley by now. Oh, wait. I already did quit my job and moved to a new country and made my husband do the same! So what next? I'm happy in London, not happy with my career, happy with my marriage, not happy with being so unproductive... I know I just need to start focusing on my jewelry, focusing on my own projects, on stuff that makes me happy instead of worrying about things.

On to brighter things. My darling baby sister is turning 23 in just few days! I can't believe she's not 12 anymore. I can't even believe that I'm not 12 anymore. Every time I look her blog Magnetic Shapes, I feel proud and amazed how talented she is, and how far we've come from where we started. Now writing this I feel like life is wonderful after all... Moody? Me? No way.

Us in 1991(?)

In 2007

Two weeks ago...

Happy birthday Sofia!

Sharing is caring

2010-02-01T03:02:00.000-08:00

I was sick for better part of the last week so I had plenty of time to rummage the wonderland of Internet. Here are few new friends that I made:

I really like the stuff on fashematics blog. Even if it's one of those one idea blogs, some of the pictures are amazingly insightful and funny.

Fuck you very much is , despite the rather uninviting name, an interesting picture blog, a diary, between a Danish couple who are living in different countries. Updated almost daily, it has a strong sense of narrative, that sometimes makes you feel like you are eavesdropping on somebody's conversation. In a

good way.

Enjoy.

English for beginners, part two

2010-01-28T04:58:00.000-08:00

Edit: Just noticed the ' in your... Just ignore it. Or better yet, it's not really there. It's just your imagination.

Oopsie, it's been a while.

2010-01-26T12:49:00.000-08:00

New year, new posts, huh?

I've been having some sorts of new year jitters which have left me completely unproductive (including this blog). And now that I'm finally feeling comfortable with the idea of 2010 (it's been 10 years since millennium, holy shit!), I don't know where to begin...

I'm trying to get my website for the jewelry done and it should be up and running soon. Naroa took some pictures for it and I can't wait to see the end result. I'm also designing few new models, so hang in there, they're coming. I even have a new work table! I was on my way to Victoria station to meet Karkki, a friend who visited us from Finland, when I spotted an Ikea table leaning against the fence of Tredegar square. It had a little sign saying free table and it happened to be the exact model that I was about to buy. Yes, I know, I was born under lucky stars.

I've also started taking Bollywood dancing lessons at Richmix with my friend Lilli. I can tell you that I sucked at it on the first time, but it was fun. It feels like it's been such a long time since I've done anything like it that just trying to coordinate my hands with my feet AND have some kind of a rythm to it is still miles away. Sweat, blood and tears is all it's gonna take I guess...

I can't believe I'm going to be in Finland in less then a week. Like I've said over and over again, time really does seem to be flying. I can't wait to see everybody and just relax and not to think about work. I haven't made any solid plans besides visiting the Kettu2000's Other shoes exhibition in Jangva. I'm bummed that I missed the private view, but I guess that's the price you pay for living somewhere else...

This is going to be a bit of an shortie post, but it's main purpose was to get me started on this again.
No promises made here, but I'll try to keep it a bit more interesting in the future.

Let's make 2010 the best year ever!

Winter wonderland

2009-12-16T04:46:00.000-08:00

It's snowing!
Not much, but still. Snowing! Not that I've been even missing snow, but I guess it makes everything feel a bit more Christmasy. It's amazing that it's nearly Christmas already. There is sill so much to do, but I'm not taking any stress about it. Tomorrow I'm gonna go to the post office to send some gifts and cards and Jyri has kindly agreed to be my gift mule to Finland (which he may regret, but it's too late now! Muahahaa..).
So Jyri, Joonas and Sane will arrive tomorrow, and then on the 20th, Sofia and Tarja. I'm so exited! And I'm actually having four days off from work over Christmas, so I even have some time to spend with them. Lately I've been working around 40h/week at Urban Outfitters and I've had the X-mas market on top of that, so I haven't really had any free time. But I'm having a good time, and even if I've been feeling quite tired, I've manged to squeeze in some social life in to my timetable. Only thing that I feel bad about is that I don't feel like I have enough time to spend with Ilya. Since I often work on weekends, it's rare that we have a whole free day together... But that's life I guess.

Uups, gotta go. Work calls.

Genuine Plastic on X-mas Market!

2009-12-06T14:02:00.000-08:00

Today I was selling my jewelry for the first time. I have stall on the Old Truman Brewery's All I want for X-mas market (on Brick Lane, above the Sunday Up Market) for the next two Sundays (13th and 20th). Saila came over from Rochester to be my help elf/ slave/ photographer/general supervisor. Knowing me, everything was done at the last minute, so we stayed up until late last night assembling the stuff. This morning we were woken up by a nice London style rain. Dragging the bags to Brick Lane by bus, soaked, didn't really set the mood too high. The morning was really slow and the electricity kept going off all the time, at what point I was quite ready to just give up. Good thing Lilli and Ilya showed up which seemed to turn our luck for the better and the rest of the evening went well. But I have to say that I really hope that by next weekend they've fixed the problem with the electricity 'cos the dark corridors weren't exactly that welcoming. And the place is a bit of an maze, so if you come looking for me, I'm there even if it may take turning a few corners before finding me. But a couple who own a shop in Ireland where interested in selling my stuff, so I'm pretty exited. I'm supposed to have an meeting with them tomorrow, so we'll see how it goes...

The bad thing is that I've got a cold. And I really don't have time for that now. Nononono. I refuse to be sick.

Never surrender! Vitamin C! Hot water!

Adios amigos!

Saturday Night Fever

Adam and Minja

And thank you to everybody who helped me getting everything done!

Cupcakes with Naroa

2009-12-01T16:47:00.000-08:00

Me and Naroa baked some cupcakes the other day (the same ones I did for my birthday)...
Cupcakes are fun 'cos they are so easy to make and even if you screw them up, they'll still be ok. The recipe I'm using now is the one that I picked up from the Sainsbury's customer magazine and I think it's really good (not that any of the other ones I've used were particularly bad). Here it is:

Cupcakes (makes 24):

Vanilla extract

200g butter

200g sugar

4 eggs

200g self raising flour

Cupcake syrup or fruit juice

Frosting

1. Preheat the oven to 180c. Put the butter, sugar and few teaspoons of vanilla extract into a bowl and mix together until pale and fluffy.

2. Beat the eggs lightly in another bowl and slowly add to the mix. Once the eggs and the butter mixture are well combined mix in the flour.

3. Divide the mixture between muffin cases with two teaspoons. Bake for 18-20 minutes or umtil the sponge is slightly golden. Leave the cupcakes to cool for 10 minutes then spread some suryp or fruit juice on top of them with a spoon or a pastry brush.

You can pretty much add any flavors you want into the mix in step one. I personally like a bit of lemon juice or some chocolate chips. To make the syrup, just add some sugar and lemon juice to boiling water and wait for it to cool down before using.

Frosting:

200g Cream cheese

100g butter

600g icing sugar

Mix all the ingredients together. You will probably need more then the 600g of icing sugar, for the frosting needs to be quite stiff before piping. You can also add flavors to the frosting as well, I tend to use vanilla. I also use colorings, but it's not necessary, just makes the cupcakes cuter. Then just frost the cupcakes in any style you choose. Piping with a star nozzle is a classic, but you can do what ever you want. And the add shit loads of sugar pearls, marzipan roses etc. The more the merrier!

The best part.

Ain't I one good Martha Steward? No more baking posts after this one, I promise.

Oh, and if there is something missing from the recipe and you end up with something only remotely resembling cupcakes... well... you should have asked the real Martha.

Nokia - Connecting People

2009-11-24T04:45:00.000-08:00

1. Vanessa's mother send her an e-mail telling that she had received an phone call from a girl from England. She said she worked with us and asked for my phone number. Far fetched? Yes, if you ask me.

2. Somebody keeps calling Ilya from Irak. If he picks up, the person who is calling starts this random chant in arab(?). First we thought it was somebody with a wrong number, but since it has happened so many times and Ilya has told the caller that it's not the right number several times, that's unlikely.
Long distance prank calls? Way of making new friends? Dunno.

I love this add.

2009-11-15T13:41:00.000-08:00

What can I say. I just love it. Through boingboing.

Tuut tuut (nothing too interesting going on here...)

2009-11-15T12:59:00.000-08:00

Another week has passed...

Where to start? I've been working at Urban Outfitters for two weeks now and it's going well. The work itself is same stuff that I've been doing for the past few years, so no shock there. People are generally really nice, of course there are some that I like more then others. As all of you probably all ready know, Vanessa got a job there as well. It's great. On the days that we have the same shift we can commute together and maybe even have lunch together. Oh, the small joys of life. Other then that we don' even see each other all that much during the day, since she works in men's wear and I in women's wear. But I guess it's for the best. I need to be careful that she doesn't get bored with spending time with yours truly...Ilya has also started working which is good, but weird at the same time. I already got used to having him home whenever I came home. I hope everything works out for him in the new place.

Last night and most of today it's been raining hard. And I mean raining HARD! Last night I kept listening to the sound of the rain, us having a sky light in almost every room, the sound was loud. We'll be meeting Vanessa for dinner and drinks in Chinatown later today (so much for not boring her!) and even with the high chance of looking like a mushroom, I think I'll be taking my rain cape with me.
...

I was supposed to post this yesterday, but never had the chance, so I'll just do it today. We ended up not going to chinatown. Had a dinner in a Moroccan restaurant in Covent Garden and headed for drinks in Soho afterwards. The evening went well, even if everybody seemed a bit tired. Vanessa and Frankie left early 'cos Vanessa had work this morning and Ilya and me ended up going to a gay bar for beers before heading home. Getting a bus in down town London at night is a tough job. We couldn't fit in to the first bus, so we had to wait for some time before we got home. Thank god it wasn't raining anymore at that point! I had a lazy day today, didn't get much done, just visited Vanessa at Brick Lane where she was selling Titimadam. Actually I've been having a lazy day all week, but next week, I promise, I'll get lots of stuff done. Promise.

...

Last weekend Joy (Taneli's girlfriend) had her birthday party at our place, here are few pictures.

Joy, the birthday girl and Taneli

Finally managed to get a picture of Saila where she's smiling

Charles and Madam. I mean George and Adam.

Mikko and Vanessa

Next weekend, Inka and Eemeli!

For now, good night and kisses.

Natural History Museum

2009-11-11T01:33:00.000-08:00

I went to see the Darwin center in Natural History Museum with Taneli and Ilya. It's free, but you need to book your tickets in advance. It was interesting to see how they had combined the modern architecture of the Darwin Centers "Cocoon" with the old (and grand) museum building. The collection it self wasn't really mind blowing, more of an introduction to the preserving and research work they do in the Darwin Centre. But just the Cocoon is well worth visiting. I'm definitely going there again to see the basic exhibition, since we didn't have time to do it this time.

Halloween

2009-11-05T02:51:00.000-08:00

For Halloween we were:

a) Triplets gone wrong

b) That girl band that everybody knows,

but can't remember the name

c) Little Mermaids older sisters (gone wrong)

d) Space sausages...

You choose!

We went to a Naroa's friend's party with Ilya. Me and Vanessa had our first day of work the following day, so we had to take it easy. Mmm... we managed to have a lot of fun despite that!

Last night

2009-10-31T05:25:00.000-07:00

Bacon and Eggs, anyone?

2009-10-30T05:11:00.000-07:00

I was looking for wigs for me, Vanessa and Naroa for tomorrows Halloween party and instead I found this

Ilya and I would never have to think again what to wear to fancy dress party... Or how about this mind blowing duo

Happy Halloween to everybody!

www.fancydress.com

English for beginners

2009-10-27T16:32:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I doubt whether we even speak the same language.

Kukkuluuruu, mitä kuuluu?

2009-10-26T18:03:00.000-07:00

I finally got a job. I'm really happy about it because it's with a company that I really like. I'll be starting in Covent Garden's Urban Outfitters next Sunday. It's only a three months contract but I'm hoping they'll like me enough to keep me there for longer. Covent Garden is only about 20 minutes tube ride from our place which is nice in a city where getting around can take half of your day. Of course it might be a different story on weekends when half of the tube lines are not running due to maintenance works. A good book is an essential accessory here, especially on rush hours on a bus, when an intended 10 minutes can easily turn into a 45 minute ride.

For the past weekend our home was more like a hostel. Henna was spending a week in London and she stayed over at our place for three nights. Saila came from Rochester for the weekend

and we also had a friend of Carlos' from Mexico staying for few nights. Me, Henna, Ilya and Saila went dancing on Saturday. We were supposed to go to a place called Dalston Superstore, but the queue was taking so long that we just gave up and went to the Moustache bar instead. It is a really small place that has a sort of school disco feel to it, and I mean this as a good thing, with good music and easy going people. We stayed there until it closed around 2am and since we were not quite ready to go home just yet, we headed for the Dalston Jazz Bar. Don't let the name fool you, the place has absolutely nothing to do with jazz. It's really small and it was PACKED. I don't think it's even legal in Finland to have that many people in a bar. Like Vanessa said it's a "dance or die place" since there is not much else you can do besides dancing. I've been there before with Vanessa and I think it's a great place to end your night out. You know you're gonna drink a bit too much, dance too much and make an ass out of your self but you also know your gonna crawl into bed around 6 o'clock with a smile on your face.

We did some shopping with Henna and I think she bought like five dresses. This city can be a disaster on ones wallet. On Sunday we spent three hours on the Portobello Street market and I found an wonderful £5 Zebra print jersey jumpsuit. I've been looking for one for quite some time, so I'm really happy with it. Over all Portobello Street market isn't something I'm gonna do again any time soon, but I was glad that I went somewhere I wouldn't have gone to by my self. One of the nice things about people visiting is that you make more of an effort to go out and around the city and not just get stuck with the places you already know. I really wanted Henna to see Brick Lane on Sunday with all its weekend street vendors and markets but we didn't have enough time to do it. Maybe next time. I'm hoping to start selling jewelry on one of the weekend markets as soon as I get more of my jewelry done. I did a pair of earrings for Henna out of the skull pendant pieces and I really liked the way they turned out. I might do a pair for my self as well, but since it takes almost twice the materials and time to do them and I'm not sure if people were willing to pay twice the money, I think I'm gonna leave it to that.

Henna and Anna on our way to Oxford Street

Topshop = too much shopping...

Brick Lane

Vanessa selling Titimadam on Brick Lane.

Oh, and I got some rye bread today! Me and Lilli went to the Nordic Bakery in Soho to eat some Karelian pies and I bought a loaf to take home with me. Too bad they didn't sell Turkish peppers any more... I think rye bread and salmiakki are the two things I miss the most about Finland (I mean out of the material things). One thing I don't miss is the cold. It's been an exceptionally warm autumn here (or so they said in the news) and you can really feel it. On a sunny day it can go almost as high as +20c. The air smells like fallen leafs and the light is really beautiful. We also had a drink on a terrace with Lilli today. Drink! Terrace! October!

Nordic Bakery

(I just got back from a cigarette and it was really cold outside, so I guess the winter is coming here as well.)

Jewelry making

2009-10-20T11:30:00.000-07:00

I've tried to concentrate on getting a job but I've started to work on my jewelry line as well. I pretty much have all the designs ready and I'm shopping for the materials. The prices here are much more reasonable then they were in Helsinki. Except finding small glass "diamonds" has turned out to be a lot tougher job then I expected it to be... I probably should just order them online. I've also made some test pieces with resin casting, and I really like the end result.

Silicone

Originals

I was really happy with the silicone mold. Even the roses didn't break, which was my original concern.

Taking a cigarette break in my "studio"

Getting ready for the resin.

Work surroundings of a true professional

End result. Sorry for the poor quality of the photos, you can't really make out any of the details...

Three weeks

2009-10-15T03:43:00.000-07:00

I can't believe we've been here for three weeks already. Time flies when you're in a new place I guess. I'm starting to feel at home here. London seems nice and everything is going smoothly in our flat, Taneli and Carlos are really easy as flatmates. I still don't have a bank account but I do have a job interview tomorrow. I'm really hoping that I'll get the job 'cos it's for a company that I really like. I've enjoyed these free days a lot, just getting to know the city and doing my own stuff, but I'm ready to start working now. I'm actually missing having a routine and I guess I would like to see where having a new job will take me. And the money would be nice too... I've started to do the jewelry as well but I try not to spend too much money on it before I actually have some of it coming in. I'm gonna do some resin casting and today I'll try to do the silicone molds witch is something I haven't done in years, so we'll see how it goes.

Yesterday I went to Cat and Mutton with Adam, Minja, George (who I keep calling Charles all the time...),Lilli and Siri. Vanessa also came in later. Cat and Mutton is a really nice pub near Vanessa's house and it's starting to be quite a regular hang out place for us as well. Lilli, who also moved to London recently, turned out to be an old friend of Saila's. Such a small world. So I invited her to come dancing with us next Saturday since Saila will be in London as well for the weekend. I'm really exited about this weekend. On Friday we'll be meeting Heli and Maikki (Two Finnish girls who've been to Storås for the past two years) and the on Saturday we'll go dancing. On Sunday there is this Wish You Were Here Swap Block party where I would like to go. I've talked with Cas that we'd see on Sunday so maybe I'll get her to go with me. This is what I love about London. There is always something going on.

Some Sunday Wii'ing

Fringe, again

Two pound Primark shoes + some fabric markers + too much time on your hands

Saila in Rochester

Boys "watching" tv

Cat and Mutton

And some advertising to the end. Check out the new style blog Coco, Karl and I by a friend. So you'll always know what to wear and when...

Kisses.

/R.

I want...

2009-10-11T16:41:00.000-07:00

... these super cool Wonder Woman sandals. (Yes, I know she wore boots but I'll still call them Wonder Woman sandals.) Santa? Good fairy godmother? Marko-Samuli? Anyone up for sponsoring one shoe crazy girl in London?

And I finally remembered to make the pictures smaller, so it shouldn't be a pain in the ass to click them anymore...

I miss my rainboots.

2009-10-07T09:35:00.000-07:00

It's been raining for the past three days. I better get used to it I guess, this is London after all. It feels so strange to think that only few days ago we were sitting outside on Neal's Yard with Saila having dinner. It was last Sunday, after the party, and we were doing some serious hungover window shopping. Or at least I was just window shopping since Saila found a dress that looked amazing on her. Hoping to see it on her when we go to their housewarming party next weekend. I really like the whole Covent Garden area even if it's a bit touristy place to go. Especially the restaurant/coffee place on Neal's Yard. The food was good and it has a cosy, a bit hippieish, feeling to it.

I also joined the local gym today. It is really close to our place which is nice. Saves me money and I like walking around here. It's quite expensive though so I might have to change gym at some point. And I still haven't looked up the pole dance schools in London so I'm not sure if I can afford to do both over the winter...

Now Ilya came to disturb me, so I think we're just gonna watch some (finnish!) tv.

Good night!

Parrrteee!!

2009-10-05T09:44:00.000-07:00

We had the party on Saturday. It was mine and Vanessa's birthday party and the official housewarming party at the same time. A lot of people showed up and I feel like I propably talked only to half of them. Carlos and Taneli had gotten some milk, Kahlua and vodkas, making white russians the official party drink. Carlos even persuaded me into having a shot of tequila "the true Mexican style". I went to bed "early" so I missed the late night/early morning street bowling competition some people had. Our neighbors are just gonna love us.
Great party though!

Running out of refrigerator space was easily sorted.

Opening gifts.

I think we are dancing...

We may be in a different country, but hungover Sundays sure feel the same.

Toothache and a party

2009-10-03T09:11:00.000-07:00

So, my teeth are aching again. I'm not too happy about getting to know the English dental care system quite this fast but I'm hoping it'll be alright. I was supposed to go to the dentist yesterday but I managed to get lost on my way to the appointment. Call me stupid but I'm not good in reading the London journey planner, so instead of three minutes, I thought that the bus ride was suppose to last for 17 minutes. So there was I, happily reading my magazine and driving god knows where. After about twenty minutes in to the ride I started suspecting that I'd gotten something wrong... Good thing is that they didn't seem too angry about me not showing up and I got a new appointment for Monday.
I've been baking the whole day for the birthday/housewarming party tonight. I don't know that many of the people who are invited but I think it is going to be an great opportunity to meet new people. Also Miikka and Saila are here, so there will be few of "my own guests". I should actually be getting ready for tonight but I promise to post some new pictures tomorrow (or when my very likely hungover has cured).

Party time! jeejee

Karkki, tää on sulle

2009-09-28T13:25:00.000-07:00

I've been bad. I bought these completely useless but so lovely headpieces from Rochester. Shopping, just what you're suppose to be doing unemployed and in a new country. I'm a girl, I confess.

The Rochester experience

2009-09-28T06:33:00.001-07:00

Last Saturday me and Vanessa went to Rochester to see Saila and to attend Tracy's 40th birthday. Tracy went to UCA with Vanessa and this was the first time I ever met her, so I was sort of just crashing her party to meet new people.
Rochester was pretty much what I expected it to be; small, very English and this weird combo of something very pretty and something extremely shabby and dirty. Saila's (and her flatmates) place was really nice and comfy. I'm a bit envious of her back garden, I can just imagine having barbeque parties there...
The birthday party was a lot of fun and all the people were really nice. We started the night at Tracy's place and then went to a night club. We drank overly sweet drinks, danced to bad music and had loads of fun. And saw lots of very, very short skirts.

Getting ready. Somehow I had managed to brake both my pants and my jacket, so I had some sowing to do before the party.

Birthday girl in the middle

Safely on a train back to London.

Max 6 minutes

2009-09-25T16:49:00.000-07:00

The day before yesterday we went to an "open-mic" film screening on Brick Lane called Kino London. The idea is that they show unprescreened short films, with only few rules; the maximum lenght of a film is 6 minutes and there must be a Kino London logo at the end of the film. Obviously the level of the films varied a lot, but I have to say that it was one of the most interesting events I've attended in a long time. I've always loved the idea of these open stage type of events but I don't think I've ever been to a one solely dedicated to films. Are there any in Finland?
I think I'm going to like London.
(p.s. Thanks Vanessa for taking us there.)

First day

2009-09-23T00:55:00.000-07:00

We arrived to London yesterday. Having carried bags that weighted in total 34kg, my body is aching all over but I'm happy and exited to be here. We met our flat mate Carlos briefly for the first time last night and he seemed really nice. So it's me, Ilya, Taneli and Carlos living here. We (me and Ilya that is) don't get to move in to our bedroom until at the end of the month 'cos we subletted it to these two Finnish girls for the whole August. So it's a bit crowded at the moment but it's ok. Of course it would be nice to unpack and get settled in immediately but after spending the whole last week just moving our stuff around in Helsinki, I'm just happy to be finally here. Our flat is really neat, all though I think is gonna take a while for me to consider it as my home and not just a friends place I'm visiting. But I guess it goes with everything here; to realise that I'm not here just on holiday but to stay.

Our place.

Vanessa and Ilya on our sofa. Hope it's comfortable, because we'll be sleeping on it tonight...

Living room, with the sofa in the wrong place.

Timo and Julia, who spent the night at our place, and Carlos, our flat mate.

From walls, floors and fridge doors (of apartments lost)

2009-09-20T12:21:00.000-07:00

The best part about moving is that you get to go through all the boxes filled with pictures, old diaries and other memories raising stuff. And now, as the first official post of my blog, I'll share pieces of it with you.

Bye, Bye Helsinki, welcome London.