We had a late breakfast; porridge with homemade strawberry jam and banana. Although the kids have some several times a week, I haven't had porridge myself in ages.
FOUR THINGS RIGHT NOW: SUNDAY
SHOWTIME!
Tonight however it's time for the more usual stuff, on my way a few hours east - we are performing in Imatra at OC bar. So if you are around those hoods (or, as we are in Finland; woods...) , see you there!
3 x BOTTLED SKINCARE
Some natural skincare products I've been relying on lately.
For some reason I think good cleansing toners are hard to find, either they feel too strong or then it feels like they do nothing at all. But I've been happy with Melvita's Bio Escellence micellar toner. Basically you can do your whole cleansing routine with just micellar water -no water needed either - but most of the time, especially if I have had heavier eye make up or so, I wash my face with coconut oil first and then let the toner do the rest.
Castor oil.
I had lash extensions for a long time, and at some point they were poorly glued on, which resulted in my own lashes taking a pretty bad hit. I had them a couple of time later on shorter terms and as much as I love how good it looks and how easy it makes (certain parts of-) life I'm just going try and resist ever putting such on again, as I hate how thin and frumpy my own lashes became. (I think a big part of damage was also the fact that I for shows still needed to put false lashes on, and the glue got stuck to the extensions ripping them off, and then not coming off itself...). I've used castor oil as a natural serum for my lashes for a few months now and, probably partly due to that combined with other factors too, my lashes have grown into their former long self again. I use castor oil on my nails too. It's a quite thick oil without a any smell. Castor oil can be found in many lip sticks and balms too, and is recommended to use for make u removal but for me I feel the oil is too thick and "dry" for that. I have only ever tried this one brand out, which is from Estonia; Green Nature.
Rose hip serum.
When the weather gets colder I find serums help me a lot to avoid dry skin. Or well, in summer I use them too to feed my skin after the days in the sun. I love rose hip serums. Now I'm using a bottle by Balm Balm, last year I had a similar serum by A'kin which was also very recommendable.
I use the serum under my night cream - depending on what my skin needs that can be aloe vera gel, oil or a lotion. In winter when it gets really cold I put shea butter "on top". It makes the face feel very buttered up during the night but in the morning the skin is all soft prepared for wind and other cold nastiness.
As most of you may remember I use natural products only in hair- and skincare, and mainly when it comes to make up and hair styling too. Works for me!
STRIPES, PINAFORE AND AUTUMN COLOURED LEGS
The shirt and stockings are form Lindex, the skirt selfmade and the shoes are my flocked rubber shoes by Melissa.
THE OLD REMINGTON
This one had been long hidden and forgotten, but I remember typing on my parent's yellow typewriter when I was little. And how my mom wrote long Christmas letters on it. Knack knack knack pling. Later my mom got an electric typewriter. A machine which seems totally redundant now. Oh man, the days before everyone had computers... Tipp Ex and stuff.
I need to clean this one up a little bit, and once we eventually get the study in the countryhouse cleaned up a lot and put into use it will be placed there to, well, you know, hang around and look good.
BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY
After wearing lots of long skirts in the late nineties and early 00's I couldn't let any hems longer than mid-calf come near me (unless being a very special dress for a very special occasion; satin and sequin gowns and so on) for many years. But some time ago I let that go and started enjoying longer lengths again. A long dress can be made more everyday by combining it with a basic cardi, boots and something not-too fancy on the head (in which case you know what black piece I reach out for).
The dress is vintage and the rest is old.
STRÖMSÖ
It's a lifestyle show that has aired for quite some time already and is sort of the real life equivalent to what people pin on Pinterest (because the closest I could get to translate the well used Finnish phrase "this didn't go quite like in Strömsö" is probably Pinterest fails :)
Me and the host going all pose-y.
(I snagged the last photo from the show's FB page)
Airs October 6!
POLKA DOTS, WINNERS AND DEALS
I haven't worn a polka dot dress for a very long time. I think I've felt they are too, umm, dotted (well, duh!). But then again with one of those magical black berets you can calm a lot of those dots down I think. There are very few things a black beret won't make better I think - slap that black piece of wool on and you've either toned down or dressed up your outfit. Still, I feel a bit on the verge of being a little bit all dotted up. The dress has a great cut though, and - I'm probably repeating myself here once again but yes - it also stretches. Happy joy! Well anyway, this polka dot dress is from King Louie and the shoes are all soft and comfy, from Stockmann's from last winter.
I've bought my King Louie dresses straight of their site but you can also get some of them, like this one, from Zalando as well. Which brings us to the next subject: the winner's of my Zalando gift card giveaway! (Yes I did a little -as we say in Finnish and Finnish Swedish, aasinsilta, åsnebrygga- "donkey bridge" here ; meaning steering a subject into another, sometimes more sometimes less smoothly :) And so, here we have it: the two happy readers that were drawn randomly among those who commented are Katja R and Liz ! You will receive mail from me soon!
The last part here is made in collaboration with CupoNation.fi, and will hopefully come in handy for my fellow Finns at least; CupoNation has a set of discounts and codes to use at Zalando, like an exclusive 10% off code. They have a lot of deals for many other online stores too. (For possible discount codes in your own country, you can check cuponation.com.)
DESSOUS
A good tip for a natural - and vintage, if you so prefer - silhouette is to opt for a "regular" classic soft bras that, over here, department stores and supermarkets carry, but that can't really be found in the basic hig street ones (like Lindex etc). The ones that have basically been cut, stitched and sewn the same way for decades, with just upgrades in the material. I've never had any luck with the repro bullet bras out there; I've trie some of them out by buying them online but never found any size that felt or looked good on me.
The story here goes that I picked up a powder colored classic Triumph bra that, when showing it to my fellow girls during a burlesque rehearsal they all found it pretty and deliciously retro. Then I showed it to Eddi and he was all "Well yes, umm, it's alright I guess. But? After a slight moment of hesitation he decided to go for it "A little granny-ish perhaps"? Mummo.Well, eye roll, perhaps, whatever man, men. And then the next day I went swimming and there was this elderly madame next to me in the dressing room scooping her meter long bosom in to the exact same bra I was wearing. I had a little moment of silent laughter, because he had been sort of right in his comment...
By time I've found it more and more hard in general to find comfortable and well fitting bras, apart from those few fitted and expensive ones I've sometimes treated myself to. Everything is push-up this and that and unless you get superior quality they will turn discomfortable after a little wear. Along with my pregnancy I quit wearing under wire bras for good, as the discomfort grew to big. (And got to notice that good nursing bras are oh so comfy I didn't want to quit wearing them :) So the granny, as in classic, ones have been serving me well, being comfortable and supportive. Plus, like said, giving the right shape for my blouses and dresses.
THE COW WALK
It's warm as summer still! Dag and I made out daily -when at the countryside - animal walk, this time to look at the big cows a bit further away. It s very exciting.
FAVA FAVORITES
Here's an easy tasty dip/spread that also turns into an awesome pasta sauce that even the kids ate (without asking about every single ingredient and picking their dish apart by fork on their plate). It's also totally vegan but don't say that out loud until after if you have sceptics around the table ;)
Serve with bread, as a side dish or meze, or as dip sauce with vegetable sticks.
It will stay good in the refrigerator for at least three days.
And the best part, if you have some left over; mix it up with a home (or ready-) made tomato pasta sauce and serve with pasta of your choice (I blend it out wht Pirkkas eco basil tomato sauce). Or, just make a batch to use just for pasta, totally acceptable too. It makes the sauce very good and "meaty"!
THE BICYCLE DRESS
Dag also really badly wanted to be in front of the camera.
RANDOM SMALL ITEMS FROM THE PAST FOUND AROUND HOUSES
An old tin can of Bonnie Lee "it pops!"-popcorn that my sister came upon when re-organising the stashes in my grandparents' cabin. My grandmother's shelves were where you could find packages dating back to before you were born. Often with the stuff still in it... My grandparents lived, among may places, in the US in the 50's and the 60's and some bottles and jars where even from back then. Like many adults that, especially over here, lived trough ww2 they didn't really ever throw anything away.
My father-in-law brought me this old coca cola bottle that popped up from the dirt when he was harvesting a field. The text is printed on the glass and not the label. Again, funny to think someone had his or hers cola in a hot day and tossed the bottle away to then be found some thirty-fortyyears later.
Also, funny how you don't think something that happened in the eighties would be that long ago, but is already three decades away. And the oh-so-hyped year 2k is thirteen years ago... When I was a kid the fifties was that thirty-years-ago-time. I mindfuck myself by thinking about year and time like that sometimes. For example, when I was born Woodstock and the walk on the moon was twelve years ago, which not that much. Just a few years before Eddi was born. And that was the sixties. Stuff that happened in the sixties is about fifty years ago. (And that's when I go oh my.)
RED CROSS DONATION / THS FIRST WORL BAD CONCIOUSNESS
I deliberately choose to leave out discussions and any stronger opinions in here - I have enough of them in real life - and focus on blogging about the lighter, nicer and more inspirational things. Plus I really try to avoid too long texts too, for many reasons. However, blogging about a dress after a set of bad news might work like neutralisation, calming it down, but mainly it makes me leave it be for another time.
My mind is often filled with so called first world guilt - I get a bad consciousness for a lot of things, big and small: I feel I don't read as much as I would want to but then again spend too much on the internet, I'm probably not as ecologic in many everyday choices as I could be if I really tried, I don't have the time to visit my grandparents enough, to name a few, and even the thing in where I contribute to make at least a little difference (and that should also allow me to feel a bit better about myself - because in the end there are very few good deeds we do that in some ways are not also selfish); sponsoring the boy in India, is giving me a bad consciousness: I never have the time to write him any letters. Argh. And then I, as many others, have issues with closets overflowing but still being in need of that one pair of perfect black heels... a fact that I remind myself of with a grin of emotional stress. (That being what the "first world club" is about, a sarcastic finger pointing at myself /ourselves I sometimes joke about- it's for heaven's sake not about "being smug about living in the first world," as one reader chose to see it. Well, the way a person reads certain things may say more about the person than the text itself...) Not saying that all of our issues and problems are totally unjustified; not all things in this world can be compared. Just because we don't have to walk ten kilometres to get water everyday or have to leave our families to work in another country to support them or beg on the streets doesn't mean we can't complain when the city decides to put down a bus line and our trip to work doubles in time. For example. But it's good to reflect about this every now and then, different lives, different situations, how most of us reading this blog have it good in many ways and on many levels. One would think everybody reflects on this, but I have met a lot of people in my life, and not everybody do, or, some see things very differently.
It's said that people are alike, everywhere. And it's true. But our lives can be very different. Many years ago I was on a long trip in a country far away and we were eating by a street hut in a small town. There were lots of street kids begging next to us, dragging our sleeves, before being hushed away by the hut keeper. The situation made me feel bad, uncomfortable, in different ways. One person among us said it was rude of the kids not to wait with their begging until after we were finished with our meals. Manners, you know, eh? That made me crazy. "Come on, you can't feed the whole country" they said. No of course not. And I was not there to to saving anyone, trying to go all Jesus handing out dollars as a, although on a student budget, like a rich wordsaving westerner hippie, I was "just travelling". But isn't even one meal for one person is better than no meal at all? Yes. Mother Amma, for example, has said - as part of a longer quote- that every person should be able to have at least one day, when she does not go to sleep hungry. Not everyone will have that day. And I just didn't buy that plate. When we were leaving a young man around the same age as I came to our tables and pointed at our plates, scraping what was left of the rice into a plastic bag in his hand. He had another bag with glue. And that's when it struck me, we differ, our lives, there is no way I could ever really understand what his life was like. Not that you have travel half around the globe to realise this either, as I've seen later on elsewhere as well. (Why didn't I buy that cup with small shabby apples from that old lady by the side of the road in a country not that far away from here, aaaaah! Beause I did not want apples just then? Well, this is sliding off topic, but I've thought about these occasions a lot.)
I've always believed that if you can help others if only a little bit you should, another thing you'd think (or, hope) most other people believe too. And by this I don't mean sharing linked articles on Facebook and then feeling like you've done your part of good in the world. In the case of charity, it's either (or both, given the opportunity) time or money. If you don't have the chance to give your time and do actual, concrete work, you can always support a cause in a monetary way. (Yes, somebody going to say the money does not go where it should, or that it prevents countries from doing things themselves, perhaps, but not in all cases. You can check up on any legit charity, to see how they are organised and how funds are used. Plus, especially with catastrophe funds, like the Red Cross' , helps is offered when a community, nation itself cannot take care of a situation, for example.)
I've supported a handful of charities monthly for about a decade. After Dag was born and I changed my work pattern my income decreased with some 70%, and I thought about what to do with the monthly monetary aid I had going out from my bank account, to cut them off. I decided to keep them, even though they now made up quit a big part of my income. I'm not writing this to collect any good karma-points from the internet, but just to tell that in the end - so far at least- it did not take that much to leave some things out and be able to keep up my donations. Of course my lifestyle is a bit different now, more affordable, spending more time at home, no daily work lunches out and so on, but that combined wuth with a little more planning (and a little more work) I have been able to manage keeping my support.
So, I managed to write a little novel here anyway, even though I intended to keep it short and in my usual matter cut some text away... longer but still brief texts about serious matters on the internet can easily come off a bit melodramatic, one of the reasons I prefer to leave them to elsewhere. (And because this is the internet someone is going to give me shit for something said here anyway.)
But, today, after my daily news intake seeing pictures of dead Syrian toddlers and reading a very depressing article bout the situation in the Central African Republic plus also the updates from closeguantanamo.org I thought I'd skip the apple-pie blogging. And post about my Red Cross fundraising box instead! (See, we got to the point here in the end.)
I had a similar box last year; I collected fifteen euros.
From one donor (me, I thought the zero was so sad).
My intentions here are not to make anyone feel bad or obliged, and certainly not to raise discussion, just to raise money. Think about it; if everyone who comes upon this post would donate one euro we would raise quite much.
You can donate from anywhere. Or, check out and choose to donate to your local Red Cross. For example.
EVENING
And a carnation bud that fell off a bigger bouquet made it into bloom.
Yes, it is ineed amazing how much stuff you can drop into a watering can...
We'll basically only come here in the weekends now and I pretty much have every weekend booked (shows and such) until November (it'll be a lot of back-and-forth coming up, uh) so these will just get to take care of themselves from now on.
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