London baby!

My first week in London feels like a month, to be honest. There's so much to see and experience I keep forgetting I actually live here now. London is my home city now. So far I've been loving every bit of it: the unique people, the boiling hot tube, the architecture, the flukes. The city changes every day, every hour, even every minute and I think that is just amazing.

So what have I been up to? I've enjoyed lovely afternoon teas (yes, multiple times) in Covent Garden. I've carried numerous bags from Westfield after hours of shopping. I've sat in the library completing university's pre-arrival tasks ("Sunglasses" seen above). Last but not least I've attended London Fashion Week with the company of the ever-so-lovely Veera who was visiting London last weekend. I found a beautiful rose-golden ring by Tada & Toy to mark this new beginning in my life.

I'm in love with this city I can call my home. I'm in love with this life of mine and where it has taken me. I'm in love with the words one of my friends wrote: "Maailmalla on tapana antaa ja kantaa, kun luotat sen voimaan" (translates to: "The world has a habit of giving and carrying when you trust its power")

nail polish • Essie "eternal optimist" // ring • Michal Negrin

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Prague

Praaaague! We went on a little vacation to the Czech Republic and it was the best thing ever! The Saturday following my birthday we walked in the doors of the beautiful hotel we stayed in. First thing we get upgraded to a fancier room and, my lord, we were just over the moon! We caught the sunset as we walked to the castle of Prague after having had a delicious local dinner of goulash.

The city was so beautiful. My feet hurt the whole Sunday but there was so much to see I kept going with a bit of complaining now and then, as you do. We walked through all the major attractions. My favourite thing over everything else was the cafés. We stumbled upon the most gorgeous places such as the Národní Kavárna, Café Louvre and Palanda (aka the BEST burgers!. The waiters called me madam and it was oh-so-fancy in every way.

Max took me to the historical fort of Vyšehrad on Sunday. Behind the great brick walls opened the most magnificent view. Another magnificent view was in the shopping galleries: hundreds of shops with crystal clear windows. It wasn't a shopping trip, per se, but I couldn't help but pick up a gorgeous blue swimsuit from Topshop and a pair of black Bata heals not to forget the Czech sparkling wine that we are yet to try.

It was honestly the most wonderful vacation! I'll be back without a doubt. I fell in love with the city, the light, the food and the atmosphere. Prague made it easily to the top 3 of my favourite places.

On to my holiday wardrobe. The first day I chose to wear classic navy shorts from Zara and a light cotton shirt. It's usually quite cold in planes so I threw over my favourite piece of clothing at the moment, the light blue cashmere sweater from & Other Stories. I've come to a conclusion this sweater is one of the best things I've ever owned. It's light and travels easily in the handbag. The colour goes surprisingly well with almost everything.  Another must-have is my black leather Longchamp I got from mom. It's the perfect size to fit a camera, a notebook, a water bottle and the essentials.

On the second day I wore blue gingham shorts or as I refer them: the pic-nic shorts from Zara. I paired them with this gorgeous new lace top I got from JC and a boater hat I had been on a hunt for for ages. My trusty Australian Steve Madden sandals went perfectly with the outfit but unfortunately didn't really nurture my feet after tens of kilometres of walking.

On the third day I dropped the hat and changed the short+top to this lace dress I got from Asos. It's the same Zoella had last summer and that I craved already back then but it had sold out. So when I realised they had brought it back this summer I instantly ordered it. It's very loose and light weight so it's just perfect for those +30C days when it's almost too hot to wear anything. The dress is so soft and I'm absolutely in love with it! It's definitely part of my Midsummer look.

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sunset over aéroport

Friday, happy day! It had hit twenty degrees in the morning when I woke up so I knew it was going to be a great day. In Finland the summer is brief and breezy so one has to take it all out of what we get. As much as I love Autumn, there's nothing better than a lovely summer day after a half a year's worth of winter torpor. Some friends and I drove up to the unofficial airport lookout to enjoy the gorgeous sunset and a warm wind, dreaming of the places we could travel as the airplanes landed and took off above us. 

I've been hoarding – yes, actually hoarding – summer clothing since March. Zara has had some marvellous things in lately of which I'm really glad as their clothes are affordable yet rather good quality.

I found these blue gingham check shorts about a month ago and been dying to wear them. Now, obviously plus five degrees haven't really served the purpose of summer weather so the shorts have had to sit and wait in the closet – until now! I feel like these are the perfect pic-nic shorts and definitely a staple in my summer wardrobe.

The rusty red loafers are also from Zara. I like to buy so-called one-summer shoes that I can wear at 3am without worry of them getting dirty etc. These loafers, despite their price, are really smart-looking and actually quite good quality. I absolutely love the colour. The red brings that nice pop in every outfit and even though red might be considered as a "difficult colour" this shade is incredibly easy to pair with practically every colour. 

shirt • Princess Highway (Australia) // sunglasses • Vogue

watch • Daniel Wellington // earrings • House of Elliot 

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Winter Garden

I peeked behind the cacti. I could breath in the tropics almost as I had been back in the place below the equator. Oh the greens, the lights and the blue skies! The winter garden is a hidden paradise within cold grey February.

A little photoshoot in this magical glass house garden was definitely a brilliant pick-me-up in the middle of a dull slushy day that had already wet my shoes and killed my curls. I don't know how can it be possible I haven't tumbled into this place before – I've seen it and drove past it a million times but it never occurred to me a paradise might lie within it. Better later than never, I guess.

I was wearing this Sister Jane shirt that has been hanging in my closet for months and months. The leopard pattern is really amazing and fits the "jungle" theme quite well. I love the colours and the collar too not to even mention the black bow.

The earrings have a more dramatic story. Being my favourite pair of pearls I was devastated when one morning I could find only one of them. It took months and months of heart break and a one very very lucky morning that I could see something shining in the bottom of a tote bag. The joy was immeasurable and we've been inseparable ever since.

image credit // portraits by Suvi Ojala

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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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say you'll remember me staring at the sunset

End of holiday is peeking behind the corner, a block away from the beginning of summer. Everyone's starting to pack their packs. Was it university or abroad, my friends are leaving either way. The bitter sweet summer nights are full of laughter while on the inside I'm crying my heart out. It's not the end. It's the end of something, though. It's the end of this summer that could last forever on my behalf.

I was dancing and posing in the meadow in my white shirt and navy blue shorts both from Zara. I think this neat yet careless look is perfect for really any occasion: simple and classy. Part of my go-to look at the moment are my 50's style cat-eye sunglasses by Vogue. My mom got me a beautiful Daniel Wellington watch in dark brown leather which adds up the classy and absolutely timeless look. Just add red lipstick and you'll have a Taylor Swift replica.

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lookout

How marvellous! I was assigned to take some photos for my school's magazine at this hill by an airport. Maybe it was the thrill brought by sunset or the haunting due date on Monday — either way we got there with Ellu and Paci and, gosh, it was gorgeous. Was anyone staying in the capital area of Finland I'd advice to hop in a car or on a bike and head to Puusepäntie in Tuusula and climb on the hill to get some fantastic sunset photos or just to watch planes take off and land.

My outfit in these pictures is probably my favourite at the moment. I'm wearing a loose white tee from Monki with a denim dungaree-dress also from Monki. I absolutely love the dungarees right now. They're perfect for the warm-but-not-too-warm spring weathers paired with some fine thighs and casual loafers. Works in every occasion as you can change to a more glamorous top and throw on some jewellery. In retrospect choose a casual top and a hipster hat of any kind and voilà.

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