Christmas market in hazy Helsinki

The city was twinkling. Lights, smiles and mittens everywhere. Had it been a bit warmer — well, one can dream, right.

The Christmas markets are an annual thing in my family and therefor I enjoy walking through them year after year, never to really buy a thing. The dark fell after four alongside with the fog making the whole city look dreamy. The pictures definitely do look gorgeous but the weather was, in fact, quite brutal. Then again, that's Finland. Easy to say laying in my hotel room on the 20th floor in Sydney.

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breeze, freeze, winter

Cold, cold, cold, so cold. That's the only thought walking through the icy city. At one point I can't feel my face anymore. Just take the lyrics of Taylor's Out of the Woods and change the word "woods" to "cold" and you get my attitude against winter. It's not fun anymore when all you have to think about is surviving. We're talking only -10 degrees.

Just today I realised over half of my wardrobe is kind of borrowed from my mom and sister. From top to bottom: the hat is my mom's, borrowed by my sister, then borrowed by me, scarf is mom's, the coat's my sister's, the hand bag and the gloves my mom's. See, I can recycle. Scratch that, I just bought the most perfect winter shoes. Leather and lined with fur they are so easy, so comfortable and oh-so-warm. I'm telling, I was completely frozen but my feet were warm and cozy walking on the Market Square.

The weekends have been filled with hot beverages, ginger bread houses, films and reading. The time runs so fast, according to my flight app, at least. Our Australian holiday is less than 20 days away. God am I glad to flee this freezer and see my second home once again. Hence the early vacation we're actually celebrating Christmas next weekend. It's actually really nice to have the show earlier. I'm really not the biggest fan of this crazy holiday but somehow I have this feeling it's going to be more enjoyable this year.

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happily ever autumn

Freezing wind, bare nature, grey tones and the darkness. Autumn is almost over. It's been, honestly, the best autumn in very many ways. It's been unforgettable, to say at least. It's been such an amazing summer and autumn I'm actually looking forward to winter. Well, I'm going to Australia for four weeks in Christmas time so I can't really complain.

As I've said before, this autumn has been so fulfilled with both wonderful and woesome moments. I've found someone to talk bizarre things in the middle of the night while driving nowhere, to hold me in his arms and to share everything with. In the other end of the spectrum my dear dog passed away a few weeks ago. When it all got a bit too much I finally resigned from almost all the extra curricular activities holding on only to the school magazine which has been a joyful club from the very beginning.

So I'm a regular student again and it feels so nice. There were far too many things on my plate and as hard as it was I'm more than glad I let go. I have so much more energy now that I'm not stressing over millions and again millions of things that don't require to be stressed over. I realised I had given up so many hobbies without noticing. I used to love drawing and scrap-booking as well as baking and organising my room. I want to start putting time on these and other things I enjoy. 

Ronja, a friend of mine from school, came over last weekend. It was cold but we defied the weather and drove near the airport, on a hill to snap a few photos. A few words; she has the best coasts and scarves (seriously, so cozy) and an amazing style all over, she's such a great story teller making everything sound epic and lastly is adorably passionate about art history (sat that course with her, so fun!)

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cotton candy and kisses

Last Friday we went to Linnanmäki, an amusement park in Helsinki. To celebrate the end of the season there's a light show every year.

Running under all the beautiful lights, stuffing cotton candy in our mouths and screaming from the bottom of my heart on the top of a roller coaster — I loved every bit of that night. In the end of the night we sat down in a lovely little café and had glasses of glögi. 

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maple leaves

Literally every single tone of the yellow-red spectrum covered the pavements as we walked to the woods. I hadn't seen Paci for over a month which, to be honest, felt like years as we grew really close this summer. It was just lovely to catch up and break some news. It's actually really fun to be on this side for once. 

Anyway, the autumn is strong with us had someone not noticed that. The agenda of the day included coffee and the making of autumn bouquets. So to the woods we walked. I was a bit disappointed when we realised there were no red maple leaves yet even more of them in yellow. Snapped a few pics too and then, after hours and hours of ranting returned back to my place to put together the bouquets.

In the end I want to mention my new coat. Last Monday I was shopping on my own which has become a rare occasion these days.  I don't mind shopping company, I love it, but sometimes it's rather, hmm, refreshing to wade through the stores and have a look with your own time. So I wasn't really looking for anything specific, although, I am in a constant hunt of tights and skirts, but then I came across this quite simple but I think really aesthetic gray coat in Esprit. As everyone probably knows I'm really quite obsessed with yellow and gray and somehow my obsession of gray has gone out of hands. The combination of these two make me melt.

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snap!

I looove autumn. It's the millionth time I've said it during this week but I just cannot help it. Oh, the colours and the breeze warm my heart along side with the hot cup of liquid. And as the leaves turn brown I turn full-on hipster.

The hat is what I've been so very excited about ever since I got it in summer. I've waited for the chilly weather just so I can grab the hat from the shelf. What's so amazing in this particular hat is that it is firstly produced from only recycled materials, secondly every single one is different, thirdly it's Finnish design and lastly the bobble is changeable! Had you followed me a bit longer it comes as a no surprise that I freaking love yellow, mustard yellow especially. Costo is the brand if you got interested.

Otherwise I'm wearing the Ted Baker collared sweater that has been featured quite a few times over here. The coat is once again my sister's and originally bought from Zara last winter. I'm absolutely in love with my scarf my dad has brought me from Ireland a few years back. It's light and woollen making it the most perfect accessory for the autumn. I find the celtic ornaments gorgeous! My pants by Reiko are also very perfect for the autumn as they are dark purple with somewhat fuchsia-toned dots.

I bought this Fuji polaroid-camera when I was in Australia. I used to take a whole lot of photos with it but now it has been collecting dust on my shelf for a good while. On Friday I ran to the camera shop to pick up a new package of film and then headed to the meadows to snap some shots. The one I took of us looks like we'd be 80's rockers in my mind which I kinda really love! It has that grunge look going perfectly with my hipster-obsession.

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Kellokoski in autumn rain

Okay, hi. I'm very not busy but in retrospect I'm extremely happy. This little car ride to Kellokoski took place a few weeks ago already but I haven't got around to jot down any thoughts — which is so not like me at all. I'm known the person writing or otherwise documenting every single second of my life, my mind and the rest of this crazy whirlwind. I haven't written for so long (were we to ignore the marvellous event also known as the finals, yay!). Something really wonderful, amazing and over all marvellous is going on in my life at the moment: I'm actually enjoying and longing to live in the moment. It's quite self-explanetory so I'll leave it there.

So Kellokoski, a place known for its old mental hospital that has, sadly, been torn down (the hospital, I mean). But it's still a pretty and throughly pretty creepy place. It happened to rain quite heavily once we drove to the back yard of an old industrial factory building and set our feet to the wet soil. It was pretty, though, as I said. And I love autumn, so what can you do. After all the place looked like an old English village too. It was rather perfect it was raining.

Moving to the outfit. I was wearing a blue washed blue shirt from Lindex I got a year ago so it's quite huge for me now. I think it still suits the "boyfriend-ish" look really well and love how soft the light material is. That's really one of the reasons I couldn't bear to throw it away with the rest too big ones. My pants are the purple Reiko ones I got from France last summer and of which I've raved about probably too much already. Anyway, love them. As for the shoes, I absolutely love these cognac toned heeled ankle boots! The block heel is surprisingly perfect for some cross country action so don't be afraid slipping (although, a helpful knight never hurt anyone).

Then the same old story with the pearl earrings and the DW watch with an add of colour with the DKNY bag (to die for!) and a very basic back brolly.

I love the autumn for various reasons, including the right to wear lipstick in the whole spectrum of reds: rusty, berry, you name it.

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Mustio crayfish party & brunch

The autumn is here! I had already forgotten how freaking much I love this season! It's all about light knits and dusky colours. It seems not everyone agrees that the summer is basically over so on the weekend when I attended an annual crayfish party I built my outfit around my ever-so-gorgeous Ted Baker knit. I thought this very summery top was just the right amount of colour and pop. Paired with dark purple pants by Reiko and a casual pair of Wonders loafers I managed to create a somewhat effortless yet quite preppy look. Following with my staples: pearl earrings, Vogue sunglasses and a DW watch. On my nails I'm wearing Essie nail polish in the colour lady like which I've had for far too long but fallen in love with the tone only now.

Finally we get to the point. As I was leaving school on Friday I just jokingly said I would buy myself a new handbag — the one I have been drooling over the whole summer. And with no doubt I did end up in Stockmann's bag section with one of my friends who's been there to watch me drool over the very bag various times. So I grabbed it from the shelf. I modelled it with my outfit. I was just about to put it back when my lips mouthed the words: "I'm gonna get it". So I ran to the counter. So I bought the bag before any second thoughts. So I walked out of the store once again happier than I should be, obsessing over a piece of gorgeous green leather.

Now here we have a highly functioning city-friendly hand bag with, for once, enough pockets and the absolutely prefect length strap for carrying on shoulder of cross-body. The bag has two zipped main sections, of which one has a open pocket inside as the other a zipped one. The sections are just the perfect sized as I can fit my wallet and sunnies in one and random loose thing in the other. There's an open pocket in the middle you can close with the handy magnet. I like to keep my phone and my gloves in the middle pocket to have them easy and quick on hand. In the back there's one more open pocket I'm thinking would be perfect for train or flight tickets. Needless to say I freaking loooove this bag!

Keeping up with the food I obviously had some crayfish which I haven't eaten in a good while. As laborious as they are to work with the taste is so good. I've had really bad luck with the meals I've ordered in restaurants for quite a long while now so I was extremely glad to have picked well this time. I'm not going to the details but let me just say lupine tempe is perhaps one of the best things I've eaten this year. Following with a divine crêpe-bruch on Sunday I can truly say it was a successful weekend.

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summer celebrations

It's the confirmation celebration season! On Saturday I attended two coffee-and-cake kind of parties on our street. It turned out to be a surprisingly warm and summary. I was still not completely convinced so I pulled on this gorgeous Ted Baker sweater I got for my birthday in the beginning of summer. This sweater has honestly been one of my favourite pieces this summer. It's just perfect with its three-quoter-length sleeves and light texture. I get it might be a bit hot down South but the summers are not quite that up here.

I ordered clothes from Sister Jane, an English brand I discovered in Cannes, and after a long and torturous wait and a number of impatient check-up trips to the post office the package finally arrived on Friday. One of the pieces I got was a rose gold swing skirt with flower-like texture. I love how the fabric is stiff enough yet very light to wear. The waist band is stretchy from the back which allows the skirt to sit perfectly. The rose gold caught some of the tones on my sweater really nicely.

I'm so eager to show the rest of the new pieces. They are quite autumny so I might have to wait a bit until I can properly (and credibly) wear them. Anyway, in addition to those there's something else I've recently purchased and fallen in love with: the Calvin Klein lip glosses. These are somewhat a random found as one of my new but already dear friends pointed out a little outlet in a mall near to us that sold these brilliant and radiant lip glosses for a bargain price. The consistence is creamy and soft. I love how light these things are on but they still have incredible pigment. I got two for now. The dusty rosy one I'm wearing in the pictures is called boy pencil. The second one is yet again a lot autumny, sort of a vampish berry tone called berry cool.

I've been really enjoying wearing really classic accessories this summer. My three absolute holy-grail staples are my 50's cat eye sunglasses by Vogue that I have raved about far too many times already, old as ever House of Elliott pearl earrings and finally a leather-band Daniel Wellington watch my mom got me about a month ago. I swear I've had this watch on my wrist every single day since I carried it out of the shop. What comes to the pearl earrings, I find them so easy to pop on to dress any outfit up a bit.

sweater / Ted Baker • skirt / Sister Jane • shoes / Zara

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of farewells

It's easy to say goodbye to someone who's staying. It's easy when you're the one who's leaving. You're going to somewhere new while the others are stuck with the same old same. This time I'm staying and it's harder than I thought. It's also hard to stop when you've got the taste of running.

I'm going back to school in a couple of weeks. That's the end of summer, really. This summer is probably the first one I don't want to end, partly because I know in the end everyone will leave. It's breaking my heart. They're off to universities, internships and abroad. Everything I long for. While school is cool by giving me a logical daily schedule I hate the fact I'm tied up, stuck in this place for yet another year.

That takes us to the next topic: end of childhood. I'm not claiming to become an adult but I sure know I want to move out as soon as I can. I want to move abroad was it for school or work. After getting used to my home again post-exchange I feel like I've seen it all now (surely haven't but you know the deal). I need challenges.

In a way saying goodbye is a huge challenge. Sitting on the rocks of Suomenlinna and watching the sunset together was somewhat bitter sweet. It's the shallow part of my consciousness that gets it: in a short while they're all gone. Still I truly cannot comprehend they'd really be leaving. It's when you try to seize the moment because that's all you have for now. You don't want to cry yet you feel like you should. 

shirt / Sister Jane • watch / Daniel Wellington • earrings / House of Elliot

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hello, riviera

Welcome to Cannes. This is where the rich people come to show off their Louis Vuittons and to lay on the white sand imported. This is where I stand in my most expensive shorts and a white collar shirt mimicking Grace Kelly the best I can. It's a very pretentious and highly hypocritical set. Yet I very much enjoyed the whole show. 

The French Riviera never fails to astonish. It's gorgeous filled with gorgeous things. You get a glimpse of the life of the rich. I got a glimpse of a life I want for myself, one day. There's no such thing as "over-dressing" and only a handful of people talk other than French. Counting Vuittons could seriously be considered as a hobby as there are as many of those as yachts.

What I did was stroll through the Croisette and Rue d'Antibes. That's what you go to Cannes  for anyway: the sea and the shops. I found some absolutely lovely clothes from a little shop called Boutique Ev. In fact, I loved the clothes so much I just placed an order from Sister Jane. 

When I was not in the city I was either sunbathing or dining. There are fantastic tiny restaurants around the city that can be easily spotted by Trip Advisor. All the places I visited were so cosy but unfortunately I happened to have the most terrible luck with my choices of meals. I even managed to pick the two most horrible ice cream flavours in the world's history. Can't win in everything, right. 

Would anyone want a break from their worlds should they fly to the riviera straight away. This place has never been in touch with the real world. It's a wonderful, shallow little bubble in which you put on a smile and a tan. 

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