HA-HA-HALLOWEEN NAILS!

A video posted by turrrbocherry (@turrrbocherry)

Here's a little silly instagram video of this month's manicure that I forced my dear husband to film.
Note that is has extra zombie-moster sound effects in the background improvised by my two-year old son. Family project!

I have tried out a couple of different shades of a colour changing gel polish this fall (not at home, at my salon) and I am excited like a child about how my nails shift in hues and colour (darker when cold and lighter/brighter when warm)! Variation for the win. This manicure in honour of Halloween goes from a sparkly red to a sparkly purplish-black.

Oh, and,  not to forget: Happy Halloween!

SAKURA AND GOLD-FRENCH MANICURE, TAUNUS AND APPLE BLOSSOM BUDS

Well, what the headline said, no more no less.

FOUR THINGS RIGHT NOW: THE FIRST EVENING OF MAY

Came home from celebrations in town. From our part the celebrations were rather minor again; the only bottle I had with me was one with hand disinfectant...

 There was a seagull hanging out on our buildings skylight window, which is just outside our door.

I painted my toe nails in summer mode, although it's not really sandal weather here yet. (And started thinking that when looked at for a while, feet kind of look like odd hands with too short fingers.)

Then it was time for  a big bowl of toffee ice cream with strawberries. And some Don Draper.

THE BEST BITES

If you never got around making your own raw goodies or if you have not tasted a lot of them, you may find the ingredient list somewhat monotonous: dates and nuts, nuts and dates. You might think there can only be so many combos of said main ingredients. But the thing is you can create an endless amount of different tastes, depending on what you choose to add along. If you think about it, a regular cake also (mainly) has the same base; eggs and flour and sugar and it's the rest that then defines it.

These yummy snack-cubes turned into my favourite for the moment! Inspired by a bar at the health store with vanilla and berries, mine also has cocoa and hemp seeds in them. The berries give a nice sour taste  and hemp seeds of course contains lots of nice fatty acids and proteins and what nots, you name it.

You will need:
Sunflower seeds, cashews and hazelnuts. About the same amount of each.
Real vanilla
Coconut oil (can be left out, or changed to a small amount of cocoa butter)
Raw cocoa powder, regular works just as well (this is also optional if you make a non-choco version)
Dried soft dates
Dried berries of your choice
Hemp seeds

As usual the amounts are a little so-so. Some people like their bars sweeter and stickier, some more dry and some more oily. I like mine perfect. Hehe. This is mostly for an idea of what to blend in that you can then use to make your own version of. As my usual way of doing thins, I just pour in and measure with the eye. I will however try and mention how much I used of everything for those of you less adventurous out there.

I mixed about 100grams of sunflower seeds and hazelnuts and a little more cashews in a mixer to a semi smooth texture. Add ground vanilla according to your own taste preferences along, same goes for  the cocoa powder. I put in some 3 tbs.

I scoop in about a tablespoon of room temperatured (=soft) coconut oil. Someone will always complain about the use of coconut oil in everything, and you can leave it out if you want to, although this is a good way to incorporate this healthy oil in your diet, plus it gives a nice add to the consistence of the mix. You may change it to a little but of melted cocoa butter or melted raw chocolate instead.

Then add the dates one by one until the texture feels nice and firm. I used about half of those cardboard boxes of dates. (Btw If you make a big batch like I did of 300grams of nuts you might have to divide the batch in two at this point so that your mixer won't overheat).

Finally add some dried berries and a handful or two of hemp seeds to the mix - you can work the in by hand. I had a mix of dried cranberries, cherries, blueberries and goji berries  (put in about 100g), but pretty much anything will do. Put the dough on a working surface, flatten it out and cut into cubes (or bars).



Yum yum, enjoy!
Store them refrigerated and well sealed.

NAILS x 4

Four of my latest manicures. Pink with accent glitter, french in pink with gold tips, mint green with gold tips, shimmering peach. Nails are fun, now that I'm on to them.

I remember a funny thing from the harbour some years back. Can't recall if it was me or my sister who had some temporary glue-on nails with a french manicure on, and one of the guys asked "is that a French manicure?". There was a deep silence where all the other guys stared at hime and he said "I probably should not have known that much". Oh my, the harbour years, sometimes I miss them quite a lot. But was I there now my long fancy nails would suffer...

A POST ABOUT NAILS

I've never been a "nail person". Or so I thought. And by that I mean one that gets her nails done somewhere with fancy manicures, checks out nail pics on the web and so on. No glitter for me. I've always love painting ny nails though (even if I've been rather conservative with my color choices the last decade - red, the occasional pink and coral, then red and red and another red...). But I've never managed to keep them long for long, and that goes way back.

You may recall me saying that I played the piano for almost twenty years. (Mainly classical, if you wonder, later when I was at a high school for music also jazz etc. My first ever job was actually being a piano teacher for one graders :) Well, to be able to play well you can't really have long nails as they affect your touch on the keys. My piano teacher at the institute was a woman, and she would spot it right away if my nails were too long. When upgrading in my later teens I got new teacher who was a man and he did't quite realise what the problem was the times I had vainly let the nails grow; he'd just wonder why something was a bit wrong when I played...

My first year of studies after school was studies in painting at an art school which was a messy thing of preparing canvases and mixing oils and thinners and so on and thus no place for well done manicures - not to mention I was quite the art boho hippie at that time too, and having fancy nails was kind of a faux pas in the goa circles during the late nineties and early 00's. Haha, oh my, thinking of those days. At the same time I started working in the harbour where most of you know I was for more than a decade. And whenever I managed to do something nice with those nails of mine some god damn IMO-sign fastening on a truck or a box I had to carry or whatever work stuff there was was sure to break at least one of them (nails) and ruining the whole thing, the way it goes.

But although sometimes secretly jealous of all fancy nails I never got myself around to really go hav'em done as I wasn't a nail person you know (although I once bought a Groupon deal for myself to use at a salon but it expired. And one other time I got a gift card for a manicure as a present but it also expired. Sorry. I am like that. Don't give me gift cards unless you also force an appointment on me! Sorry again for all other expired ones too.). But, this summer I thought f u c k i t and got them done and HA! On some levels of life that have little impact on the way of the  universe it did make me happier. And life easier, at least from a vain point of view. I can do the dishes and laundry and gardening and what not and there they are still shiny and happy. And I don't have to worry about them being ugly with halt-gone polish either when performing. In certain parts of this life it's a 'phew'.

I started out rather gently from choosing calm classy colours (and having trouble using my phone with my new long nails) to go demanding "they need to be totally corny and crazy!!" by now. And well, if I don't find even find myself doing the occasional nail-pic search on google nowadays and have planned some styles for the next versions to come, hehe. It's kind of fun. Always something to keep me occupied with in my wait for spring. Three styles to go and then it's hello no-mitten weather again!

Umm, well, alright. So that was a story about nails and here are some manicures I've had the past months. Some of you will care while others will not, but here you go anyway:

Christmas bling. And those were pink half moons at the top of this post.

Sparkly for the new year. I added the floral water transfers myself.

French with a little lace. Also a transfer. They are rather genius.
I'll get back to those here at some point.

Barbie nails with tiny bling on the side.

Obviously, they will have to be mint green at some point.

FOUR THINGS RIGHT NOW - GLITTER AND SUCH

Started taking out some Christmas decorations - gotta glitz things up. (Yes, the pom-poms are making a comeback to delight our two neighbours and the occasional mailman at the door!) Quite funny, Lulu decided her resting place for tonight was next to the lit up soon-to-be balcony lights.


Managed to go via the post office to pick up a parcel with some skin care products I'd run out of just just in time for our sauna night. I got myself some Black African soap and shea butter from Akoma, all natural, Fair Trade and ecological. Can be used for everything on everyone!

Most old buildings have a shared sauna (in newer flats they usually build them in each apartment, aslo in small ones), and our shift is every Tuesday night. We seldom make it, but it's just  a few coins per months so it's not the end of the world. Tonight however I did. And I just grab my can of coconut oil and the black liquid soap and I'm good to go; that's all I need for far body and hair. Easy.

Eddi is with the boys at the farm with the lambs for the evening so I had a late dinner by myself, a bucket of salad and the newest interior mag (lots of grey and white and veneer in this one too...)


I didn't go out to the farm tonight because I had my nails done. I wanted them Christmas crazy. So they got glitter and Christmas roses and all. Originally I had thought of something a bit different with other kind of glitter and roses and such but I've noticed there is always this small language barrier at the salon. Well, they're fun (even though monsieur thought they look "a bit messy")! And they are very Mistle Tease, and that's what they are for.

And oh did I say Mistle Tease? Well why yes, and go get your tickets in time because they are -wohoo- selling rather well!

THE FIRST TO THE TWENTIETH

Sometimes I tend to be a little over-employed and -occupied and thus spend rather little time with my dear old friend Internet (or Nemesis, depends in how you relate to the Hello-three-o-clock-am-I-should-work--or-at-least-sleep-not-look-at-the-most-hilarious-faces-in-places-and-more-internet...). Breaks in blogging happen every now and then but when I'm really busy you can see it in my Instagram feed which becomes less frequent; sometimes even my smartphone gets something of a short vacation. (Or then not. Compare to ten ears back when I did not check my mail daily and not certainly via my phone. Or even five. Quite the change already there too).

well,, here's some of what I've been up to lately, as seen in Instagram.

Been in Turku.

For Eddi's PhD thesis he is defending here behind a flower pot.

And then got to take out my long velvet dress for his dinner. 

Then he was off to Bolivia for two weeks working and Dag and I were by ourselves.

Went back and forth from the city to the farm a couple of times. Hung lanterns in the tree in the yard over there.

Got a new manicure. The next one I'm going to do will be totally crazy because: Mistle Tease.

Sew lots of blingy thingies. 

 Hanged around with some samba queens.

Went on some adventures with Dag and his animals.

Made myself various versions of pink smoothies. 

And pink breakfasts.

And then Eddi came home and Dag got a tiny little mini poncho which he has been walking happily around in.

RASPBERRY, MELON AND PEAR SORBET

I have a sorbet colored summer dress that I got when it was still snow on the ground, and that I had been waiting to wear with these exact shoes and this bag for a long time already. Sometimes you get these combos in your head you just want to try out but can't right away.

 I made a coral flush for my nails to go along.

And put on some very coral lipstick.

The dress is Ivana Helsinki and the lipstick and milk blur eyeliner from Lime Crime.

THE ONCE-EVERY-EIGHT-YEARS-DRESS

I'm continuing with my quest to dig in the depths of my wardrobe wear as much as possible during the summer: This dress is my grand-aunt's old and I have had it for a very long time. I used it last time one day during 2008 and the time before -the first time- when I graduated from the 9th grade ( I remember having had big curls in my hair from curlers and wearing those bonzo platform sandals of the late nineties, uh, with it); which means I've used it once every eight years so far. So yes, it was a fair idea to let it out in the sun again.


It's, ahem, rather short and I've felt it's not really me because of that but then again what the heck; why not! I wore it with black hotpants underneath for those just-in-case moments. And painted myself some candy nails to go along.

SUDDEN MATCH

I have a belt that happens to be the exact same color as my nail polish.

The nail color is Kure Bazar's natural nail polish, the belt is vintage. It's a strange color that in one way is a bit off, but still works surprisingly well with a lot of stuff. A very useful greenish shade of nothingness.

This belt was originally part of a skirt that no longer is, and now serves as help for many of my dresses and skirts that are without or with a lost belt. The skirt it belonged to was one of my grandmother's old A-line skirts that had white stitching, big pockets (!!!) and a metal zip in the back. I totally ruined it in my younger days by cutting it of at the top, making it low waisted. I don't know what I was thinking. Or, I do; it was the late nineties and everything had to hang on the hips. I think it's alright to alter vintage to make an item more wearable (and I wore the skirt low waisted a lot aroudn the turn of the millenium) but it does demand a thought or two; not to take the whole idea of the garment away. My heart bleeds not only a little but a lot thinking about that poor skirt. Damn it young me, damn it!

PINK FLUSH

I'm rather boring when it comes to ever doing anything more to may nails than painting them in a few different shades of red, sometimes perhaps pink or coral. A few days ago I spotted a video where someone painted her nails in five descending shades of nude and got inspired to do something similar with the polishes I had at home. Needless to say, I don't have five shades of matching beige-ish polish, so I went for a pink version. Fun.

SHANGHAI

My black floral dress has something of a cheongsam feel over it, which brings my thoughts to warm humid colonial nights, paper lanterns and the early thirties.


And behold, my decade long fear of long hems in day time use is over (after my arty-boho-hippie years; I had an overload back then) - it feels rather great on! Comfy and flowing.Wooh-yey! Must get some more. Also this dress is the kind of non-sweaty polyester, which is a plus.

I wore the dress with heels when inside but with a pair of low lace up boots and my beret for outside which actually felt rather casual. The dress is vintage seventies, from Hoochie Mama Jane.
The silk hair flower was a gift from Anastasia last year and the hair do a quick five minute one rescue; I had an oil mask in that did not quite wash out on the first try. And if someone want's to know the nail polish is Kure Bazaar's shade macaroon and lipstick Zuii's Sugarplum, both natural and organic.