Muuttorumbaa

Viime päivinä kukkakuvia on photobombannut mm. muuttolaatikkoa odottavat lautaset ja sohvan tilalle on ilmestynyt kasa tauluja.

Huomenna on oikein teho-muuttopäivä kun muuttoja tehdään jopa kaksin kappalein, joskaan itse en muuta kyllä yhtään mihinkään. Kämpiltäni lähtee yhden tyypin kamat veke heti aamusta ja iltapäivästä kadulle kurvaa jo seuraava paku uuden muuttokuorman kanssa. Yksi ulos, toinen sisään - talossa vaihtuu asukkaat, mutta minä olen ja pysyn. Tavaroita on pakkailtu jo viikon verran ja kamaa on karsittu, myyty ja kierrätetty vähemmäksi viimeisen vuoden aikana ihan vain huomista päivää ajatellen.

Isoja muuttokuormia on tullut viime vuosien aikana tullut liikuteltua niin moneen kertaan, että sitä on oppinut arvostamaan kunnon muuttolaatikoita ja vähää tavaraa. Eilen illalla möin vanhan sohvanikin vähän ex temporee ihan vain, että tavaraa olisi vähemmän. Katsellaan sitä uutta sohvaa sitten joskus syssymmällä kun remppahommiakin on saatu jo paremmalle mallille.

Muutto kun ei itsessään ole jo riittävän vittumaista, niin oman hauskuutensa hommaan tuovat nuo yleensä niin ihanat, mutta muutossa niin hepuloivat koirat, joita ei nyt tähän hätään saa tyrkättyä mihinkään alta pois. Käytännössä dogit hönttää jaloissa, ovat karkaamassa avonaisista ovista pihalle ja räksyttävät takuuvarmasti jossain vaiheessa.

No, kaikennäköiseen on totuttu ja eihän tämä muuttorumbakaan kestä kuin hetken. Muuton jälkeen taloa asuttaa jälleen vain yksi jackrusseli, kun tässä välillä huushollissa tosiaan huuhasi parikin jäbä-terrieriä. Tilalle miespuolisten laumaa edustamaan muuttaa rakas puolisoni, joka varmasti on erittäin otettu tästä koiravertauksesta. Noh oli miten oli, meikästä tulee nyt siis avovaimo! Jee!

Viktor&Rolf Flowerbomb

Goooooooooooooooooood!! Wanted this for five years or so, but always forgotten to purchase it. Now at last got it from tax-free from JFK. Love it!

No on hyvä!! Varmaan ainakin viis vuotta ollut hankintalistalla, mutta aina se on jotenkin jäänyt. Nyt sitten taxfreesta napattiin se JFK:lta matkaan. Aijai kun nyt tuoksutaan kukkasille!

Favourite Things At Home - Art by Katja Tukainen

Last Christmas I got the best present ever; an artwork by Katja Tukiainen. I've been a fan of hers for some years and ever since I got to know her art I have wanted one of her works hanging on my wall. It took some time to get the hanging hook to the wall, but at this point the frame has been hanging there for a month or so. The frame, by the way, is also designed by Katja Tukiainen. It seemed obvious to get the matching frames for the picture, too. There's not that much pink at my home, but this one is a happy splash of color here. I love it!

Viime Jouluna sain mitä parhaimman lahjan, Katja Tukiaisen taulun. Olen ollut Katjan töiden fani jo vuosia ja siitä hetkestä, kun ensimmäisen kerran tutustuin hänen kuviinsa, olen haaveillut sellaisen koristavan seinääni joku päivä. No se päivä on nyt, vaikka vähänhän tuo kesti saada taulu lopulta seinälle saakka (betoniproppujen osto oli kertakaikkiaan ylitsepääsemättömän isotöinen homma!). Nyt se on tuossa seinällä killunut kuukauden päivät ja hyvältä näyttää! Itse kuvan lisäksi Katja on suunnitellut myös nuo mainiot kehykset. Ei noita pokia tarvinnut paljon funtsia sen jälkeen, kun kävi selväksi että tuollaisetkin löytyisi. Vaikka pinkkiä väriä en kamalasti harrasta, on Katjan työ mitä ihanin väriläiskä piristämässä kotia. Se on niiiin pähee!

Footnote: Only the biggest one is Katja's work. Huomhuom: Siis näistä tauluista vain keskimmäinen Katjan töitä.

Starting Christmas Season

It was the first day of December so I had to do something related to Christmas. The winter lights were up already in November but today I started the Finnish mince pie season at home. I also did some present shopping and bought Christmas decorations to the shop. I also happened to find the most adorable wall piece to my hallway. The best things are always found by accident. You'll see it later. :-)

Joulukuun ekan päivän kunniaksi piti tehdä jotain jouluista; siispä joulutorttuja leipomaan! Naapurin Siwasta oli torttupohjat loppu, mutta seuraavasta kaupasta löytyi onneksi laarikaupalla. Käväsin myös lahjaostoksilla ja löysimpä muutamia joulukoristeita myös liikkeelle. Saadaan sinnekin vähän jouluisempaa fiilistä. Kotonahan aloittelin valojen ja tähtien virittelyn jo marraskuun puolella. Kotiin kaupoilta löytyi sattumalta myös söpökkä seinäkoriste, näätte siitä varmasti vilauksia myöhemmin. :-)

Remington Hair Straighteners

Since my old hair straightener broke down I had to get a new one. I chose Remington because a friend of mine recommended it. Here you can see how it worked. I've mainly used it to straighten my hair but this time I tried to make loose curls and it worked out just fine. This hair straightener is easy to use with only few buttons (on/off, +/-). The only bad thing comparing to my old one is that Remington don't remember my favorite temperature (180°C) and always starts to heat itself up to 200°C. The signal voice on the other hand is perfect to me who always just turn the machine on without thinking how long will it take to heat up. The straightener will tell me with voice that it's ready to work, so it won't spend energy for nothing.

Vanha hiustensuoristaja päätti ottaa loparit, joten kipaisin kaupasta uuden yksilön. Merkkinä ystävän suosituksesta Remington. Tässä vähän vihiä, miten kapistus toimii kun suoristuksen sijasta kiharretaan. Suurin ero vanhaan taitaa olla tuo lämpötilan säätö. Vanha suoristaja muisti lemppari lämpötilan, mutta tämä lähtee päättäväisesti aina kohti kahtasataa astetta. Mutta hyvin toimii tästä huolimatta - suoristaja täytti vanhan raudan saappaat mallikkaasti (vaikka eivätpä nuo tainneet niin suuret ollakaan)!

Today I'm Snacking...

...take away sushi from Watami. The order was quite unimaginative as you can see, only one type of sushi on the plate. But it was a good Sunday lunch. :-)

Plate by Klaus Haapaniemi, Iittala.

Favourite Things At Home

Grouping.

I'm not that romantic person, but I do have this antique set of dishes in my home anyway. I like them as they are, but I don't want them to be too powering part of the interior. That's why I collected all the romantic pieces from my home to form a bigger set. These items all over the house would be a bit granny, but now they are more powering as a group and not too girly.

Today I'm Snackin...

...strawberry cheese curd salad. Perfect summer dish.

Favourite Things At Home

Piling boxes.

I have these boxes left from different lamps, wallets and watches, and I dare not no throw them away in case I need them some day. Luckily they are also pretty, so I decided to use the boxes as a decoration. I can store little items in them and have the boxes standing on a dresser and form a graphic decor element.

Today I'm Snackin...

...fruity salad with taco chips and red berries cider. The salad was very all-over-the-place but delicious.

 The cup is Verner Panton's. Glass Villeroy & Boch.

Today I'm Snacking...

...french bread with prosciutto & tomatoes. Tastes awesome!


Have a nice weekend!

Design I Love - Tivoli Audio

Tivoli Audio, the love of my life! ...when talking about radios. Sure, there's nothing new about the brand, probably you've all seen this before, but for me it was a dream come true when I bought the model One this week.

I've had Tivoli Audio iPal this far (you've seen it here) but my mom took it to her new apartment which meant that I needed a new one. I knew what I wanted, no extra functions like Bluetooth or anything, just a good quality audio and the horizontal design with the walnut color.

I think the sound quality is much better in model One comparing to iPal since in iPal there is so many other functions like batteries and small size to make sure you can take it with you wherever, and for me it seems the audio has suffered from the other functions a bit. Since I need to listen music only at home, the model One with basic power cable was a perfect choice for me!

I love how the Tivoli Audio works with the Work Lamp.

Midsummer in Town

Normally I spend the midsummer in our family cottage in northern Finland, but this time I choose not to go there because it would've been at least seven hours drive with dogs on Friday and the same thing on Sunday. So basically only one day taking it easy. So no thanks driving, yes please grilling and chilling at home yard.

Along grilling we visited Viikinsaari, an island nearby, where we found the midsummer dance pavilion and midsummer bonfire. I guess we're not going there next year, since we're not much of a dancers and the age group was a bit higher comparing to who I normally hang with (60+). I knew those things when we decided to go there and that was just fine, but still we left after 1,5 hours or so. Nevertheless, it was a fun experience. :-) The return journey by boat went fast 'cause we were entertained by a group of young men from Netherlands.

Last but not least we took a long walk in the middle of the night since the weather was warm and bright. The great extrabonus of the day was a tiramisu served by a new neighbor after the walk. What a great evening snack! I love my neighbors!

Working In Free Time - Never Again!

Today I did something I have done only few times before and hopefully will never do again; worked home outside working hours. I worked the whole day, came home and continued what I was doing when I left the shop. Sure I talk about the work quite a lot all the time and sometimes work from home, but work in my free time - never!
Despite the fact I'm an entrepreneur and I love to work, I don't like to work all the time. I really do love the free time I have, and above all, need it to keep it all together. I have million things at work to do at the same time and today I wasn't able to squeeze everything in one working day, it was b-u-s-y day! What I probably should do is delegate more. :)

I've stretched myself too much lately and I recommend working outside working hours to no-one. In the long run it's never healthy. There's too many people working their asses off and the end result is nothing more than burn out. I don't want to belong to that group, and because of that I have principles like "Do not work at home".

Vinski was as enthusiastic of the free time working as I.

Luckily the days are long 'cause it's summer so I had time to play with the dogs and enjoy the sun-shining and flowers, too. So working a bit more than normal wasn't that bad this time, I guess.

Have a nice week! :-)

Today I'm Snacking...

...rye chips with salmon salad and a bit of rucola. Very simple but, just because of that, perfect!

Pot Garden

I should start to plan what plants do I want to my entrance at home. Last year I had a green&pink themed flower arrangement and it worked well with white and grey backround. Here is what it looked like then. The boxwood have lasted until now. It worked also as a christmas tree so money well spend on that one.

The entrance to my home is between two high building so there's not much direct light to flowers, so I have to keep that in mind when choosing the plantings. What I also need to keep in mind is the little helpers who live next door. Last year they made a great work as you can see from the picture underneath. You probably don't believe me when I'm saying that those kids are adorable, but they really are! :)

Have a nice weekend! :)

Party Planning

Tuesday we are celebrating the 1st of May (it's called vappu in Finland) and I'm hosting a little pre-party at my place then. I'm thinking outdoors parties at my back yard including good food, drinks and fun games. Here's couple inspiration pics.

Pics from here and here.

I've already purchased most of the stuff (food) I need, since there has been no work disturbing my party planning today. I bought only the things that I can use both outdoors and indoors, because we are still in the middle of the spring. There is a lot of sun but there can be also a lot of rain, so I have to be ready for the plan b indoors. Fortunately it's no problem to host the party indoors if needed. Let's hope it'll be as beautiful day as today. Sun is shining and I'm loving it!

Shopping list and board game for the tuesday.

Favourite Things At Home

I'm living in a house built in 1914 - almost 100 years full! It's half brick half wooden and the condition of the building is great thanks to the previous owners. I've lived here about eighteen months so the place is getting familiar to me. Now I want to share my favourite things about my apartment here to you.

Favourite things at home - No.1
Wide Windowsills

I'm living on the ground floor so I'm surrounded by bricks. Nevertheless I'm not feeling like being in jail thanks to the big windows to three different compass point. The bricks means thick walls and the thick walls means wide windowsills and oh boy, I looove them! (You have already seen them here, here and here.)

You can see that I've collected quite a good amount of stuff on some of the windowsills already. I try not to overfill them but sometimes the temptation is too big. ;) Thanks to Vili, my Jackrussel, I need to keep a little space there so that he can every now and then hop to the windowsill and do his thing = stalk the neighbours.

Please ignore the dirty windows, it's because of the dog's nose. I'll clean it tomorrow. Or propably next week. Most likely next summer... in 2014. At least they were clean when I bought the house!

Design I love - Work Lamp

Yippee, I have it! I've been wanting this lamp for about a year or so. Now when I got a good discount I finally went and bought it, the Work Lamp of Design House Stockholm.

I like the industrial look of it and even though I'm not living in a loft I think it looks great in my apartment too. The Work Lamp goes well as a ceiling lamp but I like to keep it on a dining table or on a windowsill. The brightness of the light can be adjusted so there is a reading lamp and a mood lightning in the same package. I love it!

I guess because of the name of the lamp I have to label this to work too. ;)