Monday 30 April 2012

YES PLEASE


I don't need any of the stuff above.
But that still does not mean they wouldn't be nice to have, you know.
One could throw in a couple of bangles more, in rose pink and spring green.

Honey Dress from Trashy Diva and PomPom peep toe from Minna Parikka.


Saturday 28 April 2012

SELF PORTRAIT

Very preggo dance teacher. At our own training studio Raspberry Fields Forever earlier today, before the bachelorette workshop I held. They are usually so much fun to do because all the girls (OK, women I guess) are always, or in most cases at least,  so happy and enthusiastic about everything, it also puts me in a good mood!

Before the workshop I had a chat on the radio about burlesque, you can listen to it HERE (in Swedish. I'm on about 1:15-1:45).

Friday 27 April 2012

FOUR THINGS RIGHT NOW : WORKING


This week has been full of stuff I work on and things I need to do. Plus my phone has been ringing constantly. Lots of people want lots of stuff. Phew.

Right now I'm multitasking with the following:


A big bunch of "training tassels" for a bachelorette workshop I'm hosting tomorow.
( -> Btw, before that I'll be at radio Yle Vega, sometimes after 11:am if you want to listen)



Drawing on a poster with summer dresses and dancing. I was stuck with this for three days and could not get one single line drawn.


Dreaming about turning this in to a dress, hopefully before May 1st. But I have my doubts. Schedually.


Most of all I should clean! And organize. I've been planning that for the two weeks Eddi has been gone. So far, not going so good.
So here's a pic of a nice pair of shoes instead!

Wednesday 25 April 2012

BLUE, BLACK AND MINT GREEN



Well you pretty much have it there in the headline already.


The maternity dress is new, custom made for me by Senja at Belle Modeste, but we can look more at the dress later. I should be able to wear it without that big ball in front of me too.

And hey, finally, dry and warm enough for thin stockings and pumps outside!
(A woman on the street asked me how I can wear heels although heavily pregnant. My answer is: easily - and well thank you very much now mind your own f'ing business. Didn't say that last part though. But, these low-to mid steady heels are actually much more comfier for me than flat ballerinas. In case any of you were wondering too. Tudeliduu!)

((Oh, and in case you were wondering about the rest; the bag and jacket are vintage, scarf an old H&M one, shoes Vagabond and turban Manoush. It recently joined my wardrobe; a very belated Christmas gift from my friend K :) But you knew most of those from before already. The shoe story at least, right? ))

Tuesday 24 April 2012

SMOOTHIE OF THE DAY


Blueberry-soy smoothie. Or; milkshake:
one pear, about 100g of frozen blueberries, soy milk.

Now I'm off to the post office sending some items away, then to the charity shop giving the rest away and then granny-sitting; my grandmother has had an operation and my mom is away so my sisters are taking turns helping her out.

Monday 23 April 2012

OUT OF THE BOX AND BACK IN THERE AGAIN

As many ladies (supposedly) have, I too have a lot of my closet space being occupied by The Box (and also, The Ikea Bag). You know, the box where old and not-so-old-but-unwanted clothes go to die. Although the official function of the contents in  The Box is to "sell them online or on the flea market". I haven't been to the flea market in ages, really, years. Last time I went it was summer and I sold at the big outdoor flea market. I had ironed every single piece I sold and about half an hour after the market opened  the rain started pouring down, everything got wet and wrinkly and some stuff molded in boxes and plastic bags while waiting for me to unpack them (needles to say, the motivation for that was low). Now I had decided that most of the content in The Box will just be donated to charity, just to get rid of it. But I actually ended up giving it one shot at a thrift market yesterday.
I have so much stuff it's actually pretty scary. And, from reading other blogs, I know I'm not alone.
(To my defense -if such a one is needed, one can always blame society - I do donate  a lot more money each month to charity than I put on clothing.)

You know another thing about those bags and boxes of forgotten stuff? Sometimes when I take it down from the cupboard to add something in it I notice old pieces that are "actually pretty nice" and take them back out. Usually to be put back in the next time the box comes out. Perpetuum mobile.

But now, The Box is actually gone! I have space in my closet again! What I did not sell I'm taking to the charity store this week. (You know, those kiddos that made my chain store cardigans can soon be wearing them themselves! The circle closes). The good stuff though to be saved for The Freelancer's Sales Blog though.

Perhaps inspired by the old stuff I yesterday dressed in a way I feel I haven't dressed for years. You know, style changes back and forth and in new directions constantly, or at least varies, without noticing it oneself (unless you are a teenager and go drastically from one thing to another. But now I'm talking about personal style and not teenage phazes). I'm more more casual and less puffy sleeves and bows nowadays.


This blouse has been close to entering The Box many times but as it actually is quite comfy it has been spared. It's also quite loos so it now serves as a maternity blouse.

But the shoes. Remember these wedges? The altered bowed circus wedges!
They were ready to go already as I never really wore them for some reason but while I was packing for the flea market I noticed they are actually pretty cute, and also, should work as maternity shoes. So they made a leap from The Box onto my feet. At the market I changed my mind again and put them on the table to sell them (and put a pair of fifties suede low heels away from the table and on to my feet instead) only to change my mind and put them back on.

But then I remembered why they were in The Box in the first place.
They are too big for me!

(So they will be up for sale soon over at that other blog of mine)

You do know this whole post is just one big first world issue.
Here are some more first world issues for you:
1, 2, 3

Saturday 21 April 2012

FOR THE BABY (OR, FOR ME)


You know the feeling when you've wanted something but were too slow and then and can't get it because it's not being sold anymore? But then you still manage to get a hold of it (or something jsut as good) and you almost feel proud of yourself?


I wanted these light blue gingham storage coffins for my extra clothing (and also, with a future baby in mind) after spotting them in Etola (home ware store) over a year ago.  And I thoght about it a lot but before I ever got to it they were sold out. It really bugged me but some time ago I however managed to find a few small ones left over in the back of a shelf! Then I took turns in the other Etola-stores to find more - and I found a last huge one too! They'll be for the baby's stuff.
(But right now the big one is full of MY stuff anyways; summer clothing and dresses I don't wear anymore but still do not want to get rid off* )


And don't go all "oh you're having a boy!" just because they're blue :)
As I said I wanted these before the baby already...

Otherwise I haven't really bought anything for The Baby yet, mostly because
1. It feels strange buying clothing for someone I haven't met
2. People will bring the baby lots of stuff anyway
3. Babies grow quite fast and this one will be born in summer so no need for a lot of size 52 items...
and most of all
4. All expecting mothers in Finland get a package with a lot of basic items for a newborn; bodies, tops, overalls, bonnets, lotions etc. It's pretty great!

Of course we'll need to get some other practical stuff like strollers, a bed etc. But while I know some people get all that halfway trough pregnancy already we haven't had the time nor hurry with it yet. But now with two months left and me off work I can start preparing in more practical ways.


However, I actually have some baby stuff to put in the boxes now - I bought two baby bodies as I almost felt obliged to get something and came across some cute prints.


You can never go wrong with anchors or monkeys. Monkeys!



*) Those I however am getting rid of can soon be found on my sales blog, I put some things up already. And, tomorrow -Sunday - K and I will be selling on Vanha's flea market from nine 'til three! Mostly plain stuff but I have some goodies along there too! Like these jackets here: 1,2,3 or this dress for example: 4 !

Friday 20 April 2012

THE BOOK WINNERS!



It's been ages since I posted about the giveaway for either Wearable Vintage fashion or Secondhand & Vintage London, I know! I've had some techincal difficulties actually. But, now it is time to put your minds at ease and reveal the lucky ones -we will actually have two winners here now, one for each book!

After counting comments here and there and separating them according to which book you wished for random.org helped to pick out:
Marika for Wearable Vintage Fashion
and
Piia for Secondhand & Vintage London. She actually happens to be on her way to London so it should come in handy (and no, she did not win becuase of that, but sometimes true randomness strikes a chord :)

You ladies will both get emails from me soon!

Thursday 19 April 2012

BEATNIK-BELLY

 'Going all beatnik' is a just fancier way of saying...

...that I've basically been out on town in what some people consider underwear.  Muahaha.

 To complete the look, add artsy jacket.


 Which also happens to be one of few (one of two actually) I can close for the moment.


You know when I look down on myself it doesn't look that big, the belly, nor does the reflection in windows or so out on town. But then when I see photos of myself and go all wtf? Haha, hello hugie! And see, even Lulu has to stare.

Tuesday 17 April 2012

JOHN & MARY




I totally love the movie Jon & Mary with Dustin Hoffman and Mia Farrow from 1969.
If you manage to find it somewhere out there on the web-or elsewhere- then see it!

Many many years ago I stumbled across it half way in on TV and it always bugged me not seeing it completely nor knowing which movie it was.At some point some time later I managed to see the whole movie (I had probably just learned to google and type 'farrow+hoffman+movie' or so to find the name... I think I managed to rent it or so then). It's not considered a great movie per se, but I like the atmosphere and dialogue in it.  Now all of this this was a long time ago (maybe even the in the nineties), but I remembered thinking back then that it was funny that people in an "old movie" could talk and act just like we do today. Considered somewhat daring and controversial back when it was made (they have had casual sex already before the movie has started-oh my) although for today it is pretty laid back.

Sunday 15 April 2012

BEDSIDE, ON WHEELS


 I've changed those small vintage side tables we had as night tables to trollies instead.

Although the tables looked nice, they  didn't have a lot of surface and instead of looking like they should (like this: here, and here -yes, some of hte books are the same. But I read others inbetween instead!)...

...they had been a mess lately. In fact, it's been quite messy at everywhere home the whole winter as I have had no extra time for anything and also have been rather tired, so anything that will get me more organized and leave me more floor space is welcome.


Now I have three levels for my things to store on less floor space than before! Hopefully they'll keep in order... As the trolley is easily moveable I can now use the drawers under the bed with less effort than before.


I got Eddi one too. I originally intended the trollies for our kitchen and for the countryhouse kitchen but then it struck me they had a more important task to fill. (The cat lamp does not really sit well on the trolley, but I have other plans for it already. For the baby. Somewhere.)


The metallic trolley (which btw is MINTGREEN (whoah!, in case you did not notice :) is from ikea. I was stalking their site every day after spotting it in a interior magazine, until I saw they were available in the store and then rushed over. I had started seeing the trolley in lots of interior blogs the days before and had to hurry before those bitches went and bought up my trollies!

I am now on a quest to organize and tidy a lot in the house before the baby comes. One thing is to make more space in the bedroom, to fit the baby bed... I will thus exchange the floor lamp to a vintage lamp that will hang from the wall above the bed; we have the lamp already waiting to be brought into town from the country house.  But more on that later.

Saturday 14 April 2012

FOUR THINGS RIGHT NOW: BABY MAG, FLOWERS AND LOCKS



There's an interview with me and Eddi in the latest number of Vauva-lehti. That would be 'Baby mag'. (Which, although I am having a baby, won't become one of my daily reads. Too much baby stuff :) The article is about living in a family where the other partner has children from before, and now bringing a mutual child into it.



My youngest sister came over once again to have her hair and face done for a ball she's going to tonight.



And since I did not succeed in letting my pelargoniums rest properly over winter (they died. Or, I killed them or something. Should've just kept them as normal instead of drying them out, sniff. The only one that survived was the one I kept normally by the window...) I bought and planted new ones instead.



I don't actually have any fourth thing for you so here's another snap of the hair do and make up. It's like my Barbie make up only a little less; just a glittery eye liner above the black one. The hair on the crown is rolled into standing pin curls, pulled back in front by combs. The hair in the back is twisted like a french twist, but the ends are not tucked under the twist but rolled into more flat pin curls. She'll wear a long black gown with this.


 Well, Eddi went off for two weeks on some geology resarch thing to Bolivia and now the belly + I are off to a Titanic-themed dinner at my parents house.
Aaaand it just started snowing! How shitty is that?


Thursday 12 April 2012

STRIPES, MOOMIN AND THE SIXTIES


I've been wearing a lot of sixties styled dresses lately. That's because they are cut in a way to fit my belly. 

I don't have an urge to absolutely have to dress according to a decade from the past, and now that a fifties waist is out of the question it's not like I have to jump on to the next vintage period available. No, of course not. (My sister said, when I in the beginning of pregnancy said there seemed to be quite little interesting maternity wear out there, "maybe now you can dress like normal people for a while". Hehe.) So, I don't feel obliged to dress in a certain way; that would be ridiculous. But I like to play around with different styles and be inspired by the aesthetics of those times I find inspiring. And now with the belly it's been a lot of the sixties!


This dress however is new. From Marimekko. It's meant to be worn all buttoned up, but that's way too hipster for me. It makes me feel a bit like a Moomin character! Which is a fun change. Who wouldn't want to be one, at least every once in a while?


It's also funny how normal I can look from the back and front, but enormous from the side!
Btw apparently most of my extra kilos (which are something closer to 15 right now. Quite much, even though I haven't been eating any more than usual at all, and I eat rather healthy by default. So the kilos don't bother me, due to that.) have gone to my legs! I noticed that some time ago in the mirror... Hope I can make them go away from there later then too...


But anyway, back to the look: I like to do over stylized sixties inspired make up and hair styles, although they have only been for special occasions, like shooting or parties. The same goes for today; the reason for my look was not just playing around; we shot a promo video for our jazz project that will happen next winter. (You may remember the one that we took promo shots from earlier this year.)


The beehive is done by rolling a big wig (that happens to be just the same as my own colour) into a bun on the top of my head, securing it with a hairnet and pins. You've heard the same story before. The same can be done with clip-on extensions, or if your hair si long enough, by back combing your own hair and using tulle, extensions or bump-its and a rat to fill it up. I say go for the extra hair though.


By making this a bit more subtle it would make a nice every day look - using a slightly smaller piece of hair for a less huge bun, going a little easier on the make up; the lines a little thinner, the black a little less strong. (For the look, in addition to eye liner, draw a line above the socket of your eye and one line under your lower lashes. And a whole lot more, but that's the basic.) I'm on the look-out for a nice attachable ponytail that could be used for smaller versions of up do's like this, but it's hard to get the right shade and know about the quality of the locks when shopping online.

If interested, my dress (or, tunic)  is this season's Marimekko, kitten heels from a local shoe store and both eye shadow and lipstick from Lime Crime (called "Troubadour" and "Great pink planet").

Wednesday 11 April 2012

I'VE LOADED MY LAST SHIP SO FAR

When I started in the harbour we younger ones had this thing of saying "if I'm still here when I'm thirty..." and then adding some thing sad after that as it just seemed so unlikely. Ha ha! But when I was in my early twenties I really would not have thought I'd stay there for so long.


Neither would I have thought I'd be there working in the third trimester of my pregnancy... Really, not! 
I always kind of thought I'd get off at four months already, one way or another. But it wasn't that easy to get things organized in the end.
Today however I had yet another meeting with the company's physician and am now on sick leave until my maternity leave starts later in spring!

Believe me, it will be so nice with some time off to be able to take it easy before the baby comes.

But it will also feel weird - although I've had other jobs and been away abroad in between I've still been in the habour since I was nineteen! I'll miss it. Every now and then.


My work wear the last months... someone else's big old pants plus suspenders to keep them up as I was not able to close them. One of my colleagues thought I looked so funny he brought me a clown nose :)

 I'm forever nineteen years old on my ID card.

SMOOTHIE OF THE DAY

Blueberry-sourmilk smoothie made of frozen berries, honey and sour milk (buttermilk). It's good!

Tuesday 10 April 2012

LET THERE BE LIGHT!

I've gone bazookas over the thought of renovating and decorating our house in the countryside. I just keep thinking about it all the time; kitchen, tiles, wallpaper, furniture. I'm the kind of person who want's certain (note - certain only, as some things may linger on forever...) things done immediately. and I'm very inpatient when it comes to renovating as everything takes such a long time; orders, deliveries, finding the craftsmen, getting it done.
So in the meantime, while waiting to actually be able to start,  I've just been pre-decorating the house isntead; buying a lot of old furniture.

I discovered the online sites of some auction houses,  like Bukowsiks Market, and now I have this urge to check back daily for new additions ( I should propably try to ban that site on my computer, it gets very dangerous. And expensive. The house is only so big,  I can't try to get every nice antique sofa I see to fit there...) . Bear in mind that if you win a bidding on the site you have to pay a 22 percent commission to Bukowskis, so the price can get pretty high in the end.


Well, among some other things I've snapped up a couple of old lamps from there. As said, our house is large but there were surprisingly little lights in there; I've had -and still have- a lot of corners to fill.



The first one I got as quite the bargain (considering from where I bought it, not complarable to flea market finds of course...); I paid a bit over 40 euros fo rit. It's a Chinese porcelain lamp from the late 19th century, although I the shade is from a few decades later.



And you know what? I've always wanted a three-arm floor lamp like this one! I just haven't been able to spot one anywhere over here before.


I ended up paying a ridiculously high price for this one as some wanker kept on rising the maximum bid, but I got it, it's mine now!




Sunday 8 April 2012

LAST WEEKEND IN MILAN



Last weekend I was in Milan, as you know.




 It was very warm and springy.
I had a huge dilemma with weather to bring my camera and lenses (as in fit it in my luggage for the plane) or not or just rely on my iPhone, as I still had an itch that I might not take that many pics.
Well, I took it with me. And I hardly took any pics in the end :P

Another thing I didn't do was buy shoes! Which is almost a crime considering al the nice heels there were to be found (the others bought several pairs, sniff. But I alwyas become so sensible abroad and seldom shop. Plus my feet were aching and all that blah. And I was betweem sizes. Sniff again). 

 But one thing I did do was eat a lot of gelato instead! Oh yes.




But we didn't head over there for sights or shopping; most of our time was spent at a theatre as we were there performing! I only snapped some pictures from the first night though, as I apparently like to drag my camera along in vain... Good thing there are others snapping great shots  instead.


Skeletons in progress! 
Btw those lashes in the pic are not for the upper lashes, nooooh, way too tiny! They go beneath the eye :)

Boooh!


Scary skeletons dressed in red after the first show.